Judith J. Wurtman

Judith J. Wurtman, PhD, is former Director of the Program in Women’s Health at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Clinical Research Center. She was the founder and director of the TRIAD weight management center at McLean Hospital and co-founder of the ADARA weight management center in Boston, MA . Dr. Wurtman received a BA from Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, her MA from Harvard Graduate School of Education in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and her PhD from The George Washington University in Washington, DC. Dr. Wurtman has had articles published in many professional journals, such as Journal of Nutrition, Journal of Psychiatric Research, International Journal of Eating Disorders, International Journal of Obesity, and Journal of the American Dietetic Association, and is the author of several books. Additionally, she is the recipient of several honors and awards from the American Dietetic Association, American Institute of Nutrition, and The American Society for Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr Wurtman’ s research has focused on the relationship between emotional state, carbohydrate craving and brain serotonin. With her husband, Richard, she demonstrated that overeating is often related to the need to decrease stress. They showed that when carbohydrate-rich foods are eaten, the resulting production of brain serotonin improved emotional stability. . She discovered how the consumption of t moderate amounts of carbohydrate prior to meals could decrease subsequent food intake and thus be used as a natural means of appetite control. These discoveries led to the development of a nutritional product for the mood and appetite changes of PMS and the development of a comprehensive weight loss program. Further research on carbohydrate craving during treatment with anti-depressants lead to strategies to minimize and reverse weight gain caused by such drugs. Dr Wurtman has written several books on nutrition and weight loss including Managing your Mind and Mood Through Food and The Serotonin Solution. Her most recent book co-authored with Nina Marquis, M.D , the Serotonin Power Diet was published by Rodale Press in 2007. The book is based on her clinical experience as the founder and director of TRIAD, a weight loss center associated with Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital.. The clinic treated clients whose obesity was caused by emotional overeating and/or treatment with antidepressant and related drugs. ADARA, the private weight loss practice co-founded with Dr Marquis , carries on a similar program. .Dr Wurtman is steady contributor of articles on obesity, nutrition, exercise and life style for the Huffington Post, Psychology Today, Web Md and Wellsphere. She also has her own web site, www.serotoninpowerdiet.com and a live weekly radio program on an NPR affiliate, WHDD.