48. Willpower vs the Pleasure Trap: How to Eat Well Easily with Dr. Alan Goldhamer

Feeling Full

Episode Summary

In this episode, Dr Goldhamer discusses the health benefits of fasting and adopting a whole plant-based diet. He talks about why we have so many issues today managing our diet because of unnatural dopamine stimulation

Highlights

• A book called "How fasting can save your life" by Herbert Shelton inspired Dr. Goldhamer at a young age.
• Everybody fasts each day. Most people just break their fasts quickly.
• Dr. Goldhamer advocates extending fasts to 12 to 16 hours.
• At True North Health Center, they perform medically supervised long-term water fasting.
• People eat an average of 150 pounds per year.
• Fasting can help re-calibrate taste and allow you to start appreciating the natural flavor of food.
• Food and sex are natural dopamine stimulators.
• The artificial stimulation of dopamine is the reason that we have so many health issues.
• Some people see positive effects in just a few days when fasting 16 hours a day and eating healthy.
• In the past, people died from dietary deficiencies and today we are dying because of dietary excess.
• We are eating ourselves to death.
• People have different levels of satiety sensitivity.
• When something tastes better that means it is stimulating more dopamine in the brain. Salt has no calories, but it causes you to eat more.
• You can build muscle mass on a whole plant food diet. It takes more time but there are no damaging effects like eating meat or taking drugs.
• It can be tough to transition to a whole plant diet but any radical change in diet is tough. It takes some time for the body to adjust.
• B12 is one nutrient that needs supplement for people that are on a whole plant diet.

Relevant Links

Fasting.org

https://www.truenorthhealthfoundation.org/

https://www.healthpromoting.com/the-pleasure-trap
The Pleasure Trap book

All past episodes of the podcast:

https://www.feelingfull.com/