Ep #5 The Primitive Brain: How Biochemistry Encourages Food Addictions

Tens of thousands of years ago, the primitive brain was necessary to encourage decisions that benefited the survival of our species. Today, the primitive brain often encourages behaviors that don’t serve our bodies. For example, our primitive brain releases feel-good neurotransmitters when we eat foods high in nutrients, which was beneficial when food was scarce but today food is very abundant. In addition, highly processed foods artificially concentrate these nutrients causing an increased release of feel-good neurotransmitters and making foods addictive. During the podcast, Dr. Vaughn introduces the primitive brain as a basic concept in preparation for further discussions on the addictive properties of processed foods.