You’ve likely heard about the miracle weight loss drugs called GLP-1 receptor agonists. These drugs include:
- Dulaglutide (Trulicity)
- Exenatide (Exenatide, Byetta)
- Liraglutide (Victoza, Saxenda,
- Semaglutide (Ozempic, Rybelsus)
- Tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepound)
These medications have been in the headlines over the past few years because of their ability to drive significant weight loss in those with excess body fat or obesity. I have news for you. These miracle drugs do much more than help you lose a few pounds. To understand, let me walk you through the relevant pathology.
The Emerging Epidemic
Up until the 1970s, two things were rare—significant obesity and now common mental health disorders like depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, ADHD, and similar conditions. What the heck happened over the past 50 years? It has nothing to do with “excess calories” or too much stress. It’s all about the adverse effects of ultra-processed food on brain function. Ultra-processed food contains the deadly triad of excess sucrose and other simple sugars, high glycemic carbohydrates, and excess omega-6 fatty acids relative to omega-3 fatty acids. When your brain is exposed to this type of food over time, it changes your brain in a way that fits the pattern of a disease called Carbohydrate Associated Reversible Brain syndrome or CARB syndrome. Folks with CARB syndrome tend to store excess body fat at any caloric intake, and they develop up to 22 brain dysfunction symptoms that overlap with symptoms of traditional psychiatric disorders. They then get misdiagnosed with a conventional psychiatric disorder and prescribed medications that cause more weight gain over time.
Depression That Isn’t Depression
A good example is “atypical depression”. Up until the 1970s, we had only one type of depression: major depressive disorder (MDD). People with MDD felt down and depressed, withdrew from family and friends, slept poorly, and lost their appetite with associated weight loss. If you didn’t lose weight and waste away, you could not be diagnosed with MDD. That has changed over the past 50 years. Today, most people who appear to be depressed have an increased appetite and weight gain. The folks at DSM sitting around drinking coffee and eating donuts didn’t know what to make of this trend. They finally decided to classify the weight gain form of depression as “atypical depression”. I have news for you. Atypical depression is CARB syndrome, and it has absolutely nothing to do with MDD. Folks with CARB syndrome will store excess body fat at any weight or size driven by their altered brain function.
A New Brain Disease Sweeping the Globe
The lead symptom of CARB syndrome is having intense cravings for sweet and starchy food, driving folks to consume more of the very food that is frying their brain. You can lecture them until the cows come home about the importance of eating a healthy diet, but they cannot comply because of their screwed-up brain. As you likely know, Donald Trump has nominated John F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy has promised to clean up our toxic food supply, and I fully support him in this regard. There are several problems with this approach. Reducing ultra-processed food in our food industry will take a great deal of time and political willpower, and folks with CARB syndrome are running out of time. More importantly, these people will not be able to follow a healthier diet unless we first fix their screwed-up brains. How do we do that?
- People with CARB syndrome have low levels of monoamine neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin, epinephrine, and others. The easiest way to restore these chemical messengers is to take a supplement with the precursors your brain needs to make neurotransmitters. One such supplement is CARB-22. I recommend starting with two capsules twice daily and slowly increasing to four capsules twice daily.
- Regular exercise is essential. I recommend aerobic exercise for 30-60 minutes 3-4 days per week and strength training twice weekly. Start slowly and work your way up.
- Once your cravings subside, eat a healthy, whole-food Mediterranean-style diet and avoid ultra-processed food.
- Avoid excess sucrose and consume no HFCS. Limit your total fructose intake to less than 20 grams daily, as my friend Richard Johnson recommends. For my details, I recommend reading his excellent book “Nature Wants Us to Be Fat”.
- Take enough high-quality omega-3 to get your AA/EPA ratio between 1 and 3. I take Omega Rx2 from my friend Barry Sears of Zone Diet fame.
- Consider taking or injecting one of the GLP-1 receptor agonists listed above. This type of medication will knock down many or most of the 22 symptoms of CARB syndrome that are wrecking the quality of your life, and they will crush your cravings.
Fix Your Brain, Lose the Fat
Combining a GLP-1 receptor agonist and CARB-22 is a potent and safe way of quickly suppressing the symptoms of CARB syndrome and riding your body of pesky excess body fat. You will feel better, look better, and function better. What could be better than that?
Brand-name GLP-1 receptor agonists are expensive, and medical insurance often won’t cover them. I recommend doing a Google search to find generic versions that usually cost less than $300 per month. I know this topic on a personal level. CARB syndrome runs in my family, and over the years, I’ve had mild symptoms on and off, which I’ve controlled with healthy eating, CARB-22, and exercise. I recently had to take my Family Practice Board exam, a tortuous eight-hour ordeal, so I was looking around for ways to enhance my brain function. I came across several articles outlining the positive effects of these drugs on brain function, so last month, I started injecting generic semaglutide. I couldn’t believe the results! My brain function, energy, moods, and endurance quickly improved to the point I thought I was Superman! My BMI is borderline high at 25, and I have started to lose weight for the first time in decades. I am no spring chicken, so I will take these results and run with them. If you hope to catch me, consider doing the same!
Take the Long View
A critical question is how long to take these medications when they seem helpful. We don’t have a definitive answer. Taking them long-term involves significant expense, and although they are pretty safe, some rare side effects have been reported. I plan on using the medication for 2-3 months. I will then taper the medication and rely on lifestyle measures and CARB-22 to control my CARB syndrome. If things start to slide, I will go back on the medication for several months. I recommend that you do your own research to determine what works best for you. It’s never too late to attain optimal health, so I wish you the best of luck on your journey back to optimal health and brain function!
