The Nutrient: Changes in diet and weight, psychedelic assisted therapy, meditation is intermittent fasting

Research

Changes in Diet and Lifestyle and Long-Term Weight Gain in Women and Men
New England Journal of Medicine

Weight gain typically occurs gradually over decades at about 1 lb. per year, which makes it difficult to pinpoint the cause.

This study looked at lifestyle factors of 120k Americans to see how things like diet, exercise, and watching TV impacts long-term weight gain. They looked at data collected every 4 years from 1986-2006.

"Within each 4-year period, participants gained an average of 3.35 lbs."

How?

Weight change was strongly associated with eating the following:

• potato chips (1.69 lb)
• potatoes (1.28 lb)
• sugar-sweetened beverages (1.00 lb)
• unprocessed red meats (0.95 lb)
• processed meats (0.93 lb)  

Weight gain was inversely associated with the following:

• vegetables (−0.22 lb)
• whole grains (−0.37 lb)
• fruits (−0.49 lb)
• nuts (−0.57 lb)
• yogurt (−0.82 lb).

"Other lifestyle factors were also independently associated with weight change, including physical activity (−1.76 lb across quintiles); alcohol use (0.41 lb per drink per day), smoking (new quitters, 5.17 lb; former smokers, 0.14 lb), sleep (more weight gain with <6 or >8 hours of sleep), and television watching (0.31 lb per hour per day)."

Watch

Psychedelic Assisted Therapy: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Psychedelics aren't a miracle cure for mental illness...or are they? We won't know unless we study them, which is happening as we speak. I'm excited about the potential, especially for people with PTSD or treatment resistant depression, and I'm glad guys like John Oliver are spreading the word.

Here are two gems about the impact this medicine has:

"It made me feel more comfortable with living, because you're not afraid of dying."

"It was like being able to take a deep breath after being under water for a long time."

Words of the week

"Meditation is intermittent fasting for the mind. Too much sugar leads to a heavy body & too many distractions lead to a heavy mind. Time spent undistracted & alone, in self-examination, journaling, meditation, resolves the unresolved and takes us from mentally fat to fit."
– Naval

Take care,

Dr. Adam