Is there a foolproof way to reduce stress and anxiety while you boost your memory? Raise your IQ even as you slow down the aging process? Become more creative and train your ability to focus at the same time? The answer is simple: Move! Modern neuroscience and research has shown, more than ever, that physical exercise has extraordinary effects on our cognition.

Physical activity, more so than Sudoku or crossword puzzles, optimizes our mental abilities and health in a way unparalleled by any drug, medication, or food supplement. And exercise doesn’t just enhance your health, energy and mood levels, and cognitive abilities. You will also learn:

• • Why physical training is the best protection against dementia. What type of exercise can be used to treat depression as an antidepressant. How exercise increases the ability to focus in children, especially kids with ADHD. How children with good fitness can become better in math and reading comprehension. And: Why “runner’s high,” the natural chemicals released during jogging, improves your health and mood.

With practical and concrete advice for the layman on how to reap these benefits, as well as neuroscientific research from the last five years broken down to accessible findings, The Real Happy Pill urges you to train your body and mind for a whole-body upgrade, and start to move!

“In an entertaining and insightful way, [The Real Happy Pill] brings to the fore the science of exercise for the brain. I warmly recommend this book to those who care about their own brain or the brain of others.”
—Carl Johan Sundberg, MD, PhD, professor at the Karolinska Institutet and member of the International Olympic Committee’s Medical Commission

“A fascinating read, really motivating! As an entrepreneur, it is especially interesting to see how exercise increases our creativity.”
—Martin Lorentzon, co-founder of Spotify

“One of the best of the hundreds of books I’ve read about the brain. When it comes to brain and exercise, Hansen’s [The Real Happy Pill] and John Ratey’s Spark are by far the best.”
—Nils Simonson, MD, surgeon and author

“The relationship between the mind and the body is one of the most fascinating questions in science, and Dr Hansen explores the issues in a lucid and inspiring way.”
—Johann Hari, bestselling author of Stolen Focus

“Dr Hansen’s The Mind-Body Method is an ultimately practical guide to regaining a sense of peace in a world that seems to be coming undone.”
—Dr Russell Kennedy, bestselling author of Anxiety Rx