@Tj Power : 多巴胺是我们的动力化学物质，它让我们能够并且渴望去做困难的事情。大脑能够产生多巴胺，但不同类型的多巴胺提升方式效果不同，例如，使用社交媒体会大量释放多巴胺，但不会制造多巴胺，最终导致多巴胺水平降低。进入心流状态是自然提升多巴胺水平的有效方法，心流状态是指长时间专注于一项任务的深度沉浸体验。为了避免沉迷手机，需要找到比手机更重要的目标，例如，拥有良好的心理健康。多巴胺水平低会让人感到情绪低落、缺乏动力，从而影响健康生活方式的养成。建立良好的习惯，例如，在早晨和晚上进行一系列有益身心健康的活动，可以帮助提升多巴胺水平。早晨起床后避免立即使用手机，而是先进行一些需要付出努力的活动，例如洗漱、锻炼等，可以帮助我们自然地提升多巴胺水平。限制手机使用时间是应对多巴胺成瘾的关键，因为手机让我们能够频繁地获得多巴胺刺激。在追求目标的过程中，享受过程本身比最终获得目标更重要，因为大脑的设计就是为了持续的追求，而不是最终的获得。 Tj Power: 催产素是一种促进人际关系的化学物质，现代社会由于过度追求成功和快乐，导致催产素水平不足。增加催产素的关键在于身体接触和高质量的社交互动，例如拥抱、眼神交流、积极倾听等。面对面交流和语音通话比发短信更能促进催产素的分泌。如果有人需要帮助，打电话比发短信更有效果。 Tj Power: 血清素90%是在肠道中产生的，因此健康的饮食对维持血清素水平至关重要。现代人的肠道健康状况不佳，摄入过多的超加工食品会破坏肠道菌群，从而影响血清素的产生。 Tj Power: 运动可以同时提升多巴胺、催产素、血清素和内啡肽水平，对身心健康有益。独处和与自己内心的对话能够帮助提升心理健康，解决困扰。追求目标的过程比获得目标本身更能带来多巴胺的释放。提前晚餐可以改善睡眠质量，提高第二天精力。现代人的压力大多来自日常琐事，而应对压力的方式应该包括有规律的运动。
@Jason Wachub : 打电话比发短信更有利于提升催产素水平，促进人际关系。
我最近与神经科学家Tj Power进行了一次深入的对话，探讨了神经递质在我们健康中扮演的关键角色，以及如何自然地提升多巴胺水平，并建立能够让我们长期成功的日常习惯。Power博士的观点清晰、实用，为我们理解并改善自身身心健康提供了科学依据。
多巴胺：动力的源泉，而非单纯的快感
Power博士指出，多巴胺是我们的动力化学物质，它让我们能够并且渴望去做困难的事情。大脑能够产生多巴胺，但不同类型的多巴胺提升方式效果迥异。例如，使用社交媒体会大量释放多巴胺，但这是一种“速效”多巴胺，它不会制造新的多巴胺，最终导致多巴胺水平降低，甚至成瘾。
他强调，进入“心流状态”是自然提升多巴胺水平的有效方法。“心流状态”是指长时间专注于一项任务的深度沉浸体验。这可能是工作中的某个项目，也可能是艺术创作、音乐演奏或户外活动。 持续45分钟到1小时的专注，不被打扰，是关键。
低多巴胺水平会让人感到情绪低落、缺乏动力，从而影响健康生活方式的养成。我们难以坚持健康饮食、规律运动和充足睡眠。因此，自然提升多巴胺至关重要。
建立成功的日常习惯：从清晨开始
Power博士建议，早晨起床后避免立即使用手机。相反，应该先进行一些需要付出努力的活动，例如洗漱、锻炼、冥想或准备健康早餐。这些活动能够帮助我们自然地提升多巴胺水平，获得成就感，为一天的积极状态奠定基础。晚上也应如此，提前准备好第二天所需物品，为第二天做好准备。
限制手机使用时间是应对多巴胺成瘾的关键。手机让我们能够频繁地获得多巴胺刺激，形成依赖。我们需要有意识地控制使用时间，并找到比手机更重要的目标，例如，拥有良好的心理健康。
超越多巴胺：催产素、血清素和内啡肽的平衡
Power博士还强调了其他三种重要神经递质：催产素、血清素和内啡肽。
催产素促进人际关系。现代社会过度追求成功和快乐，导致催产素水平不足。增加催产素的关键在于身体接触和高质量的社交互动，例如拥抱、眼神交流、积极倾听等。打电话比发短信更有利于提升催产素水平，因为语音交流能更好地促进连接。
血清素90%是在肠道中产生的，因此健康的饮食对维持血清素水平至关重要。避免超加工食品，选择天然食物，对肠道健康和血清素产生至关重要。
内啡肽则与压力缓解有关。现代人的压力大多来自日常琐事，而应对压力的方式应该包括有规律的运动，释放内啡肽。
运动：多重益处的“灵丹妙药”
Power博士认为，运动可以同时提升多巴胺、催产素、血清素和内啡肽水平，对身心健康有益。团队运动尤其有效，因为它结合了社交互动和身体活动。
独处与目标：通往幸福的道路
Power博士还强调了独处的重要性。定期独处，与自己内心的对话，能够帮助我们更好地了解自己，解决困扰，提升心理健康。
此外，他指出，追求目标的过程比获得目标本身更能带来多巴胺的释放。大脑的设计就是为了持续的追求，而不是最终的获得。享受过程本身，比执着于结果更重要。
睡眠与晚餐时间：不容忽视的细节
Power博士还分享了一个他个人受益匪浅的习惯：提前晚餐时间。这有助于改善睡眠质量，提高第二天精力。
结语：平衡生活，掌控幸福
Power博士的观点为我们提供了全面的视角，帮助我们理解并改善自身身心健康。通过平衡多巴胺、催产素、血清素和内啡肽的水平，建立良好的生活习惯，我们可以更好地掌控自己的幸福感，拥有更健康、更充实的人生。 这需要我们有意识地减少手机使用时间，增加人际互动，注重饮食健康，并坚持规律运动。 最终，幸福并非遥不可及的目标，而是在于我们对自身身心健康的关注和掌控。
◉
03:31 多巴胺是我们的动力化学物质，它让我们能够并且渴望去做困难的事情。
◉
04:34 大脑能够产生多巴胺，但不同类型的多巴胺提升方式效果不同，例如，使用社交媒体会大量释放多巴胺，但不会制造多巴胺，最终导致多巴胺水平降低。
◉
05:46 进入心流状态是自然提升多巴胺水平的有效方法，心流状态是指长时间专注于一项任务的深度沉浸体验。
◉
07:24 为了避免沉迷手机，需要找到比手机更重要的目标，例如，拥有良好的心理健康。
◉
08:03 多巴胺水平低会让人感到情绪低落、缺乏动力，从而影响健康生活方式的养成。
◉
08:44 建立良好的习惯，例如，在早晨和晚上进行一系列有益身心健康的活动，可以帮助提升多巴胺水平。
◉
09:38 早晨起床后避免立即使用手机，而是先进行一些需要付出努力的活动，例如洗漱、锻炼等，可以帮助我们自然地提升多巴胺水平。
◉
11:54 限制手机使用时间是应对多巴胺成瘾的关键，因为手机让我们能够频繁地获得多巴胺刺激。
◉
16:13 催产素是一种促进人际关系的化学物质，现代社会由于过度追求成功和快乐，导致催产素水平不足。
◉
17:32 增加催产素的关键在于身体接触和高质量的社交互动，例如拥抱、眼神交流、积极倾听等。
◉
20:35 面对面交流和语音通话比发短信更能促进催产素的分泌。
◉
23:59 如果有人需要帮助，打电话比发短信更有效果。
◉
23:59 打电话比发短信更有利于提升催产素水平，促进人际关系。
◉
29:54 运动可以同时提升多巴胺、催产素、血清素和内啡肽水平，对身心健康有益。
◉
35:42 独处和与自己内心的对话能够帮助提升心理健康，解决困扰。
◉
37:38 追求目标的过程比获得目标本身更能带来多巴胺的释放。
◉
44:47 提前晚餐可以改善睡眠质量，提高第二天精力。
◉
28:02 现代人的压力大多来自日常琐事，而应对压力的方式应该包括有规律的运动。
◉
23:59 血清素90%是在肠道中产生的，因此健康的饮食对维持血清素水平至关重要。
00:00
Welcome to the MyBuddyGreen podcast. I'm Jason Wachub, founder and co-CEO of MyBuddyGreen, and your host. This podcast is brought to you in part by Stash. Saving and investing can feel impossible, but with Stash, it's not just a reality, it's easy. 语法解析
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00:54
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01:15
Investing involves risk. Offer is subject to terms and conditions. Oikos presents 15 Seconds of Strength. Here we go. Steve's got a trunk full of groceries and no one to help him. Oh, that's tough, Jim. Looks like a five-trip load at least. He grabs the first bag, the second. Bob, it looks like he's trying to do it on one trip. He shimmies the door open, steps over the dog. Oh, 语法解析
01:35
And he stumbles. Oh, right into the kitchen without missing a beat. Jim, now that's a man who eats his protein-packed Oikos. With 15 grams of complete protein in each cup, Oikos Triple Zero can help build strength for every day. Oikos, stronger makes everything better. 语法解析
01:53
What if the secret to feeling motivated, connected, and calm wasn't more productivity hacks or a 10-step routine, but better brain chemistry? Today's guest, TJ Power, is here to show us how to work with our brain, not against it. A neuroscientist, mental health educator, and the author of The Dose Effect, TJ is on a mission to change how we think about well-being in a digital age. 语法解析
02:14
Through his work at the Dose Lab, he's demystifying the science of dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins, those four powerful neurotransmitters that influence how we feel, act, and perform every single day. In today's show, we unpack the surprisingly simple and surprisingly overlooked ways to rebalance your brain chemistry. 语法解析
02:34
From how to start your day without depleting your motivation molecule to why boredom might be the missing ingredient in your mental health routine, TJ breaks it all down. We also explore what too much screen time is really doing to your brain, how to support dopamine naturally, and why reconnecting with flow, stillness, and social bonds works. 语法解析
02:52
might be the ultimate path to sustainable happiness if you're feeling drained deflated or stuck in a cycle of scrolling and stress sounds familiar this conversation is for you tj's insights are science-backed and highly practical let's get to it so let's start with dose 语法解析
03:11
Dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins. Can you walk us through each one briefly? Give us a primer. Yeah, for sure. So these are these fascinating brain chemicals that live within us, and each of them have a very specific function for us. Dopamine is effectively our motivation chemical. 语法解析
03:31
creates the capacity and the desire to do hard things. Oxytocin connects us together and creates the desire to socially bond. Serotonin is our kind of mood stabilizing chemical that really wants us to live very natural experiences of life as a human. And then endorphins is this very useful chemical that can de-stress our brain whenever we need. Right. 语法解析
03:51
Very helpful. And I think our audience is probably somewhat familiar with all of these, but less familiar, or maybe it's just me, when you start to dig into the why, the what behind these. So let's start with dopamine. So we want high dopamine, not low dopamine. Correct? 语法解析
04:10
Correct. We want naturally high dopamine. There's differences between just any old high dopamine or naturally high. Well, I think that's a very important point. So let's go there. Yeah, effectively, your brain has the capacity to build dopamine. They're called dopamine vesicles. They get built in an area of the brain called the ventral tegmental area. You can imagine it as like a little dopamine factory. 语法解析
04:34
And some things will naturally and slowly build these bubbles and then send them to what we call the reward center. If you took something as basic as cleaning your house, that would be slowed over me. And it's not super fun to do it. But you feel kind of satisfied after you've got it all organized and clean. You've built some of these bubbles and send some of them to your reward center. 语法解析
04:52
When you take something like social media, we open social media, your brain starts mass shipping these bubbles to the reward center. But because there's no effort involved, it doesn't actually manufacture any. And then you get into low dopamine as a result. There we go. The elephant in the room. We got there quickly. So let's talk about that. I think… 语法解析
05:10
I think there's been lots of commentary on dopamine and the role that technology is playing. And so how can we focus before we get to the avoiding technology and social media and best practices, which you talk about in the book? What are some of the things we can do beyond cleaning the house, which I'm all for? 语法解析
05:30
to naturally impact our dopamine in a positive way. Yeah, I would say nothing is quite like the experience of flow state for our dopamine levels. Flow state being a really deep immersion in a task for a prolonged period of time. 语法解析
05:46
And everyone in the world has unique things that could enable them to access flow state. There might be a specific access of your work that enables you to access flow state. You might do creative things, musical things. You might build stuff out in nature. But if we can find a task in our life that we can enter a prolonged state of focus, sort of 45 minutes to an hour where we don't do anything else, we don't think about anything else. We just do that one thing. That's a magical way to build dopamine. 语法解析
06:12
And I think about boredom a lot here. You know, this idea that I think most people, myself included often, when you tend to be bored, you pick up the phone. And how do you, because boredom is going to happen. You're going to be waiting in traffic. You're going to be, you know, waiting in line, like boredom. How do you think about boredom and avoiding the urge for that quick response? 语法解析
06:37
dopamine hit. How do you build that resilience? Yeah, I think you have to have a reason to avoid picking it up. There has to be something that you care for that motivates you to not because I grew up, I had like a phone since I was 11 years old, an iPhone. So I really grew up inside technology and social media. And I 语法解析
06:55
When I attempted to break the addiction to it, moments like that where you're in traffic or even you're in a coffee shop with your partner and they go to the bathroom and you're like on your own for two minutes and you're like, I have to go on my phone in this two minute gap. There's like that massive gap. 语法解析
07:09
desire and pull towards it. And for me, when I think about this, if I'm faced with that situation, I know that having good mental health is a desire of mine, feeling happy and at peace in my brain and also being motivated to do my work and things like that. These things are a value to me. 语法解析
07:24
And I know that with every phone check, especially if they're too frequent, I'm depleting the molecule that's going to lead to me having good mental health and good capacity to chase my goals. So I utilize that as the motivating energy, like to not let me pick it up. And in terms of the impact to our overall health and mental health specifically, if our dopamine is off, 语法解析
07:46
What are the implications, whether it's the phone or whatever it is, like what sorts of health issues do we encounter when we're out of balance? If your dopamine is low, you'll feel very deflated. You'll feel that kind of low mood, deflated, I can't be bothered to do anything type energy within you. And 语法解析
08:03
That in itself isn't a great feeling. But then, as everyone will be so familiar with, so much of the effortful practices that lead to us having good health, whether it's bothering to cook healthy meals or go to the shop and get the healthy food, or whether it's making sure you do your exercise or your walk or you go to bed early, all these core practices can get influenced by the fact we're breaking the motivation molecule with the phone. 语法解析
08:27
So if we can begin to raise the dopamine naturally, our desire to take action on all the important things that really lift us becomes better. And I'm a big believer in habit stacking and dopamine at its core is motivation. And so what that means for me is in the morning, 语法解析
08:44
I have my series of tasks and it often involves, you know, eating something healthy, you know, brushing my teeth, having coffee, cold plunge, working out some part. So like I'm getting these wins and then at night, same thing. I'm prepping for the morning. I'm getting all my supplements out. I'm getting the coffee ready to go. Like I have a routine and then there's like the middle of the day. And so in terms of dopamine and motivation, I, 语法解析
09:13
In my view, it's important to get these quick wins, like these quick accomplishments. What's your take on how do we start our morning and evening so we set ourselves up for success? Yeah, for sure. So how you're starting your day sounds good. I think the absolute number one goal is to not open the phone the moment we open our eyes. If, for example, we were to run an experiment whereby… 语法解析
09:38
Every morning when you woke up for a week, you drank a glass of red wine. You'd get pretty hooked on that red wine pretty quickly if you woke up and drank it. And so much of our addiction to the phone is fueled by the fact it's so easily accessible from the moment we wake. So we need a delay whereby we're earning dopamine through effort. That could be having a shower, doing your cold plunge. That has a huge amount of additional brain chemistry and dopaminergic benefits. It could be making your food. It could be brushing your teeth, making your bed. But you effectively want to wake and earn dopamine. 语法解析
10:07
You don't want to just have it easily. And that can be whatever someone feels is best for their routine, their families, their kids. I think gold standard rules within it are avoiding the phone, of course, and then just making sure that you don't remain sedentary and that you do spend some time in sunlight. 语法解析
10:25
Those are like the main core components and make sure you leave your house and you physically move your body before you've entered the world of social media. Very helpful. And I'm curious, do you have a go-to? In terms of my morning routine? Yeah, for dopamine, like what's your go-to? Yeah, I do have a very specific practice that's been built over the years. Oh, wake up. 语法解析
10:46
I'll go to the bathroom. I'll then sit down on the sofa. On the sofa, my iPad is waiting for me with Insight Timer as an app that I do my meditation on. And I'll use the iPad so there's no notifications in there. Like I don't have all the socials on my iPad. So then I'm not going to get distracted. It's just open it straight to Insight Timer. I do about a 15 minute silent, just breathing based meditation. 语法解析
11:09
I'll then brush my teeth and then I'll normally either I'm walking or I'm going to the gym. And then I'll really try and not go onto technology for the first maybe 60 minutes. When I eventually am going to go on technology, and I think this is a game changer for everyone, my laptop will always be the first way in which I see technology, not my phone. I'll open my laptop and head into WhatsApp and email and these things that you know you need to do, but via the laptop instead of the phone. So social media is not tempting. So it feels like limiting time 语法解析
11:38
time on your phone is half the battle with dopamine. It really is because we've had access to quick dopamine for a while. Things like alcohol and cigarettes and sugar, pornography. These things have been here for some of them, a few hundred, if not a thousand years. 语法解析
11:54
But the phone has increased the frequency in which we can access dopamine. Like we weren't drinking alcohol, having a sip every sort of five to 10 minutes all day, every day. But that's how we're operating with these phones. So the addiction to it is so much stronger than anything else ever before. And it's 语法解析
12:10
so over stimulating because short form content particularly is very dopaminergic because of the amount of novelty that's in those feeds and novelty increases dopamine that it's just constantly plummeting our dopamine level making us feel bad then we procrastinate then we're not happy with our productivity and so on well you mentioned reaching for you know alcohol sugary food pornography 语法解析
12:35
It feels like those are things one reaches for when they're emotionally upset or there's something going on. They're looking to get outside themselves. And what's your take on that connection? What's a better reach for 语法解析
12:55
Like we all know the cliche, we're stressed, we reach for the pint of ice cream in the freezer. Yeah, I mean, it would be situational. I think in those moments, yeah, often we're seeking for pleasure, we're seeking for distraction from our emotional experiences. 语法解析
13:11
if it's porn, we could also be seeking for love and connection, but we're kind of falsely getting it via that method. I think situationally it would vary. Sometimes, say for example, I've been working till 2, it's like 2pm for me right now, and I might get like a bit exhausted. And then it could be tempting to be like, okay, now I'm going to go sit on the sofa and just smash some short form content. That could be quite tempting after I've been working for a while. But 语法解析
13:35
I'll know that if I do that, I'm going to feel a bit flat this evening if I just spend hours scrolling short form content. But if I wanted to chill, if I was to go to the sofa and go on YouTube on the TV and pick a 10 minute video or a 20 minute video or a podcast like this, lie back on the sofa and watch it, long form content like that really doesn't disrupt our dopamine pathway very much at all. So it's almost being selective over which type of content we consume when we're seeking for that feeling of chilling out. 语法解析
14:03
I think it's very practical. You're better off watching a documentary that's 90 minutes than going on TikTok, which seems to be probably the most disruptive thing I can think of in terms of dopamine. It is because it's all about novelty. Dopamine always, for our ancestors, for hundreds of thousands of years, would rise when something novel in our environment would occur. So if you saw some fruit or a deer or some honey, dopamine would rise and it would create the desire to take action towards that thing. 语法解析
14:31
And TikTok is just novelty, novelty, novelty, novelty. So then your brain goes crazy on the dopamine. Whereas when you watch a movie like Gladiator, I watched that the other day. When you watch Gladiator, particularly Gladiator 1, because it's less dopamined up than Gladiator 2, you just sort of sit back and at times you're a little bit bored. And it's just that it's so good to learn to be okay with that slower feeling. Yes, because I think eventually you just become numb. You do. You need bigger and more frequent quick hits. And it's the cycle. 语法解析
15:00
which leads to nothing good in terms of one's mental health and ability to function in the world. It doesn't. And I think that's why we've never seen mental health struggling as much as it is right now in our society. And we had access to a lot of the other dopamine for a very long time, as I said, but the phone is the thing that is radically changing very fast in our relationship to it as a species. And that's why I think it's right at the core of this challenge. And it's 语法解析
15:24
It's important to know some people might think, okay, I'll try that. I'll try to watch a movie tonight with my phone in another room. Like that would be a good experiment. 语法解析
15:31
And you might sit there and actually feel a bit like agitated and irritated in the uncomfort of not having so much stimulation. And it's important to understand in our research lab, we study this thing called the boredom barrier, whereby there is a moment about 10 to 15 minutes into a slower paced experience where your brain does settle and it feels okay with the fact that's the level of stimulation you're only going to get. But you have to get to it. You have to battle through the moment of like, oh, I really need more than this. Yes. 语法解析
15:59
And so we touched on this, but let's go there next. Oxytocin connection. This is the chemical that creates the deep desire within us as humans to bond with one another. And it… 语法解析
16:13
Facilitates our family relationships, our romantic relationships, our friendships that we have. And effectively in the modern world, this chemical, rather than sort of spiking it and crashing it like dopamine, it's just very under satisfied this chemical because we're living in dopamine land where society has become so obsessed with success and pleasure that 语法解析
16:34
We're undervaluing the deep need for just moments of slow human connection. And a simple example of dopamine land instead of oxytocin is if you're sitting in bed, lying in bed with your partner and you're both scrolling your phones instead of talking or cuddling, you're choosing dopamine over oxytocin in that moment. I think everyone can relate to that. 语法解析
16:54
At some point. And so this one is also, I think, worrisome given the loneliness epidemic. Walk us through an ideal way to build oxytocin. Is it as simple as a conversation IRL? Is it like walk us through the different 语法解析
17:15
modalities, like what this looks like ideally in the real world. Yeah, definitely. So right at the core of oxytocin is physical touch. So if ever in your life you have a moment where you're interacting with a human that you feel comfortable to hug, always you should be taking that opportunity to hug that person. 语法解析
17:32
kids, family, partners, colleagues, if you're good friends with them. But we really need more physical touch. And ever since COVID, physical touch is rapidly reduced. And it's a really core component of our system. It needs oxytocin through the physical touch. And the big thing to understand is many people in the modern world are struggling with sort of a stressful, anxious, fearful feeling within their mind. 语法解析
17:53
and as a hunter-gatherer and I always refer back to this because these chemicals weren't built for this world we're in now they were built for the original way humans operated for 99% of human history as a hunter-gatherer if you were cast aside from the tribe that would have been the most anxious and stressful experience ever because you would not survive alone in the wild and your oxytocin level would become extremely low because you were disconnected from the group for many of us now because this chemical is under satisfied whilst we're not 语法解析
18:21
out there in the wild on our own. Our biochemistry almost perceives that we are because it's not satisfied from a connection point of view. So touch is at the forefront. Then the way in which you socially connect with people is really important. So when you're with people, the eye contact you make, the questions you ask, how well you listen, how engaged you are in that conversation and not distracted by technology. These kind of things enable good oxytocin to transfer between you. 语法解析
18:46
And I believe it was oxytocin in the example I'm going to use. So there's a fantastic book. It's a heartbreaking book written by Kate Fagan. It's called What Made Maddie Run? And it came out, I think, maybe a decade ago. And it's just this terrible story around a female athlete at the University of Pennsylvania here in the States and here in the UK who ended up taking her own life. And it was this situation where 语法解析
19:09
everything looked okay. You know, she's at, she's running, she's at an Ivy League school, she has friends. And the theme of this, of one of the story is she, she's suffering and so much of the exchanges are happening on text. And I think I recall that there is a, there's a significant difference between a parent saying to a child over text and 语法解析
19:32
in terms of serotonin, sorry, oxytocin, I love you, everything's going to be okay, versus the boost from a parent saying that, looking eye to eye at their child and touching the child. It is a world of difference. And I think that's an important thing 语法解析
19:49
And it was one of the things they made a point of in the book, which I thought was a salient point. Yeah. And that's super accurate. Like as our brain evolved over hundreds of thousands of years, it never necessarily could have perceived that we were going to come up with these little glass screens that could create the experience of connecting with humans without you even being there. And, 语法解析
20:09
When you look into these research studies, yes, being face-to-face, in person, and physically having a moment of embracing one another is the absolute goal. There's even this great study by this lady called Seltzer who just compares people sending each other messages versus people calling one another. And when we receive texts, no oxytocin transfers in the brain. When we call one another and we hear one another's voices, oxytocin does begin to transfer. 语法解析
20:35
And it just really makes you think with many aspects of society, whether it's parents calling their kids, they're at university or your partner's away for a while, or you're in the dating world and you're on like apps like Hinge or whatever it might be. So much is digital based when we're actually looking for something that requires the sound of someone's voice to stimulate the hormone that we're actually chasing in the first place. 语法解析
20:56
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21:13
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21:42
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22:03
Investing involves risk. Offer is subject to terms and conditions. You know, I think if there's one PSA in the conversation, it's this. It's if someone you know is suffering or you believe they're suffering, text is not enough. Pick up the phone. In terms of boosting oxytocin, which has a significant impact on someone's mental health, a text, what you said, does zero versus… 语法解析
22:32
A boost begins when they hear your voice. Pick up the phone. And if you can meet in person, but like pick up the phone, a text, zero. It's remarkable. Yeah, it really is. And I noticed that I have a good relationship with my brother and I haven't seen him for over a year in real life. And he lives out in Bali. And we noticed that we hadn't been calling much, but we had been texting. 语法解析
22:55
but we noticed that like we just really weren't bonding and then we were like okay let's intentionally start calling and suddenly it's a very different experience because we now hear each other's voices on the phones and 语法解析
23:04
And when you're a very young baby lying in a cot, so much of your oxytocin comes from hearing the sound of your primary caregiver's voices and then knowing, okay, they're near me, I'm safe. And it came from sound and also came from touch. A baby wasn't growing up reading a little message saying, okay, now I'm safe because I've read a message. And these primal things that are deeply wired into our brain are important to consider. Texting probably better use for what time are we meeting? 语法解析
23:31
Text has its function for sure. Don't have to call everyone on that list, but the people you really love or the people that need your love, I think it's important. And so we'll move on to the next one, serotonin, which we've talked about this, but I want to make a point of it because I think that the number is just paramount here. 90% is produced in the gut. Yeah. And that's an interesting phenomenon for modern humans that 语法解析
23:59
So much of this key chemical that impacts our mood, the stability of our mood, but also our energy levels is manufactured there. And our body deeply craves nice, natural food to enter it so that it can be broken down into amino acids like things like tryptophan, which are the precursors to the construction of serotonin and vitamin 语法解析
24:20
the modern gut is struggling. There's so much of this sort of ultra processed food, very high in chemical food that is very addictive, very dopaminergic, very pleasurable to eat, but it's really disrupting our gut and therefore disrupting our capacity to build this chemical. Well, again, the mental health epidemic, a lot of people are struggling and you think of serotonin and boosting your serotonin. 语法解析
24:42
And of course, therapy is something that works and should absolutely be part of someone's mental health protocol. Pharmaceuticals can work, but not all the time. A lot of people don't respond. We talked about dopamine and how that can wreak havoc on one's mental health. But an area which I think is the most interesting and exciting is the gut. Ultra processed foods. We've had people like Chris Palmer on this podcast talk about how 语法解析
25:07
you know, proper nutrition can really significantly help someone's brain health and mental health. I think this is an area we're probably underestimating the impact, even though the numbers are 90%, it's pretty clear. We're underestimating 语法解析
25:25
the power of nutrition and its impact on our mental health. We are. And I think nutrition is a complicated landscape in the modern world because there are so many opinions and there's like, we need to be extreme meat eaters or extreme vegans, or you have to follow this diet or that diet. And it can be very complicated for maybe the average person who's not a nutritionist themselves to actually understand like, which of these foods am I supposed to be eating? But I think by and large, if we can get back to the core of just 语法解析
25:53
most of our diet being natural foods that were here on earth before we got here as humans. If the food, if you look at it on your plate and you think, could that actually exist without human intervention? Then yeah, it's probably going to be pretty good for your health. It's going to be good for your microbiome and the serotonin production. And then of course, as you dive deeper into nutrition, you can optimize your protein and your antioxidants and everything. Those sort of decisions are really good decisions to be making. But I think 语法解析
26:18
The addiction we currently have to ultra processed food in the modern world, like here in the UK, 57% of our calorie consumption on average is ultra processed food, which is a huge proportion. I don't actually know the exact figure for the US, but I imagine maybe some. I think it's probably higher. Might be even higher in the US. And we got to do, yeah, we got to do something about that. Yeah. And I think to your point, lots of opinions on which diet is best and my view is, 语法解析
26:47
It's highly individualized. Where we sit in 2025, there's lots of testing where you can dial that in and figure out what ultimately is the best diet for you. But amongst all the different tribes and opinions on diet, there is consensus. Ultra processed foods are terrible for your health and you should try to avoid them. They're going to happen, but they shouldn't be 50 to 60%. 语法解析
27:11
of your calories. Definitely. And I think these two things, I think foods and phones are the big thing that if you like really get good with your food and your addiction to your phone, I think big shifts happen with your mental health. And so endorphins, de-stressing, another important one. Yeah, endorphins are interesting. And just the general conversation about stress is interesting because 语法解析
27:34
So much of the kind of modern conversation around stress is about calming our system, which is super accurate. Meditative practices, calming the system as much as you can, being in nature, all of these things are really beautiful for calming you down. But when we look specifically at the emotion of stress, like when we feel really stressed and really heightened, evolutionarily, stress was much more simple for our ancestors. Rather than all these micro-stresses that we have in the modern world, 语法解析
28:02
We were basically really stressed if we were starving and we didn't have any food or if we were going to get eaten by some kind of animal and we were in extreme physical danger for our life. And in both of those moments of extreme stress, the significant thing that would occur is physical action within our body. We'd have to go hunt and search for that food or we'd have to fight for our life or climb a tree or sprint as fast as we can. And our body over hundreds of thousands of years paired together the idea of I'm stressed, 语法解析
28:30
physical action is coming next. During this physical action, endorphins are going to flood through the brain and body in order to de-stress my brain to make it more likely that I can survive this threat or find this food. And I think often in the modern world, we're experiencing stress via our computers, via our phones, by someone saying something, a colleague, whatever it might be, a political opinion, but we're staying sedentary and we're effectively swallowing the stress into our body. And I think 语法解析
28:56
really good calming practices in your mornings and evenings are super important but i think whenever you're really stressed and really heightened you need to have a framework in your mind where you need to literally physically release it through your system through physical activity and there's a tension here not all stress is bad you know we mentioned cold cold punch you know exerting yourself during exercise 语法解析
29:18
sauna that's good stress yes these things that these things are healthy for our system our system is very physically capable it survived outside for a very long time those deep colds and extreme heats and 语法解析
29:32
lack of food, all kinds of things. And our body is much more physically capable than it experiences today. Now it's in perfect regulated temperature all the time. And most often it's seated. And that's just not what the system was designed for. It's designed for much more physical stress than that. And so if I think about all of these dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, endorphins, I can't help but think of exercise as an elixir. What's your take? 语法解析
29:54
Exercise is interesting. If it's completing some form of goal, you're getting a dopaminergic experience. Like if you're making progress towards some kind of accomplishment that you're seeking for. If you were exercising with someone, playing sport, gymming with someone, you're in a class, you'd get oxytocin. If you were outside whilst exercising, you'd get serotonin through the nature and the sunlight. And then obviously through the physical activity, you get endorphins. And 语法解析
30:19
We are very sedentary now. I think some people are great with their exercise and I imagine lots of your listeners are really good with their exercise. So it's an important thing to continue to nail. But I do think 语法解析
30:29
I do think, I mean, for example, I spent a lot of time in schools with thousands of teenagers. If I could get them all to just start doing press ups and squats and pull ups and like really physically using their bodies, I know their mental health would improve a lot. You know, I think of run club. I don't know if they have that in the UK, but they're all over US run club. It's a, it checks all the boxes. 语法解析
30:50
You're outside, you're running, you're with people. It really does. And then it's funny because we do this thing called dose stacking when people are going through all our live experiences and they learn all about the chemicals and all the 20 different actions you can utilize. And then they try and come up with some kind of activity that could hit multiple cards within each chemical and multiple chemicals at once. 语法解析
31:10
And ultimately everyone ends up concluding, oh, maybe I should go out into nature with my friends and do some physical activity and eat some healthy food. That's like when you go through it or you conclude that and then it's like, 语法解析
31:21
oh yeah that's what we did for 300 000 years we walked around in nature with our friends and ate healthy food and although that might seem so simple it's not what we're doing in the modern world we don't spend enough time out in nature with our friends walking eating healthy food and that's what our system wants hike up a mountain with a group of friends to a healthy restaurant at the top of the mountain yeah take some fruit with you take some coconut water the dream 语法解析
31:46
And so let's talk about the stack. Like what are some other examples that come to mind for people who want to stack? Yeah. So if they were having some kind of social experience, that would be a good opportunity for some stacking, but it could be a social experience at home. It doesn't have to be an exercise based one. But if say you were having some friends over for dinner, if you chose in that situation when everyone got there, 语法解析
32:09
to all agree to not go on your phones for the next like say hour or two hours and you all put your phones like on a windowsill and you're like, okay, we're just going to have a break. A good way to do this in a restaurant as well is to all put your phones in the middle and then whoever touches their phone has to pay for the meal and then you're really motivated to not touch the phone and whoever touches the phone first. 语法解析
32:28
And yeah, if you are with them, you are socializing, hopefully with some good nutritious food. And then it's really good in social settings to really lean into this whole gratitude conversation. And if you were, say, with someone and you looked across them and you said the question, why do you feel grateful that I'm in your life? They would go. 语法解析
32:46
what the hell that's a ridiculous question that's like a shocking question to ask but if you just said no seriously like can you think of anything they would easily be able to answer that question that's why they're friends with you because they think you have something to offer them and some form of connection if they shared those thoughts and then you shared yours back you would get this unbelievable oxytocin experience you know i also think of kids i have two little girls uh i think of the power of team sports 语法解析
33:11
Yeah. Team sports are powerful. They're really beneficial, especially for the youngsters that are even more hooked on all this stuff than us as adults. It's really powerful. And also as a family being active. Yeah. I mean, we do this thing called in the schools in the UK, this thing called forts with friends where we just try and get 语法解析
33:30
young people into woods and forests to build forts. Like a lot of people, like when I grew up as a kid, that's what a lot of our free time was. It was like in nature, putting big sticks against the tree and then building little forts. And that's just been lost now, ironically, something called fortnight instead of building the forts yourself. And if we can just get young people into nature with their families or with their friends, just doing hard physical activity, teamwork, collaboration, 语法解析
33:56
It's very, very good for their brain chemistry. I think you're hitting on free play also for kids. Definitely, definitely. And free play often has some level of social connection involved. And the challenge is, is so much of the desire for young people now is free time on their iPad playing games or watching YouTube shorts. And that's not truly what the brain is wanting. It's wanting group cohesion. And how do you think about free play for us grownups? I think it's powerful. I mean, when I came up with this whole thoughts with friends thing a few years ago, 语法解析
34:26
I, uh, went and did it myself, built a big fort in nature. That was an experience of play. And that was magic. My brain absolutely loved it. I was also much stronger than when I was a kid and I tried it last time. So it was actually a lot easier. And, uh, I think any form of lightness is very powerful for the modern human. I think life is quite heavy and serious. There's a lot of like political division. I was actually interesting in an interesting debate on, um, 语法解析
34:51
The Times radio yesterday, which is a big radio here, which was all about his dopamine addiction, creating political division in the modern world. And I think a lot of the energy inside our phones is quite tough, heavy and serious for us to manage. Something like Free Play for Adults is just this lightness. And our system needs more time in that state. And so in terms of your own health and well-being, 语法解析
35:15
What addition, because if I were to say deletion or edit, I'm guessing you would say your phone, but what addition has had the most significant impact for you? I would say there's two things that have been really powerful for me that stand out. One is, for me, I struggled for many years with my mental health. I grew up with really severe OCD. That led me into a lot of addiction and challenges arose from there. And I 语法解析
35:42
I really struggled with spending any time with myself. I really, part of my addiction was trying to silence the noise in my mind, whether it was at the booze or smoking or food or phones. A lot of it was to try and quiet the voice in my head. And I was going through therapy a number of years ago. And this guy who's my therapist, he recommended I went for a long walk without my phone. He said two hours. And I thought there is literally no way, two hours on my own in my mind. 语法解析
36:08
And I then began a practice of really trying to integrate long walks on my own in nature without even a phone on me. If you had to have one on you for safety, you could have it in your bag, but it'd be too tempting if it's in your pocket to check it. 语法解析
36:21
And that for me, just like the the amount of wisdom and answers that came through to me when I was out there in the choir and the amount of messages I got a chance to finally hear that I was ignoring and distracting myself from. I think that is right up there for me, both from a personal life perspective with relationships and health, but then also creativity in my career. I think it's a really key one. 语法解析
36:41
And it's hard sitting alone with your thoughts is often really hard. And I was so negative and I was just like an asshole to myself in my mind. So judgmental of myself and like, 语法解析
36:51
I think the brain is a powerful machine. And if you don't ever give it a chance to send, to really hear those messages, it's just going to keep sending them and keep sending them and leave this kind of irritable feeling within you. And I think there's got to be times that we just really get some time to have a conversation. And so the book is called The Dose Effect. It's filled with a number of studies that are really impactful. And I'm curious from your vantage point, which study really stood out to you if you were to pick one? 语法解析
37:19
That's a good question. I would say there's this study by this chap called Schultz that actually came out in 1998. He was at Cambridge University and he looked into the idea of dopamine and the pursuit of rewards. And I think many of us 语法解析
37:38
are chasing a number of different rewards in our life. We might be chasing financial goals, houses, wins with our companies, followers, likes, all kinds of things you might be chasing, career promotions. And he did this study where he was looking at the dopamine level when you finally achieve the reward that you've been chasing for a period of time. And you would imagine it would almost just be like a simple graph where it's low and then eventually reaches high when you get the reward. And he basically found that your dopamine is actually at its highest. 语法解析
38:05
When you're about 80% there towards getting the reward, and when you finally get the reward in that final 20% as you get it, and then once you get it, the dopamine actually dips quite significantly. And I think for many of us, 语法解析
38:19
we're waiting to feel really happy once we finally attain the thing in our mind that we think is going to create happiness. But when you look into the dopamine research, that's not actually the case. Simply just being in the pursuit of a reward is what our brain wants. It doesn't actually want to acquire them all the time. So I think it's been a shift for me, just an understanding that whatever it is, a financial goal, house goal, follower goal, like 语法解析
38:42
a shift around just being in pursuit is actually the goal. Well, I think it speaks to this idea that you should try to love the journey and it's not about the destination. It's important. Look, I believe in goals. I'm a goal setter, but I think you really have to try and love the journey. If you're there just for the goal and not the journey, then 语法解析
39:05
you're probably going to end up unhappy. Definitely. And there is actually, there's a thing called gold medal syndrome in research where people finally win a gold medal in the Olympics and then they actually feel quite depressed after winning it, which seems counterintuitive. It's like, why would I be depressed? I finally got the thing I was looking for. 语法解析
39:22
But the brain is designed to just always be in pursuit. It's designed to always be on the journey so that for our ancestors, they didn't finally find some food and then think, cool, we're done. We don't have to go find any more food. The whole goal of being human is just to be in a consistent, steady journey of pursuit and 语法解析
39:39
For me, that's made a big difference to kind of my overall happiness and the number of people we train with in our lab because it's this idea that you don't have to just wait to be happy once you finally have that thing. Happiness is something that can come right now. You know, you mentioned the medalists and we have some friends who are swimmers and medalists and really struggled with their mental health after winning. And I think it was a couple of things. One, it was, you know, there's… Swimmers are probably going to not like that I say this, but I think of swimming… 语法解析
40:09
You're in the pool, you're doing two days. It's a very isolating sport. You're underwater. Like you're not really, maybe there's a little camaraderie with the team, but like your head's down in water. Pretty isolated. Yeah, you are. And that takes a toll on one's mental health and they're working their entire lives to 语法解析
40:28
to achieve this outcome. And it's a sport where there's really not much after the Olympics. It's kind of over. It's not like, you know, basketball per se, where, you know, you can maybe go on professionally or so on. Like this is it. And there's this moment where you're at the Olympics and you're the most well-known people on the world. You're on national TV around the world globally. You're well-known and then it's over. 语法解析
40:54
Unless you're Michael, even Michael, I think of Michael Phelps. Yeah. It's hard that because you're experiencing this monumental level of dopamine whilst you're in that moment. And then it's very hard to ever satisfy that feeling again. It's almost like taking drugs. Like it's actually quite a similar experience taking drugs. And there's a chap here called Johnny Wilkinson who is a rugby player and he won us the world cup back in like 2003. He did this amazing drop goal in the rugby world cup. 语法解析
41:22
And we won the World Cup. He was the absolute man for years. He was the guy that won England the World Cup. I don't know. It might be the only one we ever won. And he struggled a lot with his mental health because it's very hard to keep, to try and return to that level of a high. And that's why sometimes in those situations when you have an athlete, if they suddenly channel it into something 语法解析
41:42
a charitable idea or some kind of thing where they're starting a business, they need a new pursuit. And if ever you're in that deflated feeling, you need new direction and new pursuit. Yeah. You know, the other example that comes to mind years ago, maybe it's like 20 years ago, I saw an interview with Michael Stipe, the lead singer of REM. And he was talking about after touring, he would, and they're touring, you know, REM at their peak, you know, 50,000, 100,000 people all over the world. 语法解析
42:11
After touring, he would go out to a group dinner with a number of friends. And he said he just couldn't do it. He was just so bored and disconnected. And then he finally came to the conclusion, wait, the problem's not them. Like, they're really interesting people. The problem's me. 语法解析
42:31
I need a process to decompress and re-acclimate myself because I'm coming off this ridiculous high of touring that I can't enjoy myself around a group dinner of a dozen people who are really interesting. He became numb to it. I thought that was really fascinating for performers. I think Broadway performers, elite athletes… 语法解析
42:58
playing like that that rush is hard to come down from it really is and you need a period of significant almost under stimulation to find normal stimulation exciting once again and in a situation like that if i was ever working with someone in that world i would almost recommend they were to do like a 语法解析
43:15
10-day Vipassana silent meditation, if they were coming off touring like that and go into complete boredom and total zero stimulation and then reset these neurotransmitters. And at a small level, and this is why I care so much about the phone, the phone is actually doing that to society. It's making us so acclimatized with extreme dopamine stimulation that sometimes we sit with our partner in the evening and talk to them and that doesn't even feel exciting enough anymore. 语法解析
43:43
that in itself is feeling boring. Or we go and socialize or we go for dinner. And it's really important to understand the phone is what's shifting our capacity to just enjoy the mundane. So it feels like, again, the phone is the public enemy number one here in your view. I just think we need the capacity to have time away from it more than we currently get. I don't think it needs to go. I love my phone. Like it's amazing. I love social media. I love making content. It's not that I want no phone. I just think 语法解析
44:08
currently we're too tipped towards it being the dominant form of relaxation and pleasure. Fair enough. We covered a lot today other than pick up the book. It's called Dose Effects, an excellent read. Thank you for writing it. What else? 语法解析
44:21
should we talk about that we didn't talk about? What did we miss? I would say the only thing that I've also seen significant, significant benefits from is trying to move my dinner earlier. I think it's really powerful and it's a really underestimated shift because of course, maximizing your sleep is just ridiculously beneficial for all kinds of aspects of your motivation, your stability of your mood, how your day begins. 语法解析
44:47
I recently, about four months ago, began an experiment where I started shifting the dinner earlier. We started at eight, then we went to seven, then we went to six, now we're even at 5.30. It's like when kids eat dinner. And I cannot believe the shift in my relaxation period in the evening, the 语法解析
45:05
the time in which I'm then falling asleep because everything is set forward, the time I can then wake but really be energized when I wake and be capable of having enough time for a good morning routine. And I would say if there's any chance that dinner can shift earlier, there's so many downstream benefits of doing so. That might be my favorite tip. If you find yourself in South Florida, I'll grab dinner with you at 4.30. I'm down for it. TJ, thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me. 语法解析
Edit:2025.04.29
如果保持动力、连接和冷静的秘诀不是更多的效率技巧或十步计划，而是更好的大脑化学反应呢？今天的嘉宾TJ Power将告诉我们如何与大脑合作，而不是对抗它。TJ是神经科学家、心理健康教育家，也是《剂量效应》一书的作者。他致力于在数字时代改变我们对幸福的思考方式。通过他在Dose Lab的工作，他正在揭开多巴胺、催产素、血清素和内啡肽这四种强大神经递质的科学神秘面纱，这些化学物质每天影响我们的感受、行为和表现。在今天的节目中，我们将探讨一些简单却常被忽视的方法，帮助重新平衡大脑化学反应。从如何在早晨避免耗尽“动力分子”，到为什么无聊可能是心理健康的关键缺失环节，TJ都一一解析。我们还会讨论过多屏幕时间对大脑的影响，如何自然支持多巴胺，以及为什么重新连接心流、平静和社交纽带可能是实现持久幸福的终极路径。如果你感到疲惫、泄气，或陷入无休止的滑动屏幕和压力的循环，这期节目绝对适合你。TJ的见解有科学依据且实用性极强，让我们开始吧！
首先，我们来聊聊“DOSE”——多巴胺、催产素、血清素和内啡肽。TJ，能否简单介绍一下它们？TJ解释，这四种大脑化学物质各有独特功能。多巴胺是我们的“动力化学物质”，推动我们去做困难的事情。催产素让我们渴望社交连接。血清素稳定情绪，让我们体验自然的人类生活。内啡肽则在需要时帮助大脑减压。这些化学物质对我们的日常生活至关重要。
主持人问，大家可能对这些化学物质有些了解，但想深入了解它们的作用，尤其是多巴胺。我们想要高多巴胺，而不是低多巴胺，对吗？TJ确认，我们需要自然的高多巴胺，而不是随意提升。他解释，大脑有一个叫腹侧被盖区的区域，像个“多巴胺工厂”，会制造多巴胺小泡。比如，打扫房子这种费力的活动会缓慢积累这些小泡，完成后让人感到满足，奖励中心会收到这些多巴胺。但像社交媒体这样的活动会迅速耗尽这些小泡，因为没有付出努力，大脑不会制造新的，导致多巴胺水平下降。这就是问题所在。
主持人提到，科技和多巴胺的关系已被广泛讨论。在谈到避免社交媒体的最佳实践之前，有什么方法可以自然提升多巴胺？TJ认为，没有什么比进入“心流状态”更有效。心流状态是长时间专注于某项任务的沉浸体验，每个人都有独特的方式进入这种状态，比如工作中的某部分、创作音乐或在自然中建造东西。只要能专注45分钟到一小时，不被其他事物干扰，就能有效提升多巴胺。
主持人提到无聊的问题。无聊时，人们常拿起手机，比如在堵车或排队时。如何抵制这种快速获取多巴胺的冲动？TJ说，必须有理由不去碰手机。他分享自己从11岁就用iPhone，深陷科技和社交媒体。戒掉这种瘾时，他发现像在咖啡店等人时，短短两分钟的空闲都会让人想抓起手机。他意识到，心理健康、快乐和完成工作的动力是他的核心价值。频繁查看手机会耗尽这些目标所需的多巴胺。因此，他用这些价值观激励自己放下手机。
主持人问，如果多巴胺失衡，会对健康产生什么影响？TJ回答，低多巴胺让人感到情绪低落、缺乏动力，像是“我什么都不想干”的状态。这不仅感觉不好，还会影响健康习惯，比如做饭、买健康食材、锻炼或早睡。如果能自然提升多巴胺，人们会更有动力去做这些有益的事情。主持人提到“习惯叠加”的概念，认为多巴胺是动力的核心。他分享自己的晨间和晚间例程，包括吃健康早餐、刷牙、喝咖啡、冷水浴和锻炼，晚上则准备好第二天的物品。TJ对此表示赞同，强调早晨不要一睁眼就看手机。他比喻，如果每天早上醒来喝一杯红酒，很快就会上瘾。手机也是如此，早上立即使用会强化依赖。相反，应该通过努力赚取多巴胺，比如洗澡、冷水浴、做饭或整理床铺。避免久坐、多晒太阳、离开家并运动，都是早晨的关键。
主持人问TJ的个人晨间例程。TJ分享，他起床后先去洗手间，然后坐在沙发上，用iPad打开Insight Timer应用，进行15分钟的静默呼吸冥想。他特意用iPad而非手机，避免通知干扰。之后，他刷牙，然后步行或去健身房，尽量在起床后60分钟内不碰科技。如果需要使用科技，他会先用笔记本电脑处理WhatsApp或邮件，而不是手机，这样可以避免社交媒体的诱惑。
主持人感叹，限制手机时间似乎是多巴胺管理的一半战斗。TJ同意，指出虽然酒精、香烟、糖和色情内容也能快速刺激多巴胺，但手机的频率远超这些。短视频内容尤其刺激，因为它们不断提供新奇感，迅速耗尽多巴胺，导致拖延和不满足感。主持人提到，人们在情绪低落时常求助于酒精、甜食或色情内容，寻求逃避。TJ认为，这取决于情境。比如，工作到下午2点感到疲惫时，可能会想刷短视频放松。但他知道，这样会让晚上感到情绪低落。相反，选择长视频，如YouTube上的纪录片或播客，影响多巴胺的程度小得多。看90分钟的纪录片远比刷TikTok好，因为TikTok的快速新奇感过度刺激大脑，而像《角斗士》这样的电影允许大脑体验适度的无聊，培养对慢节奏的适应。
主持人提到，过度追求快速多巴胺会导致麻木，需要更频繁的刺激，最终损害心理健康。TJ认为，手机是当前心理健康危机的主要原因，因为它改变了我们与刺激的关系。尝试将手机放在另一房间看电影，可能一开始会感到烦躁，但研究显示，10到15分钟后，大脑会适应较慢的节奏，感到满足。
接下来讨论催产素，这种化学物质激发我们与他人建立联系的渴望，促进家庭、爱情和友谊关系。在现代社会，催产素常处于不足状态，因为我们过于追求成功和快乐，忽视了缓慢的人际连接。比如，与伴侣躺在床上各自刷手机，就是选择了多巴胺而非催产素。主持人提到孤独流行病，问如何理想地提升催产素。TJ强调，身体接触是核心，比如拥抱家人、朋友或同事（如果关系亲近）。新冠疫情后，身体接触显著减少，但它是催产素系统的关键。现代人常感到焦虑和恐惧，这可能因为催产素不足，类似于古代被部落驱逐的孤立感。高质量的社交也很重要，包括眼神交流、提问、认真倾听和避免科技干扰。
TJ提到一本名为《What Made Maddie Run?》的书，讲述了一名宾夕法尼亚大学的女运动员自杀的悲剧。她表面上一切顺利，但在心理挣扎中，许多交流通过短信进行。研究表明，短信无法传递催产素，而面对面或电话交流可以。主持人强调，如果有人需要帮助，打电话远比发短信有效，因为声音能激发催产素，而短信毫无作用。
节目再次插播Stash广告，重复了之前的投资便利性和25美元优惠信息。主持人继续讨论，提到血清素，90%在肠道产生。这种化学物质稳定情绪和能量，但现代饮食中的超加工食品破坏肠道健康，阻碍血清素生成。心理健康危机与此相关，营养的重要性常被低估。TJ认为，营养领域充满争议，但核心是选择自然食物，避免超加工食品。在英国，57%的热量来自超加工食品，美国可能更高。主持人补充，饮食因人而异，但超加工食品对健康有害是共识。
最后讨论内啡肽，帮助减压。现代压力来自琐碎的微小事件，而古代的压力（如饥饿或被捕食）通常伴随着体力活动，释放内啡肽。如今，我们常在久坐中承受压力，导致内啡肽不足。TJ建议，在感到高度压力时，通过运动释放，比如跑步或健身。适度的压力（如冷水浴或桑拿）对身体有益。运动是提升所有四种化学物质的“灵丹妙药”：完成目标增加多巴胺，与他人运动提升催产素，户外运动促进血清素，体力活动释放内啡肽。
TJ提到“剂量叠加”，比如与朋友在自然中远足、吃健康食物，能同时刺激多种化学物质。他建议社交时放下手机，比如在餐厅将手机堆在桌上，谁先碰就付账。表达感恩也能提升催产素，比如问朋友为何感激你的存在。团队运动对孩子尤其有益，结合体力活动和社交。TJ还提到“朋友建堡垒”项目，鼓励青少年在自然中合作搭建堡垒，恢复自由玩耍的乐趣。成人也需要自由玩耍，比如他自己尝试在自然中建堡垒，感到大脑非常愉悦。
TJ分享，独处对他心理健康影响最大。他曾因强迫症和成瘾问题挣扎，试图用酒精、食物和手机压制内心噪音。治疗师建议他无手机独自行走两小时，这成为转折点。在自然中独处让他听到被忽视的内心信息，提升了创造力和生活智慧。他提到1998年剑桥大学舒尔茨的研究，发现追求奖励时多巴胺在80%进度时最高，达成后反而下降。这表明，幸福在于旅程而非终点，比如奥运冠军常在夺金后感到抑郁，因为大脑渴望持续追求。
主持人提到运动员和艺人（如REM主唱迈克尔·斯蒂普）在高强度经历后难以适应日常生活的例子。TJ建议，类似情况需要低刺激环境（如十天静默冥想）重置神经递质。手机让人们习惯高刺激，削弱对平凡生活的享受。他并非反对手机，而是认为我们需要更多远离它的时间。
最后，TJ推荐提前晚餐时间。他四个月前开始将晚餐从8点调整到5:30，显著改善了晚间放松和睡眠质量，进而提升早晨的精力和例程效率。主持人对此表示赞赏，笑称如果TJ来南佛罗里达，可以4:30共进晚餐。TJ的书《剂量效应》充满实用建议，值得一读。感谢TJ的分享，期待下次相会！
Edit:2025.04.29
