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The Cellular Link Between Mental Illness and Metabolic Disease

"The Cellular Link Between Mental Illness and Metabolic Disease: A Harvard psychiatrist argues that mitochondrial dysfunction underlies both."

Dr Chris Palmer has been a DietDoctor guest, spoke at the US 'Food Guidelines' hearings, and he's basically a "good dude" in the LC/keto community. This piece outlines his new book.

Quote:

At age 33, Tom had spent most of his adult life struggling with schizoaffective disorder. He experienced daily hallucinations and delusions and was plagued by anxiety and depression.

Medications helped him control some of his symptoms, but they also caused him to gain weight. Heavy to begin with, he put on more than 100 pounds. He didn’t want to see another doctor, and so he asked his psychiatrist for help. They tried several diets without success before they gave the ketogenic diet a shot.

Within a few weeks, Tom had begun to lose weight. To his doctor’s surprise, his psychiatric symptoms also mellowed. After two months on the diet, these changes were even more dramatic. Eventually Tom lost more than 150 pounds, and his mental state improved to the point that he could move out of his father’s house and live on his own.

“I was flabbergasted,” recalls his psychiatrist, Christopher Palmer. “This man had a psychotic disorder that had resisted more than a decade of treatment. Nothing in my knowledge or experience suggested that the ketogenic diet would treat his symptoms.”

(...) On the role of mitochondria in mental illness, Palmer says he supports a theory that others before him have proposed: that energy shortfalls caused by mitochondrial dysfunction can cause the brain to “fail” in predictable ways, and that psychiatric symptoms or disorders are the result of these failures.

This is a REAL game changer. Poverty and stress and mental illness and poor diet.

I'm always reminded of the pellagra epidemic in the Southern US States. Lack of B vitamins from a new manufactured food.

Thanks, Kristine. It's frustrating that many aren't aware how powerful an effect healthy eating and lifestyle can have on well being. Yes, we know it can improve metabolic health, and along with improved metabolic health comes a variety of benefits with improved mental health being at the top of the list. I'll check out Dr. Chris Palmer's recent work.

ETA: Pre-ordered his book to be available in November, Brain Energy. Just from the description, the pharmacology portions of it seem to fit hand-in-glove with Dr. David Healy's books, Shipwreck of the Singular and The Decapitation of Care, but it's much more from a lifestyle-change emphasized perspective.

Thanks, Rob! That sounds like an exciting book.

Publication Day is today. I’m on wait list for library, but listened to interview with Vanessa Spina this morning, Part 1 is an hour long.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podca...i=1000586213688

Tim Ferris, another 2 hour interview. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podca...i=1000585795794

All very interesting, can’t wait to read the book.

The Book's website is: https://brainenergy.com/

I just requested that my library purchase it.

Two more new interviews about the book, Brain Energy, with Dr Chris Palmer. One hour with Everyday Wellness but the winner, so far, by sheer length of time, is the Interview with Dr Andrew Huberman, three hours!
https://hubermanlab.com/dr-chris-pa...-mental-health/

Dr Jeffrey Gerber has released Dr Chris Palmer's talk at the LC Denver Conference on Brain Energy free. Other conference talks available for purchase.

Dr. Chris Palmer presentation: Brain Energy, The metabolic Theory of Mental Illness

https://lowcarbconferences.com/dr-c...mental-illness/

This Conference News link still has the pre-conference Speaker interviews for free:
https://lowcarbconferences.com/news/
The book has great reviews, I thought it fascinating and the references are there to check. He's thorough.
Dr Palmer has been interviewed and is speaking "everywhere" about it. After this book and talk, there is much more at:
https://www.metabolicmind.org/

Good videos with Dr Bret Scher already at this new foundatio's YT channel, esp on Bipolar and other serious mental health issues.
https://www.youtube.com/~metabolicmind/videos

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kristine

(...) On the role of mitochondria in mental illness, Palmer says he supports a theory that others before him have proposed: that energy shortfalls caused by mitochondrial dysfunction can cause the brain to “fail” in predictable ways, and that psychiatric symptoms or disorders are the result of these failures.

Dr Chris Palmer has been a DietDoctor guest, spoke at the US 'Food Guidelines' hearings, and he's basically a "good dude" in the LC/keto community. This piece outlines his new book.

I believe it because I've lived it. It started in 2003 when low carb eliminated my after lunch fatigue and made a dent in my chronic, "drug resistant," anxiety.