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

Being Well with Forrest Hanson and Dr. Rick Hanson

Being Well

Education, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.8 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 21 August 2023

⏱️ 81 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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: Subscribe on iTunes Follow Forrest on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Follow Forrest on Instagram Follow Rick on Facebook Follow Forrest on Facebook Visit Forrest's website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Being Well, I'm Forest Hanson.
0:10.5	If you're new to the show, thanks for joining us today, and if you've listened before,
0:14.3	welcome back.
0:15.8	My guest today is Dr. Chris Palmer.
0:18.0	Dr. Palmer is a board-certified psychiatrist and assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard
0:22.8	Medical School.
0:24.1	His clinical practice focuses on helping people suffering from treatment-resistant mental
0:28.2	illnesses, including mood disorders, psychotic disorders, and personality disorders, and
0:34.1	he's been involved in psychiatric research for well over 20 years.
0:37.8	He's focused his research on the areas of metabolism, metabolic disorders, and their
0:42.3	connection to mental disorders, and this work led to his book Brain Energy, A Revolutionary
0:47.4	Breakthrough in Understanding Mental Health, An Improving Treatment for Anxiety, Depression,
0:52.8	OCD, PTSD, and more.
0:55.6	I've been looking forward to this conversation for a while, I've been doing a lot of prep
0:59.7	for it, and Chris was kind enough to change the date and time of the conversation when
1:04.2	I got a little sick before we were last supposed to record.
1:07.3	So Chris, thanks for joining me today.
1:08.7	How are you doing?
1:09.7	I'm doing great.
1:10.7	Thank you for having me on the show, Forest.
1:13.0	I've been really looking forward to this one, including because I've had to learn a lot.
1:16.2	I've had to learn a lot about the bodies, about the body, about the body, about the
	...

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