Being Well with Forrest Hanson and Dr. Rick Hanson

Metabolism, Brain Energy, and Mental Health with Dr. Chris Palmer

Aug 21, 2023

01:19:19

Snipd AI

Dr. Chris Palmer, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, discusses the relationship between metabolic function and mental illness. They explore the role of mitochondria in mental illness and the impact of current treatments on brain energy and metabolism. Practical interventions to improve metabolic function include the ketogenic diet, sleep, exercise, stress management, love, connection, and sense of purpose.

AI Summary

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Metabolism plays a crucial role in mental illness, and understanding this connection can lead to targeted interventions for improved mental health.

The ketogenic diet shows promise as a treatment for treatment-resistant mental illnesses, but professional guidance and support are essential for effective implementation.

Practices like mindfulness, meditation, and having a sense of purpose can positively impact both metabolic health and mental wellness.

Deep dives

The Role of Metabolism in Mental Illness

The podcast episode explores the connection between metabolism and mental illness, highlighting how metabolic disorders of the brain can lead to conditions such as anxiety, depression, OCD, and schizophrenia. The focus is on understanding how genetics, trauma, stress, hormones, and inflammation can all impact brain metabolism and contribute to the development of mental disorders. By viewing mental illnesses as metabolic disorders, the theory presented in the episode offers a holistic understanding of these conditions and opens up possibilities for targeted interventions to improve mental health.

Introduction

4min

Understanding Treatment-Resistant Conditions and the Role of the Ketogenic Diet

5min

The Role of Mitochondria in Mental Illness

25min

The Impact of Psychotherapy and Stress on Metabolism

5min

The Impact of Loneliness on Metabolism and Mental Health

4min

The Interplay Between Interventions and Experiences

14min

Factors Impacting Diet and Metabolic Health

22min

The Interplay Between Mind and Body in Mental Health

2min

Dr. Chris Palmer, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, joins Forrest to discuss the relationship between metabolic function and mental illness. They discuss Dr. Palmer’s work with patients suffering from severe conditions like schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, psychiatry’s current challenges with treatment-resistant conditions, and the important distinction between difficult psychological states and brain-based disorders. They then explore the relationship between mental illness and metabolic function, the key role mitochondria play in the process, and how current treatments impact our metabolism. Forrest and Dr. Palmer close the episode by discussing a number of practical interventions to improve metabolic function, including the ketogenic diet, sleep, exercise, stress management techniques like mindfulness practice, and even love, connection, and sense of purpose.

About our Guest: Dr. Chris Palmer is a board-certified psychiatrist and assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. His clinical practice focuses on helping people suffering from treatment-resistant mental illnesses, including mood disorders, psychotic disorders, and personality disorders. His newest book is Brain Energy: A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Understanding Mental Health.

You can watch this episode on YouTube.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

1:35: How Dr. Palmer's personal experience has influenced his work

4:00: The brain energy theory as a response to treatment resistant conditions

9:05: Mental states vs. mental disorders, and problems with our diagnostic criteria

14:25: Brain disorders as metabolic disorders

19:50: Defining metabolism

22:40: The role of mitochondria

28:45: How medication affects metabolism

35:20: How stress and emotions affect metabolism

41:40: The ketogenic diet, mitophagy, and mitochondrial biogenesis

47:40: The importance of education and support around ketosis for medical conditions

53:00: Supplementing medication with lifestyle change vs. replacing it

56:20: Sleep and light exposure

59:35: Love, connection, and sense of purpose

1:06:00: A sense of safety as a prerequisite for healing

1:09:10: Recap

Support the Podcast: We're now on Patreon! If you'd like to support the podcast, follow this link.

Sponsors:

Factor delivers fresh, never-frozen, fully prepared meals right to your door. Head to factormeals.com/beingwell50 and use code beingwell50 to get 50% off.

Zocdoc helps you find expert doctors and medical professionals that specialize in the care you need, and deliver the type of experience you want. Head to zocdoc.com/being and download the Zocdoc app for FREE.

Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month!

Want to sleep better? Try the Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription.

Finally get that project off the ground with Squarespace! Head to squarespace.com/beingwell for a free trial, and when you’re ready to launch use coupon code BEINGWELL to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

Connect with the show:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export