Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Mike Dow
Started reading
January 4, 2025
Sugar releases serotonin in the brain, a “feel-good” brain chemical that helps to soothe worries, boost self-confidence, and create a feeling of “okayness” in the world.
Bad fats release dopamine, an energizing biochemical we all need to function during stressful situations and exciting challenges. Over time, these sugars and bad fats were shrinking my brain, but the serotonin and dopamine I got from food made this codependent relationship hard to leave.
Omega-3rich foods paired with vitamin-rich produce actually helped my brain to manufacture a steady supply of serotonin and dopamine.
sugar and bad fats can shrink human brains.
(BDNF), a growth hormone that’s often been called Miracle-Gro for the brain. Boosting BDNF is the ultimate antidote for sugar brain.
And there’s only one off-limit vegetable: potatoes. (Corn is off-limits if it’s processed into chips.)
Your taste buds have a profound effect on your health.
That all began to change in the mid-1700s, when a German chemist discovered that beetroot contained sugar that was indistinguishable from sugarcane. Sugar could now be extracted from beets as well. This meant it didn’t need to be imported from the West Indies. As a result, sugar began to pop up everywhere.
The average American consumes a whopping 126 grams of sugar per day—more than twice the recommended daily intake put forth by the World Health Organization.
The commission’s recommendation on sugar consumption: It must be cut in half. You see, sugarcane is one of the world’s thirstiest crops.
About nine gallons of water are required to produce just one teaspoon of sugar.
Flour, potatoes, and grains were brain-shrinking foods as well. Because of the way they spike blood sugar rapidly, all of these foods are essentially sugar at their most basic form. The only carbohydrate sources linked to a bigger brain were vegetables (not including potatoes) and whole fruits.
If you’re looking for a sweetener, stevia is permitted on the Sugar Brain Fix program.
Small amounts of virgin coconut oil, grass-fed butter, grass-fed ghee, and MCT oil are permitted,
When a hippocampus is functioning properly, it’s easier to resist triggers. But a shrunken hippocampus makes it harder since you’re more likely to feel blue, stuck, or impulsive.
Acknowledging an addiction makes us feel weak and helpless.
It’s as though our brain chemistry, and not us, was suddenly in charge of our destiny.
The rats would even choose to endure painful shocks to get the junk food.
Now here’s the even scarier part: After cocaine-addicted rats stopped taking the drug, it took only two days for their brain chemistry to return to normal. For the food-addicted rats in the food study, though, their brain chemistry took two weeks to return to normal.
When you feel listless and bored, your dopamine levels have fallen.
Keeping
That’s how long it takes your brain to kick back into gear.
Overconsumption of sugar and bad fats has taught your body to stop making its own dopamine or serotonin, while
tolerance has caused you to need ever-greater quantities of those tempting foods just to feel normal.
yo-yo weight gain.
As I tell my patients, food is the most socially acceptable drug of choice,
We need to maintain healthy serotonin and dopamine levels to feel good, and if we aren’t eating the right foods or engaging in the right activities, our levels will fall too low.
When do I feel hungry? –after something upsetting happened –after something wonderful happened –because I’m bored –to take a break –when I feel like I deserve a reward
–based on a cue: after a TV show is over, when I get home, etc.
Eat at least seven servings of whole fruits and vegetables.
Eat at least one omega-3-rich food every day.
As
Serotonin
TRYPTOPHAN (FROM EGGS) → FOLATE (FROM SPINACH) → 5-HTP → VITAMIN B6 (FROM SALMON), VITAMIN C (FROM RASPBERRIES), ZINC (FROM CHICKPEAS), AND MAGNESIUM (FROM CASHEWS) → SEROTONIN
Artificial sweeteners have been shown to kill the gut bacteria that manufacture feel-good neurotransmitters
like serotonin. Just like not having enough of the amino acids, vitamins, and minerals depresses serotonin levels, not having enough good gut bacteria decreases levels of this feel-good neurotransmitter.
Everything is fine. Here
I’ve done my best . . . and my best is pretty good.
Boosting
When you’re feeling anxious and fearful, you’re hungry for serotonin. But when you’re sad, lonely, or listless, you’re ravenous for dopamine.
Loneliness Emotional eating
Procrastination Short attention span
Boredom Low s...
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Distractibility Low work ...
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Dopamine can be made from the amino acid tyrosine,
Harvard School of Public Health, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium teamed up to develop a list of go-to fish that are high in omega-3s, low in pollutants like mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and sustainably caught.
Here’s a list of the omega-3 seafood superfoods: Albacore tuna, troll or pole caught, fresh or canned, U.S. or British Columbia Arctic char, farmed Barramundi, farmed, U.S. Coho salmon, farmed, U.S.
Dungeness crab, wild, California, Oregon, or Washington Longfin squid, wild, Atlantic Mussels, farmed Oysters, farmed Pacific sardines, wild Pink shrimp, wild, Oregon Rainbow trout, farmed Salmon, wild, Alaska Spot prawns, wild, British Columbia
Unlike eggs with the words organic and free-roaming, those labeled “cage-free” or
Organic Free-roaming Free-range Grass-fed or grass-finished Pastured
