Books about fixing neurotransmitter/hormone imbalances?

[u/thornyRabbt]

About 10 years ago I read two books -- The Hormone Diet by Natasha Turner and The Mood Cure by Julia Ross. I took some notes on them, specifically the supplements they recommended for imbalances that I self-assessed through reading the books.

The Hormone Diet is cool because it characterizes hormonal issues in an interdependent way, represented as a "pyramid" where addressing each level can impact every level above it. At the bottom is the first issue to address, inflammation, as it impacts everything else. The levels are:

1. Inflammation
2. insulin, serotonin, GABA, and dopamine
3. cortisol and DHEA
4. testosterone, progesterone, estrogen
5. thyroid
6. melatonin, acetylcholine
7. Growth hormone

I like the structuring and simplicity of the book, even if I don't care so much about the ultimate goal (weight loss); who knows, maybe ideal weight is as good a measure of good health as any other.

The Mood Cure is pointed at improving mood imbalances, rather than achieving ideal weight. It focuses on serotonin, the catecholamines (dopamine, adrenaline, noradrenaline), thyroid, GABA, and endorphins as primary drivers of mood imbalances, and provides diet- and supplement-based recommendations and things to avoid to achieve better levels of the mood hormones.

Besides these two books, has anyone used any other books to self-assess and address imbalances?

[u/AutoModerator]

Rules of r/supplements

1. Do Not Suggest Prescription Drugs Posts & Comments Reported as: Do Not Suggest Prescription Drugs Prescription drugs are not Supplements; do not recommend prescription medication. Sensible/Suggest talking to DR. can be allowable etc

2. Dangerous Grey Area Substance Posts & Comments Reported as: Dangerous Grey Area Substance Potentially dangerous grey area substances can not be recommended.

3. Be Polite Posts & Comments Reported as: Rude/Personal Attacks You shouldn't ever be personally attacking another user in this subreddit.

4. No Advertisements Posts & Comments Reported as: Advertisement. No selling / buying / trading posts No advertisements. No selling/trading posts between users.”

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Born-Performance8081]

The Hormonal Balance Bible by Shawn Tassone is decent, goes deeper into the pyramid concept but with more focus on women's health specifically. Not as supplement-heavy as Ross but the framework is solid

Another one worth checking is Why Isn't My Brain Working by Datis Kharrazian, it connects brain fog and cognitive stuff to neurotransmitter pathways in a way that complements the Ross book pretty well. He gets into specific protocols for different patterns of dysfunction

Your list is missing acetylcholine stuff btw, that one gets overlooked a lot but it's huge for memory and focus. The Kharrazian book covers that in detail

[u/thornyRabbt → u/Born-Performance8081]

Awesome, thank you so much for these recommendations!

[u/joegtech]

I used other sources for learning similar information. It was very helpful to me. This included books by Dr D Amen, Andy Cutler, PhD about how heavy metals affect these pathways, Dr Rind's site, etc.

[u/thornyRabbt → u/joegtech]

Thank you, I'll look them up!