Diet & Nutrition for Mental Health | Dr. Chris Palmer

**Andrew Huberman** (0:00)
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. And indeed, today, he describes not only his own fascinating journey into the field of psychiatry, but also his clinical and research experience 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, a lone ending 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 Energy, 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 chrispalmermd.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 Element. Element is an electrolyte drink with everything you need and nothing you don't. That means plenty of salt, magnesium and potassium, the so-called electrolytes, and no sugar. Now, salt, magnesium and potassium are critical to the function of all the cells in your body, in particular to the function of your nerve cells, also called neurons. In fact, in order for your neurons to function properly, all three electrolytes need to be present in the proper ratios. And we now know that even slight reductions in electrolyte concentrations or dehydration of the body can lead to deficits in cognitive and physical performance. Element contains a science-backed electrolyte ratio of 1000 milligrams, that's one gram of sodium, 200 milligrams of potassium and 60 milligrams of magnesium. I typically drink Element first thing in the morning when I wake up in order to hydrate my body and make sure I have enough electrolytes. And while I do any kind of physical training and after physical training as well, especially if I've been sweating a lot, if you'd like to try Element, you can go to drinkelement. That's lmnt.com/huberman to claim a free Element sample pack with your purchase. Again, that's drinklmnt.com/huberman. Today's episode is also brought to us by Thesis. Thesis makes what are called nootropics, which means smart drugs. Now, to be honest, I am not a fan of the term nootropics. I don't believe in smart drugs in the sense that I don't believe that there's any one substance or collection of substances that can make us smarter. I do believe based on science, however, that there are particular neural circuits and brain functions that allow us to be more focused, more alert, access creativity, be more motivated, et cetera. That's just the way that the brain works, different neural circuits for different brain states. Thesis understands this. And as far as I know, they're the first nootropics company to create targeted nootropics for specific outcomes. I've been using Thesis for more than six months now, and I can confidently say that the nootropics have been a total game changer. My go-to formula is the clarity formula, or sometimes I'll use their energy formula before training. To get your own personalized nootropic starter kit, go online to takethesis.com/huberman, take a three-minute quiz, and Thesis will send you four different formulas to try in your first month. That's takethesis.com/huberman, and use the code Huberman at checkout for 10% off your first order. And now for my discussion with Dr. Chris Palmer. Chris, Dr. Palmer, thank you for being here.