Andrew Huberman
1 HN recommender · recommended in 3 months, 2022–2024
3:03:42 · 5.3M views · Nov 21, 2022
Andrew Huberman interviews Harvard psychiatrist Chris Palmer about nutrition, metabolism and mental health, including the ketogenic diet as a treatment for depression and schizophrenia.
Cited in threads on metabolism and mental illness, especially keto for psychiatric conditions.
3 comments from Hacker News
I heard the podcast from Huberman and Dr. Chris Palmer and they talk about ketosis and mental illness. It was really interesting. this video
This episode, right? this video Dr. Chris Palmer: Diet & Nutrition for Mental Health | Huberman Lab Podcast #99 > 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 evidenced-based treatment for epilepsy, mimics the fasted state and can offset the cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s. 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, important risk factors for mitochondrial health such as marijuana and alcohol, and 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.
Now that I think about it a little more, that general idea fits into Scott's framework of the how the constraints of cultivation, specifically that what we cultivate domesticates us in turn. Specifically grain being so calorie dense and pleasurable that we end up becoming beholden to its growth, with significant cost. Look at all the ideas permeating these days about dangers of high carb diets, this book [1] suggesting they make us stupid for example. Or about the link between metabolic disfunction and mental disorders [2] [1] [LINK] [2] this video