WEBVTT - Short Stuff: Happy Foods! 0:00:04.320 --> 0:00:07.000 Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff on Josh. There's Chuck, 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:09.840 there's Jerry in for Dave, and this is short Stuff 0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:14.400 the Happy Foods edition, which I'm good with. I like 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:18.320 Happy Foods. Did you remember this from your past? My friend? 0:00:18.840 --> 0:00:22.640 What do you mean you wrote this article? No? I didn't. 0:00:23.560 --> 0:00:25.680 This is uh, this is back when we were at 0:00:25.680 --> 0:00:28.680 hou Supports dot com and this was a Josh Clark special. No, 0:00:29.120 --> 0:00:32.920 I did not. I have no recollection of it whatsoever. Chuck. 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:36.520 You know why is because I uh sent you the file. 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:39.280 I cut out the Remember we always had to do 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:41.360 this kind of corny couple of paragraphs at the beginning. 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:46.240 I cut those out. Okay, all right, I mean listen 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:51.120 to this sentence. Gabba is produced during the crib cycle, 0:00:51.400 --> 0:00:54.440 a physiological process by which new treats are converted to 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:58.040 energy for cellular use. I should have seen my own 0:00:58.080 --> 0:01:01.560 genius in that amazing sentence. Let me ask you, honestly, 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:03.440 when you were reading this or you're like, oh god, 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:05.640 this this stuff a little bit, I was like, Wow, 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:10.080 that's a pretty ancient Cornell University study. And I'm sure 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:14.360 those two seventy seven participants were probably undergrads getting extra credit. 0:01:14.520 --> 0:01:17.839 So yeah, I did beat up on myself a little bit. Well, 0:01:17.920 --> 0:01:20.600 this is a Josh Clark special and it's about how 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:25.200 certain foods can make you happier and some foods can 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:29.040 make you maybe tend toward depression or a little down. 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:32.080 And it is not just I'm not talking about comfort 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:34.360 food We are going to mention that briefly, but it's 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:39.920 it's it's science, right, science, yes, thank you, so yeah, 0:01:39.959 --> 0:01:42.520 And there's a distinction that we'll get to happy foods 0:01:42.520 --> 0:01:45.480 and comfort foods. I call them happy foods. That's another thing. 0:01:45.480 --> 0:01:48.600 I was like, that's a pretty deufest thing to call them, 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:51.320 I feel, But it's weird. Is I feel comforted knowing 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:53.760 that I was criticizing myself. It all just seems right 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:57.880 and normal now. But um, we're gonna call them because 0:01:58.000 --> 0:01:59.880 I call them that back in the day, back in 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:03.200 the odds. Happy foods, which are foods that actually can 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:08.480 affect your mood, whereas UH like directly through physiological action, 0:02:08.520 --> 0:02:11.640 whereas comfort foods or things that have uh an effect 0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:15.560 on your mood through psychological processes. Right, And if you're 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:17.639 talking about the brain and the transmitters, there are a 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:22.640 couple that are largely responsible for our moods. Uh, inhibitory 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:26.280 and are we going with excitatory or excitatory excited tory? 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:28.320 That thought? So I just wanted to make sure you 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:32.639 wrote it, just deferring to the author. This is so bizarre. 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:37.280 So excitatory transmitters we're talking about, like Nora f and Eprin, 0:02:38.800 --> 0:02:41.160 Nora Epefrin. Did I say it wrong? I think you 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:47.480 said Nora to man. She's been making appearances all over 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:52.600 the place lately, probably parts of sound like her. Uh 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:56.079 they stimulate she passed away, right? Oh? Did she? Yes? 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:58.560 I'm pretty sure one of the greats. Yes, she really 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:00.760 was one of the great like I don't want to say, 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:05.120 you know, unsung like she was hugely successful, but I 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:07.280 think she was even even more of a genius than 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:10.800 she gets credit for. One of the great writers. Uh so, 0:03:10.840 --> 0:03:14.760 where was I was with Nora epinephrin. They stimulate our body, 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:17.120 they stimulate our mind, but it can be too much. 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:21.160 And what you need is a balance of those excitatory 0:03:21.200 --> 0:03:25.760 neurotransmitters and the inhibitory which provide which gives things like 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:28.560 seratonin to kind of balance things out. And that's kind 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:31.200 of where the true good mood lies. Right as I 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:33.880 put it, Ultimately, the best moods are found when there's 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:36.640 a balance between these two types. I remember thinking like 0:03:36.720 --> 0:03:42.480 best And so the thing is is like when when 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:48.560 we start producing these neurotransmitters like serotonin or nora epephrin, 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:51.680 like we actually make them out of the food that 0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:54.240 we eat. We eat the food, our bodies break down 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:57.440 the food, and we use those as building blocks as 0:03:57.520 --> 0:04:01.120 constituent nutrients is building box for things like aero transmitters. 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:05.320 So there are actually foods that can aid in our 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:09.320 mood and a big one. Serotonin is a really big neurotransmitter, 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:14.120 one of the biggest, and it's it's frequently considered like 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:18.520 a happy neurotransmitter. It's an inhibitor. It kind of says, 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:21.799 mellow out, nora A penephrin helps you kind of stay 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:26.000 calm uh, stay relaxed, being a good mood. And there's 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:28.240 a lot of foods out there that actually help you 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:31.480 make serotonin. Yeah, it says put on. When Harry met 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:35.520 Sally and have some turkey and bananas and you're like, 0:04:35.600 --> 0:04:37.680 that's not a very good combo, and they said, well, 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:39.680 add some spinach and that will really tie it all together. 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:43.880 But those things are all very high and full late 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:48.760 and that's a B vitamin that serotonin needs to be 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:52.120 made fully and tripped to fan too. And trip to 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:55.200 fan is is remarkable because it can go directly into 0:04:55.240 --> 0:04:59.000 your brain. It can cross the blood brain barrier, and interestingly, 0:04:59.080 --> 0:05:02.640 serotonin can across the blood brain barrier. So since trip 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:06.839 to fan directly is translated into serotonin in the brain, 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:11.560 you're basically feeding your brain serotonin when you eat turkey 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:15.720 and bananas another trip to fan containing foods. That's right. 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:18.520 I say, we take a break and we're gonna get back, 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:20.440 and I'm gonna let the author speak to the crib 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:46.160 cycle right after this, All right, Dr Crabs. It always 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:48.720 reminds me of um, the Adventures of Pete and Pete, 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:51.159 because I think there's like creb Co or something was 0:05:51.240 --> 0:05:54.600 like the generic company that they all I think so, 0:05:55.160 --> 0:05:57.679 but it reminded me of the crib cycle. So, um, 0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:02.560 gabba is gabba? You know you tyroic acid or gaba. 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:05.640 Everybody knows what gabba is. It's called nature's valum or 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:09.080 so I said in quotes, and it is indeed made 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:13.599 during the crib cycle. Um, where you convert energy for use, 0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:17.880 nutrients converted to energy for later use, and um, gabba 0:06:17.880 --> 0:06:22.000 helps you sleep, it helps you mellow out. Um. And 0:06:22.279 --> 0:06:26.560 it's based on what we get from foods, uh called glutamates, 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:29.280 and I think those are actually also the basis for 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:32.720 umami too, in that correct glutam Yeah, that sounds really 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:35.719 all this stuff sort of was ringing some bells. But 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:38.160 the idea is if you eat something like sesame or 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:40.919 sunflower seeds, or if you're a meat eater and you 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:43.160 like pork and beef, you're gonna be getting a lot 0:06:43.160 --> 0:06:45.359 of that glutamate. And that's that amino acid, which is 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:48.279 a big It's not gava, but it helps make gabba 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:54.160 and that can glutam glutamine. Did I say glutamate? I've 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:56.320 been saying glutamates, but it is glutamines, and I'm sure 0:06:56.320 --> 0:07:00.000 there's a pretty substantial difference between those two, right, So glutamy, 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:04.200 told emails is what we mean, and that can transcend 0:07:04.200 --> 0:07:07.599 the blood brain barrier. And so you're gonna have you know, 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:11.200 a pretty uh significant impact on your happiness which your 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:13.800 foods that you're eating there, which is pretty cool to think, 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:16.960 like you're like the food you eat can actually impact 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:19.320 your mood. You know, it makes you kind of want to, 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:24.160 you know, nourish yourself. Other times though you say, I 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:26.280 don't want to nourish myself at all. I wanted the 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:29.560 exact opposite of that, because I need comfort food. And 0:07:29.640 --> 0:07:32.600 here again we reach that distinction. Whereas those happy foods, 0:07:32.640 --> 0:07:36.560 those foods that can actually influence the production of GABBA 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:41.520 and serotonin in your brain. Um, those are different from 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:46.760 comfort foods, which basically activate neural pathways of happier time 0:07:46.960 --> 0:07:49.720 and that we crave to make ourselves feel better when 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:52.760 we're not feeling very good. Yeah, which is you know, 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:57.560 it's the difference of physiology and psychology. And you know, 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:01.000 what you've mentioned is pretty true because I think, I 0:08:01.000 --> 0:08:03.880 think if you did a survey of people, you would 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:07.040 find that most people lean toward comfort foods. That is, 0:08:07.080 --> 0:08:09.520 something their grandma made or their mom or dad made, 0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:12.160 or something like that when they're a little that reminds 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:15.400 them of maybe a special time or happier time in 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:17.320 their life, or maybe a time when things were a 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:20.520 little more simple. Maybe dare I say, Mr Hodgeman a 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:24.280 bit more nostalgic, But you know, my comfort foods are 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:27.960 those like mashed potatoes and fried chicken and is like 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:31.040 sort of good old southern home cooking is my comfort 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:34.280 food because I remember my mom and my grandmother making 0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:37.280 all that stuff and and just chowing down on it 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:40.200 when there was no regard. And that's probably part of 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:42.440 it too, as an adult who gets older and like 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:44.960 has to deal with, you know, weight issues back when 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:48.120 it didn't matter when you were a child and you 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:50.200 could just eat all of that stuff and you had 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:54.280 the metabolism of a of a gnat and it just, uh, 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:58.560 you could consume guilt free. Yeah, so comfort foods like yeah, 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:02.840 that was like he just kind of took me back, man. Man, 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:06.480 So like, what's your comfort food? I I I don't 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:09.880 know what my comfort foods are. Um, I like sweet stuff. 0:09:09.920 --> 0:09:16.400 I like cakes, Um, cookies, Uh, donuts are big time 0:09:16.440 --> 0:09:19.079 comfort food of mine. Is that childhood stuff for you? 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:22.000 So I've learned not to look too deeply into the 0:09:22.000 --> 0:09:24.920 psychology behind my comfort foods. Were also started leaping, So 0:09:25.360 --> 0:09:27.360 I just take him on face value. I'm like, this 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:29.520 makes me feel good. This is the food I go to, 0:09:29.640 --> 0:09:31.440 you know, you go home or Simpson, which is fine. 0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:34.960 So um with comfort foods. The fact it's like donuts 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:37.400 for me and fried chicken for you, Like it under 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:40.679 underlines the fact that, like it's a really personal choice. 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:46.320 But apparently, um, there are kind of commonalities between say, 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:51.080 like men and women. Um, who over who wants what 0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:54.560 when they're craving comfort food. Yeah. There was a study 0:09:54.559 --> 0:09:58.760 in two thousand five out of Cornell that surveyed close 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:02.160 to three hundred sister undered men and women and found 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:05.640 that women tend to seek sugary things more than men do. 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:09.679 Men tend to seek out things like I do, like soup. 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:12.840 I gotta say it's a comfort food. Soup and steak 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:16.400 and things like that. Steak is a comfort food. Well, 0:10:16.440 --> 0:10:19.160 I mean according to Cornell, but I'm saying for you, 0:10:19.280 --> 0:10:22.440 is it a comfort food? Oh? I mean I love steak. 0:10:22.480 --> 0:10:25.200 I don't know that I would say it's a comfort 0:10:25.200 --> 0:10:29.240 food for me. It's like my body's like get steak, eat. Now. 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:32.400 That's how I end up eating a steak. It's not 0:10:32.520 --> 0:10:35.240 like I'm feeling down, Josh, I could really use a steak. 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:38.800 That's never like it's it's rainy day and you're not 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:41.840 feeling a little blue. Yeah, exactly, Like a nice bowl 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:44.199 of soup sounds really good, but not Yeah, you're right, 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:48.760 not a not a toilet bowl, toilet seat size steak. 0:10:49.720 --> 0:10:51.800 It's not what I'm going for when I'm looking for 0:10:51.920 --> 0:10:56.600 comfort food. Uh. They also found that these cis gendered 0:10:56.600 --> 0:11:00.400 men tend to use comfort food as the reward, while 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:04.120 women might feel guilty about it, uh, and that there 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:07.720 may be an evolutionary advantage for women when it comes 0:11:07.760 --> 0:11:11.840 to that this sounds awfully made up. Oh you wrote it, 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:14.600 I know. I'm trying to suss out if I did 0:11:14.640 --> 0:11:16.640 make it up. I don't think I did. So it 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:21.400 does sound editorial though, that that this idea that, um, 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:25.720 if if you are craving comfort food all the time 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:30.360 and you just eat it willy nilly, that's not typically 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:32.200 good for you. Because the foods that we crave for 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:36.840 comfort or not particularly nourishing or nutrient rich or nutrient dents, 0:11:37.360 --> 0:11:39.960 they may or may not be bad for your junk food, 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:43.760 depending on your perspective about food. So I don't know 0:11:43.800 --> 0:11:46.960 if that's like an evolutionary thing. That sounds like a 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:51.880 segue that I forced, but who knows. Well. There's also 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:55.840 the idea that if you are not eating something the 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:59.360 lack of that can physiologically affect your mood. Because there's 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:05.040 a fatty said called d h A h DACKO say 0:12:05.480 --> 0:12:13.520 saw hexonic dacos to hexonic. I think, I think that's it. Yeah, okay, Uh. 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:16.920 This is a fat the most abundant fat found in 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:20.200 the human brain, and it's very important for brain structure. 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:23.480 And there's a lot of it in fish and shellfish. 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:26.080 And they've done studies and even though they're not um 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:30.880 their core correlative and not necessarily UH causal, they did 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:33.560 find lengths and other studies have confirmed links that in 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:36.840 places where people eat like Taiwan, where people eat a 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:38.880 lot more fish and it's a big part of the 0:12:38.920 --> 0:12:43.840 diet than uh, people are happier. Yeah, ten times the 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:47.520 prevalence of depression in areas where they don't eat a 0:12:47.559 --> 0:12:50.640 lot of fish. And I do say, although this doesn't 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:53.200 prove causation, it's a pretty good reason to eat more 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:56.440 fish and other chores containing d H A. And that's true, 0:12:56.480 --> 0:12:59.400 I mean, like, what's the problem eat more fish? Like 0:12:59.440 --> 0:13:02.680 if even if it doesn't say yes we linked d 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:05.839 H A and lack of it to depression, just eat 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:07.600 some more fish. If you see a study like that, 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:12.240 there's nothing wrong with that. Yeah, I feel really defensive 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:15.960 about about this episode. I feel bad that I didn't 0:13:15.960 --> 0:13:17.480 tell you beforehand. I kind of wanted to see what 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:20.920 would happen. Well, I I hope you're ashamed of yourself 0:13:20.960 --> 0:13:23.360 for how it turned out. I'm gonna keep doing this 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:24.680 and just pop them in there. I mean now and 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:27.160 then CEF record. Now, I'm going to be on the lookout. 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:30.839 I'm gonna be super paranoid. You got anything else, I 0:13:30.920 --> 0:13:34.200 got nothing else? All right, Well, since Chuck's got nothing else, 0:13:34.200 --> 0:13:41.000 so I got nothing else. The humiliation ends here. Stuff 0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:43.000 You Should Know is a production of I Heart Radio. 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:46.000 For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the I heart 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:49.000 Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 0:13:49.000 --> 0:13:49.760 favorite shows.