Keto and Carnivore: Schizophrenia, Depression, Cancer | Dr. Chris Palmer | EP 422

Dr. Jordan B. Peterson speaks with author, researcher, and psychiatrist Chris Palmer. They discuss how metabolic and mental disorders might be linked, depression's purpose as a biological corrective measure, how metabolism might directly tie to mental disorders, the use of fasting for medical and spiritual breakthroughs, and the research showing we have vastly undervalued the mitochondria when it comes to mental wellness.

Chris Palmer, MD is a medical doctor and psychiatric researcher working in the areas of addiction and sleep. He is also the author of 2022’s “Brain Energy,” in which he argues that mental disorders are metabolic disorders of the brain.

This episode was recorded on January 22nd, 2024

- Chapters -

(0:00) Tour update 2024, coming up
(1:18) Intro
(3:50) Mental disorder, social dysfunction, skill deficit, and metabolic disorder
(9:14) The two broad classes of depression: those suffering with obvious cause and those suffering without apparent cause
(14:09) How to tell when your depression is caused by disorder versus circumstance
(18:45) The relationship between hierarchical status, dependency on social integration, and serotonin levels
(21:06) Crossing off physiological agents before diagnosing a mental disorder
(27:21) Why Dr. Palmer turned to diet for treating depression
(30:50) Treating a paranoid schizoaffective patient for weight loss and realizing that the ketogenic diet resolved much of his mental disorder
(35:03) Schizoaffective disorder versus schizotypal personality disorder
(37:21) The keto diets effect on mitochondrial function challenges the currently held notion that schizophrenia is caused by too much dopamine
(42:41) The metabolic theory explains all manner of disorders that are often considered unsolvable or genetic
(47:48) The classic understanding of mitochondrial function: power production, molecular breakdown for cell creation, and the generation of heat
(53:09) How 20 years of research have shattered our understanding of mitochondrial function—what we know now
(58:44) The Peterson family’s experimentation with the carnivore diet
(1:00:38) Using an elimination diet to parse out symptoms and potential causes, how the ketogenic diet tricks the body into a false starvation mode
(1:03:35) The two big issues with ill effects from our foods, autophagy versus mytophagy
(1:05:47) The use of fasting across cultures and time for religious and health intervention, starvation periods are when our bodies heal
(1:08:44) Differences in diet choice, knowing your body and choosing the appropriate course
(1:14:56) It’s not as simple as one solution fits all, a good start is a short-term water-only fast to assess change
(1:21:10) You only need fiber in your diet if you do this
(1:23:31) Tammy’s rare form of cancer, the ability to “starve” cancer in order to fight it, and where the line is for treatment
(1:30:50) Dr. Palmer started through his anecdotal experience, but the evidence is mounting