How the Standard American Diet is Making Us Depressed, Anxious, and Inflamed

Mark Hyman

Mar 8, 2024

Episode description

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It's easy to overlook the connection between what we eat and how we feel, but in a country where more than 1 in 5 adults are battling mental illness, suicide is on the rise, especially in children, and drug overdoses are at an all-time high, we need to stop and ask why? Why are we witnessing such unprecedented rates of mental illness? The answer lies not only in our modern-day, high-paced, stressful environment but at the end of our forks.

In this episode of my Health Bites series, I discuss why our brains are so broken, the root causes driving neuroinflammation, and how this drives disconnection between our prefrontal cortex (the adult in the room) and amygdala (our reactive, child-like brain), causing our anxiety and emotions to take over. We’ll also discuss the research clearly showing how our toxic SAD is a key driver of our mental health crisis and how you can eat (and supplement) your way out of many mental health issues.

This episode is brought to you by Cozy Earth and Happy Egg.

Right now, you can save 40% when you upgrade to Cozy Earth sheets. Just head over to CozyEarth.com and use code DRHYMAN.

Shopping for better eggs shouldn’t be confusing. Look for the yellow carton at your local grocery store or visit happyegg.com/farmacy to find Happy Egg near you.

In this episode I discuss (audio version):

The state of the impact of our Standard American Diet on mental health (2:20)
Why are we dealing with unprecedented rates of mental illness? (4:46)
Top inflammatory foods and factors that are setting our brains on fire (6:34)
What is metabolic health? (9:34)
The impact of metabolic dysfunction on our brains, mood, and overall health (14:04)
How is UPF driving poor metabolic health? (16:22)
The link between leaky gut and leaky brain (21:47)
How inflammation impacts the brain (23:33)
Research on the link between junk food and mental Illness (28:01)
The link between junk food consumption, violence, and aggression (32:38)
The link between UPF, social functioning, and ADHD (36:58)
Practical steps to fix your brain (39:36)

Episode description

View the Show Notes For This Episode

Get Free Weekly Health Tips from Dr. Hyman

Get Ad-free Episodes & Dr. Hyman+ Audio Exclusives

This episode is brought to you by Cozy Earth and Happy Egg.

Right now, you can save 40% when you upgrade to Cozy Earth sheets. Just head over to CozyEarth.com and use code DRHYMAN.

Shopping for better eggs shouldn’t be confusing. Look for the yellow carton at your local grocery store or visit happyegg.com/farmacy to find Happy Egg near you.

In this episode I discuss (audio version):

The state of the impact of our Standard American Diet on mental health (2:20)
Why are we dealing with unprecedented rates of mental illness? (4:46)
Top inflammatory foods and factors that are setting our brains on fire (6:34)
What is metabolic health? (9:34)
The impact of metabolic dysfunction on our brains, mood, and overall health (14:04)
How is UPF driving poor metabolic health? (16:22)
The link between leaky gut and leaky brain (21:47)
How inflammation impacts the brain (23:33)
Research on the link between junk food and mental Illness (28:01)
The link between junk food consumption, violence, and aggression (32:38)
The link between UPF, social functioning, and ADHD (36:58)
Practical steps to fix your brain (39:36)

Mindsip insights from this episode:

Reduce soft drink consumption to decrease youth violence risk

A study found that adolescents who drank more than five cans of soft drinks per week were significantly more likely to have carried a weapon and been violent with peers.

#nutrition

#risk

Test metabolic health with affordable biomarker analysis

The speaker co-founded a company called Function Health that provides affordable testing of over 110 biomarkers to map out your metabolic health and cardiovascular risk.

#metabolism

#testing

Recognize Alzheimer's as type 3 diabetes to address metabolic dysfunction

Alzheimer's disease is now being called type 3 diabetes, linking it directly to metabolic dysfunction and how the brain uses energy.

#Alzheimer's

#metabolism

Achieve optimal cardiometabolic health to join 6.8% of Americans

According to a landmark paper analyzing government data, only 6.8% of Americans have optimal cardiometabolic health, meaning 93.2% are metabolically unhealthy.

#health

#metabolism

Address leaky gut to prevent leaky brain and neuroinflammation

Just as you can have a leaky gut, you can also have a 'leaky brain' where a compromised blood-brain barrier allows inflammatory molecules to enter and cause neuroinflammation.

#leaky-gut

#neurology

Regulate neuroinflammation to restore emotional balance

Neuroinflammation disrupts the functional connectivity between the prefrontal cortex, the adult in the room, and the amygdala, the wild animal, leading to unregulated emotions and impulses.

#emotion

#neurology

Understand implications of the Twinkie defense in legal contexts

The 'Twinkie defense' was a 1979 legal argument where a murderer's junk food consumption was used as evidence of depression, leading to a reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter.

#nutrition

Reduce junk food to lower anxiety and depression risk

In one study, daily junk food consumption was linked to an 11-fold, or 1100%, increased odds of anxiety and a 7.9-fold, or 790%, increased odds of depression in university students.