Restricting sugar exposure in the first two years of life can meaningfully reduce the risk of chronic diseases in adulthood.
We need to rethink many cereals, snacks, and treats for children.
Chris Palmer, MD
19K posts
Chris Palmer, MD
@ChrisPalmerMD
Harvard psychiatrist working at the interface of metabolism and mental health. Author of Brain Energy. brainenergy.com Founder of MH². mh2.health
- Imagine having depression for no clear reason and also undiagnosed B12 or iron deficiency—treatable causes of depression—only to be told by a therapist that it must be unresolved trauma, because that’s the “universal” explanation for mental illness. It's 2025, we can do better!
- Schizophrenia means someone has chronic psychotic symptoms. Bipolar disorder means someone has mood episodes, including hypomanic or manic ones. Neither diagnosis explains the underlying causes of these symptoms. It’s 2025—we can do better than just labeling symptoms.
- There is a cause of anxiety disorders. There is a cause of depression. There is a cause of bipolar disorder. There is a cause of ADHD. There is a cause of schizophrenia. There is a cause of autism. Just because your doctor doesn't know the cause doesn’t mean it doesn’t
- Many people say that doctors already recommend “healthy diets”—patients just don’t follow orders. If this is true, please explain the meals served to hospitalized patients. We’re looking at doing a study of post-op patients to see if diet can impact recovery.
- Harvard, Hopkins, and Stanford are now "Woo-Woo." 🧵1/4 With all due respect, @TheAtlantic and @elainejgodfrey, this was not a political rally, but a forum focused on the chronic disease epidemic in America.
- Cat ownership is associated with over double the risk of developing schizophrenia-related disorders or psychotic-like experiences. The proposed causal agent is Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), which is a parasite that can infect the brain and persist for years.Could owning a cat increase the risk of developing schizophrenia? In 1995, Fuller Torrey proposed this hypothesis, citing exposure to Toxoplasma gondii as a possible cause. Our report summarizes data collected over the past four decades on this topic tinyurl.com/yvcpavk8
- Depression is due to Prozac deficiency. Heart attacks are due to Lipitor deficiency. Obesity is due to Ozempic deficiency. Headaches are due to Tylenol deficiency. Bipolar disorder is due to lithium deficiency. Any questions?
- If we, as Americans—Republican, Democrat, or Independent—can’t have a civil conversation about the health crisis our nation is facing, we are doomed.
- I've had patients who tried everything: 20+ psych meds. ECT. Ketamine. Years of therapy. Nothing worked. Then, as a last resort, we changed their diet. Sleep improved. Mood lifted. Energy returned. Hallucinations receded. Not a miracle—metabolism.
- Breaking news! Microplastics and nanoplastics found in human carotid atheromas (plaques) associated with over a 4-fold increased risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, or death from any cause at 34 months of follow-up.
- Psychiatric diagnostic labels are often used when we don't know the biological cause of brain symptoms, such as unrelenting depression, ADHD, OCD, or psychosis. If someone with "schizophrenia" is found to have vitamin B12 deficiency and correcting this makes the symptoms go
- I have little doubt that 30 years from now, we will look back in horror at how we treat mental illness today. The science is in. But yes, it will take 30 years for people to really get it. Early adopters can have new lives now.
- At age 7, a child is diagnosed with ADHD and starts stimulant medications, which are helpful for several years. At age 15, he develops generalized anxiety disorder and starts therapy. At age 16, he develops major depression and starts an SSRI. At age 18, he develops a manic
