Live with Dr.Charryse 🧠: “One Of The Most Powerful Regulators Of Your Nervous System”

What is up? It is Wednesday Live with Dr. Shareese. I'm so glad that you decided to come and get a little goodness for your day. As always, come in and let me know two things. Where are you? Maybe that's even metaphorically, but I do mean geographically. And rate your week on a scale of 1 to 10. One meaning your week is working you, 10 meaning phenomenal. You love it. It's gone great. Doesn't mean it's a perfect week. Hello, honey. Good morning, Andrea. It just means you've done the best you possibly can.

Hello, Leslie. So I want you to do that, and then let me think for myself. How would I rate my week? Good morning, Philly. Hello, Tarina. I would say my week is a seven. I don't even know why I'm waiting at a seven. I just think that just. Just feels right for how things have been. Everything is going relatively well. I also feel like I don't know about you. Even though it is Wednesday, I feel like it should be Friday. Anyone else feel that way? Because I do, for sure. Good morning, Georgia. I love calling out your states.

I really do. Hello, Minnesota. Nobody even wrote Minnesota. But I'm starting to learn some of you, so I know where you're from. Have you ever had a season where you felt, hello, Dallas. Sluggish. Where you felt tired and genuinely kind of couldn't figure out what was going out, what was happening? Hello, New Jersey. Hello, Statesboro. A lot of times we don't recognize that our morning routine and what we provide for ourselves in terms of nutrition in the morning can set the tone for the day. Hello, pa.

So protein is actually one of the most powerful regulators of your nervous system. I almost feel like I need to tell you to raise your right hand and say that with me. Protein is one of the most powerful regulators of my nervous system. I want you to also answer this. How are you doing with getting in your protein? Now, you might think, Dr. Charisse, I came here for mental health. Stay with me. Because what we eat and what we think and what we feel all go hand in hand because we're always talking about how to stay regulated, how to stay in that window of tolerance.

And a big part of that is making sure that we're eating the right things. So what you eat in the morning, underline morning, directly influences your brain chemistry. I want you to think about that. So if we're not getting anything in the morning, not getting enough, getting things that aren't ideal. Right. No judgment, but I want you to kind of consider this a Mental, physical, tune up. It will influence your brain chemistry and your ability to regulate your nervous system throughout the day. I think a classic example is I noticed even in myself waking up and kind of getting going and going too fast without stopping to go, wait a minute, you need to have some protein injuries within the first 30 to 60 minutes that you wake up.

I recognize that some people, some individuals are intermittent fasting. I am not here to tell you what to do. You are grown, grown, grown, as many of you have heard me say. But I am going to tell you the science of what we know your brain chemistry needs and how important that is. My bottom line is it's important to make sure that you're getting enough throughout the day when, but also recognizing that how you feel yourself in the morning is absolutely going to play a key part. I will say back to an example I was going to give maybe three or four days ago, popped up, got busy, had a little bit of coffee and then didn't get any protein in.

It was about 12 o' clock and I have, you know, little tears. I'm not really a crier, but I was emotional. Not because anything bad, nothing major happened, but I realized I was kind of offline and dysregulated because I didn't ground myself in the things that I would typically would and I didn't have protein. All that being said, pulled away from my desk and what I was doing, went, got some protein and I was like, oh, there I am, I'm back to my normal baseline. So protein sends your cells, I love this biochemical messages that says, you're safe, you're stabled, you're nourished.

When I read that as I did research for this, I just thought that was the coolest thing. Yes, our food actually, right, does talk to our body. We come in, we digest it, the body breaks it up. If it's a whole food, synthetic foods are difficult. Synthetic foods do not talk to your body the same way whole foods are. So you starting your day with a breakfast bar is not adequate, even if it tells you it has 15 grams of protein. That protein is not as efficient as getting protein from say eggs or high protein powder with whey isolate and that kind of thing.

Not too many fillers. So cravings and emotional eating are symptoms of a dysregulated body system. So that's often rooted in a disrupted dopamine signaling, unstable blood sugar and stress overload. So if you found that you're having some cravings that you're like, I can't shake These, I can't get these out of my palate. I'm craving a lot more sugar than I typically would. Then one of the first things I want you to consider is are you getting enough protein? And are you getting enough protein throughout the day?

So I looked up several different research and studies to kind of see where is this proven right. I try to give you guys things that I know, like there's evidence out there. So there was a randomized study, which means it took random participants who wanted to participate that are all adults. And so those, they were people who typically skipped breakfast. Right? And that was the people in the study. And then they said, okay, one group was giving no breakfast. One given was given a low protein breakfast, 13 grams, around 13 grams, which is pretty close to what a lot of us get.

And then the other group was given a high protein breakfast, which was 35 grams. Only the high protein group experienced these three things. Reduced cravings throughout the day, fewer episodes of late night snacking, and higher levels of what we call h*** vanilla acid hva, which is a key dopamine metabolizer. Only the group that started the day. So the other groups, the no breakfast group and the low protein groups, they did pick up protein throughout the day, but did not have the same sustainable benefits as the group of individuals who had adequate protein in their life.

Dopamine is necessary. Protein helps your dopamine, and that's central to motivation to focus and to food reward, meaning that you're not turning to food reward. So when your dopamine is low or blunted, that means the brain wants quick dopamine hits, which is going to come typically from sugar, ultra processed food, or late night snacks. Did you know that your late night snacks eating is actually a sign that your dopamine is low? Did you, did you realize that? So if you know, man, I get the munchies at night.

That means somewhere along the way you have unmet needs. You might have unmet needs in terms of your nutrition. You might also have unmet needs in terms of your connection with other people. But protein helps correct this imbalance by providing tyrosine, which is the amino acid that you need for dopamine. I know lots of neuroscience come back, listen. But I want you to understand that this isn't just, oh, something I thought about that I think is fun and great. I want to teach you the neurobiology, neurobiology of your body and how to help yourself really feel well.

And it's more than just happy thoughts, right? What you eat, sleep, hygiene, all the Things matter. So when you start your day with high quality protein, you're stabilizing your autonomic nervous system, which means that your automatic habits are going to be more value oriented. It reduces your spikes in cortisol, which is your stress hormone. And this is going to allow you to feel more calm, more satisfied and less reactive to food cues. So how many grams per body weight is recommended for women?

It really depends on your body weight. I honestly don't remember the exact calculation. I believe that the average I will find out for sure. 7 grams per pound that you weigh. That is the average. 7 times your weight in pounds. So that's crucial to consider and making sure that you're keeping up with that. And then the goal is not to over calculate, to over count your protein, but just to figure out what meals you have and what that looks like. A high protein breakfast is just phenomenal. It helps support you, helps you go throughout the day.

So here's what to do. Eat 30 to 35 grams of protein within 90 minutes of waking up. Many of you have heard me say that before, especially if you've done the Emotional Eating 101 class with me. We talk a lot about that. Choose tyrosine rich foods because tyrosine creates and helps create the dopamine that's pasture raised eggs, grass fed beef, organic dairy, collagen, turkey. Of course there are absolutely tyrosine foods that are rich. If you are a person who does not eat meat, that is also possible if in terms of specific vegetables, chickpeas is example of one that a lot of individuals eat.

But I will say this. If you are vegan or vegetarian, please be intentional about making sure that you are getting adequate protein. Because I do often work with a lot of individuals who feel dysregulated and then we realize that a big part of it is you're not giving yourself enough fuel. And then take that protein and pair it with healthy fats and fiber to stabilize your blood sugar and make sure that you extend your satiety. So when you're eating a good combination of protein, fats and fiber, that's what's going to help you stay full.

The thing about those donut breakfasts or that coffee that you might have for breakfast, even if you put collagen in your coffee or mct oil, it's still not necessarily going to give you the same benefit. You might not be hungry because you're blunting your fatigue receptors, and the MCT oil is going to hide things and cover things for a while. So there's some of you who are saying.