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Pleasure-Saturated

Pleasure-Saturated

We Homo Sapiens are notorious for avoiding pain and seeking pleasure. In fact, we have transformed the planet from a place of scarcity to a place of overwhelming abundance, with ample opportunities to flood our brains with dopamine at every turn.

But over-consuming has consequences: Exposure to prolonged and repeated pleasurable stimuli decreases our capacity to tolerate pain and increases our threshold for experiencing pleasure.

On today’s show: Resetting your neural set point to make dopamine work FOR you, not against you.

Here’s a preview:

[3:00] Here’s exactly why our brains aren’t designed to work optimally in our 2024 world of pleasure

[7:00] Measuring the dopamine-induced addictive potential of various foods, habits, and drugs

[10:00] What goes up must come down: Here’s what opponent process theory means for you and your brain

[14:00] Quantifying leisure time from the Civil War to present day

[24:00] Dopamine fasts work! Here’s how to recalibrate your brain

[28:00] How to best lean into a bit of pain (and why you may want to)

 

 

 

Resources mentioned:

 

 

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Nature As Medicine

Are we treating the symptoms of modern life while simultaneously ignoring our habitat?

The average American now spends 93% of their life indoors. But humans evolved for millennia alongside the natural world, and research suggests that our indoor lifestyle is disrupting our sleep, focus and long-term health.

You don’t need a gym membership or expensive workout gear to get your health back on track. On today’s show, Dr. John La Puma argues that all you need is a 17-minute dose of nature, every single day.

Here’s a preview:

[4:00] Modern medicine tends to prioritize intervention over prevention. But why?

[7:30] We’re taught to fear the outdoors, but indoor living can be directly harmful in ways we’re only beginning to understand

[11:30] Why it’s time to view “screen time” as “ultra-processed time”

[16:00] Exactly how a daily dose of morning sunlight resets insulin sensitivity, hunger timing, and prefrontal cortex function

[30:00] Outside exercise is better for you than inside exercise, so take your movement outdoors!

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Hello there, I’m Stephanie. I live a crazy, beautiful life as a full-time wife, blogger + mother to two spirited daughters. I’m on a mission to simplify eco-friendly living so as to greater enjoy life’s sweeter moments.

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