#633: Chris Palmer, MD, of Harvard Medical School — Optimizing Brain Energy for Mental Health, The Incredible Potential of Metabolic Psychiatry, Extraordinary Case Studies, and Harnessing Mitochondria for Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD, and More

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Dr. Christopher M. Palmer (@chrispalmermd) is a
Harvard psychiatrist and researcher working at the interface of
metabolism and mental health.


Dr. Palmer is the director of the Department of Postgraduate and
Continuing Education at McLean Hospital and an assistant
professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. For over 25
years, he has held administrative, educational, research, and
clinical roles in psychiatry at Harvard. He has been pioneering
the use of the medical ketogenic diet in the treatment of
psychiatric disorders—conducting research in this area, treating
patients, writing, and speaking around the world on this topic.


He has developed the first comprehensive theory of what causes
mental illness, integrating existing theories and research into
one unifying theory—the brain energy theory of mental illness.
You can learn more in his new book Brain Energy: A
Revolutionary Breakthrough in Understanding Mental Health—and
Improving Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD, and
More.


Please enjoy!


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[07:14] How a woman overcame her 53-year streak of chronic
paranoid schizophrenia.


[11:16] The backstory of Brain Energy‘s dedication.


[16:31] Chris’ thoughts on DSM-5 diagnostic categories.


[21:51] Chris’ first exposure to the ketogenic diet.


[28:35] Metabolic psychiatry.


[30:33] How ketosis affects the human body (e.g., sleep, mood,
weight).


[39:35] Examining the mood elevation of ketosis on a bio-cellular
level.


[44:24] When ketosis can be dangerous.


[46:44] How mitochondrial dysfunction can trigger a host of
ailments.


[58:07] Dietary methods for sustaining ketosis over the long
term.


[1:04:54] Common ketosis mistakes.


[1:07:53] Psychiatric medications, metabolism, and controversy.


[1:15:29] Indications that a medication impairs more than
improves a patient’s condition.


[1:18:06] Resources to share with doctors open to conversation
about these issues.


[1:20:41] Why quitting psychiatric medication cold turkey is a
bad idea.


[1:23:20] Thoughts on the efficacy of exogenous ketones.


[1:30:32] Ketogenic diet as treatment for schizophrenia.


[1:38:34] Why you need to take radical ownership of your own
health advocacy.


[1:40:33] Physical exercise for optimizing mitochondrial health.


[1:44:59] A cautionary note for people using medication for
off-label results.


[1:48:49] Parting thoughts.


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Past guests on The Tim Ferriss
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Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew
McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth
Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah
Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine
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Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael
Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria
Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de
Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly
Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard
Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael
Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan
Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit
Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim
Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval
Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth
Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard
Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid
Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick
Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren
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Thiel, Dr. Gabor Maté, Anne Lamott, Sarah
Silverman, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and many more.


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