DeepSummary
In this podcast episode, Dr. Rangan Chatterjee interviews Dr. Georgia Ede, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist specializing in nutritional and metabolic psychiatry. Dr. Ede explains that many people have been unknowingly feeding their brains improperly for their entire lives, and she outlines the five foods that have the most potential to be problematic for brain health: refined carbohydrates, refined oils, alcohol, grains, and legumes.
Dr. Ede discusses the relationship between blood glucose and brain glucose, and how refined carbs and sugars can lead to inflammation, oxidative stress, and insulin resistance in the brain. She also explains why the Mediterranean diet, while better than the Standard Western Diet, may not be optimal for brain health due to its reliance on grains and legumes.
The episode covers Dr. Ede's clinical research on the potential benefits of ketogenic diets in treating mental health problems, including her co-authored study that showed significant improvements in patients with treatment-resistant mental illnesses when following a whole-food, mildly ketogenic diet. Dr. Chatterjee acknowledges that some of Dr. Ede's recommendations may appear controversial but aims to provide clarity on her reasoning.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Many people have been unknowingly feeding their brains improperly, and significant dietary changes are necessary for meaningful improvements in mental and physical health.
- Dr. Ede identifies refined carbohydrates, refined oils, alcohol, grains, and legumes as the five most problematic foods for brain health.
- The Mediterranean diet, while better than the Standard Western Diet, may not be optimal for brain health due to its reliance on grains and legumes.
- Dr. Ede's clinical research shows the potential benefits of a whole-food, ketogenic diet for improving mental health conditions and reducing reliance on psychiatric medication.
- Traditional psychiatric approaches have limitations, and dietary interventions like those recommended by Dr. Ede can offer an alternative or complementary approach.
- People should be open-minded and try different dietary interventions for 6-12 weeks to see if they experience benefits, rather than dismissing them or stumbling upon them accidentally.
- While Dr. Ede's recommendations may appear controversial, she aims to provide clarity on the biological reasoning behind her suggestions.
- There is no one-size-fits-all dietary approach, and individuals should explore different strategies to find what works best for their personal goals and health needs.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “When you fundamentally restructure your diet from the ground up, that's where you've got the real power. It doesn't work for everybody. And I think you said this as well. Of course nothing works for everybody, but this works for most people in terms of improving how they feel very quickly and in many cases, allowing people to use less or even no psychiatric medication.“ by Dr. Georgia Ede
- “I have never seen anything else this powerful in terms of mental health treatment in my 25 years as a psychiatrist. I mean, I've seen the ketogenic diet improve people's sense of well being, their mood, their behaviors, their emotions, their clarity of thinking, their memory within days to weeks, in many cases, of starting a ketogenic diet.“ by Dr. Georgia Ede
- “If we're being honest with ourselves, especially in psychiatry, lots of fields of medicine, but especially in psychiatry, the tools we have at our disposal in traditional psychiatry are really limited.“ by Dr. Georgia Ede
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Episode Information
Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee
Dr Rangan Chatterjee
6/25/24
Over one billion people worldwide have some type of mental health diagnosis - a statistic that suggests the current approach to treating these conditions may not be enough. For those struggling, perhaps despite their medication, it can feel easy to lose hope of feeling well again.
In this conversation, I speak to someone who has been a psychiatrist for more than 25 years and who for many years, felt that her impact on patients was limited until she learned about the incredible healing power of food.
Dr Georgia Ede is a Harvard trained, board certified psychiatrist specialising in nutritional and metabolic psychiatry. Her 25 years of clinical experience includes 12 years at Smith College and Harvard University Health Services, where she was the first person to offer students nutrition-based approaches as an alternative to psychiatric medication.
She co-authored the first inpatient study of the ketogenic diet for treatment-resistant mental illness and is the author of the wonderful new book Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind: A Powerful Plan to Improve Mood, Overcome Anxiety and Protect Memory for a Lifetime of Optimal Mental Health.
Georgia explains that, almost unknowingly, many of us have been feeding our brains improperly for our entire lives. We explore what she considers to be the five foods that have the most potential to be problematic for our brain health and how quickly we can start to feel the benefits if we are able to cut back on them. This highlights a key point that both Georgia and I are extremely passionate about - that, for most of us, in the modern day food environment, what we cut out of our diet is more important than what we put in.
We talk about the relationship between blood glucose and brain glucose. Georgia outlines the whole foods that Georgia believes can be problematic, especially if we are having problems with our mood or have a mental health diagnosis. We also discuss why Georgia believes that the Mediterranean diet - whilst better than the Standard Western Diet is not optimal, and we cover Georgia’s clinical research about the potential benefits of ketogenic diets in treating mental health.
Georgia is a wonderful physician who cares deeply about her patients and is helping many of them gain relief and sometimes remission from long standing mental health problems. That being said, there is no question that some of her recommendations may at first glance appear to controversial.
Throughout the conversation, I have tried my best to provide clarity and make sure that you clearly understand why Georgia is recommending the changes that she is. But, as you are listening, please do remember, that there is no one dietary approach that is going to work for everyone, at every stage in their life.
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