How Foods and 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