Insomnia, anxiety, depression, sauna, cooking oils and more with Dr. Ashley Mason

Dr. Ashley Mason is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Health. She directs the Sleep, Eating, and Affect, or “SEA” laboratory, is the co-director of the Center for Obesity Assessment, Study, and Treatment (COAST), and is core research faculty in the Osher Center research program. In her clinical role, she directs the Osher Center Sleep Group, wherein she provides cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia for patients with tough to treat insomnia.

Lab Website:  Sealab.ucsf.edu

We will be looking for a volunteer and hiring in the coming year.

Instagram @ash_e_mason

Twitter @DrAshleyMason

Summer Tomato Farmers Market Updates:

Tucson

Mountain View

Fats:

AMA (with Kevin Rose) 

Paper that had me digging into cooking oils: https://nutritionandmetabolism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12986-019-0383-2

On smoke point: https://www.aboutoliveoil.org/evoo-most-stable-cooking-oil

Grapeseed oil: https://www.nutritionadvance.com/grapeseed-oil/

Avocado oil: https://www.nutritionadvance.com/avocado-oil-nutrition/

Peanut oil: https://www.nutritionadvance.com/is-peanut-oil-healthy-for-frying/

Oxidative stability of selected edible oils: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6100155/

Evaluation of chemical and physical changes in different commercial oils during heating: https://actascientific.com/ASNH/pdf/ASNH-02-0083.pdf

How to make cauliflower taste as good as French fries

Mindful Eating:

Some of my earlier work on reward-driven eating / mindful eating:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26867697/

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10865-015-9692-8.pdf

Sandra Aamodt, Ph.D TED talk: Why dieting doesn't usually work

Mindful Meal Challenge

Insomnia:

Why We Sleep, by Matt Walker

Basic CBT book

Common cognitive distortions worth working with: https://arfamiliesfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Cognitive-Distortions.pdf

Nice review of CBT-I: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/full/10.7326/M15-1782

Favorite CBT-I book (includes thought record)

Stimulus control instructions, original paper: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4757-9586-8_2

Progressive Muscle Relaxation research: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J137v13n03_04

Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) recordings https://students.dartmouth.edu/wellness-center/wellness-mindfulness/mindfulness-meditation/guided-audio-recordings/progressive-muscle-relaxation

Direct link to try PMR: https://students.dartmouth.edu/wellness-center/sites/students_wellness_center.prod/files/p_muscle_relax.mp3

Finding a CBT-I practitioner: https://www.behavioralsleep.org/index.php/united-states-sbsm-members

Eight Sleep mattress cooler

Sauna:

2016 paper – Janssen et al. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2521478

This is the medical hyperthermia device that I do NOT use: https://www.heckel-hyperthermia.com/index.php/wbhen01

This is the commercially available sauna dome that I DO use: https://infraredsauna.com/curve-sauna-dome/

2021 UCSF sauna paper: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02656736.2021.1991010

2013 paper – Hanusch et al. (single arm, indwelling rectal probe): https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ajp.2013.12111395

Research on temperature elevations in depression: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1600-0447.1999.tb10864.x

Temperature regularizes upon successful antidepressant treatment: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006322397000462

Exercise works for depression: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/da.22842

Literally, I bought friends these thermomenters: https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/walgreens-30-second-digital-thermometer/ID=prod6367272-product

The rectal probe we use in the study: https://www.medwrench.com/equipment/2206/mindray-ipm-9800

Longer time to get to high temperature associated with larger antidepressant response: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/02656736.2019.1612103

Example of a possible sauna that people could use at home to extend treatment

Rhonda Patrick  on sauna use to extend healthspan: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0531556521002916