Why is it that while many of us know what activities we should be doing to live our best lives, we often end up doing the exact opposite ones? Rather than eating healthy food, getting good sleep, exercising, and spending time with those we love, so many of us live sedentary lives, glued to a screen of some kind, and practicing terrible eating habits. Today’s guest is Dr. David Perlmutter and he has recently co-authored Brain Wash with his son Dr. Austin Perlmutter. In this episode, Dr. Perlmutter makes a compelling argument that life in a modern society constantly influences us into the position where we are making decisions using our amygdala rather than our prefrontal cortex. The availability of quick-fix solutions such as social media and fast food appeal to the human reward system making it hard not to make impulsive choices based on instant gratification rather than concerns for long term wellbeing.

Joining this conversation, you will hear Dr. Perlmutter speak at length about how the outcomes of these poor decisions create feed-forward cycles that serve to impede our decision-making abilities even further. Fortunately, we do have an escape route from it all in the form of neuroplasticity, our innate ability to rewire our brains and reconnect them to the prefrontal cortex, thus paving the way to a more balanced and wholesome existence.

This brilliant episode has been sponsored by BUBS Naturals, the supplier who makes the highest-in-class quality collagen protein powder and MCT oil Ben uses in his morning intelligence coffees. Go to bubsnatural.com and use the code MUSCLE to get 20% off your order.

 

Timestamps

• Dr. Perlmutter and his work about changing our relationships with the brain. [0:17]
• What BUBS supplements can do to increase your collagen intake. [2:38]
• Psychological manipulation techniques designed to keep us using technology. [4:57]
• How worrisome it is that people spend six hours a day in front of a screen. [6:35]
• Why its society’s fault that people blame themselves for not keeping commitments. [9:07]
• Good vs bad decision making: the prefrontal cortex vs the amygdala. [9:29]
• Disconnection syndrome: society-induced disconnection from the prefrontal cortex. [11:30]
• The connection between inflammation and alienation from the prefrontal cortex. [12:42]
• Neuroplasticity and how to use it to empower yourself to rewire your brain. [14:06]
• Influences to impulsive decision making discussed at the beginning of Brain Wash. [15:04]
• Internet remedies to society-induced inferiority that lead to impulsive decisions. [17:20]
• The incoherence of the reward system and the treat-laden modern environment. [20:15]
• Modern social dietary customs compared to circadian eating and fasting. [23:46]
• Plus sides to tech: we can measure our health status easily. [27:57]
• How Western medicine has the wrong approach by treating symptoms. [30:28]
• Fight or flight moments where amygdala responses are necessary. [32:09]
• Moments which require more considered responses from the prefrontal cortex. [33:05]
• Getting past an ‘it’s too late to heal’ mentality by understanding inflammation. [34:55]
• Using sleep and exercise to change dietary imbalances. [35:38]
• Long term rewards of better decision making such as superior health/relationships. [41:12]
• Increasing neuroplasticity through fish oil, turmeric, and exercise. [45:26]
• Dr. Perlmutter’s eating habits: two vegetable-heavy meals a day. [46:43]
• Links between meat-eating and autophagy. [50:11]
• A debate about whether poor gut bacteria due to a meat-only diet is bad or not. [51:35]
• Getting past extreme dietary beliefs by considering personalized nutrition. [53:31]
• How the connection between omega fats and endocannabinoids is becoming clearer. [43:39]