April Book: Rewire by Nicole Vignola
For our second Book Chat, I'll be reading the book Rewire by neuroscientist Nicole Vignola. I first came across her work on Instagram where she shares simple, clear information about how to work with your brain chemistry to live a more energized, motivated, and joyful life. She breaks down what neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine really do for us and how to support your mental and emotional health with the wisdom of modern neuroscience.
I think it makes a good follow up to the first book, Good Energy, since it is less dense reading and can help us understand how to effectively make the types of healthy lifestyle changes that a book like Good Energy inspires. It is fun, practical information that anyone can use to understand themselves better and get a grip on pervasive challenges like anxiety, phone/scrolling addictions, self-sabotage, and all the ways we hold ourselves back from our full potential.
Anyone is welcome to come chat with us to discuss our next book, no matter how much you've read!
Neon Coworking Space, 1974 Union St
Monday, April 7th @ 6:15pm
March Book Review: Good Energy by Dr. Casey Means MD
This week, a small crew gathered on Monday evening at Neon SF to chat about our very first Grow & Glow book: Good Energy by Dr. Casey Means. We all thought it was a great book chock full of information, though we experienced varying degrees of overwhelm in response to it.
As a Stanford-trained ENT surgeon, Dr. Means noticed a pattern in her own work as well as the work of other physicians around her: many of the diseases they were treating were long-term outcomes of inflammation. But she was left to wonder, what really is inflammation in the first place and what is causing seemingly everyone to have disease-causing levels of it?
Dr. Means highlights how contemporary habits—such as consuming processed foods, exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals, leading sedentary lifestyles, experiencing poor sleep, and enduring chronic stress—negatively affect or cellular and metabolic health. These factors can lead to blood sugar spikes, insulin resistance, inflammation, and oxidative stress, impairing efficient energy production.
She posits that this cellular dysfunction is causing on a macro-level a host of chronic diseases from diabetes to cancer to depression to Alzheimer’s. While I haven’t looked into the research she cites throughout the book to fully understand how clear the literature is in its conclusions, much of what she says makes good sense about how to live a healthier life and falls in line with what East Asian medicine has taught about living well for generations.
The East Asian Medicine Overlap
Dr. Means writes about metabolic health and nutrition being the center pole of a happy and healthy mind and body, which is what the masterful Chinese physician and scholar Li Dong Yuan wrote about 1,000 years ago in his seminal text "Treatise on Spleen and Stomach."
As the team at Si Jin Biao Herbs writes on their blog, "Dr Li developed his own school of thought called “Invigorating the Earth” and founded the theory of spleen and stomach. He believed that the spleen and stomach were the center from which all diseases originate, arguing that food, emotions and lifestyle affect the body’s internal Qi. According to Li Dong Yuán, weak digestion leads to exhaustion. Dr Li emphasized that a distressed stomach and spleen affect one’s ability to problem solve and use intellect. He explained how such disharmony could lead to a tendency to over-ruminate and even failure to act on decisions."
I loved reading this book where a modern western physician didn't realize she was essentially writing about thousands of years of East Asian medicine wisdom. What Western medicine might call depression and fatigue due to poor mitochondrial health and cellular overwhelm is the dampness and spleen qi deficiency of East Asian medicine. The inflammation and autoimmunity resulting from poor mitochondrial health is the "yin fire" or "internal heat" of East Asian medicine.
The Challenges
I thought she underestimated the amount of food shame and anxiety already pervasive in our culture, especially for women. Similarly, I don’t think she adequately addressed the amount of anxiety that can come from the health-monitoring she suggests such as wearing a continuous glucose monitor. I’ve seen many of my patients increase their health anxiety through modern "biohacking" techniques. While she makes many recommendations with the best of intentions, I think some of the information shared in this book could be detrimental to people's relationship with their bodies and their food. I love taking a one-on-one, custom approach in the treatment room rather than making blanket statements about "good" foods or "good" choices so that people can really engage with and enjoy the process of moving toward greater health and balance.
The TL;DR
Overall, I really loved her simple but extremely thorough explanations for the metabolic processes in our bodies, and I thought Chapter 4 about understanding your own body through tracking your health measures and symptoms was amazing. The book offers actionable advice to enhance metabolic health, including adopting a nutrient-dense diet, engaging in regular physical activity, ensuring quality sleep, and managing stress effectively. These lifestyle modifications aim to stabilize blood sugar levels, reduce inflammation, and support optimal mitochondrial function. There's so much information to take in and potential changes to make that someone could easily be overwhelmed, but her tone is optimistic, upbeat, and generous. Incorporating any little tweaks from her suggestions could create big ripples in your life.
About the Book Club
In case you've missed it, I started a monthly "Grow and Glow" book discussion series to help patients, friends, and neighbors engage deeply with health and wellness topics in Western, Eastern, and Integrative medicine! Each month, I'll select a book for us to read together, followed by a conversation where we'll explore its themes. We'll cover a wide range of subjects, from athletic performance and longevity to avoiding harmful ingredients in food, fashion, and skincare, as well as preventing burnout, the neuroscience of emotions, and more. The books will include nonfiction, scientific journalism, memoirs, and even fiction.
Join us for the months that pique your interest and come chat about the book with your neighbors and friends.
Do I need to commit to the book club?
This is a casual "book club"—no need to participate every month. I'll announce the monthly book in my newsletter, and you can decide whether to join us for the reading and discussion based on your interest! We'll gather at Neon at 6:15 on the first Monday of each month to talk about that month's book and its themes.
A Lending Library
After each book chat, the book will be added to the new Glowing Gate Acupuncture Lending Library. Feel free to borrow a copy during your next visit!
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