Greg Kamphuis > Quotes

“Most of the information on dopamine came from Gabor Mate’s In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts”
― Greg Kamphuis, A 40 Day Dopamine Fast

“An interesting thing I have learned so far is that dopamine neurons do not fire on receiving a reward, they fire on anticipation of a reward. This probably explains a lot of the success of being able to quit so many addictive things at once. Because I just straight up said, “absolutely not!” I don’t give those neurons any expectations about firing. I guess it is all about hope… So, I wonder why I can’t get out of bed, am I not hopeful”
― Greg Kamphuis, A 40 Day Dopamine Fast

“The next section is the journal I wrote while under the strict rules -- No casinos, No porn, no sex, no masturbation, no weed, no cigarettes, no cigars, no tobacco, no alcohol, no fast food, no greasy food, no artificial processed foods, no pop, no coffee, no chocolate, no refined sugar, no tv, no movies (only documentaries), and no video games. I also later added on no shopping, only two daily social media and email checks, and low amounts of music”
― Greg Kamphuis, A 40 Day Dopamine Fast

“Try telling someone that you are going to quit TV, coffee, alcohol, cigarettes, sugary foods, shopping, all forms of sexual release and only check email/social media twice a day, and watch their response. It is hard to keep a straight face even imagining it.”
― Greg Kamphuis, A 40 Day Dopamine Fast

“The hypotheses I set out with on this journey is that unnatural stimulants (or super stimulants) have wrecked the natural reward system that gives us pleasure in life. We have gotten used to cheap fixes and have become numb to real life. The best example of this that I can think of was the disappointment I felt when I first tried real Vietnamese food in Vietnam. I had been reliably informed by Anthony Bourdain that Vietnamese culinary skills would rock my world, and they did not. At least not at first, apparently when you are used to everything being loaded with sugar, salt and cheese, someone can spend all the time they want brewing fresh stock and dicing up wild herbs, it is just not going to blow your socks off. We have been numbed to natural, life-giving goodness by saturating ourselves in a ‘processed’ reality.”
― Greg Kamphuis, A 40 Day Dopamine Fast

“In the Realm of Hungry”
― Greg Kamphuis, A 40 Day Dopamine Fast

“That is what I am trying to put an end to.  I am tired of my life following a pattern instead of a design. It doesn’t seem like too much to ask that I actually do what I want to do, but somehow up until now I always get turned back. My life has not been bad. In fact, on the surface it probably even looks pretty awesome, but I am missing peace.”
― Greg Kamphuis, A 40 Day Dopamine Fast

“Well, hopefully this is the end of the complaining”
― Greg Kamphuis, A 40 Day Dopamine Fast

“super stimulants to numb the NAC for different people, recovery times will also vary from person to person.  According to my research, it can be anywhere from two weeks to two years. I chose 40 days for a NAC reset experiment because a two year recovery was for long term drug users, and most sources said six to eight weeks will give time for ample recovery of the NAC’s dopamine receptors.”
― Greg Kamphuis, A 40 Day Dopamine Fast