How Foods & Nutrients Control Our Moods

This episode explains the brain-body connections that allow the specific foods we eat to control our moods and motivation. I discuss the vagus nerve and its role in dopamine and serotonin release in the brain. I review Omega-3 fatty acids and the key role of the gut microbiome in supporting (or hindering) our mental and emotional states. Many actionable tools are reviewed and discussed related to fasting, ketogenic and plant-based diets, probiotics, fermented foods, fish oils, artificial sweeteners, specific supplements that promote dopamine and serotonin, and some remarkable behavioral (and belief) effects.
Read the full show notes for this episode at hubermanlab.com.
Thank you to our sponsors
AG1: https://athleticgreens.com/huberman
LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/hubermanlab
Waking Up: https://www.wakingup.com/huberman
Timestamps
00:00:00 Introduction  
00:00:31 Sponsors: AG1, LMNT & Waking Up  
00:05:00 Emotions: Aligning Mind & Body  
00:06:41 Nutrients, Neurochemicals and Mood  
00:08:39 Primitive Expressions and Actions  
00:12:30 The Vagus Nerve: Truth, Fiction, Function  
00:15:45 “Vagus Stimulation”: A Terrible Concept  
00:16:35 Polyvagal Theory  
00:18:27 Vagus Senses Many Things, & Moves Our Organs  
00:19:35 Sugar Sensing Without Perception of Sweetness  
00:23:00 Eating-Induced Anxiety  
00:27:30 We Eat Until Our Brain Perceives “Amino Acid Threshold”  
00:29:45 Reward Prediction Error: Buildup, Letdown and Wanting More  
00:32:01 L-Tyrosine, Dopamine, Motivation, Mood, & Movement  
00:34:04 Supplementing L-Tyrosine, Drugs of Abuse, Wellbutrin  
00:38:29 Serotonin: Gut, Brain, Satiety and Prozac  
00:43:38 Eating to Promote Dopamine (Daytime) & Serotonin (Night Time)  
00:44:30 Supplementing Serotonin: Sleep, & Caution About Sleep Disruptions  
00:46:40 Examine.com An Amazing Cost-Free Resource with Links to Science Papers  
00:48:05 Mucuna Pruriens: The Dopamine Bean with a Serotonin Outer Shell  
00:51:00 Emotional Context and Book Recommendation: “How Emotions Are Made”  
00:54:55 Exercise: Powerful Mood Enhancer, But Lacks Specificity  
00:56:45 Omega-3: Omega-6 Ratios, Fish Oil and Alleviating Depression  
01:01:00 Fish Oil as Antidepressant  
01:02:40 EPAs May Improve Mood via Heart Rate Variability: Gut-Heart-Brain  
01:07:24 Alternatives to Fish Oil to Obtain Sufficient Omega-3/EPAs  
01:09:05 L-Carnitine for Mood, Sperm and Ovary Quality, Autism, Fibromyalgia, Migraine  
01:16:29 Gut-Microbiome: Myths, Truths & the Tubes Within Us  
01:21:55 Probiotics, Brain Fog, Autism, Fermentation  
01:25:20 Artificial Sweeteners & the Gut Microbiome: NOT All Bad; It Depends!  
01:28:00 Ketogenic, Vegan, & Processed Food Effects, Individual Differences  
01:33:20 Fasting-Based Depletion of Our Microbiome  
01:35:20 How Mindset Effects Our Responses to Foods: Amazing (Ghrelin) Effects!  
01:38:30 How Mindset Controls Our Metabolism  
01:41:03 Closing Comments, Thanks, Support & Resources  
Disclaimer & Disclosures
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices