Metabolism, Brain Energy, and Mental Health with Dr. Chris Palmer | Being Well Podcast

Dr. Chris Palmer, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, joins me to discuss the relationship between metabolic function and mental illness.

We begin with 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. We 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. Dr. Palmer and I 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.

Key Topics:
0:00 Introduction
1:30 How Dr. Palmer's personal experience has influenced his work
4:00 The brain energy theory as a response to treatment resistant conditions
9:35 Mental states vs. mental disorders, and problems with our diagnostic criteria
15:05 Brain disorders as metabolic disorders
20:30 Defining metabolism
23:25 The role of mitochondria
29:35 How medication affects metabolism
35:25 How stress and emotions affect metabolism
42:00 The ketogenic diet, mitophagy, and mitochondrial biogenesis
48:05 The importance of education and support around ketosis for medical conditions
53:30 Supplementing medication with lifestyle change vs. replacing it
57:00 Sleep and light exposure
1:00:15 Love, connection, and sense of purpose
1:07:15 A sense of safety as a prerequisite for healing
1:10:10 Recap

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Who Am I: I'm Forrest, the co-author of Resilient (https://amzn.to/3iXLerD) and host of the Being Well Podcast (https://apple.co/38ufGG0). I'm making videos focused on simplifying psychology, mental health, and personal growth.

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