Change Your Brain Every Day - Holistic & Non-Prescription Based Therapies You May Want to Try

Episode Date: May 16, 2018

We often look directly to traditional western medicine when it comes to treating our ailments, but sometimes these methods are not only the least cost-effective, but also the least efficient. In this episode of The Brain Warrior’s Way Podcast, Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen discuss some of the alternative therapies that may provide relief without resorting to medication or surgery.

Welcome to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. I'm Dr. Daniel Amen. And I'm Tana Amen. Here we teach you how to win the fight for your brain to defeat anxiety, depression, memory loss, ADHD, and addictions. The Brain Warriors Way podcast is brought to you by Amen Clinics, where we've transformed lives for three decades using brain spec imaging to better target treatment and natural ways to heal the 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 nutraceutical products to support the health of your brain and body. For more information, visit brainmdhealth.com. Welcome to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. And stay tuned for a special code for a discount to Amen Clinics for a full evaluation, as well as any of our supplements at brainmdhealth.com. Welcome back. So today I actually want to talk to you. I want to ask you questions about alternative therapies because I am addicted to the chiropractor. I often say it's kind of like back sex. I know it like sounds weird, but it's like the only thing that gives you this. It actually

sounds really weird. It does, but it's like instant relief when you're in pain, right? So you're in pain, you go in and it's like the only thing that gives me this instant relief. I've been addicted to like going to the chiropractor because of my scoliosis for so long. It's amazing. It's just. So why do you have scoliosis? I haven't, I don't know why I have scoliosis. Yes, you do. It's a curvature of my spine. Why? I know you think it's because I was born breech. Yeah. You were born doing the splits. Well, I was, I was sort of born, well, I was being born butt first, but the doctor reached in and grabbed my foot

and pulled me out splits first. So I don't know. There's some theory that that might be why. I have no idea. All I know is that going to the chiropractor makes me feel so much better. And then while I'm at the chiropractor, something that in my mind makes zero rational sense

because I'm very like, less these days but but I used to be so like you know like science-minded the chiropractor starts doing some weird thing I came home and you're like why do you have bruises all over your back he did cupping on my back and it was amazing. Like it was amazing. It felt so good. And then I went recently and I hear people all the time talking about acupuncture and I've never really taken the time to do it. And I did acupuncture and I'm telling you it like cured everything. Do you know what you sound like right now? I know. You sound wacko. I know. I know. I'm not one of those people.

I am not one of those people. But like I slept so good. Well, I think a lot of people find great benefit from their chiropractor. And I have my own chiropractor. We share. Dr. Zappola. And we love him and I think that's often the first thing to do when you're in pain rather than go to the

orthopedic doctor who might recommend surgery which you know can help a lot of people but it's not the first thing you think about. So I think chiropractic in many ways can be very helpful. And a lot of people don't know this. I actually went to the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, because I love the osteopathic approach. I was there two months before I got accepted to Oral Roberts University to the medical school there, which was my first choice. I really wanted to go there. And so I've been a fan of getting your spine adjusted for four decades.

And there's a lot of really good science about that. Cupping, people will recognize that's what Michael Phelps did. It makes no sense why it works. If you take the world's most decorated Olympic athlete who is smart, who has access to any kind of coaching in the world, and he has these big red dots all over him. It feels amazing and I don't know why.

Because it increases blood flow to areas that are vulnerable. It was so awesome. And my daughter actually found great relief from her headaches using cupping. So the acupuncture though, here's the thing. I have stenosis because of the scoliosis. So which means I get tingling and numbness and like cold feeling in my foot, in one of my feet. And I still don't understand. And maybe it's all in my head. I'm willing to accept maybe it's in my head because it still does not make sense to me. Well, that means there's something in your head.

Okay. So it still makes no sense in my head why this is true. All right. So, let me tell you. But wait, after the acupuncture, I slept like a baby and I still don't have tingling in my foot. So, I'm a huge fan. I've been a fan of acupuncture and acupressure for many years. It is really not-

But why didn't you tell me to go sooner? Alternative medicine, It's medicine. And there's a large science base for it. And if you have pain, acupuncture, acupressure, is one of the treatments you should try. If you have depression- Well now I'm just mad at you. So why is that different?

You should have made me go sooner. I can make you do what? What are the things I can actually make you do? That's fair. So you should actually read my books. No, I hear you recommending it and I just never would. I recommend it all the time. It's true, you do.

Because it's been shown to be helpful for addictions, it can help with pain. And how I first got interested in acupuncture was for mood. I had a number of patients who had resistant depression. Like nothing I was doing was working. All the antidepressants, the psychotherapy, nothing was working. And then what happened is they'd go to the dentist and they'd have one of their wisdom teeth out and the dentist would give them Vicodin as a painkiller, which is an opiate.

And their depression went away and they felt normal. Now, please don't give them Vicodin because they'll get addicted to opiates. That's a bad thing. But then I learned that acupuncture actually works through the endorphin system in the brain. And so it can naturally increase your own endogenous, your own personal opiates that your brain produces.

And instead of opiates, which decrease brain function and ultimately make you stupid over time, acupuncture increases blood flow to the brain. Oh, I slept like a baby. It was amazing. So, it helps your brain and so issues like depression, addictions, pain, acupuncture can be really helpful. So, the gal that was doing it, that was actually doing the acupuncture, she's

this Asian gal, she's really cute, she's really sweet. But I'm'm like this doesn't make any sense to me why this is going to work and so like i was very skeptical as she was like putting these needles in my body i probably should have been nicer to her um but she's like and she looks at me and she kind of looked at me like you know and she's like well yeah i guess it's got no history only like a couple thousand years right i mean we think if we didn't learn it in a Western Medical School then obviously it's no good oh that is just not the case yeah that there are so many things so you know we think of alternative treatments we think of using natural supplements I remember being in a debate

you were actually there with me So we were debating at the American Psychiatric Association using brain spec imaging in psychiatry. And the head of University of Texas, Houston, he's like, oh, there's no science. And I look at him and I go, do you read? Right. If you go to PubMed today and just type in brain spec, you will get 13,903 scientific abstracts. It's like, seriously, there's no science. You need to actually be more informed. And he goes, oh, yeah, imaging is just like supplements. There's no science behind supplements.

And I'm like, seriously, do you read? You know, things like St. John's work, 29 randomized placebo-controlled trials on 4,500 patients showing equal efficacy to antidepressants with dramatically fewer side effects. Well, but think about it. There are still... And so, just because your doctor doesn't know about it doesn't mean that there's not science and now the Internet is actually even the playing field and one of my favorite sites is PubMed.com which is produced by the National Library of Medicine right and you can see well what's the science and while we're talking I'll

actually put in acupuncture so while you're doing that um you know it amazes me how many just just last week, well, I went with someone to a doctor's appointment and it amazes me how many doctors still say nutrition will have zero effect on your health. I still, it just drives me crazy. How often do you hear that? Doctors say that nutrition has zero effect on someone's health. So I just typed in, hang on, acupuncture, oh, you can't see this, but I just typed it into PubMed and it returned 27,816 references.

Oh my gosh. So it's being studied a lot. It's being studied a lot and can be helpful. Now, it's just something to try to see if it's helpful for you. If you struggle with pain, if you struggle with depression, if you struggle with an addiction, this can be part of the treatment protocol. Yeah, you're not what I would consider a placebo responder. No, definitely not because I'm like, I'm super skeptical. But now you need to answer my

question. How many times have you heard a doctor say nutrition has zero effect on treatment? None, because I don't hang out with them. Those would not be the people. No, didn't someone say to your dad not that long ago that nutrition is not going to help? I don't think so. Oh, well, I hear it all the time. So forget that, that I just asked him that.

But I hear it a lot, actually, that doctors will frequently say nutrition really has not much to do with it. So some other complementary and alternative medicine practices, yoga. Oh yeah. Can be very helpful. If you can slow your brain down enough, I can't slow my brain down that much. You can. You just have to commit yourself to it.

I can. Once you commit yourself to it, you'll love it. Karate's awesome too. You don't always have to be hitting I do actually meditation that I love that medicine treatment yeah hypnosis yes diaphragmatic breathing yes aromatherapy can be very helpful for people. Music therapy can be extremely helpful. It's really anything that gets your mind into that kind of zen state. Puts your brain into a healing state.

So in Feel Better Fast, I actually have sort of the ultimate brain therapy. It's five sense immersion therapy. So what are the visual things that make you happy? So for me, when I look at you, that makes me happy. What are the sounds that make you happy? And actually nature sounds make people happy. What are the sensory things that make people happy? So if you get a massage or we talked about this earlier, if you hold the hand of someone,

your brain actually begins to take on those brainwave patterns. So you have to be very careful whose hand you hold. But it's also why pets are so important because petting, stroking pets is... Well, and I've noticed that Aslan, our white shepherd, every about 20 minutes he just comes over and it's like, pet me. And I don't know if he's doing it for him or he's doing it for me. But then he goes and lays down. It's just like he comes and then he goes every 20 minutes. So it's being connected. There are smells that are healing.

And obviously there are smells that are toxic, which is why you have to be careful with the beans. Like when we go for a walk and I smell jasmine, it's just like, oh, or sage. Or honeysuckle. Or, you know, the smell of the ocean on a good day. So smells are really important. And tastes, which is why when I first married you, you couldn't cook and now you're just an awesome cook. I'm so happy about that, right?

Because, you know, things you taste can be really awesome. Just please don't cook with cumin. But think about it. That's why you still love going, but think about it, that's why you still love going to your mother's house for dinner. Well, and the tastes actually trigger Yeah, memories. memories as do certain smells.

So what we want you to do if you're listening or watching now is write down each of your five senses and what are the things that will make you happy. And when you're feeling down, work on putting those things in your lives immediately. And open your mind, try something new. Don't be stubborn like I have been and wait until you're almost 50 to try acupuncture.

Did not say that. Stay with us. Use the code PODCAST10 to get a 10% discount on a full evaluation at amenclinics.com or on our supplements at brainmdhealth.com. Thank you for listening to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. Go to iTunes and leave a review and you'll automatically be entered into a drawing to get a free signed copy of the Brain Warriors Way and the Brain Warriors Way cookbook we give away every month.