Bonus: Intermittent Fasting Boosts Brain Power: Mark Mattson, Ph.D., with Dave Asprey

In the adult brain, BDNF is particularly important... in promoting the growth [and] survival of neurons. It's critical for learning and memory ... BDNF protects nerve cells against various types of stress.

Exercise is a potent stimulator of BDNF production in the brain. Intermittent fasting stimulates BDNF production. The combination of exercise and fasting, you get an additive effect in boosting BDNF.

One of the treatments for depression, which is still used in people who don't respond well to antidepressant drugs, is electroconvulsive shock therapy. It's highly antidepressant, and it's highly potent in inducing BDNF expression.

Too much protein is definitely bad from the standpoint of aging.

The typical human liver can store about 700 calories worth of glucose in the form of glycogen, and if you're just [doing] moderate activity... it takes 10-12 hours to use up those 700 calories.

Many of the chemicals that are in fruits, vegetables, tea, coffee, plants that are good for our health, the actual reason they're in the plants, the evolutionary reason, is that they are noxious agents—they're toxins.

My take on the scientific literature is that whole grains are generally good for health.