Metabolism, Brain Energy, and Mental Health with Dr. Chris Palmer
Dr. Chris Palmer, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, joins me to discuss the relationship between metabolic function and mental illness. We 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. 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.
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
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