0:00:02 > 0:00:08This programme contains some strong language and scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11The human brain is the most powerful organ in the body.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13It controls our movement, our senses, our thoughts.
0:00:13 > 0:00:15It makes us who we are.
0:00:15 > 0:00:19Yet, for some of us, it cannot control what we eat.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22- You have the notion that fat is bad.- Yes, fat is bad.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25Your brain is about 65% fat.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28In this film, I want to look at how food affects the brain.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33If you want your brain to function well,
0:00:33 > 0:00:36you've got to be feeding it with the right stuff.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39What happens in our brain when we eat certain types of food?
0:00:42 > 0:00:44And why can some of us not stop eating?
0:00:44 > 0:00:47ALL CHEER
0:00:47 > 0:00:48- That's a wake-up call.- No.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50- I don't think so.- No?
0:00:50 > 0:00:52Mm, I don't think 350's too bad.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54You've got people walking around here 400, 500 pounds.
0:00:54 > 0:01:00Are scientists really planning to use poo to combat obesity?
0:01:00 > 0:01:02They even have poo pills now.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05- Poo pills?- Yeah. - Where you swallow poo?
0:01:05 > 0:01:08- You swallow poo - in a capsule... - I will never be swallowing poo.
0:01:08 > 0:01:09Ever!
0:01:09 > 0:01:14How does what a pregnant mother ate affect the brain of her unborn child?
0:01:14 > 0:01:17We have to remember that the food that we're consuming
0:01:17 > 0:01:20during pregnancy is the fuel for the developing baby.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23What are the big food giants doing to help?
0:01:23 > 0:01:25This is a disaster,
0:01:25 > 0:01:28because it's like having free drugs on every corner.
0:01:28 > 0:01:29I think they're evil bastards.
0:01:29 > 0:01:34If this doesn't change, will everyone be eating in the Heart Attack Grill?
0:01:34 > 0:01:37- So, what do you sell?- I sell death...
0:01:37 > 0:01:42and I sell fun, and those two happen to go hand-in-hand.
0:01:42 > 0:01:47This is my journey into the inner workings of the brain,
0:01:47 > 0:01:50and how it deals with the foods we eat every day.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18I've come to America - the world leader in obesity,
0:02:18 > 0:02:21but also in cutting-edge scientific research -
0:02:21 > 0:02:23to see what's really going on
0:02:23 > 0:02:26in the brains of the millions of people like me.
0:02:33 > 0:02:38In 2014, according to the World Health Organization,
0:02:38 > 0:02:41nearly two billion adults are overweight.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47We all know that obesity is a worldwide epidemic,
0:02:47 > 0:02:52and that junk foods high in fats and sugars are playing a major role.
0:02:52 > 0:02:54Yet we continue to eat them.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00I don't need anybody to tell me
0:03:00 > 0:03:02that I'm putting the wrong food into my body,
0:03:02 > 0:03:05but I'll tell you what is worrying -
0:03:05 > 0:03:09when you actually deeply think about the amount of sugar
0:03:09 > 0:03:10you're putting into your body,
0:03:10 > 0:03:13and what that must be doing to your brain.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16One, two, three.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19- OK?- One more, one more! - One more? One more!
0:03:19 > 0:03:21Hoop-la!
0:03:21 > 0:03:28The average American consumes 22 teaspoons of added sugar per day.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30According to the World Health Organization,
0:03:30 > 0:03:34the recommended level is no more than eight teaspoons.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40So, added sugar is not the sugar you can see,
0:03:40 > 0:03:43it's the sugar that's already in our foods.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Neuroscientist Nicole Avena
0:03:49 > 0:03:53has studied the extent to which sugar affects our brains.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55So, what type of experiments have you done here?
0:03:55 > 0:03:58Most of our experiments have been done on laboratory rats,
0:03:58 > 0:03:59and the reason why we do that
0:03:59 > 0:04:01is because we're neuroscientists,
0:04:01 > 0:04:02so we want to look at the brain
0:04:02 > 0:04:03and really understand
0:04:03 > 0:04:05on a neurochemical level
0:04:05 > 0:04:07what's happening, and so what we've found
0:04:07 > 0:04:10is that if we give our rats access to excessive amounts of sugar,
0:04:10 > 0:04:12that they come to develop a pattern
0:04:12 > 0:04:15that looks very much like an addiction to a drug,
0:04:15 > 0:04:17and so they'll show signs of bingeing,
0:04:17 > 0:04:20they'll show signs of craving, they'll show withdrawal -
0:04:20 > 0:04:23if we take their sugar away, the rats will tremor and shake
0:04:23 > 0:04:25- and show changes in blood pressure. - Will they?!- Yeah!
0:04:25 > 0:04:29Yeah - much like what you'd see during withdrawal from morphine.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31So, again, we're seeing lots of parallels in behaviour,
0:04:31 > 0:04:33- but also in the brain. - Hold on a second.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37So, a rat that comes off sugar, having binged on sugar for a while...
0:04:37 > 0:04:39- Mm-hm.- So, my equivalent of eating all the chocolate I eat
0:04:39 > 0:04:42- and then coming off it - so, a rat tremors?- Yes.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46So, they'll show tremor, they'll show teeth chattering,
0:04:46 > 0:04:48which is an indication that they're anxious,
0:04:48 > 0:04:50and they'll also show signs of depression
0:04:50 > 0:04:52and other indicators of anxiety.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55When we go food shopping,
0:04:55 > 0:04:59we fill our trolleys with loads of food that have these added sugars.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03Just look at the labels of many of the foods in your fridge.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07You'll see ingredients like glucose, fructose, sucrose,
0:05:07 > 0:05:11maltose, lactose, dextrose -
0:05:11 > 0:05:13these are all added sugars,
0:05:13 > 0:05:16and Nicole has found that they are highly addictive.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29When we overconsume sugar,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32it can activate these brain reward systems
0:05:32 > 0:05:34that are associated with addiction,
0:05:34 > 0:05:37and it can release neurochemicals like dopamine and opioids.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40The extent to which they're released in the brain with sugar -
0:05:40 > 0:05:42it's not the same as cocaine or heroin
0:05:42 > 0:05:44or marijuana or whatever, is it?
0:05:44 > 0:05:47Well, it's activating pathways in the brain and areas in the brain
0:05:47 > 0:05:50in a similar manner to what we see with drugs of abuse.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53So, then we replace the sugars with artificial sweeteners -
0:05:53 > 0:05:57- and I still can't win.- Yeah, it's not a good idea. Studies are showing...
0:05:57 > 0:06:00- You depress me, Nicole. - I'm sorry, I wish I had better news!
0:06:00 > 0:06:03Studies are showing that artificial sweeteners, actually,
0:06:03 > 0:06:05they can cause you to eat even more
0:06:05 > 0:06:08than you would have if you had the real sugar.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10- Clear off - even more than if you were...- Even more.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13..drinking the full fat, as I call it - the full sugarload.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16- Exactly - and it's actually worse... - Why? Why more?
0:06:16 > 0:06:18Well, we don't really know why,
0:06:18 > 0:06:21but we know that this is actually something that's magnified
0:06:21 > 0:06:23in people who are overweight or obese.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26We know from research that just tasting the artificial sweetener,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29just our brain thinking it's sugar,
0:06:29 > 0:06:31or thinking it's a real sweetener,
0:06:31 > 0:06:33is going to activate these areas of the brain
0:06:33 > 0:06:36that are associated with these addiction-like responses.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38- It's scary.- It is.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48Many of you watching this are probably saying
0:06:48 > 0:06:51that I need my head examined - so that's exactly what I'm going to do.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53I've come to Philadelphia to have my brain looked at
0:06:53 > 0:06:55by Dr Jennifer Nasser,
0:06:55 > 0:06:58one of America's leading nutritional scientists.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01So, fNIRS stands for
0:07:01 > 0:07:05Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Jennifer's experiment will look at two parts
0:07:08 > 0:07:12of the prefrontal cortex of my brain -
0:07:12 > 0:07:14the sides that control when to stop eating...
0:07:16 > 0:07:19..and the front, that makes us want to eat more...
0:07:20 > 0:07:22..and more, and more.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26What we're going to do is measure the brain activity
0:07:26 > 0:07:30and response to you eating, so we can - using this instrument -
0:07:30 > 0:07:35we can measure how much activity of oxygen your neurons
0:07:35 > 0:07:38in your prefrontal cortex are using as you eat.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43- So, we have a part on the side that helps us...- Round here?- Yes.
0:07:43 > 0:07:47..to slow us down and inhibit or control our activity.
0:07:47 > 0:07:48I think mine are dead.
0:07:48 > 0:07:53And we have a part in the middle called the medial prefrontal cortex.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56So, that's what's telling me, "Keep on eating, keep on eating."
0:07:56 > 0:08:00Yes, yeah - or, "I like this," or, "I feel attached to it."
0:08:00 > 0:08:04- You know, if you have a big meal at a holiday...- Chicken pie.
0:08:04 > 0:08:05..chicken pie,
0:08:05 > 0:08:08and then Grandma brings out your favourite dessert -
0:08:08 > 0:08:09and even if you're stuffed,
0:08:09 > 0:08:12because Grandma has made something for everybody...
0:08:12 > 0:08:14- Grandma's dead, but I still eat it.- OK.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17- But - or somebody else that you're close to.- Yes.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20Right - where if it was somebody knocking on the door
0:08:20 > 0:08:23selling you cookies and you're not hungry, you might say,
0:08:23 > 0:08:25"Oh, thanks, I've got a cupboard full."
0:08:25 > 0:08:27- LAUGHS: I've never said that!- Ah!
0:08:30 > 0:08:33Using cutting-edge infrared technology,
0:08:33 > 0:08:38Dr Nasser is going to track my brainwaves in real time.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40Start on the broccoli, and if you want more, just let us know,
0:08:40 > 0:08:42we'll bring it over.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44- I quite like broccoli.- Good!
0:08:44 > 0:08:47We've got a whole big serving bowl for ya!
0:08:47 > 0:08:48SHE CHUCKLES
0:08:48 > 0:08:52'So, I've got to eat broccoli, ice cream and protein
0:08:52 > 0:08:58'in three-minute intervals to see how my brain responds.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01'Look what happens after I've started eating the broccoli -
0:09:01 > 0:09:05'my brainwaves are already telling me to stop eating.'
0:09:10 > 0:09:12- Done.- OK, there you go.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15You can have as much as you want for the next three minutes.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22'In contrast, when I eat my favourite sugar-filled yogurt,
0:09:22 > 0:09:24'I eat for the full three minutes -
0:09:24 > 0:09:27'and there's not a stop signal in sight.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31'Look - my brain's telling me to eat more.'
0:09:31 > 0:09:33And stop.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37'Next up, the chicken sandwich.'
0:09:38 > 0:09:40OK, go ahead.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47We want to give the chicken a chance to signal your brain
0:09:47 > 0:09:48that you've had some protein,
0:09:48 > 0:09:50and that takes about 15 minutes.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55'Now, you might be thinking at home that I've already eaten a lot,
0:09:55 > 0:09:58'so, naturally, I couldn't be hungry.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01'It's not what this experiment's about - it's not about hunger,
0:10:01 > 0:10:05'it's about how quickly the brain sends out those stop signals
0:10:05 > 0:10:07'after eating protein.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09'Remember, I've just eaten loads of protein,
0:10:09 > 0:10:12'and I've waited 15 minutes for it to digest.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16'Now, will my brain act differently with more ice cream?'
0:10:16 > 0:10:19- This is like heaven! - ..how long you kept going.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22Maybe you should just bring the whole bucket in here!
0:10:24 > 0:10:27- Oh, you got it? - I'll grab it.- All right.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34The results are in.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39OK, so, you ate about 112g of broccoli.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43OK, remember, I said that you could eat - it fills you up a lot.
0:10:43 > 0:10:49You ate 94g of yogurt before you had the chicken.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51- Frozen yogurt.- Frozen yogurt. - Ice cream.- Right?
0:10:51 > 0:10:54And then you had about 5oz of chicken,
0:10:54 > 0:10:56and we waited 15 minutes,
0:10:56 > 0:10:58and then you came back and ate more yogurt,
0:10:58 > 0:11:00and this time you only ate 62g,
0:11:00 > 0:11:02so, after the chicken,
0:11:02 > 0:11:06you decreased the amount of yogurt that you ate by about 30%.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09Jennifer, I'm not going to tie chickens round my waist
0:11:09 > 0:11:10and walk around with them!
0:11:10 > 0:11:14Seriously, though! So, any time - I'm being serious! Any time, then...
0:11:14 > 0:11:19- If I got up in the morning...- Right. - ..and I took a lunchbox of chicken,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22and every time I see chocolate, I see chips, I see...
0:11:22 > 0:11:23Have a little protein first.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26I have protein, I have protein, I give it...15 minutes...
0:11:26 > 0:11:31- 15 minutes or so, yes. - Am I statistically less likely, then?
0:11:31 > 0:11:36- Well, statistics needs numbers - you're just one person.- Yes.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39- So, we can't say... - You scientists are always so careful.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42- You can't say "statistically"... - Right, but am I more than likely?
0:11:42 > 0:11:45- Well, we can...- Spit it out - am I more than likely?
0:11:45 > 0:11:46You were here,
0:11:46 > 0:11:50so if you are consistent, then you should be eating less
0:11:50 > 0:11:53after you eat protein than if you eat it before.
0:11:53 > 0:11:58So, therefore, if I'm sitting down to a big, massive plate,
0:11:58 > 0:12:01as I sometimes do, of chicken and French fries...
0:12:01 > 0:12:06- Eat the chicken first.- Eat the chicken first, leave 15 minutes...
0:12:06 > 0:12:09- Yeah.- If I want the French fries, eat them, if I don't, don't.- Right.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12You know, even if you're an educated person, you go up through school,
0:12:12 > 0:12:17you learn so much about the world, and life, and all of that,
0:12:17 > 0:12:22and it's taken me until I'm 41 years of age to come to America
0:12:22 > 0:12:26to find out from you that there are triggers in the brain
0:12:26 > 0:12:30that could actually help me control my eating.
0:12:30 > 0:12:35It's taken me 41 years to understand those go and stop signals.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38Well, part of it has to do with technology -
0:12:38 > 0:12:42in the past 15 to 20 years, there's been a lot of brain imaging studies
0:12:42 > 0:12:44associated with eating behaviour.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46Yeah, but a lot of people watching this tonight,
0:12:46 > 0:12:49they've no excuse if they want to help themselves.
0:12:49 > 0:12:50Right.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58Of course, I'm not only addicted to sugar -
0:12:58 > 0:13:00I love junk food.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11Back in New York, I'm going to meet one of the leading scientists
0:13:11 > 0:13:14on how our diets affect mental health.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16Felice Jacka is the president
0:13:16 > 0:13:19of the International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25When I think of junk food and the effect it's having on my body,
0:13:25 > 0:13:29- I think of my stomach, and I think of my heart.- Yeah.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31- I've never thought of my brain before.- Yeah.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33When you, for example,
0:13:33 > 0:13:35feed rats a junk-food diet,
0:13:35 > 0:13:38you get really pronounced changes to the brain,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41areas of the brain that are highly relevant to mental disorders.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45- Really?- Yeah.- This is fascinating. So, what changes in the brain?- OK...
0:13:45 > 0:13:46- With junk food.- In particular,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49there's an area of the brain called the hippocampus -
0:13:49 > 0:13:51- now, the hippocampus... - That's memory, right?
0:13:51 > 0:13:53Yeah, it's really critical for learning, for memory,
0:13:53 > 0:13:54but also for mental disorders.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58Now, the thing that seems to really help the hippocampus to grow
0:13:58 > 0:14:01and to function is a protein called BDNF.
0:14:01 > 0:14:07When you feed junk foods to animals, it drops the level of BDNF.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09BDNF's like manure for the brain -
0:14:09 > 0:14:12it grows new nerve cells in the hippocampus.
0:14:12 > 0:14:13- Wow.- Yeah.
0:14:15 > 0:14:22So, Felice's studies claim that junk food can shrink the hippocampus -
0:14:22 > 0:14:26one of the telltale signs of depression.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29So, food, and what we eat, can cause depression.
0:14:29 > 0:14:30Well, we think so.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33This is what all of the evidence that we've generated
0:14:33 > 0:14:35over the last five years really suggests.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38So, time and time again, across countries, across cultures,
0:14:38 > 0:14:41across age groups, we see that people with better-quality diets
0:14:41 > 0:14:44are much less likely to have depression -
0:14:44 > 0:14:47people with unhealthy diets, lots of processed foods,
0:14:47 > 0:14:49they're more likely to have depression.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51The other thing to think about
0:14:51 > 0:14:53is that this is not just all about weight -
0:14:53 > 0:14:56we see that relationship between diet quality and mental health
0:14:56 > 0:14:58quite regardless of weight.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00I mean, you can be overweight and healthy,
0:15:00 > 0:15:02because you're eating healthy foods and you're active.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05You can be thin and be really unhealthy.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07They've shown that time and time again.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11I find, and some of my friends laugh at me for this,
0:15:11 > 0:15:15my memory is not great.
0:15:15 > 0:15:20Because of my job I need to retain a lot of facts and I do.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24But my long-term memory isn't great. It's really, really not.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26I forget people's names all the time.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29Can I tell you about a really scary study where
0:15:29 > 0:15:33they took a group of sedentary but otherwise healthy blokes
0:15:33 > 0:15:36and they put them on a junk-food diet for one week
0:15:36 > 0:15:41and they found within one week the same sorts of deficits in memory,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44cognition that they see in the animal models that seem to be
0:15:44 > 0:15:46- linked to the hippocampus. - After one week?- After one week.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51So if you want your brain to function well,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54you've got to be feeding it with the right stuff.
0:15:55 > 0:16:00If this research is right these junk foods are seriously
0:16:00 > 0:16:02damaging our brains.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06But what can we do when the junk is so readily available?
0:16:08 > 0:16:12This is a disaster because it's like having free drugs on every corner.
0:16:12 > 0:16:14So people everywhere, all over
0:16:14 > 0:16:18the States where they've got massive rates of obesity, they're just
0:16:18 > 0:16:21committing suicide by junk-food drug, really.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23Really, that's what they're doing.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27So we know that even people who are highly educated,
0:16:27 > 0:16:29who are wealthy all across the globe,
0:16:29 > 0:16:31they're consuming these foods.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35It's even more common in those who are less wealthy and less educated
0:16:35 > 0:16:40because they have fewer resources to be able to withstand the marketing.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42The passion that drives me,
0:16:42 > 0:16:46the thing that gets me out of bed in the morning is the anger that
0:16:46 > 0:16:49I feel towards the large,
0:16:49 > 0:16:55multinational food industry, that I think they're evil bastards
0:16:55 > 0:16:57and they're allowed to act with impunity.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00You're a world-leading authority in what you do.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04To call these people evil bastards, that's strong, strong language.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06- You sure you mean it? - I really mean it,
0:17:06 > 0:17:08because there is no doubt that
0:17:08 > 0:17:13so much of the huge tidal wave of ill health that the globe is
0:17:13 > 0:17:17experiencing is a function of unhealthy diets
0:17:17 > 0:17:20- and the way our diets have changed. - That's not the companies' fault.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23It's our fault for eating it. All they're doing is offering it.
0:17:23 > 0:17:24It's my fault.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28If you put a highly addictive product on every single corner
0:17:28 > 0:17:32and you market it heavily and you make it really, really cheap,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35and that seductive message all the time, eat me, eat me, eat me...
0:17:46 > 0:17:49To understand what is going on in my brain I've come to meet
0:17:49 > 0:17:53a psychiatrist, Dr Drew Ramsey, and he's taking a revolutionary
0:17:53 > 0:17:56approach to treating some of his patients.
0:17:56 > 0:18:01Instead of using drugs to change brain behaviour, he prescribes food.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04Breakfast, what time do you wake up and what do you eat?
0:18:04 > 0:18:06Wake up about 7:00 in the morning.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12- I eat absolutely nothing for breakfast, ever.- Never?- Never.
0:18:12 > 0:18:17- Coffee?- Never. I don't like coffee. - Tea?- Don't like tea.
0:18:17 > 0:18:18When's the first time you eat?
0:18:19 > 0:18:22Most days about 2:00.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26- Couple of packets of crisps, chips in your language.- OK.- Bar of chocolate.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28What kind of chocolate? This isn't like...
0:18:28 > 0:18:32- Dark chocolate, white chocolate... - Milk chocolate.- Milk chocolate.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35Or sometimes I would have a proper meal so I would have chicken
0:18:35 > 0:18:37and chips, steak and chips...
0:18:38 > 0:18:41..lasagne and chips, stew.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47- OK.- Usually about 7:00, 8:00 at night, that's
0:18:47 > 0:18:49when I will have another big meal.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52Three, four nights a week, burger and chips.
0:18:52 > 0:18:57- OK.- And 9:00, 10:00 at night, that's when I start having...
0:18:59 > 0:19:02..maybe five or six packets of crisps, chocolate.
0:19:02 > 0:19:03You see, every night...
0:19:05 > 0:19:07This is madness.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11But every night I convince myself I'm starting my diet tomorrow morning.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13So therefore this is my last binge.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16When you look at this, what do you see?
0:19:16 > 0:19:19- What do you think's missing here? - I see insanity.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21When you write it down, it's insane.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26Crisps, chocolate, ice cream, fast food.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30You said this was insane. I'm just going to say this is your diet.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34You're a successful guy, you have some health issues but...
0:19:34 > 0:19:38I hate people saying I'm successful, cos you can't be successful
0:19:38 > 0:19:41- and have this.- OK.- So that's a bit up here.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44I don't feel successful, I feel like a failure.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47This is the only thing you failed at in your life, is food.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50- Yeah, but it permeates everything. - I would say so.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00I'll be meeting Drew throughout this film to get his advice.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11We all know that if you eat junk food it makes you fat.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13I'll tell you what I've learned in New York though,
0:20:13 > 0:20:16I hadn't thought about the association before between that
0:20:16 > 0:20:18terrible food and our mental health,
0:20:18 > 0:20:22how you feel inside, how your brain chemistry is actually working.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25I just found that really fascinating here.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27Do you know what this is doing for me?
0:20:27 > 0:20:30It's making me realise how screwed up I am even at a basic
0:20:30 > 0:20:33level in terms of what I'm eating
0:20:33 > 0:20:37every single day of my life, cos I've met expert after expert
0:20:37 > 0:20:39and I am so far off.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42I couldn't be harming the body more.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46I guess we kind of can learn what to eat to dramatically
0:20:46 > 0:20:48improve our lives,
0:20:48 > 0:20:54dramatically improve our pleasure in life, and yet quite a few of you
0:20:54 > 0:20:55and me...
0:20:57 > 0:20:59..we're feeding ourselves with poison.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05But why?
0:21:05 > 0:21:07I wanted to learn more about what was actually
0:21:07 > 0:21:12happening inside the pleasure centres of my brain that make me
0:21:12 > 0:21:15want to feed myself with this junk.
0:21:16 > 0:21:22Professor Emmanuel Pothos has studied the brains of obese people.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26His research has discovered the dopamine receptors in obese
0:21:26 > 0:21:31people are significantly less responsive.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34And they determine reward when it comes to food.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41Palatable food or normal food is not having the same
0:21:41 > 0:21:46effect in the obese individual as in the normal-weight individual.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50The obese individual is compelled to overeat
0:21:50 > 0:21:54to actually get the same sensation of reward
0:21:54 > 0:21:56and fullness as a normal-weight individual.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00What percentage less release of dopamine is there?
0:22:00 > 0:22:05The dopamine receptors are reduced, in the range between 20%
0:22:05 > 0:22:09and 50%, that's actually what has been published so far.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13- That's astonishing to me. - That's astonishing.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17So, if I'm sitting in a restaurant with someone who is normal weight...
0:22:17 > 0:22:20- Yeah.- ..and we are both having some ice cream,
0:22:20 > 0:22:23and they have a small amount and they say, "That feels great,
0:22:23 > 0:22:26"that's lovely," and I'm eating more and more and more,
0:22:26 > 0:22:31because I'm fat and I'm releasing 50% less dopamine, possibly,
0:22:31 > 0:22:34then of course I'm going to eat more, to feel as good as the thin man.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38Yes, I would say that is now a reasonable explanation.
0:22:38 > 0:22:43It kind of, in a way, kicks into touch this notion that fat
0:22:43 > 0:22:50people are just simply greedy, simply lazy, simply wrecking themselves,
0:22:50 > 0:22:54that they are set up in life to be more of a failure in terms
0:22:54 > 0:22:58of their diet than some other people who are lucky enough not to
0:22:58 > 0:23:01have less dopamine release. Correct?
0:23:01 > 0:23:03Everybody accepts that there is
0:23:03 > 0:23:06a stigma associated with obesity, right?
0:23:06 > 0:23:08I mean, you can see that in every society.
0:23:08 > 0:23:13So, I don't think we can talk about happy and lazy people, exactly,
0:23:13 > 0:23:16we are talking people who are struggling through
0:23:16 > 0:23:18a very serious health problem.
0:23:20 > 0:23:26Here's a question. Can fat people improve their dopamine receptors?
0:23:26 > 0:23:31We don't have any evidence that the dopamine system really
0:23:31 > 0:23:33corrects itself, ever.
0:23:33 > 0:23:39So, we think this deficit is on very early in life,
0:23:39 > 0:23:43in individuals who are predisposed to obesity,
0:23:43 > 0:23:46and even if the individual is not predisposed to obesity,
0:23:46 > 0:23:49and at some point in their life, they develop bad diet habits,
0:23:49 > 0:23:54let's say, you know, I haven't seen yet an experiment that
0:23:54 > 0:23:59shows that this deficit can actually be, um, recovered.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01That depresses me.
0:24:01 > 0:24:02Because I've clearly got that gene,
0:24:02 > 0:24:04and probably about ten million of them!
0:24:04 > 0:24:08Yeah, if we realise right from the get-go that it's going to be
0:24:08 > 0:24:11a lifelong challenge, a lifelong struggle,
0:24:11 > 0:24:13then I think we are better prepared for it.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17I know all about this lifelong struggle.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20Five years ago, I made a film called Dead Fat,
0:24:20 > 0:24:23and you should be warned, the next scene is disturbing.
0:24:24 > 0:24:29'You are about to see the reality of obesity, close-up.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33'I witnessed the autopsy of a 30st woman.'
0:24:33 > 0:24:36All the tissue is abnormal fat.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40'I visited a funeral home with oversized coffins.'
0:24:40 > 0:24:43- It is noticeably wider. - Yes, it is noticeably wider.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45'And I got a glimpse into my future
0:24:45 > 0:24:49'and the future of millions of us across the world.'
0:24:49 > 0:24:51I don't want my heart to be swollen like that.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53Then, change your lifestyle.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59'I did change.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01'This was me, last year.
0:25:03 > 0:25:09'I had lost 7st on an extreme diet. I felt great about myself.'
0:25:18 > 0:25:21'And this is me now.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25'I'm heavier than I ever was.
0:25:25 > 0:25:30'Perhaps psychiatrist Dr Drew can help me understand
0:25:30 > 0:25:33'if I'm always doomed to fail.'
0:25:33 > 0:25:37I lost 100 pounds on these things, which are essentially energy bars.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39Have a look through some of the ingredients.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42Yeah, I was looking at this, this is, like,
0:25:42 > 0:25:45a rice crispy treat with some fake vitamins stuck on there.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48Isolated soy protein. Oh, this is great.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51This is, like, the most highly processed protein you can have.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53Tapioca starch - that's sugar.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55Glucose syrup - that's sugar.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58Fructooligosaccharides - that's another way to say sugar.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01Toasted oats - that's a real ingredient.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03Then there are some nuts.
0:26:03 > 0:26:04So far, there is oats and nuts that are good.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06Raisins, which they soak in vegetable oil.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09Because there wasn't enough in there already(!)
0:26:09 > 0:26:12This is basically, so far, sugar, almost entirely sugar,
0:26:12 > 0:26:14and then Omega 6 fats -
0:26:14 > 0:26:19the vegetable oil for sure is some type of soy bean oil, I would guess.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23But that bar is saying that I'm getting all the nutrients,
0:26:23 > 0:26:25all the vitamins that I need in a day,
0:26:25 > 0:26:27three of those with 600 calories,
0:26:27 > 0:26:30and I lost 7st, I lost 100 pounds.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34Do you think this is the way to health?
0:26:36 > 0:26:38- Honestly?- But tell me why not.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41Well, there are a couple of reasons why not.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43First of all, it's not a real food.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46This wasn't made for your health, this was made for a shelf life.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49You put this down, we come back in five months,
0:26:49 > 0:26:50it's going to look the same.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53I wonder if also you love this because you know it's going to fail.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57- What do you mean?- Well, you know that you're not going to just eat this
0:26:57 > 0:27:00for the rest of your life, you know you are going to start craving
0:27:00 > 0:27:02your chicken pie, so you know at some point this is going to fail.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05So, you can love it, because it's a little bit of...
0:27:05 > 0:27:08You get some momentum, it's great, it's a nice period,
0:27:08 > 0:27:10you're losing weight, feeling good about that,
0:27:10 > 0:27:12but you know you're not going to live on this.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16So, that is the psychiatrist in you now saying...
0:27:16 > 0:27:19well, this is a question, are you saying there is a self-destruct
0:27:19 > 0:27:22element, as I know it's going to fail? Is that what you mean?
0:27:22 > 0:27:25If this is your solution, I don't have a lot of hope,
0:27:25 > 0:27:27because I don't think it's sustainable, I don't think
0:27:27 > 0:27:30these sorts of gimmicks and plans and highly processed foods
0:27:30 > 0:27:33create a sustainable, healthy lifestyle for people.
0:27:45 > 0:27:50Remarkably, a new science could provide people like me with hope.
0:27:50 > 0:27:55The latest research believes that the gut is the second brain of the body,
0:27:55 > 0:28:00and the bacteria, or microbio, that live there
0:28:00 > 0:28:04can send signals to the brain, telling us what to eat.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09Certain sorts of bugs like certain sorts of foods,
0:28:09 > 0:28:12and if one sort of bug is predominating,
0:28:12 > 0:28:15- it might be driving you to eat that high-fat food...- Really?
0:28:15 > 0:28:16..rather than that sugary food.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20- So, from there up, it's signalling to drive us to eat stuff?- Yeah, yeah.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23But how does what is in your gut drive your weight?
0:28:23 > 0:28:26Because it's what you put in your mouth that drives your weight, right?
0:28:26 > 0:28:28It's really complicated, we are trying to work that out.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32But diet, stress and medication, such as antibiotics,
0:28:32 > 0:28:33they are the main thing.
0:28:33 > 0:28:37This gut stuff is where we get these horrible faecal transplants?
0:28:37 > 0:28:40- Yeah, yeah, that's right! - It's unbelievably boak!
0:28:40 > 0:28:45- They even have poo pills now.- Poo pills?!- Yeah.- Where you swallow poo?
0:28:45 > 0:28:48- In a capsule... - I will never be swallowing poo. Ever!
0:28:48 > 0:28:52So, there is a very common and very nasty condition called C diff,
0:28:52 > 0:28:54and that's basically when you've been given loads
0:28:54 > 0:28:57and loads of antibiotics and you've just ruined your gut microbiota.
0:28:57 > 0:29:01Now, first-line treatment for that is a faecal transplant...
0:29:01 > 0:29:05- when you take faecal matter from a healthy person...- Poo?- Poo.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07..you quite literally put it in a
0:29:07 > 0:29:10vitamiser, with some saline solution. And you...
0:29:10 > 0:29:12- Shove it up there. - That's exactly right.
0:29:12 > 0:29:16And indeed, in Europe, at least one trial at the moment is
0:29:16 > 0:29:20under way to look at whether if you take people who are obese,
0:29:20 > 0:29:25- and you do a faecal transplant from people who are naturally lean...- No!
0:29:25 > 0:29:28- ..that it can help them to lose weight.- No!
0:29:28 > 0:29:31They are now seeing whether they can use it for weight loss.
0:29:31 > 0:29:32This is ridiculous.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35So you'd be going to your skinny friend and asking him
0:29:35 > 0:29:37- or her for some of their poo. - That's right.
0:29:37 > 0:29:39But you'd want to make sure your skinny friend didn't have any
0:29:39 > 0:29:42nasty parasites but also, really importantly,
0:29:42 > 0:29:45that your skinny friend didn't have any mental disorder, because
0:29:45 > 0:29:49you may well be getting their mental disorder along with their poo.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53- They've tried these faecal transplants in mice.- Yes.- What happened?
0:29:53 > 0:29:56So if you give basically fat poo
0:29:56 > 0:29:58to a mouse, you can make it get fat.
0:29:58 > 0:30:02If you give skinny poo to a fat mouse, you can make it get skinnier.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05Never have I talked so much more shit in all of my life.
0:30:05 > 0:30:06SHE LAUGHS
0:30:14 > 0:30:18So let's find out more about these faecal transplants.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22Unbelievably, there is
0:30:22 > 0:30:27an actual bank in Boston where you can deposit your own poo.
0:30:31 > 0:30:35We collect and process faecal material that we
0:30:35 > 0:30:38distribute across the US and internationally for use
0:30:38 > 0:30:42in faecal microbiota transplant, or poop transplants.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44You should be locked up for that, shouldn't you?
0:30:44 > 0:30:46It seems a little weird...
0:30:46 > 0:30:49Collecting people's stools and sending them around the country.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53This is our hi-tech stool collection kit. This sits on your toilet.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55The stool is going to go on here, the lid comes on.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59And then our donor is just going to drop this off in our lab.
0:30:59 > 0:31:01Each donor, when they're dropping off a sample, is going to fill
0:31:01 > 0:31:04out their identification, date and time of passage,
0:31:04 > 0:31:06and then a little bit about their health history,
0:31:06 > 0:31:08just so we know that they are staying healthy.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11We have to have extremely healthy individuals.
0:31:11 > 0:31:15Only about 3% of people can become a stool donor at OpenBiome.
0:31:15 > 0:31:16Would I be a viable donor?
0:31:16 > 0:31:18Unfortunately, you would not be a viable donor.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21We are very picky about what type of poo we take.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24- And one of our exclusion criteria... - What's wrong with me, big lad?
0:31:24 > 0:31:26HE LAUGHS
0:31:26 > 0:31:29Unfortunately, one of our exclusion criteria is body weight,
0:31:29 > 0:31:32and particularly BMI, or body mass index.
0:31:39 > 0:31:43- What about these poo pills...- Yeah. - ..that I've been hearing about?
0:31:43 > 0:31:45Only in America. HE LAUGHS
0:31:45 > 0:31:48Yes, it is something we are very proud of here.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51Traditionally, faecal transplants are done through a colonoscopy,
0:31:51 > 0:31:54- so from the bottom up.- Shove it up.
0:31:54 > 0:31:56It is a little bit unpleasant for patients,
0:31:56 > 0:32:01and so we've spent a lot of work at OpenBiome developing poo pills that
0:32:01 > 0:32:02essentially take the stool
0:32:02 > 0:32:05and then capsulate it in a capsule that you can swallow,
0:32:05 > 0:32:09and actually passes into your digestive tract and releases the bacteria there.
0:32:09 > 0:32:10Sounds a little gross,
0:32:10 > 0:32:13but patients really prefer that to having a colonoscopy.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17So can you see a day that, in the same way we go into shops now
0:32:17 > 0:32:20and we buy chocolate or we buy vitamins,
0:32:20 > 0:32:25can you see a day that we'll be going into a shop and buying shit?
0:32:25 > 0:32:28I don't know if we are going to have it over the counter,
0:32:28 > 0:32:31but I can imagine a day when your doctor says, "Hey,
0:32:31 > 0:32:33"we might want to think about, you know,
0:32:33 > 0:32:37"rearranging your microbiome a little bit to improve your health."
0:32:37 > 0:32:40It's only the beginning of this ground-breaking treatment,
0:32:40 > 0:32:43but the results are impressive.
0:32:43 > 0:32:47In the future, we know the microbiome is linked with the digestive
0:32:47 > 0:32:50system, with the metabolic system, with the immune system
0:32:50 > 0:32:55and even with your brain and your mood and your brain disorders.
0:32:55 > 0:33:00And so we are excited about the possibility we can engineer the microbiome
0:33:00 > 0:33:02in the future to improve conditions,
0:33:02 > 0:33:05even including obesity, which is strongly linked with the microbiome.
0:33:05 > 0:33:10- And you mentioned there that the microbiome can be linked to the brain. How?- Yes.
0:33:10 > 0:33:15So, the "gut-brain access" is the way that connection is referred to.
0:33:15 > 0:33:16Your body...
0:33:16 > 0:33:19The second largest cluster of neurons in your body is in your gut.
0:33:19 > 0:33:23- There's...- Say that again. - The second largest cluster of neurons in your body,
0:33:23 > 0:33:25after your brain, is in your gut.
0:33:25 > 0:33:29Starting to make the link between gut disorders and the brain,
0:33:29 > 0:33:32there's been a long sort of thought that things like a gut feeling,
0:33:32 > 0:33:34you know, exists and we are starting to learn that
0:33:34 > 0:33:37actually that might be a real scientific issue.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40I find the most intriguing thing you've said today, that the
0:33:40 > 0:33:44second biggest mass of nerve cells are here.
0:33:44 > 0:33:45That's right.
0:33:51 > 0:33:52Yeah!
0:33:53 > 0:33:56People see me as being successful enough in the job I do.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00Obviously, the thing I'm not successful at is food,
0:34:00 > 0:34:04and in this city, New York, food is absolutely everywhere.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07And I do wonder what it is doing to our brain.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14# They call me, they call me Big Fat
0:34:14 > 0:34:17# Cos I weigh 300 pounds... #
0:34:19 > 0:34:22The scientific research suggests that if you're fat
0:34:22 > 0:34:26and addicted to junk food, your brain is programmed to eat
0:34:26 > 0:34:29and drink everything that is bad for you.
0:34:32 > 0:34:36Whatever is going on in my head, it seems I'm compelled,
0:34:36 > 0:34:39driven to eat this stuff.
0:34:50 > 0:34:56At MIT in Boston, Professor Kay Tye has made a startling new discovery.
0:34:56 > 0:35:01Using laboratory mice and rats, she's attached a cable that sends
0:35:01 > 0:35:06signals directly into the pleasure centres of their brains.
0:35:06 > 0:35:08So, basically, what we found was that
0:35:08 > 0:35:12when we recorded from these neurons, they initially thought, "Oh,
0:35:12 > 0:35:15"maybe they'll respond to sucrose, maybe they will respond to this and that."
0:35:15 > 0:35:19Actually what they responded to, not the sucrose itself,
0:35:19 > 0:35:23but they were responding to the learned action of seeking the sucrose.
0:35:23 > 0:35:27And so, for me, I guess I think the analogy is, sometimes I get up
0:35:27 > 0:35:30and go to the refrigerator without actually eating anything,
0:35:30 > 0:35:35but I still do it, and it is this habit and it's a habit associated
0:35:35 > 0:35:38with action of reward seeking that I've done many, many times.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41It is so interesting for me what you have just said,
0:35:41 > 0:35:44because when I was on a diet last year,
0:35:44 > 0:35:47I actually thought I was going mad, and I'll tell you why.
0:35:47 > 0:35:49Because I would go to the shops
0:35:49 > 0:35:54and I would get some type of pleasure out of buying the crisps,
0:35:54 > 0:35:58the chocolate, the pies,
0:35:58 > 0:36:01all of the foods that I would have eaten
0:36:01 > 0:36:05but I knew I wasn't going to eat, and I couldn't understand why
0:36:05 > 0:36:09I still was getting pleasure or wanted to do that.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12- Now you're explaining.- That's exactly what I'm talking about.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15It is this habit that you've done so many times,
0:36:15 > 0:36:18and then habits lead to compulsive behaviour.
0:36:20 > 0:36:24This compulsion is so strong that once addicted to food,
0:36:24 > 0:36:28some of us are unable to stop ourselves from seeking reward.
0:36:31 > 0:36:37The same neural pathway lights up in our brain every time.
0:36:37 > 0:36:42If these neurons are encoding these habits of reward seeking,
0:36:42 > 0:36:47if we used this tool that we have - called optogenetics - to
0:36:47 > 0:36:50activate just these specific neurons, would we be able to make the
0:36:50 > 0:36:55animal engage in compulsive reward seeking, compulsive sucrose seeking?
0:36:55 > 0:36:58Look at what happens to this rat
0:36:58 > 0:37:02when Kay switches on the reward centre in its brain.
0:37:02 > 0:37:05It seeks out the sugar. Now look at this.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08If the mouse reaches out for the sugar,
0:37:08 > 0:37:11this time it is given an electric shock.
0:37:11 > 0:37:15But because Kay is activating the reward centre
0:37:15 > 0:37:20in its brain, it is compelled to seek out the sugar anyway.
0:37:20 > 0:37:23Even if it's getting that shock. Amazing.
0:37:27 > 0:37:29Now let's look at what happens
0:37:29 > 0:37:33when the rat is placed in an area where there is no sugar
0:37:33 > 0:37:37and the reward trigger is switched on in its brain again.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40Here, when we turn the light on, you can see that right away the
0:37:40 > 0:37:44animal starts licking the floor, behaving in this,
0:37:44 > 0:37:46you know, frenzied manner.
0:37:46 > 0:37:50The animal licks the floor. There's nothing in the chamber for the animal to actually eat.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53So it is not actually tasting anything off the floor, it is
0:37:53 > 0:37:57- not getting any stimulus, because there is nothing there. - It is a completely clean floor.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00And yet whatever way its brain has been stimulated, it is
0:38:00 > 0:38:03- continuing to want to lick the floor, to eat.- That's right.
0:38:03 > 0:38:05- It's in a frenzy.- And you'll see,
0:38:05 > 0:38:08next, the animal actually does something really remarkable.
0:38:08 > 0:38:10Even though there is nothing there to pick up,
0:38:10 > 0:38:14it will actually go through the motions of picking up
0:38:14 > 0:38:19a non-existent object and engaging in this elaborate feeding sequence.
0:38:19 > 0:38:23In the same way we see that mouse licking the floor frantically,
0:38:23 > 0:38:27if you imagine what goes on inside our imagination.
0:38:27 > 0:38:29I sometimes sit at night
0:38:29 > 0:38:34and I imagine myself licking chips, licking crisps, licking the salt off.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37I know that sounds insane, but I do.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41Is there much between me imagining that and creating that fantasy
0:38:41 > 0:38:44in my head and a mouse licking
0:38:44 > 0:38:47that little box that it is trapped in?
0:38:47 > 0:38:49I can definitely imagine that it is similar.
0:38:49 > 0:38:53Of course I don't know what the mouse's experience is like, but that mouse's
0:38:53 > 0:38:56behaviour definitely reminds me of experiences that I have had.
0:38:56 > 0:38:58So, in that way, I agree with you.
0:39:04 > 0:39:06It is nearly comical, isn't it, when you see that rat
0:39:06 > 0:39:10grasping into thin air for food?
0:39:10 > 0:39:13Well, it is funny until I'm thinking, "Is that me?"
0:39:13 > 0:39:17Because I dream about food all day long, whether I need it or not.
0:39:17 > 0:39:19Everywhere I go, I'm thinking about it.
0:39:19 > 0:39:23So maybe not too much difference between those rats
0:39:23 > 0:39:28and some of us who are fat. Now, the big question for us, are we...
0:39:28 > 0:39:33are we inclined because of our genes,
0:39:33 > 0:39:36are we built to be like that,
0:39:36 > 0:39:38or are we creating in it ourselves through greed?
0:39:41 > 0:39:44MUSIC: Teardrop by Massive Attack
0:39:47 > 0:39:49Or is it a bit of both?
0:39:49 > 0:39:53Professor Felice Jacka has studied the impact of eating junk foods
0:39:53 > 0:39:55when pregnant.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05One of the really important understandings is that what
0:40:05 > 0:40:08Mum eats during pregnancy has an impact, not just on the mental
0:40:08 > 0:40:12health of the offspring, but on their reward pathways.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15So if Mum eats lots of junk food during her pregnancy,
0:40:15 > 0:40:18what we seem to see is that the children are much more
0:40:18 > 0:40:21likely to find those foods really addictive.
0:40:21 > 0:40:23- They are already primed for it. - In later life?- Yes.
0:40:23 > 0:40:28- Wow!- And this is why we think that you get this intergenerational transmission of obesity.
0:40:28 > 0:40:30It is not just what food is at home, it is
0:40:30 > 0:40:33- the addiction that goes with it. - Hold on a second.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36So when women are pregnant, they are very hungry,
0:40:36 > 0:40:39they get the munchies, they want to eat chocolate,
0:40:39 > 0:40:43they maybe want to eat a worse diet than they were eating.
0:40:43 > 0:40:45That can affect their child in later life?
0:40:45 > 0:40:50Yes, not even in later life, in early life. So we led the first study.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52We looked at over 20,000 mothers and their children in Norway.
0:40:52 > 0:40:55We looked at Mum's diet, we look at the kid's diet,
0:40:55 > 0:40:57and then we looked at the kid's behaviours.
0:40:57 > 0:40:59So specifically mums who had more junk
0:40:59 > 0:41:02and processed foods during their pregnancy, the kids had higher levels
0:41:02 > 0:41:06of these behaviours like tantrums, aggression, kicking and screaming.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08The top-line message is, what you eat
0:41:08 > 0:41:12when you are pregnant will have an impact on the brain development
0:41:12 > 0:41:15and the development of the immune system in your offspring.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18But the really key thing is, what you eat will have an
0:41:18 > 0:41:21influence on the early gut microbiota of your child.
0:41:21 > 0:41:26So if your gut is not healthy, your microbiota are not healthy,
0:41:26 > 0:41:30your baby gets an unhealthy gut microbiota profile.
0:41:30 > 0:41:32It's an unhealthy start in life.
0:41:32 > 0:41:34An unhealthy start in life, that we think
0:41:34 > 0:41:38increases their risk for a whole host of disorders, such as autism,
0:41:38 > 0:41:42schizophrenia, allergic disease, heart disease, all sorts of things.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45If you were to try to stop smoking to help your baby,
0:41:45 > 0:41:48you should try to improve your diet when pregnant to help your baby.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51Yes, I would say so. Most definitely.
0:41:51 > 0:41:53I wish I had known this when I was pregnant.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56I'm going to blame my mother for everything now. SHE LAUGHS
0:41:56 > 0:41:58Yeah, well, that's always...
0:41:58 > 0:42:02It's the Crunchies my mother has been on, and the chocolate and the crisps.
0:42:02 > 0:42:04All through history, the poor mothers get the blame.
0:42:04 > 0:42:07But now, you know, from the animal work, we can see that
0:42:07 > 0:42:09Mum's junk-food diet, it affects the neurotransmitter
0:42:09 > 0:42:12systems in the brain, the reward pathways, the immune
0:42:12 > 0:42:16system in the offspring, all of these things that we know are related to
0:42:16 > 0:42:20the risk for mental health problems as well as physical health problems.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36When I think about food, I think about diet,
0:42:36 > 0:42:39I think about losing weight, everything that I can't eat.
0:42:39 > 0:42:43But during this film, I've met leading scientists who say food is
0:42:43 > 0:42:47much more complex than that, that it affects our mood, our memory.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49In fact, they have told me
0:42:49 > 0:42:53that it affects every cognitive function that we have.
0:42:59 > 0:43:03- # You look like an angel - Look like an angel
0:43:03 > 0:43:06- # Walk like an angel - Walk like an angel
0:43:06 > 0:43:09# Talk like an angel
0:43:09 > 0:43:13# But I got wise
0:43:13 > 0:43:16# You're the devil in disguise
0:43:16 > 0:43:18# Oh, yes, you are
0:43:18 > 0:43:20# The devil in disguise... #
0:43:20 > 0:43:24America is leading the way in an unprecedented
0:43:24 > 0:43:28explosion in the rates of obesity across the world.
0:43:29 > 0:43:31But Ireland is not far behind.
0:43:31 > 0:43:36It's estimated that by 2030 almost half the male
0:43:36 > 0:43:39population of Ireland will be morbidly obese.
0:43:43 > 0:43:47Well, there is no other place on earth that has the excess of Vegas.
0:43:47 > 0:43:51Everywhere you look around here...it's food and vast quantities...
0:43:51 > 0:43:54of it.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57MUSIC: Billie Jean by Michael Jackson
0:43:59 > 0:44:01I keep saying I have to change my life,
0:44:01 > 0:44:05but my brain keeps telling me to eat.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07And I can't stop.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10Those stop signals just are not working.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13If I continue to eat the junk food,
0:44:13 > 0:44:16I'm literally gambling my life away.
0:44:21 > 0:44:25# She told me her name was Billie Jean as she caused a scene
0:44:25 > 0:44:28# Then every head turned with eyes that dreamed... #
0:44:31 > 0:44:33- Hi, welcome to The Heart Attack Grill!- Thank you very much.
0:44:33 > 0:44:36- Let's get you prepped and ready for surgery.- Right.
0:44:36 > 0:44:40- All right!- Will one of these fit me? - Yeah, yeah, we got it.
0:44:40 > 0:44:42'I doubt there's a food company that would admit
0:44:42 > 0:44:45'to their role in this obesity epidemic,
0:44:45 > 0:44:49'but here in Las Vegas, at The Heart Attack Grill,
0:44:49 > 0:44:55'you can eat for free if you weigh in at more than 25st.'
0:45:06 > 0:45:09PEOPLE CHEER
0:45:09 > 0:45:12Yeah!
0:45:12 > 0:45:13Whoo!
0:45:15 > 0:45:19So, Donovan, what did you come in at?
0:45:19 > 0:45:21I came in at 362, I believe. 362.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24And it's like... Cos I'm a big guy, right?
0:45:24 > 0:45:27So we can probably talk to each other candidly.
0:45:27 > 0:45:29- You're high-fiving that nurse... - Right.
0:45:29 > 0:45:31..because you're really fat.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34- Basically, yeah.- But what's... It's not funny, is it?- No, it's not funny.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37But, I mean, it's not something that everybody can say they are,
0:45:37 > 0:45:40over 350 pounds. That's the average here in America, I guess.
0:45:40 > 0:45:43But, hey, I get to eat free. I'm not ashamed, hey, you know, why not?
0:45:43 > 0:45:47- What's your advice? - A lot of fried foods, you know...
0:45:47 > 0:45:50- Do you think you'll ever crack it? - Oh, yeah.
0:45:50 > 0:45:53It'll take that one wake-up call from my doctor, but I'll get there.
0:45:53 > 0:45:56- That's a wake-up call.- Yeah...
0:45:56 > 0:45:58- Nah.- No?- I don't think so.
0:45:58 > 0:46:00I don't think 350's too bad.
0:46:00 > 0:46:03You've got people walking around here, 400, 500 pounds in a buggy.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06I can still walk. I think I'm still all right.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09- All right, thank you, mate. - Thank you.- Thank you. Bye.
0:46:09 > 0:46:10Thank you, guys.
0:46:11 > 0:46:15That guy... That guy is in denial.
0:46:15 > 0:46:18Like, you know, he's been applauded for being 360 pounds
0:46:18 > 0:46:21and he says, "Ach, it's not that bad, I can still walk."
0:46:21 > 0:46:23HE SCOFFS
0:46:23 > 0:46:25And I'm no better than he is.
0:46:35 > 0:46:38This is obesity gone mad.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46All right, guys. Enjoy.
0:46:46 > 0:46:48I don't find this funny.
0:46:48 > 0:46:49I don't find it funny either.
0:46:49 > 0:46:53No-one comes here and follows my programme
0:46:53 > 0:46:56and doesn't get exactly what I promise. Right on the door...
0:46:56 > 0:46:58What's that, a heart attack?
0:46:58 > 0:47:02Right on the door, I promise you that this is bad for your health.
0:47:02 > 0:47:04So what do you sell?
0:47:04 > 0:47:10I sell death...and I sell fun and those two happen to go hand-in-hand.
0:47:10 > 0:47:13I'm going to let you have fun, but I'm going to tell you
0:47:13 > 0:47:14you're going to shorten your life.
0:47:14 > 0:47:16It's like selling a cigarette.
0:47:16 > 0:47:18Now, how can I sell you a cigarette and tell you
0:47:18 > 0:47:21it's a good thing for you? Of course not. Ah, here we go.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24- One Triple Bypass Burger.- Now, here is a small little appetiser.
0:47:24 > 0:47:28- Here, just put your hand right here, sir.- This is ridiculous.
0:47:28 > 0:47:30- It's not ridiculous. - It is ridiculous!
0:47:30 > 0:47:31No, but this is exactly what you wanted.
0:47:31 > 0:47:34- Right, so people don't actually eat this.- Sure they do.
0:47:34 > 0:47:36- Sure they do!- Come on.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39- Come on! Do customers actually eat it?- They actually eat it.
0:47:39 > 0:47:42Now, whether or not they finish it is an entirely different story.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45So you're a clever marketing guy, clearly, right?
0:47:45 > 0:47:52So you've opened up a restaurant and your marketing is mocking fat people.
0:47:52 > 0:47:54- No!- Yeah. Come on, come on. - On the contrary.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57Look at this, it's ridiculous. It actually makes me sick.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59I'll tell you what makes me even sicker.
0:47:59 > 0:48:01This is the type of crap that I'm putting into my body,
0:48:01 > 0:48:03- destroying myself.- Right.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06And you're making money out of marketing to people like this.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09I'm making money doing exactly what people want.
0:48:09 > 0:48:12Wait, wait, but that's not everything they want.
0:48:12 > 0:48:14They also want the hot dog, oh, yes.
0:48:14 > 0:48:19- And they want the chilli fries, right there.- And the best...
0:48:19 > 0:48:20And the best of all, the onion rings.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23That's where the real calories are. You know, in the Guinness Book...
0:48:23 > 0:48:26- I wonder, does your food actually taste nice?- There you go.
0:48:26 > 0:48:28The onions are incredibly porous
0:48:28 > 0:48:31and when you cook them in lard, they suck in all those calories.
0:48:31 > 0:48:34- They taste very nice. - Well, thank you.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37But the interesting thing is, as you sit here, mocking people like me
0:48:37 > 0:48:39because I'm fat, I'm eating it.
0:48:39 > 0:48:42How many calories are in this burger?
0:48:42 > 0:48:47So there was 9,983 calories. The...
0:48:47 > 0:48:52Which is four times what a man should be eating as his daily allowance...
0:48:52 > 0:48:54- in that one burger! - Something like that.
0:48:54 > 0:48:56You need to get a conscience.
0:48:56 > 0:48:58I have the biggest conscience in the American food industry
0:48:58 > 0:49:00and here's why.
0:49:00 > 0:49:03There is not another restaurant in Ireland or the United States
0:49:03 > 0:49:08that tells you the exact truth of what you're doing to yourself. I am.
0:49:17 > 0:49:21Calling yourself a doctor is probably the sickest thing you've done.
0:49:21 > 0:49:24Because what do doctors do? They save lives.
0:49:24 > 0:49:26What are doctors trying to do?
0:49:26 > 0:49:30They're trying to reduce morbid obesity in people
0:49:30 > 0:49:32so that they will live longer.
0:49:32 > 0:49:36And you put this on as part of your sick marketing.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39I'll show you somebody who does think that I'm a physician.
0:49:39 > 0:49:41What is this? What is that?
0:49:41 > 0:49:43This is a very good friend of mine,
0:49:43 > 0:49:46the cremated remains of a gentleman who died here.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49Hit the floor, ambulance came in, took him out.
0:49:49 > 0:49:51- He had a heart attack in here?!- Yeah.
0:49:51 > 0:49:53Ambulance came, took him out,
0:49:53 > 0:49:57there was no family to speak of, so he was cremated and the rest of
0:49:57 > 0:50:00his things stayed here with us in the bar.
0:50:00 > 0:50:04There are... These men made their choice, though.
0:50:04 > 0:50:06The same way as a man goes into battle in deciding
0:50:06 > 0:50:08to die for his country.
0:50:08 > 0:50:10Yeah, but it's not funny any more when they actually die, is it?
0:50:10 > 0:50:13No, it never was funny to begin with.
0:50:13 > 0:50:17I am telling people that they can opt to be dead if they refuse
0:50:17 > 0:50:20to do what we call the food Nazis dictate to them, that...
0:50:20 > 0:50:22They are advising people on how to prolong their life,
0:50:22 > 0:50:27how to avoid type II diabetes, how to avoid wrecking their lives.
0:50:27 > 0:50:29They are not succeeding.
0:50:29 > 0:50:33So are you actually a good guy who's trying to get people to realise
0:50:33 > 0:50:35- that they need to lose weight? - Not at all.
0:50:35 > 0:50:37Do you care about fat people?
0:50:37 > 0:50:42No, not a good guy in the least, as the front of the menu will say.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45Hashtag 'evil doctor'. That is me.
0:50:45 > 0:50:49- Forget about the marketing, do you actually care?- Do I care?
0:50:49 > 0:50:52Do you care that people come in here and they're killing themselves?
0:50:52 > 0:50:54I can blurt out, "Oh, yes, I care."
0:50:54 > 0:51:00I could try to say something that makes me look better.
0:51:00 > 0:51:02Primarily, first and foremost,
0:51:02 > 0:51:04is don't get in the way of my profit margin.
0:51:14 > 0:51:18And now for the ultimate humiliation.
0:51:18 > 0:51:23Do I qualify to eat for free along with all the other fat people here?
0:51:25 > 0:51:28Close, but not quite.
0:51:28 > 0:51:34324 pounds, it's embarrassing, it's humiliating, it's devastating
0:51:34 > 0:51:36and I'm dying.
0:51:36 > 0:51:38You know the way we've all joked about in the past
0:51:38 > 0:51:40and we've kind of ho-ho'ed, ha-ha'ed,
0:51:40 > 0:51:42"Oh, Stephen's talking about his weight again."
0:51:42 > 0:51:44Well, I'm dying. There you go.
0:51:44 > 0:51:48That's what that reading up there says. Er...
0:51:50 > 0:51:51And it's self-inflicted,
0:51:51 > 0:51:55that's the most frustrating part about it for me.
0:51:55 > 0:51:58It's self-inflicted, I'm killing myself.
0:51:58 > 0:52:01And that place in there is a, you know...
0:52:01 > 0:52:04Many people would see it as a disgrace.
0:52:04 > 0:52:08Some guys mocking, MOCKING, all of this food that makes you fat
0:52:08 > 0:52:11and bringing ashes out of a guy that died.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14How long is it going to be until I'm in one of those bags?
0:52:15 > 0:52:16Pathetic.
0:52:16 > 0:52:20MUSIC: Everybody's Talkin' by Harry Nilsson
0:52:21 > 0:52:25# Everybody's talkin' at me
0:52:25 > 0:52:28# I don't hear a word they're saying
0:52:29 > 0:52:32# Only the echoes of my mind... #
0:52:34 > 0:52:37So, is there any hope?
0:52:37 > 0:52:40Psychiatrist Dr Drew Ramsey certainly thinks there is.
0:52:40 > 0:52:43He's arranged to meet me at his pharmacy,
0:52:43 > 0:52:46a farmers' market in the middle of New York City.
0:52:50 > 0:52:54I've had 41 years now of sugar gives me a hit,
0:52:54 > 0:52:58carbohydrates give me a hit, chocolate, ohhhh, crisps...
0:52:58 > 0:53:02You just said three things that are the same between the two of us.
0:53:02 > 0:53:05- Right.- I love carbohydrates, sugar gives me a hit,
0:53:05 > 0:53:07I love dark chocolate. So...
0:53:07 > 0:53:12And I'm also 41. So I think that...
0:53:12 > 0:53:13Hold on a second, we're the same age?
0:53:13 > 0:53:16And there's something else I told you earlier. You didn't believe me.
0:53:16 > 0:53:18We are the same age!
0:53:18 > 0:53:20And I know something that shocked you,
0:53:20 > 0:53:23I know that I've even the exact same number of calories that I've
0:53:23 > 0:53:26spent over the last 20 years, the exact same number.
0:53:26 > 0:53:29But do you drink? Do you eat bad food?
0:53:29 > 0:53:32Yeah, yeah, I drink. Pizza, beer, I eat all that stuff...
0:53:32 > 0:53:34sometimes.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42Dr Drew is going to prescribe a new diet of all the foods
0:53:42 > 0:53:45that I've hated my entire life,
0:53:45 > 0:53:48foods that he says will nourish my brain.
0:53:50 > 0:53:51On ice, totally fresh.
0:53:51 > 0:53:54- Don't you have to cook it? - You don't have to cook it.
0:53:55 > 0:53:57It's nice and sweet.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02- Oh, mmm.- I'm afraid to, in case it makes me sick.
0:54:03 > 0:54:05You're not going to get sick.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08This guy here, this guy here looks as if he'll knock me out
0:54:08 > 0:54:10if I don't taste his fish.
0:54:10 > 0:54:15You better eat that scallop right now, mister! Right this minute!
0:54:15 > 0:54:16Don't make the yuck face.
0:54:16 > 0:54:19Don't make the yuck face, make the happy face, happy face!
0:54:19 > 0:54:21Chocolate pudding. There it is.
0:54:27 > 0:54:29- It's quite creamy, actually. - Very creamy.
0:54:29 > 0:54:31Right, now you're talking about a good brain food meal.
0:54:31 > 0:54:33- Seafood, greens... - That does what for my brain?
0:54:33 > 0:54:36So, what you're going to get there again, complete protein,
0:54:36 > 0:54:39B12, you're going to get a big, big dose of B vitamins, right?
0:54:39 > 0:54:42- So all these minerals... - So what's that doing for my brain?
0:54:42 > 0:54:45- Is it growing it?- Yeah, well, it's going to get it growing, but it's...
0:54:45 > 0:54:48It's all basic ingredients of your brain.
0:54:49 > 0:54:52- I'll get some ice cream.- Ice cream!
0:54:52 > 0:54:54STEPHEN'S LAUGH DROWNS SPEECH
0:54:54 > 0:54:56Still think he's a bit weird.
0:55:01 > 0:55:04Of all the brain foods in this place,
0:55:04 > 0:55:07Drew has a strange fascination for kale.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10- You see, I don't even know what kale looks like.- You don't know?
0:55:10 > 0:55:13- We've got two great varietals here. - It looks like cabbage.
0:55:13 > 0:55:16Well, it is a cabbage family. They're all related to cabbage.
0:55:16 > 0:55:20Give a little smell. Very earthy, sulphurous, very herbaceous.
0:55:20 > 0:55:21It smells like stone.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26- And you're a kale virgin? - Yeah, I'm a kale virgin.
0:55:26 > 0:55:29- You've never had kale before? - Never had it, total virgin.
0:55:29 > 0:55:30This is going to be your first...
0:55:30 > 0:55:33Are you ready to, you know, pop your kale cherry right now?
0:55:33 > 0:55:36I'm ready to pop my kale cherry.
0:55:36 > 0:55:38Let's just try a little...
0:55:38 > 0:55:40This is a green curly kale, it's going to taste...
0:55:40 > 0:55:42This is going to be a little bitter to you, probably.
0:55:42 > 0:55:45But I want you to just try it. We'll both try it here.
0:55:45 > 0:55:48Here's a little piece for you. And, cheers.
0:55:49 > 0:55:51Now chew it.
0:55:53 > 0:55:57Complex flavour, right? Bitter, strong.
0:55:57 > 0:55:58Rotten.
0:56:00 > 0:56:04So colcannon, traditional Irish dish, mashed potatoes and kale.
0:56:04 > 0:56:05- You guys don't eat that?- No.
0:56:05 > 0:56:08- Not as far as I know. - We all over here think that...
0:56:08 > 0:56:10We've been saying that kale is an ancient food in ancient
0:56:10 > 0:56:15- cultures like the Irish. That's not true?- Not in Belfast. I don't know.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18- You don't celebrate National Kale Day?- Definitely, definitely not.
0:56:18 > 0:56:21- October 7th?- There's a National Fish and Chips Day.
0:56:21 > 0:56:25- I understand you're the author of 50 Shades Of Kale.- Yeah, yeah.
0:56:25 > 0:56:27Don't get rough, get roughage.
0:56:36 > 0:56:40So, in the spirit of trying to change my life, I'm actually going to try
0:56:40 > 0:56:46some of these healthy foods that Drew has cooked for my brain.
0:56:46 > 0:56:51- Why don't you try a kale chip?- Try this one.- Great. What do you think?
0:56:51 > 0:56:53Crispy? No, don't do that end, do the other end.
0:56:53 > 0:56:55That's to hold, that's the handle. There we go.
0:56:55 > 0:56:57LOUD CRUNCH
0:57:06 > 0:57:08So, I'm not joking you...
0:57:08 > 0:57:11these taste like ready-salted crisps.
0:57:11 > 0:57:13I could kiss you!
0:57:13 > 0:57:14They actually taste like...
0:57:14 > 0:57:17They taste like ready-salted crisps!
0:57:19 > 0:57:23That's the lacinato. This is the green curly.
0:57:23 > 0:57:25They are BLEEP lovely.
0:57:25 > 0:57:27Yeah? Good.
0:57:27 > 0:57:29This is just a little kale salad, simple kale salad.
0:57:29 > 0:57:32This is a creamy dressing, we put some garlic scapes in there,
0:57:32 > 0:57:34a little olive oil and just a little bit of mayonnaise.
0:57:34 > 0:57:37And then I think probably for you the most important thing is
0:57:37 > 0:57:39there's nothing in there that's bad for your brain.
0:57:39 > 0:57:43- Well, there's mayonnaise.- Yeah, but mayonnaise is eggs and olive...
0:57:43 > 0:57:45- It's fat.- Eggs and olive oil. This is a thing you have to change.
0:57:45 > 0:57:48- You have the notion that fat is bad. - Yes. Fat is bad.
0:57:48 > 0:57:51Your brain is about 65% fat.
0:58:02 > 0:58:05We all come in all different shapes and sizes, don't we?
0:58:05 > 0:58:09And by this stage, most of us know how to look after ourselves,
0:58:09 > 0:58:11keeping ourselves safe when we cross the road,
0:58:11 > 0:58:15looking for moles on our body in terms of skin cancer.
0:58:15 > 0:58:18A lot of us try to keep healthy.
0:58:18 > 0:58:21And yet, there's a new way we need to educate ourselves,
0:58:21 > 0:58:24because we don't know enough and we're not thinking about it enough,
0:58:24 > 0:58:26and that's what we put in our mouths
0:58:26 > 0:58:29and how, ultimately, it affects our brain.