A brief podcast episode (Optimize +1) in which Brian Johnson summarizes and reflects on a chapter called “Positive Nutrition” from Kate Hefferon’s textbook. Johnson highlights historical increases in sugar consumption (from ~5 lbs/person/year in 1700 to ~150 lbs in 2000), cites cross-national research linking sugar intake with higher annual depression rates and hippocampal shrinkage, and urges listeners to reduce sugar as a lever for mental and physical health. The episode ends with a call to action and closing tagline.
You're listening to Optimize with Bryan Johnson. More wisdom in less time.
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optimize plus one. Continuing our brief tour through Kate Hefferon's textbook on positive psychology in the body, let's flip open to the chapter literally called Positive Nutrition. Hmm. I wonder what science has to say about the impact of our diets on our well being. Guess where Kate starts her discussion with sugar. She tells us, and I quote, sugar has been a component within Western diets since the 16th century. While 500 years ago, the average human would be lucky to come across sugar in. It is estimated that today the average Westerner consumes 3 pounds of sugar a week. Overall, our sugar consumption per year has risen from 5 pounds per person per year in 1700 to 152 pounds per person in 2000. Recent research has found evidence that sugar, while not only bad for our waistlines, can have deleterious effects on our brain. Sugar has been found to shrink areas responsible for important functions such as memory and mood regulation. Wearing on the hippocampus. So we've talked about this before, but let's pause and contemplate that math one more time. Five hundred years ago, basically no sugar. Pause. Reflect on that. Pretty please with sugar not on top then 300 years ago, we were consuming about 5 pounds of sugar. Today. Today, the average Westerner consumes 150 pounds of sugar every year. So millions of years of evolution, close to zero consumption of sugar. Now 150 pounds of sugar on average every year. Hmm. I wonder if that might have any negative consequences. Back to Kate, who tells us that researchers conducted a cross national study, Korea, usa, France, Germany, Canada and New Zealand on the relationship between sugar consumption and incidence of major depression. They found that there was a highly significant correlation between sugar consumption and the annual rate of depression. Well, she says this study has some major limitations. It highlights the importance of reassessing the manufacturing of processed food and the role of sugar within our diets. End quote. Today's one sugar, one more time. It does a mind and body bad. Not only does it mess with our insulin and metabolism and lead to a lot of the crippling chronic body diseases we're dealing with as a society, it also wreaks havoc on our minds and leads to a lot of the crippling psychological challenges which we're dealing with as a society. I can't think of a more powerful lever to optimize our nutrition than getting really smart on how much sugar we're consuming and having fun seeing just how much we can eliminate. So how much sugar are you consuming these days? Note, it's ubiquitous and probably a lot more than you think. Here's to the minus 1. Minus 1. Minus 1 4. The 111 wins today.
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Optymyze with Brian Johnson. To find out more, go to Optimize Me.
Hey guys, this is Brian with a quick little P.S. i'm really excited to let you know about an event we're working on. Plan is to make it the premier self optimizing event of 2020. We're calling it Optimize 2020. You the modern hero. Basic idea, five days, 101 world class luminaries. One million people. You can learn more and get your tickets to the online and offline event at Optimize Me 2020. Again, that's Optimize Me2020. Hope to see you there.
