Podcast Notes
Key Takeaways - Food and eating are highly individualized – no one can tell you exactly when and what you should be eating in a single protocol because we just don’t have the biomarkers
- Since we can’t truly define healthy eating, it’s important to understand unhealthy eating and unhealthy relationships with food
- Anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating are all distortions in relationship to food where reward and habit are disrupted beyond control
- Anorexia overrides all homeostatic processes driving people towards food and weight sustaining nourishment
- Anorexia has a biological underpinning: anorexics feel good by approaching foods that are low fat, low calorie and are rewarded more than if eating in a healthier way to support the weight
- Creating awareness about what the habits are and train brain switch about what should be rewarding (not starving) and shutting down reward (starving) is the key treatment in anorexia
- Anorexia is more habit-based while binge eating and bulimia cause food to be hyper attractive (like driving a car with no breaks)
- Bulimia and binge eating are marked by hyper impulsivity and lack of top-down processing (if this then that thinking) and inhibitory control
- While pharmaceuticals are not helpful for the treatment of anorexia, drugs that increase serotonin are beneficial for bulimia and binge eating in combination with cognitive behavioral therapy
Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.org
In this episode, I discuss what drives hunger and satiety, and the role our brain, stomach, fat and hormones play in regulating hunger and turning off the desire to eat more. I also address how protein is assimilated better early in the day than it is later in the day, and why those using intermittent fasting might want to shift their feeding window to earlier in the day.
Then I delve into the topic of disorders of eating: Anorexia Nervosa, where people starve themselves and Bulimia Nervosa where people binge and purge their food. I discuss some common myths about Anorexia such as the role of media images increasing the rates of anorexia and the myth of the "perfectionist" anorexic. I also review the symptoms, and the brain and chemical systems disrupted in this condition. I explain how anorexics become hyperaware of the fat content of foods and develop reflexive habits of fat-hyperawareness. Then I discuss the most effective treatments ranging from family-based models to those that target the habitual nature of low-fat/calorie food choices. I also discuss new more experimental clinical trials on MDMA, Psilocybin and Ibogaine for Anorexia, and both their promise and risks
I review the latest work on binge eating disorder and brain stimulation, drug treatments and thyroid disruption in Bulimia and why the treatments for Bulimia are so similar to those for ADHD. Finally, I discuss "cheat days," body dysmorphia and the growing list of novel forms of eating disorders start to finish. As always, science and science-based tools are discussed.
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Links:
- Ingesting Protein in the Morning Supports Muscle Maintenance & Growth:
- Studies Using Virtual Reality to Explore Eating & Hunger & Body Image:
- https://bit.ly/3BGaDya
- https://bit.ly/2WWGRq8
Timestamps:
- 00:00:00 Introduction: Fasting, & Defining Healthy Eating
- 00:08:55 Morning Protein Is Important
- 00:22:04 Sponsors
- 00:26:29 Defining & Diagnosing Eating Disorders
- 00:29:00 Anorexia Nervosa (Overview & Myths)
- 00:33:44 Bulimia (Overview & Myths)
- 00:37:35 Binge Eating Disorders, EDNOS, OSFEDS, Pica
- 00:39:44 What is Hunger? What is Satiety?
- 00:42:00 Neuronal & Hormonal “Accelerators & Brakes” on Eating
- 00:46:17 Fat, Leptin & Fertility & Metabolic Dysfunctions in Obesity
- 00:50:30 Why We Overeat
- 00:55:30 Homeostasis & Reward Systems/Decisions
- 00:59:58 Anorexia
- 01:04:28 The Cholesterol Paradox
- 01:06:13 Psychological vs. Biological/Genetic Factors in Anorexia
- 01:09:44 Chemical Imbalances, Serotonergic Treatments
- 01:12:56 Altered Habits & Rewards in Anorexia: Hyperacuity for Fat Content
- 01:18:28 Brain Areas for Reward Based Decision Making vs. Habits
- 01:24:06 Habit-Reward Circuits Are Flipped in Anorexics: Reward for Deprivation
- 01:28:30 How Do You Break a Habit?
- 01:33:23 Family Based Models, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- 01:35:39 MDMA, Psilocybin, Clinical Trials, Ibogaine
- 01:40:35 Anabolic vs. Catabolic Exercise, Spontaneous Movements, NEAT
- 01:43:23 Distorted Self Image in Anorexia
- 01:47:54 Bulimia & Binge-Eating, “Cheat Days”, Thyroid Hormone
- 01:53:05 Inhibitory Control, Impulsivity, Adderall, Wellbutrin
- 01:58:00 Direct Brain Stimulation: Nucleus Accumbens
- 02:04:28 Anorexia/Reward. vs Bulimia/Binging
- 02:05:45 Healthy Eating Revisited
- 02:10:55 Synthesis, Body Dysmorphias
- 02:14:15 Support: Podcast, & Research Studies
Please note that The Huberman Lab Podcast is distinct from Dr. Huberman's teaching and research roles at Stanford University School of Medicine. The information provided in this show is not medical advice, nor should it be taken or applied as a replacement for medical advice. The Huberman Lab Podcast, its employees, guests and affiliates assume no liability for the application of the information discussed.
Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac - https://www.blabacphoto.com
