Fix Your Brain by Fixing Your Body: Metabolic Psychiatry Explained by Dr. Shebani Sethi

The Dr. Hyman Show

Dr. Mark Hyman

Health & Fitness, Nutrition, Medicine

4.6 • 8.7K Ratings

🗓️ 24 September 2025

⏱️ 76 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For too long, psychiatry has treated mental illness as if it lives only in the brain. But what if the real story begins in the body? My guest today, Dr. Shebani Sethi, is a Clinical Associate Professor at Stanford and founding director of the Metabolic Psychiatry Program, the first clinic to unite psychiatry with nutrition and metabolism. On this revealing episode of The Dr. Hyman Show, we explore how shifts in metabolism affect the brain and why this whole-body lens could transform how we prevent, understand, and treat mental health. Watch the full conversation on YouTube, or listen wherever you get your podcasts. We discuss: • How to recognize metabolic red flags behind mood and focus • Tests you can ask for to uncover hidden drivers of mental health • Everyday steps to restore brain energy and resilience • Foods and nutrients that calm inflammation and support cognition Dr. Shebani Sethi coined the term Metabolic Psychiatry, capturing what I’ve long believed and explored: that mental health begins in the body. Embracing this shift could reshape how we treat the mind and how we live each day. View Show Notes From This Episode Get Free Weekly Health Tips from Dr. Hyman https://drhyman.com/pages/picks?utm_campaign=shownotes&utm_medium=banner&utm_source=podcast Sign Up for Dr. Hyman’s Weekly Longevity Journal https://drhyman.com/pages/longevity?utm_campaign=shownotes&utm_medium=banner&utm_source=podcast Join the 10-Day Detox to Reset Your Health https://drhyman.com/pages/10-day-detox Join the Hyman Hive for Expert Support and Real Results https://drhyman.com/pages/hyman-hive This episode is brought to you by Big Bold Health, Sunlighten, Function Health, Paleovalley, Timeline and AirDoctor. Get 30% off HTB Immune Energy Chews at bigboldhealth.com and use code DRMARK30. Visit sunlighten.com and save up to $1400 on your purchase with code HYMAN. Join today at FunctionHealth.com/Mark and use code HYMAN100 to get $100 toward your membership. Get nutrient-dense, whole foods. Head to paleovalley.com/hyman for 15% off your first purchase. Support essential mitochondrial health and save 10% on Mitopure. Visit timeline.com/drhyman to get 10% off today. Get cleaner air. Right now, you can get up to $300 off at airdoctorpro.com/drhyman.

Transcript

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0:00.0	One in three people have insulin resistance in the United States, and that doubles your risk of developing depression, even if you have had no psychiatric history.
0:08.0	This is this sort of weird moment in psychiatry where I think we're converging these two massive paradigm shifts.
0:14.0	One is around psychedelic medicine, metabolic psychiatry.
0:18.0	You can't do one without the other.
0:20.0	Dr. Shabani Sethi is the founding director of
0:22.6	Stanford's Metabolic Psychiatry Program,
0:25.6	where she unites nutrition, metabolism, and mental health care.
0:29.6	She's rewriting mental health.
0:30.6	By fixing the body first.
0:32.6	What is metabolic psychiatry?
0:33.6	Metabolic psychiatry is thinking about metabolism and mental health connection, but it's the study of all of the metabolic dysfunctions both systemic as well as central. So you can have dysfunction in the brain and you can have this function outside the brain in the body. And those two elements are important in thinking about how that affects psychiatric disease and mental health.
0:57.6	The thing that I think people are wondering about it is where do I start?
1:00.7	I'm depressed. I'm anxious.
1:02.6	Maybe I have bipolar disease.
1:03.8	Maybe I've got it from schizophrenia.
1:05.4	Like, what do I do?
1:10.4	What if you could nourish your immune system, metabolism, and longevity, all from a single plant?
1:15.4	Himalayan tartary buckwheat or htb is one of nature's richest sources of immune-active polyphenols like quercetin and rootin.
1:22.0	New research is shining a light on how these compounds may support long-term health at the cellular level.
1:28.0	To bring this benefits into your daily routine, Big Bold Health created H-TB,
1:32.3	immune energy chews, each one crafted from organically sprouted H-TB and fortified with key
1:37.7	nutrients like vitamin C, D3, magnesium, and zinc. They're portable, flavorful, and designed
	...

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