Cracking the Stress Secret
How to Turn Pressure into Power
Amir A. Rashidian’s Cracking the Stress Secret uses evidence-based medicine to demonstrate how one’s diet, exercise, and lifestyle choices work alongside stress management to improve their overall health.
When he was nine, Rashidian witnessed a traumatic childbirth that convinced him that his calling was to become a doctor. Years later, in medical school, Rashidian’s father’s deteriorating health introduced him to the world of chiropractic treatment and medical self-advocacy. From this heartrending introduction emerges a passionate manual for improving health in a wide-reaching, holistic manner by strengthening the brain’s ability to handle stress.
The first part of the book debunks myths about the genetic and environmental causes of cancer and other diseases and celebrates the wisdom of the brain-body connection in fighting off illness and stress. The second part launches into ten steps for transforming stress into success, including eating a thoughtful, balanced diet, engaging in activity beyond exercise, making sleep hygiene a priority, and listening to music you love.
Defining “health,” “stress,” and “wellness” from its outset, the book launches into meaningful discussions on how these terms are used in medical and self-care communities. While some open-ended questions about how people show symptoms or lose control of their health express judgment of their behaviors, most sections opt for empowerment over shaming. Apt metaphors help to make the medical concepts feel concrete, as when the brain is equated to a conductor and the organs to musicians. Stories from patients and data from scholarly research doctors solidify the book’s assertions that its purported techniques will bolster resilience and improve wellness.
Cracking the Stress Secret is an empowering book that puts a modern spin on sage advice for building a tolerance to life’s woes and taking charge of your health.
Reviewed by
Aimee Jodoin
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
