Nutrition & the Brain with Neil deGrasse Tyson & Max Lugavere

Thank you gents for having me! This conversation was a pleasure to have. I hope it helps many.

Remember that Max Lugavere has a background in film and psychology - not medicine or nutrition. He is a "wellness influencer." It's important to point out that interaction with Max's website or work will instantly result in your being bombarded with ads for supplements, gadgets, treatments, and more books. He has celebrated endorsements from Dr. Oz and Mark Hyman - which may "wow" the common public but I would hope that the StarTalk audience would know differently.

Over a decade ago, I read that nuts, tuna, and greens give you the nutrients your brain needs to produce happy chemicals. My depression responded negatively to medication therapy. I started eating salads every other day, tuna for lunch most days, and subbed most of my junk food with nuts and berries trail mix. Depression symptoms improved significantly. I read that processed food contributes to inflammation, which I have in spades, so I started cooking from scratch as much as possible. Inflammatory progression significantly slowed. I became diabetic, so I subbed green beans for noodles and rice, and combined with medication I've lost over 50 pounds and reversed fatty liver disease and sleep apnea, even though my thyroid is inert. My quality of life has definitely improved by eating for nutrition more than for pleasure. I don't ignore emotional needs, holiday rituals, comfort foods, etc., But by making my default foods nutritionally dense, I am able to mitigate many of my accumulated health problems. This year I've added weekly salmon and more variety of veg and micronutrients, such as blue cheese on airfried sweet potato fries, and mushrooms in my marinara. My brain function is improving, and I managed to overdose on vitamin d, which a prescription level consumption could not get me into an acceptable range years ago. So, I've reversed a vitamin deficiency. I love trying new food now too see what I can fix next. Excellent discussion, fellas. By the way, I'm a Gen X'er who started developing severe health issues in my twenties. Be well.

My family loves your podcast and this one hit home for my 11 year old son who loves both quantum physics, astrophysics and cooking. Thank you Max for sharing all. You set my brilliant son on another path that will benefit him and the rest of the family greatly.

I like the implications of this episode, which is that you don't need to be academically trained to be knowledgeable and ask the right questions and hunt for the answers.

I like how in this episode Neil mostly listened and let his co-hosts lead the majority of conversation, quality sportsmanship imo

Probably one of if not the best episodes - its tangible and pretty much guaranteed that every viewer knows someone affected by dementia even if by a few degrees of separation

I thought this was great! I'm currently doing my PhD in the gut-brain axis; I've met Felice Jacka from the food and mood center and she is amazing. Truly a pioneer in the space of nutritional psychiatry, especially as it pertains to the microbiome. Lots of research emerging to suggest the Alzheimer's is a mitochondrial and metabolic disease more than anything, "type 3 diabetes" is how some researchers refer to it now.

Since my teens I had depression and anxiety. I'm now 76. A few years ago I realized that my anxiety was actually dehydration and could be relieved by a slug of water. A few months later I discovered that my depression was actually "hanger." I also discovered that eating carbs was like eating Chinese food is alleged to be: I would be hungry again soon. So I eat real cheese on sourdough or eggs or, recently, grass fed meat.

From my personal research his emphasis on the inclusion of animal products in diet being so critical is simply at odds with large bodies of research. There may be some molecules that are less common in plants, but there are far more molecules found in plants not found in animal products and often times the plants are required to offset the many negative affects of meats.