Change Your Brain Every Day - Does Your Kitchen Need Spring Cleaning?

Episode Date: March 30, 2021

When springtime hits and we begin our annual ritual of spring cleaning our homes, it’s important that we don’t neglect one of the most important rooms in it: the kitchen. In this episode of the podcast, Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen discuss how to go about doing a full spring clean of your kitchen, and how to determine what stays and what goes based on the type of diet that’s going to be most beneficial to you and your family. 

Welcome to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. I'm Dr. Daniel Amen. And I'm Tana Amen. In our podcast, we provide you with the tools you need to become a warrior for the health of your brain and body. The Brain Warriors Way podcast is brought to you by Amen Clinics, where we have been transforming lives for 30 years using tools like brain spec imaging to personalize treatment to your brain. For more information, visit amenclinics.com.

The Brain Warriors Way podcast is also brought to you by BrainMD, where we produce the highest quality nutraceuticals to support the health of your brain and body. To learn more, go to brainmd.com. Welcome back. We are talking about spring cleaning your mind today. I think before we get started though, we want to read a review. I have a review from Canada, Megan Cairnry. I stumbled across Dr. Amen's work about a year ago at the start of the lockdown and his TED talk on the results of 83,000 spec scans and it sparked a journey unlike any other. I was diagnosed with PTSD roughly 15 years ago, along with obsessive compulsive personality disorder, ADD, and later came the fibromyalgia label. From the initial findings of Dr. Freeman's work to today,

my life is completely different. I have completed a year of the MDR therapy, overhauled most of my dragons and lifestyle factors, and returned to school to complete my education in clinical psychology. It's incredible what changes can be made from finding that spark of truth in another person's work. I had the privilege of attending his Zoom meeting for the pre-order of Your Brain is Always Listening and it reiterated the importance of his work and the people who do it. We have so much more power than we think.

Please check out these podcast segments. They're quick, captivating, and even addicting. Dr. Amen is a fountain of knowledge and shares it in such a way that any person can comprehend and enjoy. Thank you for your work, and I look forward to contributing to the field in years to come. Well, that just gave me goosebumps. I know, that was amazing. That just gave me goosebumps. That's why we do it.

You're right. There's no way I could do this without you. You make it easy. You make it fun. And I'm glad that we actually take time to spring clean our own minds. Right. It just makes helps you get along better with others when you don't believe every stupid thing you think. Right. Spring cleaning. We can't we can't not talk about food. So when you're spring cleaning, you're spring cleaning your cabinets.

And, you know, especially during the pandemic, I think a lot of people got lazy. I think there were times we gave in a little bit, we let the kids eat, you know, a little bit. We were, we were a little more lax, I think, because you feel like everything got taken away. But I noticed I wasn't feeling like myself, right? I was feeling a little more, just a little more bleh. And just, I mean, I think that's the clinical term for bleh. And so, um, but when we, I mean, fortunately we know that I was eating more carbs and I just, I do better on a keto type diet. So when I eat a lot of carbs, I just don't feel right. My brain starts to feel foggy. So when we did spring cleaning for me for spring cleaning for my mind means re reevaluating my diet.

And so, I mean, you notice it when I go back on my program, it takes me no more than two days and bam, like I just, it's like Lazarus effect. So, so what should people do when they go through their kitchen? Well,

I don't think there's one diet that fits everyone. I think there are some people out there who are vegan. If you are vegan, we'll help you do it the cleanest way and the healthiest way that you can. Vegan is not synonymous with health. There are people out there who are cavemen. Okay, fine. Brain Warriors way is more like a modified.

It's close to paleo, but it's modified way more greens. It's not when we're, you know, plant based foods. And it's not, there are some we don't believe you can just have a bunch of honey and stuff like that. So it's modified. And it's also based on your brain. So that's what I mean by one diet doesn't fit all. So I do better with low carb, but not everyone in my house does. Some people need healthy carbohydrates. They need smart carbs. So my daughter gets completely like sort of just hyper focused on problems and a little OCD if she doesn't have some smart carbs. So as you go through your cabinets with each item, just ask yourself, good for my brain or bad for it that it is critical to read the food like

right and we have a list in brainwares way pot brainwares way cookbook if you're not quite sure you want that list i think it's actually on my website as well tanaayman.com i think i put it there um a list to help you clean out your cabinets. Like, and we have shopping lists as well. So I know I have a shopping list on the, on the website to help you. It's like, what do you, it's replaced this with that. So you don't want to, you don't need to erase, you need to replace, right? So get rid of these things, but replace them with this. No one wants to feel deprived, but you want to get rid of processed foods. Um, you know, for most people, they feel better when they're eating, if you're going to eat some carbs, make them smart carbs, gluten free. Not everyone responds the same way to gluten, but a lot, most people feel better when they're doing it.

I think Dr. Perlmutter said 100% of people who eat gluten, increase leaky gut. Yeah, they do. Not everyone feels the same extreme, but but it's not good for anyone. It doesn't serve a purpose in your health. So I think that's the point. And for like, dairy for some people is very extreme. And for other people, not so much for me, it's pretty extreme. So you want to like clean, but mostly get rid of the processed food and the sugar start their processed food and sugar. If you just start there and you start replacing and you start figuring out, do I do better with a heavily plant-based diet and a little bit of clean protein? Do I do better on a, you know, more of a plant-based keto, or do I do better on a caveman

diet? Figure out what works for you and then start cleaning up your diet because within a couple of days, you're going to feel better. And it's going to change your thoughts. It's going to change how you think. So spring cleaning your mind requires you to eat in a healthier way. It also requires movement. So this is a funny story. I love the story. I was talking to a friend of ours who's a police officer, and I was complaining that I was feeling blood, my clinical term. And I'm like, you know, I just feel kind of blah. This is these last few months of, you know, quarantine. And I'm like, I'm still moving. I'm eating pretty healthy. I'm like, working out every day. He goes, Yeah, but are you and I'm like, No, I am like, I'm, I'm in my gym. I'm moving. He goes, Yeah, but here's

the difference. He goes, when you were practicing karate every day, you had to adapt to an intense environment. You had to adapt to your environment. Now you've adapted to walking on a treadmill and watching Netflix. And you've adapted to sitting around in fuzzy socks and watching Netflix all day. You've adapted to your environment. And it was like, ding, ding, ding. It was a light switch moment. What I realized is that how you move matters. So move like you mean it move with purpose. Your physiology is one of the fastest ways to change how you feel. It's one of the fastest ways to change your thoughts and your thinking. So when I changed my, I shut off Netflix, put on some really inspiring music

and started moving with more intensity, with more purpose. And I instantly changed how I felt. So if you're going to spring clean your mind, I like this. This is really important that don't accept every stupid thought you have challenge them. You have to eat right, to think right. So, sprinkling your cabinets. And there's a lot of junk in people's cabinets because early in the pandemic when food, where there were food- We were grabbing everything we could.

We were grabbing things that are still there. Right. So, getting rid of them is good, right? I always say make one decision, not 30. I put them in my end-of-world storage, the ones like the canned goods. Well, but a lot of canned goods are fine.

And the ones that are not things you would normally eat, just put them in your end-of-world storage, you know, your emergency. I know you'll never be able to say we don't need that again. Yeah. And don't donate them to the poor because why are you going to make the poor eat bad food? Okay. Well, but they need to eat something. So if you're going to donate, I mean, it's good to donate something, but save your really unhealthy stuff for your end of world,

like survival mode type food. So sprinkling in your mind, directing your thoughts in a helpful way, eating right, moving right. Did you know during the pandemic, 60%, six out of 10 people, their weight changed fairly dramatically. 40% gained weight. fairly dramatically. Yeah. 40% gained weight.

The COVID-19. No, in some groups it was 41 pounds. Holy cow. In younger people, it was actually more. That's insane. And a lot of people lost a lot of weight. Because they were anxious. Because they were anxious and upset,

or they didn't have access to the- Well, and some people didn't do so badly and they found time to exercise outside. Yes, some people use this time to get healthy. More people- More anxious. Became unhealthy. So spring cleaning your mind is really the first place to start.

Because if you allow the anxiety to overwhelm you, then you're gonna do all the wrong things. So we want you to do the right things for you. And when we come back, I'm gonna give you a very special technique that we're going to end up talking about a lot over the coming year. So what did you learn? Write it down. Hashtag Brain Warriors Way podcast, but highlight it, spring clean your mind. And we'll be back. If you're enjoying the Brain Warriors Way podcast, please don't forget to subscribe. So you'll always know when there's a new episode. And while you're at it, feel free to give us a review or five-star

rating as that helps others find the podcast. If you're interested in coming to Amen Clinics, use the code PODCAST10 to get a 10% discount on a full evaluation at amenclinics.com. For more information, give us a call at 855-978-1363.