Dr. Casey Means

And that's actually what processed food is doing is it's –

Every time we eat a different – we think we're eating a tortilla, but it's like completely different than all the other weird tortillas, ultra-processed tortillas on the shelf.

So every time we eat tortilla, and our brain is this incredible prediction machine, and as it's coming towards our mouth, we're predicting what the load is going to be.

But we have no idea.

Is it a Coke Zero?

Is it a Diet Coke with aspartame?

Is it a regular Coke?

It all tastes the same.

But the nutrients that are in our gut are totally different.

So we end up actually triggering the motivation pathways because of processed food representing a variable reward.

Whereas every time you eat a ribeye, your body's pretty much getting a similar thing each time.

And so the prediction matching is going to be more conducive to getting off the motivation treadmill for more, which I think is so important.

fascinating um but i think backing up a little bit one one concept i have for food that really helps me is really thinking about the body's always trying to help me be satiated and trying to help reduce my cravings i literally just have to give the body what it needs i have to stimulate the body in a way that it will serve me and giving me satiety hormones to basically regulate my hunger and

again, with visuals, I think it's so helpful.

I think about these cells lining our small intestine that literally have nutrient sensors and literal receptors on the cell membrane in the luminal side of the gut that's facing all the food that are just sitting there waiting to bind with these things in our food that will stimulate the cell to make the satiety hormone that

poof, effortly makes us not hungry, gets rid of that grip of attachment to cravings that all of us are so plagued by.

And like, I think, you know, we have this intense conversation happening in society right now about GLP-1 analogs and Ozempic and Minjar and all these things, GLP-1 agonists, but like,

we rarely talk about the fact that we have nutrient sensing cells of the gut, the L cells of the gut, that when stimulated appropriately will make GLP-1.

And when stimulated the way they want to be, will secrete hordes of GLP-1 for us.

And so how do we actually think about just literally giving the body what it needs to stimulate the satiety hormones?