Brian Johnson (Optimize Plus One) discusses The Happiness Diet (by Tyler Graham and Drew Ramsey, M.D.) and emphasizes diet's large influence on mental health. He cites that roughly 80–90% of serotonin is produced in the gut and quotes a large British Journal of Psychiatry study reporting that processed foods (refined carbohydrates, sweets, processed meats) increase depression risk by ~60%, while a whole-food diet decreases risk by ~26%. He then compares the Standard American Diet (SAD) and a whole-food "happy" diet with informal math (1.6 vs. 0.74) to argue the SAD roughly doubles depression risk versus a whole-food diet, and urges listeners to change shopping/eating habits.
Questions this video answers
About 80–90%
About 60% increased risk
About 26% decreased risk
He computes SAD risk as 1.6 (60% higher than baseline 1) and whole-food diet risk as 0.74 (26% lower than baseline 1), noting this is roughly a twofold difference (1.6 vs. 0.74).
Chapters
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome Back to another Optimize Plus One. In our last Plus One we talked about my recent Philosopher's Notes a thon 25PMs in 2.5 days for the win. One of the notes I really enjoyed was on the Happiness Diet by Tyler Graham and Drew Ramsey, M.D. the whole book and note is fantastic and as you may have guessed by the title, it's all about how a much larger percentage of our happiness is driven by our diet than we may have suspected. Recall that something like 80 to 90% of your feel good serotonin is produced in your gut. That stat always blows me away. Therefore, optimizing our diets should be a primary part of our psychiatrist's or therapist's protocol. Tragically, it's typically not. At least not yet. Today I want to focus on this epic little wisdom gem they say, and I quote, A large study recently published in the British Journal of Psychiatry found that eating processed foods such as refined carbohydrates, sweets and processed meats increased the risk of depression by about 60%. Eating a whole food diet, on the other hand, decreased the risk of the disease by by about 26%. End quote. Let's reread that. I quote again. A large study recently published in the British Journal of Psychiatry found that eating processed foods such as refined carbohydrates, sweets and processed meats increased the risk of depression by about 60%. Eating a whole food diet, on the other hand, decreased the risk of the disease by about 26%. End quote. Now let's do the math. If you're eating a standard modern diet, also known as the Standard American diet, abbreviated as sad or sad, with all that processed food and refined carbs, you're 60% more likely to be depressed. Pause. Reflect on that stat. If we assume a baseline of 1, a 60% increased risk of depression would put us at 1.6. Now, if you switch to eating a healthier whole food based diet, your risk of getting depression would go down by 26% from that baseline. Assuming the baseline of 1, that would put you at 0.74. Now, if my rough napkin math is correct, that means that you're basically twice as likely to be depressed on the SAD diet than you would be on The Happy Diet 1.6 versus 74. Pause. Reflect on that stat. Then pause and reflect on what makes it into your shopping cart and your mouth today. That's today's plus one. Let's do the happiness diet math for ourselves and for our families and colleagues and loved ones. A little more today.
