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Music

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Angela Guo: So, it's the old adage
on what you eat

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when I eaτ sugary or caffeinated food
I often find myself, like unable to focus

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So, eating healthier foods
has a significant impact on

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how well I can focus, as well as
how quick I can think.

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Sanjay Gupta: That's Angela Guo.

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She's a 17-year old senior at
Adlai Stevenson High School

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in Lincolnshire, Illinois.

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And that adage she just cited,
"You are what you eat",

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that's been around since the 1800's.

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People have known for a long time
just how much food affects us.

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But it's not just in term of
long-term health,

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but also short-term mood.

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AG: Food really helps us maintain
a safe clarity

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and so eating healthier foods

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has had a significant impact

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on how well I can focus, as well as
how quick I can think.

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SG: She may only be in high school

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but Angela has already made

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the crucial connection between
what she puts in her mouth

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and how quickly that affects her brain.

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She even believes that
simple understanding

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gave her a real advantage
when she competed

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in the National Science Olympiad
tournament earlier this year.

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Announcer: First place: National
champions of the 2023 Science Olympiad

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National Tournament: Adlai Stevenson
High School of Illinois, let's go!!

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SG: Now at this tournament
earlier this year,

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Angela and her team mates went up
against thousands of students

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from around the country.

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They were competing in events
highlighting chemistry,

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and Earth science and biology.

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But here is the thing:
the entire time on Angela's team

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you really didn't see much sugar around.

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Instead,
there were lots of healthy snacks.

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AG: So, even at school, I'd bring
my own lunch

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and it's just that aspect of
knowing what goes into your meals

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is like really important. It kind of
gives you peace of mind.

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SG: The team did really well, and now
as they prepare for more tournaments,

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Angela, who's now is team captain, says,
"Sure, they do study hard,

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but what they eat, how they eat,
that's also top of mind.

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AG: When we do travel for Science Olympiad
our coaches always makes sure that

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our like bus is well stocked with

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fruits and water.

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SG: So Angela, seems pretty convinced
that food helps her focus

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and perform well academically.

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Of course, that makes sense
but the question today,

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"What is the empirical evidence
to support that and how does it work?

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How exactly does food impact the brain?

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And how do we really know when our brain
is well nourished?"

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Uma Naidoo: Sugar is not good 
for our brain.

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But I also want people to understand
we need sugar for our bodies

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and our brain,

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so it's where you get the sugar
that's important.

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SG: Look, a lot of people worry about
how food influences the way we look,

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how much weight we may gain
-- I get that --

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or the likelihood we're going to be
high risk for diseases,

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like diabetes and hypertension.

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But even though it is harder to measure,
food is also deeply connected

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to how we feel in the moment
and how well the brain functions.

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Even as you listen to this podcast,
your experience, right now,

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is likely affected
by what you ate earlier today.

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So in this episode, I'm going to find out
what's the best fuel for the brain,

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what food we should avoid
and what it really means

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to have a well-nourished brain.

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I'm Dr Sanjay Gupta, CNN's
Chief medical correspondent

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and this is Chasing life.

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You know, I love hearing stories
like Angela's.

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They're so personal.

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She's someone who's paying attention
to her body and then she's figuring out

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what makes her feel good and what it takes
to do the activities she loves.

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She's being really intentional
with her nutrition

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and that may save her from having
health problems later in life

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but it could help optimize
her function now.

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For me, food is an endless source
of fascination.

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The way that I think about it is this:

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food is one of the most significant ways
we allow our outside world to influence

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and communicate with our inside world,
the world inside of our body and our mind.

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That is an awesome task. Food does that.

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So, I thought today we would start
with the basics.

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We know that all food items have calories
and calories are by definition energy

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but, as you just heard, not all calories
are created equal.

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Some have more nutrients
and do more to promote

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overall health and well-being than others.

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And that is especially true
when it comes to the brain.

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But the challenge again:
that's hard to measure.

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There is no brain scan or blood test 
that indicates that a particular food

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promotes brain health.

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So how do we really know?

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How do you really know what works for you?

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To find out, I return to someone
whose work I really respect

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both in the clinic and in the kitchen,
someone who knows a lot

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about this really intricate connection
between food and brain health.

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Uma Naidoo: if you want, you know,

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your brain to really be optimized

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lean into the foods you like,
but the healthy versions of that.

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SG: That' Dr Uma Naidoo;
she's a nutritional psychiatrist.

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Such a cool field.
She's at Harvard medical school.

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What she does is that she works
with patients to improve

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their mental health with the help
of medication and food.

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She's also a professional chef.
She's the author of the books

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"This is Your Brain on Food" and
"Calm Your Mind with Food."

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That one's going to be released
later this year.

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I should tell you, this is actually
Dr Naidoo's second time on the show.

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We spoke a few years ago about
the broader concept of food as medicine.

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And I was so fascinated by
the conversation, so affected by it,

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I asked her to come back and discuss
how food impacts brain health specifically

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and brain function.

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I have long said that I think food

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can be medicine, I also think 
just philosophically,

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we consciously decide what signals
we're going to give to the inside

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of our body through food.

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What the discussion has primarily
focused on has been calories and energy,

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and are you going overweight or not.

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UN: Correct
SG: So what are those foods that are both

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good for the brain and can actually
get to the brain.

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UN: What I think is good, and I think
what is helpful for people,

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especially in the U.S., is that most
people are consuming

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the standard American diet

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which, as you know, is called sad
for a reason.

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So any time that we can add those lipid
grains and those actual whole foods

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onto our plate, you know, and think
about it that way and step away

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a little bit from those processed 
fast foods

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the healthier we are going to become
as a country and I think that that is

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because processed, ultra-processed foods
are engineered, as you know,

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to trick our brain.

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So we eat more, we can't stop ourselves.

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SG: Yeah, maybe I'm being audacious here
in doing a podcast about how to achieve

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a most optimally nourished brain.

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As you correctly point out, we have
a lot of work to do as a country to just

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stop doing the bad things, maybe even
before we can, uh, really, really focus

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on the good things.

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But the idea that food itself can be
medicine and that can be quantified,

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maybe even to the point, for someone like
you, prescribed. Are we to the point,

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with what we know, data-wise that food
can be thought of prescriptive,

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like we think of medicine?

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UN: So I can't yet say to you, you need
to eat ten blueberries over this amount

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of time to improve your mood.

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But what we do know from pretty large
population-based studies that

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if you were consuming extra-dark natural
chocolate, that it improved depression

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by 70% in over 12,000 participants. 
We know and it was in the candy bars

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it was extra dark natural chocolate, 
which contains serotonin, magnesium,

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um, some fiber. So we're not at a point
where I can say this number

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of blueberries in order to improve 
your mood,

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but we are definitely emerging and
growing in the scientific evidence

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to be able to say you can construct
a nutritional psychiatry plate

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for your mood.

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You can lean into those leafy green
vegetable, 3-5 cups a day. Um, things like

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arugula, spinach all contain folate. 
A low folate is associated with low mood.

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So, we can give people guidance around it
and really have them understanding that

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food is moving in that direction.

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SG: Now before we hear more food 
recommendations, I want to note something

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that's, I think, really important here.
the term "brain food."

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That gets thrown around a lot. But, true
brain food meaning any food that actually

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impacts the function of the brain has to 
do something really important.

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Its got to get past the blood-brain 
barrier.

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Now, I don't want to get to wonky or
technical, but I think it's important

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for you to understand this point.
Think of the blood-brain barrier as sort

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of a body guard for the brain. 
This barrier prevents the entry of toxins

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and pathogens and other molecules
that could be harmful to the brain.