For the Brave

As anyone who has struggled with mental health knows, some days, just getting out of bed requires extraordinary courage.  

I wanted to honour that quiet heroism—the profound bravery it sometimes takes just to face those ordinary moments that can seem so overwhelming.

• Personal journey meets expertise: Written by Jen Moon, a nutritionist and chef who has personally navigated anxiety and supported a child with ADHD, it offers a deeply empathetic perspective.
• It takes a holistic approach: Combines nutrition, self-care, and mental health practices to address anxiety and panic attacks from multiple angles.
• It offers nutritional strategies for emotional balance: Nutrition-rich recipes specifically designed to promote mental well-being and reduce anxiety.
• Scientific grounding: Blends evidence-based research with practical nutritional advice for stress reduction.

And

• It has an ADHD-friendly layout: Designed for readers who struggle with focus or feel overwhelmed, it features beautiful images, digestible content, simple analogies, and is written in a clear, conversational tone.

• Motivation: For the Brave also focuses on motivating readers to take charge with easy steps, ensuring they feel encouraged rather than overwhelmed.
• Long-term habit-building: Encourages lasting change by offering habit-forming methodologies and resilience-building techniques.
• Mini antidotes for anxiety: Includes small, actionable exercises that readers can implement immediately to calm anxiety in stressful moments.
• Focus on building resilience: Beyond immediate relief, the book emphasizes the importance of developing mental strength and long-term well-being.

For the Brave is filled with easy-to-follow interventions and genuinely practical and useful information about panic attacks.

And, knowing how helpful it can be to know the WHY about is contains all sorts of info like:

• • WHY does a panic attack cause numb fingers?
  • WHY does humming ease panic?
  • WHY should I drink green tea?
  • WHY does writing help?
  • WHY does “breathing” help?
  • WHY do I need vitamin C?
  • Why does zinc matter?
  • Why should I move more?
  • Why is sleep so important?

There are also 22 different ways to stop or at least reduce the severity and or length of an attack. You can find some on my panic stations page. It’s a matter of finding those that work best for you and your particular needs and personality. (And YES!  Panic attacks can stop happening, and can become a thing of the past.)

Through a compassionate and evidence-based approach, For the Brave is designed to help combat stress.

The book offers practical tools, strategies, and nutritional advice aimed at reducing stress. It emphasises the importance of self-care, resilience, and habit changes, providing readers with techniques to manage and alleviate stress effectively.

For the Brave includes 45 delicious, nutrient-packed recipes (15 each for breakfast, lunch, and dinner) all designed to help balance emotions and support mental well-being. The focus is on nutrition that can ease anxiety and stress, providing readers with practical and healthy meal ideas.

Every recipe in the book has a basic version of the recipe, but, because we may need to get that nutrition in quick and hard, every recipe contains a boosted section op optional ingredients to add. This can boost the nutritional payload from a mere 53% to a massive 457%.

For example, scrambled egg on toast

Basic

2 eggs
Seasoning
1 tsp butter
1 slice wholemeal toast

Boosted
Add these ingredients if you have the time, energy, and budget

2 portobello mushrooms (for selenium)
1 handful of baby spinach (for magnesium)
1 sprinkle of seaweed (for iodine)
1/4 sliced red pepper (for vitamin C)
1 tsp Nutritional Yeast with B12 (for B vitamins and zinc)
1 tsp chia seeds (for omega-3 ALA and fibre)

Each extra ingredient is specifically chosen to boost the nutrient profile of the meal to ensure it provides the support the mind and body needs to deal with stress and anxiety.

For example:

Why add chia seeds? To boost calcium and magnesium. Magnesium has been shown to help reduce anxiety symptoms by improving sleep quality, calming the nervous system, improving mood, and decreasing muscle tension. Higher calcium intake has been linked to lower anxiety, rumination, and higher resilience scores.

Why add mushrooms? To boost selenium. Studies have linked low levels of selenium to higher frequencies of anxiety, depression and tiredness, while boosting intake helped reduce all three.

Why add spinach? Spinach is packed with magnesium, which helps support nerve function, promotes relaxation, and reduces anxiety.

Why add red pepper? Packed with vitamin C, which boosts the immune system, supports skin health, and helps manage stress by reducing cortisol levels.

Some recipes are wholly plant-based, some vegetarian, some are omni with a plant-slant. In most instances, where a recipe contains animal based products, you’ll find suggestions for swaps that will help boost the nutritional gap.