Diet & Nutrition for Mental Health | Dr. Chris Palmer

My guest this episode is Chris Palmer, M.D., a board-certified psychiatrist and assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He explains the important connection between nutrition, metabolism and mental health and his pioneering work using the ketogenic diet to successfully treat patients with various mental illnesses, including depression and schizophrenia. Dr. Palmer explains how the ketogenic diet is an evidence-based treatment for epilepsy, mimics the fasted state and can offset cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease. He describes the key roles of mitochondria in mental health, how certain conditions likely arise from mitochondrial dysfunction and how low-carbohydrate diets increase mitochondrial turnover to improve mental health. He also explains how low-carbohydrate diets positively impact the gut microbiome and weight loss, highlights important risk factors for mitochondrial health such as marijuana and alcohol, and discusses the best way to increase circulating ketones depending on individual needs. We also cover how a ketogenic diet impacts mood, sleep and fertility. Dr. Palmer’s work stands as a revolutionary approach to mental health and disease that, given the prevalence of mental health challenges, should be of interest to people of all backgrounds and ages. Thank you to our sponsors AG1 (Athletic Greens): https://athleticgreens.com/huberman Thesis: https://takethesis.com/Huberman Eight Sleep: https://www.eightsleep.com/huberman ROKA: https://www.roka.com/huberman InsideTracker: https://www.insidetracker.com/huberman Supplements from Momentous https://www.livemomentous.com/huberman Huberman Lab Premium https://hubermanlab.com/premium Social & Website Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hubermanlab Twitter: https://twitter.com/hubermanlab Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hubermanlab TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hubermanlab LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-huberman Website: https://hubermanlab.com Newsletter: https://hubermanlab.com/neural-network Dr. Chris Palmer Dr. Palmer’s website: https://www.chrispalmermd.com Brain Energy: A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Understanding Mental Health--and Improving Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD, and More: https://amzn.to/3XheFIV Medical profile: https://www.mcleanhospital.org/profile/christopher-palmer Academic profile & publications: https://connects.catalyst.harvard.edu/Profiles/display/Person/70255 Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisPalmerMD Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrispalmermd Timestamps 00:00:00 Dr. Chris Palmer, Mental Health & Metabolic Disorders 00:03:25 Thesis, Eight Sleep, ROKA 00:07:18 Nutrition & Mental Health 00:20:43 Low-Carb Diets & Anti-Depression, Fasting, Ketosis 00:27:52 Schizophrenia, Depression & Ketogenic Diet 00:34:32 AG1 (Athletic Greens) 00:35:38 Psychiatric Mediations, Diet Adherence 00:42:35 Highly Processed Foods, Ketones & Mental Health Benefits 00:46:51 Ketogenic Diet & Epilepsy Treatment 00:56:10 Ketogenic Diet & Mitochondria Health 00:57:05 Nutrition & Benefits for Neurologic/Psychiatric Disorders 01:05:44 Mitochondrial Function & Mental Health 01:15:12 InsideTracker 01:16:23 Mitophagy, Mitochondrial Dysfunction, Aging & Diet 01:25:09 Neurons, Mitochondria & Blood Glucose 01:31:54 Obesity, Ketogenic Diet & Mitochondria 01:40:00 Mitochondrial Function: Inheritance, Risk Factors, Marijuana 01:46:34 Alcohol & Ketogenic Diet 01:55:21 Brain Imaging, Alzheimer’s Disease & Ketones 02:01:05 Exogenous (Liquid) Ketones vs. Ketogenic Diet 02:06:27 Neuronal Damage, Ketones & Glucose 02:10:16 Alzheimer’s Disease, Age-Related Cognitive Decline & Ketogenic Diet 02:23:45 Ketogenic Diet & Weight Loss 02:35:47 Ketogenic Diet & Fasting, Hypomania, Sleep 02:46:37 Low Carbohydrate Diets, Menstrual Cycles, Fertility 02:52:23 Obesity Epidemic, Semaglutide & GLP-1 Medications 03:01:01 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Momentous Supplements, Neural Network Newsletter, Social Media Disclaimer & Disclosures: https://www.hubermanlab.com/disclaimer

Andrew HubermanhostChris Palmerguest

Nov 21, 20223h 3mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: November 21, 2022
Duration: 3h 3m
Channel: Huberman Lab
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

My guest this episode is Chris Palmer, M.D., a board-certified psychiatrist and assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He explains the important connection between nutrition, metabolism and mental health and his pioneering work using the ketogenic diet to successfully treat patients with various mental illnesses, including depression and schizophrenia. Dr. Palmer explains how the ketogenic diet is an evidence-based treatment for epilepsy, mimics the fasted state and can offset cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease. He describes the key roles of mitochondria in mental health, how certain conditions likely arise from mitochondrial dysfunction and how low-carbohydrate diets increase mitochondrial turnover to improve mental health. He also explains how low-carbohydrate diets positively impact the gut microbiome and weight loss, highlights important risk factors for mitochondrial health such as marijuana and alcohol, and discusses the best way to increase circulating ketones depending on individual needs. We also cover how a ketogenic diet impacts mood, sleep and fertility. Dr. Palmer’s work stands as a revolutionary approach to mental health and disease that, given the prevalence of mental health challenges, should be of interest to people of all backgrounds and ages. Thank you to our sponsors AG1 (Athletic Greens): https://athleticgreens.com/huberman Thesis: https://takethesis.com/Huberman Eight Sleep: https://www.eightsleep.com/huberman ROKA: https://www.roka.com/huberman InsideTracker: https://www.insidetracker.com/huberman Supplements from Momentous https://www.livemomentous.com/huberman Huberman Lab Premium https://hubermanlab.com/premium Social & Website Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hubermanlab Twitter: https://twitter.com/hubermanlab Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hubermanlab TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hubermanlab LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-huberman Website: https://hubermanlab.com Newsletter: https://hubermanlab.com/neural-network Dr. Chris Palmer Dr. Palmer’s website: https://www.chrispalmermd.com Brain Energy: A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Understanding Mental Health--and Improving Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD, and More: https://amzn.to/3XheFIV Medical profile: https://www.mcleanhospital.org/profile/christopher-palmer Academic profile & publications: https://connects.catalyst.harvard.edu/Profiles/display/Person/70255 Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisPalmerMD Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrispalmermd Timestamps 00:00:00 Dr. Chris Palmer, Mental Health & Metabolic Disorders 00:03:25 Thesis, Eight Sleep, ROKA 00:07:18 Nutrition & Mental Health 00:20:43 Low-Carb Diets & Anti-Depression, Fasting, Ketosis 00:27:52 Schizophrenia, Depression & Ketogenic Diet 00:34:32 AG1 (Athletic Greens) 00:35:38 Psychiatric Mediations, Diet Adherence 00:42:35 Highly Processed Foods, Ketones & Mental Health Benefits 00:46:51 Ketogenic Diet & Epilepsy Treatment 00:56:10 Ketogenic Diet & Mitochondria Health 00:57:05 Nutrition & Benefits for Neurologic/Psychiatric Disorders 01:05:44 Mitochondrial Function & Mental Health 01:15:12 InsideTracker 01:16:23 Mitophagy, Mitochondrial Dysfunction, Aging & Diet 01:25:09 Neurons, Mitochondria & Blood Glucose 01:31:54 Obesity, Ketogenic Diet & Mitochondria 01:40:00 Mitochondrial Function: Inheritance, Risk Factors, Marijuana 01:46:34 Alcohol & Ketogenic Diet 01:55:21 Brain Imaging, Alzheimer’s Disease & Ketones 02:01:05 Exogenous (Liquid) Ketones vs. Ketogenic Diet 02:06:27 Neuronal Damage, Ketones & Glucose 02:10:16 Alzheimer’s Disease, Age-Related Cognitive Decline & Ketogenic Diet 02:23:45 Ketogenic Diet & Weight Loss 02:35:47 Ketogenic Diet & Fasting, Hypomania, Sleep 02:46:37 Low Carbohydrate Diets, Menstrual Cycles, Fertility 02:52:23 Obesity Epidemic, Semaglutide & GLP-1 Medications 03:01:01 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Momentous Supplements, Neural Network Newsletter, Social Media Disclaimer & Disclosures: https://www.hubermanlab.com/disclaimer

SPEAKERS

Andrew Huberman
host
Chris Palmer
guest

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Huberman Lab, featuring Andrew Huberman and Chris Palmer, Diet & Nutrition for Mental Health | Dr. Chris Palmer explores ketogenic Metabolism: A New Frontier in Treating Serious Mental Illness Dr. Chris Palmer, a Harvard psychiatrist, argues that many mental illnesses are fundamentally metabolic and mitochondrial disorders, and that targeted nutrition—especially ketogenic and low-carbohydrate diets—can be powerful treatments alongside medication. Drawing on his own history of OCD, depression, and metabolic syndrome, he describes how an Atkins-style low-carb diet unexpectedly resolved not just his metabolic markers but also his mood, energy, and sleep.

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