Maura Davies - SPCA, Amanda Hughes-Munson - Cannabis Lobby Day and CBD, Shawn Wells - Overeating #932

Jan 28

Written By One Life Radio Show & Podcast

Bernadette and One Life Radio have been huge proponents of the legalization of medical cannabis and high cbd hemp oil since the show first aired eight years ago. Today Bernadette talks with DFW NORML member, Amanda Hughes-Munson on the health benefits of CBD and how you can help during Cannabis Lobby Day. The industry is not completely regulated, so be diligent when purchasing a CBD product and perhaps purchase from reputable sellers like yoursnutrition for example, and also similar the sellers that Save On Cannabis support. We discuss what to look for when buying CBD and how to research and find the best and purest products. If you are an advocate for legalized Cannabis, learn about the upcoming Cannabis Lobby Day and how you can become involved in the fight for legalization in all 50 states and the world.

We all know that overeating will cause obesity. Shawn Wells discovered it also affects brain function. Here's just some of what Shawn has to say on today's show:

So, new research review in Cell Journal by Mark Mattson says eating too much makes us slower and less intelligent?

Shockingly, yes. Or maybe not shockingly. One of the things that keeps us sharp is fasting (also called starving when not done intentionally). Food scarcity, hunting, gathering, prepping, finding it etc. is a lot of work. In the case of hunting, its life or death versus another predator evolutionarily. So, we were hyper-alert in these scenarios…

How might we be heightened in alertness?

Ketones is one massive way. When people say “keto” is a new fad diet. I argue that maybe the nutritional ketogenic diet is newer (started a 100 years ago with epileptics) and is trending over the past 5 years…but if keto means tapping in to ketones instead of glucose for fuel…we were meant for this, from the dawn of time. I think of keto as anything that raises ketones for fuel, be it fasting, high fat, low carb, caloric restriction/availability, glycogen depletion through exercise, supplements like exogenous ketones and MCTs, etc. Us having ketones elevated and using them for fuel should be common.

Alertness could also be heightened through the sympathetic nervous system activation.

So, we do become “slower” mentally when we have easily available food, especially high glycemic carbs?

Yes, this makes sense. Evolutionarily, one of the highest calorie burning organs in the body is the brain. The brain will conserve energy and slow down neuronal function because it doesn’t need to work to find food or energy for the brain. When you’re in excess, there’s plenty of carbs to make glucose for the brain…it all slows down…this is irrespective of the damage from Western diet and that effect on the brain. This is acutely happening with a caloric surplus.

How does the Western Diet damage the brain?

Pro-inflammatory oils, chronically elevated blood/glucose and insulin leading to glycation, blunted fat burning with elevated insulin and high fats leading to great fat storage and lower lipolysis…means more adipose (body fat)…which in and of itself is often inflammatory in excess. We’ve seen high sugar diets, low vegetable diets, excessive alcohol, excessive stress, not enough sleep, sedentary lifestyle, loneliness and more leads to brain atrophy and decreased brain function.

So, fasting could be powerful?

Yes, CR (caloric restriction), fasting (Time restricted feeding), etc. have been shown to be anti-aging and activate autophagy (true cellular detoxification) and improve mitochondrial function (and therefore reduce the risk for nearly ALL disease and mortality).

The problem is there is a point of diminishing returns where there’s too little energy chronically. Caloric restriction over time can atrophy the brain as well, as the body sees you as sedentary and moving energy that is available to survival of key organs and reducing the expenditure of calories from the brain.

Therefore, I’d recommend intermittent fasting. This is the way we were meant to eat, the way most animals that are sharp apex predators eat. Enough energy, but in a time restricted window. Then we hunt. Stay sharp. Stay alert. Survive and thrive. And stay the apex predator.

Source:https://www.cell.com/trends/cognitive-sciences/fulltext/S1364-6613(19)30020-8