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Veggie Smarts
Veggie Smarts is a book for everyone to get smart about vegetables. In it, I explain our vegetables and how to get smart about eating them. I describe how nearly all of our vegetables fall within eight families of plants, from among more than 400 families of plants. With Veggie Smarts, you’ll come to understand how all of our different vegetables are or are not related to one another and a smart way to eat them from across eight families (the Brassicas, the Alliums, the Legumes, the Chenopods, the “Aster Greens” (my new term), the Umbellifers, the Cucurbits, and the Nightshades), thereby providing the best nutrition possible.
The book also details my journey from growing up on a dairy farm drinking raw milk to a mid-life burst of energy in which I built from scratch a small organic veggie farm, replete with experiences like crying over stolen cabbage, the magic of growing garlic, my annual failures at growing spinach, and almost inventing a new variety of summer squash. I also describe the old stone house where I wrote in the depths of winter waiting for springtime, and the Delamater family who built that house and farmed my land some 200 years ago.
As I explain eight families of vegetables, I share some strange scientific facts like why some people despise kale, how onions make us cry, why beans make us fart, and the fact that beets can make our pee pink. It’s a bit irreverent—snarky and sarcastic—at times (like when explaining why our underwear is made with GMO cotton, the fact that fake hamburgers have laxatives in them, my strong dislike of tasteless iceberg lettuce, and why blueberry muffins should definitely be made with real blueberries).
Veggie Smarts is guaranteed to improve your health by coming to eat more delicious vegetables and by considering my “Free Health Advice.”
Other Books
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Struggle and Solidarity: Seven Stories of How Americans Fought for Their Mental Health through Federal Legislation
Michael T. Compton, M.D., M.P.H. and Marc W. Manseau, M.D., M.P.H., Editors. 2023. American Psychiatric Publishing, 241 pages.
Society’s mental health is strongly shaped by societal problems termed “the social determinants of mental health.” Struggle and Solidarity takes a historical case study approach to seven major federal laws—among them, the Social Security Act of 1935, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965—to demonstrate how public policies, even when not explicitly mental health-related, can shape social determinants and improve America’s mental health.
After a Foreword by Dr. Patrice Harris, former President of the American Medical Association, for each of the seven historic laws detailed, the book describes the crisis in society that spurred the law’s inception, some of the key people who drove its passage, how the law evolved over time, and how the law continues to influence mental health. Learn how the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 (the first Farm Bill), for example, was one of the most important “mental health” laws in American history.
Available at American Psychiatric Association Publishing, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
The Social Determinants of Mental Health
Michael T. Compton, M.D., M.P.H. and Ruth S. Shim, M.D., M.P.H., Editors. 2015. American Psychiatric Association Publishing, 270 pages.
The Social Determinants of Mental Health is an influential book in the psychiatric, scholarly, and policy-related literature on the social determinants of mental health: those factors stemming from where we learn, play, live, work, and age that impact our overall mental health and well-being.
After a Foreword by Sir Michael Marmot, Dr. Compton, Dr. Shim, and an impressive roster of chapter authors from diverse scholarly backgrounds provide detailed information on topics such as: discrimination and social exclusion; adverse early life experiences; low education and educational inequality; unemployment, underemployment, and job insecurity; income inequality, poverty, and neighborhood deprivation; food insecurity; poor housing quality and housing instability; adverse features of the built environment; and poor access to mental health care.
Learn how food insecurity, for example—among the many other social determinants of mental health detailed—leads to poor mental health outcomes and what we can do to take action.
Available at American Psychiatric Association Publishing, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
Marijuana and Mental Health
Michael T. Compton, M.D., M.P.H., Editor. 2016. American Psychiatric Association Publishing, 243 pages.
Even while many states have passed legislation pertaining to medical marijuana and others have decriminalized or legalized recreational use, a debate continues within society as to whether marijuana is simply a harmless substance that should be fully legalized, a possibly beneficial treatment for individuals with certain illnesses, or a drug with an addiction potential and cause of mental health problems. The controversy exists in the medical community as well, where accumulating evidence implicates marijuana use, especially in adolescence, as a risk factor for poor educational achievement and substance use disorders, as well as schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders—all of which complicates the heated discourse on legalization.
Balanced, focused, and highly readable, Marijuana and Mental Health is a source of comprehensive information on marijuana and mental health in modern American society.
Available at American Psychiatric Association Publishing, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
The American Opioid Epidemic: From Patient Care to Public Health
Michael T. Compton, M.D., M.P.H. and Marc W. Manseau, M.D., M.P.H., Editors. 2019. American Psychiatric Association Publishing, 437 pages.
This comprehensive book provides mental health professionals and others with the latest information on opioid addiction, including misuse of heroin and other illicit opioids, the role of prescription analgesic opioids, and recent overdose trends. Although highly effective in relieving acute pain, opioids can cause untold damage to people’s lives, health, and social structures. The crisis is analyzed by Dr. Compton, Dr. Manseau, and expert chapter authors from a wide variety of perspectives; they address issues of epidemiology and toxicology, prevention and harm reduction, and common comorbidities.
Stressing that prevention and treatment work, The American Opioid Epidemic provides down-to-earth, public health-focused strategies that clinicians and public health workers alike will find indispensable. The use of clinical vignettes and key chapter points help ground the reader and highlight the most important concepts.
Available at American Psychiatric Association Publishing, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
Entangled: How People with Serious Mental Illness Get Caught in Misdemeanor Systems
Leah G. Pope, Ph.D., Amy C. Watson, Ph.D., Jennifer D. Wood, Ph.D., and Michael T. Compton, M.D., M.P.H., Editors. 2025. American Psychiatric Association Publishing, 300 pages.
More than one-third—and in some studies more than two-thirds—of individuals with serious mental illness have a lifetime history of arrest. For the first time, a single book examines the common behaviors, contexts, and decisions that lead to misdemeanor arrests.
Entangled draws on data from a mixed-method, multi-site study to analyze how people with serious mental illness become involved with the criminal legal system. It offers a historical perspective on how shifts in social, mental health, and criminal legal system policies have contributed to current challenges. It also provides insight into the factors behind some of the charges most common among people with serious mental illness, including criminal trespass, shoplifting, obstruction of law enforcement and resisting arrest, and misdemeanor assault.
Available at American Psychiatric Association Publishing, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
Responding to Individuals with Mental Illnesses
Michael T. Compton, M.D., M.P.H. and Raymond J. Kotwicki, M.D., M.P.H. 2006. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 228 pages.
Responding to Individuals with Mental Illnesses is a comprehensive guide for recognizing mental illnesses and responding to people affected by these disorders, especially during times of crises.
With a Foreword by former First Lady Mrs. Rosalynn Carter, this book describes the signs and symptoms of a variety of psychiatric illnesses, substance use disorders, and developmental disabilities that may be most frequently encountered by first responders, public safety officials, police officers, and professionals in the criminal justice system. Many of the chapters deal with specific categories of mental illnesses and provide basic skills to enhance interactions with people who have these disorders and who may be facing stressful situations.
This practical guide aims to enhance the knowledge and skills for non-mental health professionals who interact with individuals with such illnesses.
Available at Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
The First Episode of Psychosis: A Guide for Young People and Their Families
(Revised and Updated Edition)
Beth Broussard, M.P.H., C.H.E.S. and Michael T. Compton, M.D., M.P.H. 2021. Oxford University Press, 221 pages.
The fully updated and revised edition of The First Episode of Psychosis is written for young people and their families experiencing the frightening and confusing initial episode of psychosis.
The book covers a range of topics essential for those faced with the challenges posed by psychosis, including early warning signs, symptoms, types of disorders such as schizophrenia and schizophreniform disorder, evaluation, treatment, and healthy lifestyle choices. This new edition offers expanded coverage of specialized early intervention services, going back to school and work, and the latest psychosocial treatments and medicines. Worksheets help readers to track and better understand their own experiences, and facilitate open communication with care providers, while an extensive glossary clarifies the dizzying array of terms used by medical professionals.
Optimistic, practical, and recovery-oriented, this book helps young people and their families to take an active, informed role in their care as they take steps toward recovery and achieving their goals.
Available at Oxford University Press, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
Clinical Manual of Prevention in Mental Health
Michael T. Compton, M.D., M.P.H., Editor. 2009. American Psychiatric Association Publishing, 406 pages.
Compared with other areas of medicine, such as the prevention of infectious disease, our understanding of the prevention of mental illnesses remains in a relatively nascent state, especially in terms of how prevention can be incorporated into routine clinical practice. Dr. Compton and the authors of the book’s chapters have endeavored to balance reviewing the available research knowledge with providing guidance for practicing clinicians on how such knowledge can be incorporated into everyday practice.
Clinical Manual of Prevention in Mental Health—with a Foreword by David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., the 16th U.S. Surgeon General—urges clinicians everywhere to inquire about risk factors and protective factors in clients’ lives in addition to focusing on the presenting problem. It is Dr. Compton’s intent to provide mental health professionals with the knowledge and practical applications necessary to be prevention-minded in all of their interactions with clients, their families, and the community.
Available at American Psychiatric Association Publishing, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
The Complex Connection Between Cannabis and Schizophrenia
Michael T. Compton, M.D., M.P.H. and Marc W. Manseau, M.D., M.P.H., Editors. 2018. Academic Press / Elsevier, 347 pages.
Marijuana is the most commonly used drug globally, and is becoming increasingly decriminalized and even legalized worldwide. This scholarly book provides an in-depth overview of the current state of research into the role that cannabis plays in psychosis and schizophrenia, covering both the pathophysiological and the pharmacological implications. It addresses the epidemiology of cannabis use and the risks associated with its use, the biological aspects of the drug, its effects on the brain and the pharmacological possibilities of using cannabidiol to treat schizophrenia.
It is the only book on the market devoted exclusively to examining the links between this very commonly used (and misused) drug and a specific set of devastating psychiatric illnesses, providing a comprehensive guide to our current understandings of this relationship.
Available at Academic Press / Elsevier, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.