Diet & Nutrition for Mental Health | Dr. Chris Palmer

Welcome to the Huberman Lab Podcast where we discuss science and science based tools for everyday life. I'm Andrew Huberman and I'm a professor of Neurobiology and Ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today My guest is Dr. Chris Palmer. Dr. Chris Palmer is a medical doctor specializing in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is the world expert in the relationship between metabolic disorders and psychiatric disorders. He treats a variety of different conditions, including psychosis, including schizophrenia, as well as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety disorders and depression, among others. He is best known for understanding the relationship between how metabolism and these various disorders of the mind interact. Indeed, today he describes not only his own fascinating journey into the field of psychiatry, but also his clinical and research experience using using diet, that is different forms of nutrition in order to treat various psychiatric disorders. He describes some remarkable case studies of individuals and groups of people who have achieved tremendous relief from the types of psychiatric disorders that I just mentioned a few moments ago, as well as new and emerging themes as to how metabolism and the mind interact to control things like obesity. Indeed, he raises the hypothesis that perhaps obesity in many cases is the consequence of a brain dysfunction, as opposed to the consequence of a metabolic dysfunction that then impacts the brain. During today's episode, he shares with us his overriding hypotheses about the critical roles that mitochondrial function and dysfunction play in mental health and mental illness, and how various particular types of diets, ranging from the ketogenic diet to modified ketogenic diet and even just slight adjustments in carbohydrate intake, can be used in order to change mitochondrial function and bring relief for various psychiatric illnesses. He also highlights the essential and important theme that various diet interventions, including the ketogenic diet, were not first developed for sake of weight loss, but rather were developed as treatments for neurologic conditions such as epilepsy. Today, he shares with us how the foods that we eat alone end in combination and how fasting, both intermittent fasting and more lengthy fasts, can interact with the way that our brain functions to strongly control the way that we think, feel and behave. What's wonderful is that Dr. Palmer not only explains the science and his clinical expertise, but also points to various actionable measures that people can take in order to improve their mental health. I'd like to mention that Dr. Palmer is also the author of a terrific new book. The title is Brain A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Understanding Mental Health and Improving Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, ocd, PTSD and more. I've read the book and it is a terrific read. I came away from this book with a much evolved understanding of how the various psychiatric disorders that I just described, as well as adhd, emerge in people, and it has completely revised my understanding about the possible origins of various psychiatric disorders and the best ways to treat them, including both with medications but also with nutritional approaches. If you'd like to learn more about Dr. Palmer's work and the book, please go to Chris PalmerMD.com we also provide links to the book and to his website in our show. Note Captions before we begin, I'd like to emphasize that this podcast is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford. It is, however, part of my desire and effort to bring zero cost to consumer information about science and science related tools for the general public. In keeping with that theme, I'd like to thank the sponsors of today's podcast. Our first sponsor is Thesis. Thesis makes custom nootropics and as I've said many times before on this podcast, I am not a fan of the word nootropics because it means smart drugs and frankly, there are no specific neural circuits in the brain or body for being quote unquote smart. Thesis understands this and they've developed custom nootropics that are designed to bring your brain and body into the state that's ideal for what you need to accomplish. They use the highest quality ingredients, things like phosphodidylserine, alpha GPC method, many ingredients that I've talked about before on this podcast and that I happen to use myself. I've been using Thesis for over a year now and I can confidently say that their nootropics have been a game changer for me. I like their nootropic for clarity. I use that before cognitive work often and I like their nootropic for energy and I often use that before workouts, in particular workouts that are especially intense. To get your own personalized nootropic starter kit, go online to takethesis.com Huberman take their three minute quiz and Thesis will send you four different formulas to try in your first month. Again, that's takethesis.com, and use the code HUBERMAN at checkout to get 10% off your first box. Today's episode is also brought to us by Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep makes smart mattress covers with cooling, heating and sleep tracking capacity. I've talked many times on this podcast about the critical relationship between sleep and body temperature. That is, in order to fall asleep and stay deeply asleep throughout the night, our body temperature needs to drop by about 1 to 3 degrees and conversely when we wake up in the morning that is in large part because of our body heating up by 1 to 3 degrees. People have different core body temperatures and they tend to run colder or hotter throughout the night. 8 Sleep allows you to adjust the temperature of your sleeping environment so that you have the optimal temperature that gets you the best night's sleep. I started sleeping on an eight sleep mattress cover about eight months ago and it has completely transformed my sleep. I sleep so much deeper. I wake up far less during the middle of the night, if at all and and I wake up feeling far better than I ever have even after the same amount of sleep. If you want to try Eight Sleep, you can go to Eight Sleep.comhuberman to save up to $400 off their sleep Fit holiday bundle, which includes their new Pod 3 cover. 8 Sleep currently ships in the USA, Canada, United Kingdom, select countries in the EU and Australia. Again, that's 8Sleep.com Huberman Today's episode is also brought to us by Roka. Roka makes eyeglasses and sunglasses that are of the absolute highest quality. The company was founded by two all American swimmers from Stanford, and everything about Roka eyeglasses and sunglasses were designed with performance in mind. I've spent a lifetime working on the biology, the visual system, and I can tell you that your visual system has to contend with an enormous number of challenges in order for you to see clearly. For instance, when you move from a sunny area to a shady area and back again, whether or not you're looking at something up close or off into the distance, Roka understands the biology of the visual system and has designed their eyeglasses and sunglasses accordingly so that you always see with perfect clarity. Roka eyeglasses and sunglasses were initially designed for activities such as running and cycling, and indeed they are very lightweight. Most of the time I can't even remember that they're on my face, they're so lightweight. But the important thing to know about Roka eyeglasses and sunglasses is that while they can be used during sports activities, they also have a terrific aesthetic and they can be used just as well for wearing to work or out to dinner, et cetera. If you'd like to try Roka eyeglasses and sunglasses, you can go to roka, that's R O-K A dot com and enter the code huberman to save 20% off on your first order. Again, that's roka R-O-K dash A dot com and enter the code Huberman at checkout. And now for my discussion with Dr. Chris Palmer. Chris Dr. Palmer, thank you for being here. Thank you, Andrew, for having me. I have a lot of questions for you, and I'm really excited about this topic because I think most people know what mental illness is or they have some idea what that is. Most people have some idea what nutrition is. Fewer people certainly know how closely those things can interact and.