Thinking & Eating

It is a daily undertaking--a morning shot of coffee, an absentminded sandwich at your desk, a hastily assembled dinner with the remnants from the fridge ... With its everyday ubiquity we can make the mistake of assuming that food is of little importance, or simply fuel to see us through the day. But what is its real impact on our emotional lives, and how can we better nourish ourselves?

What we eat and how we eat it has a significant impact on our psychological well-being. In recent times, our society has been eager to recruit food to the project of physical health, but we've not always paid so much attention to how cooking and eating can assist us with our emotional health.

With over 150 recipes, Thinking & Eating shows us how ingredients and dishes can be supporters of certain ideas, emotions, and states of mind that best help us confront the challenges of existence. In each recipe we discover the ways in which food can store, memorialize, and transmit the most important ideas of our lives.
Examining the psychological impact of the way we eat food, this thought-provoking book explores nutrition for the mind and body.

The School of Life is a global organization helping people lead more fulfilled lives. Through our range of books, gifts and stationery we aim to prompt more thoughtful natures and help everyone to find fulfillment. The School of Life is a resource for exploring self-knowledge, relationships, work, socializing, finding calm, and enjoying culture through content, community, and conversation. You can find us online, in stores and in welcoming spaces around the world offering classes, events, and one-to-one therapy sessions.

The School of Life is a rapidly growing global brand, with over 5 million YouTube subscribers, 343,000 Facebook followers, 183,000 Instagram followers and 160,000 Twitter followers.

The School of Life Press brings together the thinking and ideas of the School of Life creative team under the direction of series editor, Alain de Botton. Their books share a coherent, curated message that speaks with one voice: calm, reassuring, and sane.

"In an age where our Instagram feeds are inundated with food porn and every week brings a new diet or trend, trust The School of Life to challenge us to think differently about how and what we eat..." - Elle Decoration Magazine

"This is a unique kind of recipe book - an inspired marriage of psychology and cooking, and a guide to just the sort of foods to put on our plates in order to grow a little calmer and more relaxed in ourselves, kinder to others and readier to face everyday challenges." - Mail +(UK)

"A cookbook unlike any other..." - Mindful magazine

"A very intriguing book. Much food for thought." - Kathy Gunst, Here & Now (NPR) resident chef

***What readers are saying***

"Excellent subject matter for contemplative "food for thought"

"One of the most engaging books I've ever read. It combines food, psychology, and philosophy in a way that is exciting and makes it feel like the solutions to a lot of life's dilemmas could be pulled together on your kitchen counter."

"A wonderful and smart idea to think about the emotional aspect of food, eating and hosting others for meals."