Change Your Brain Every Day - Neal McDonough Opens Up: Brain Health, Breaking Addiction & the Fight to Rebuild Your Life

Episode Date: September 28, 2026

What does it really take to break free from addiction, protect your brain, and rebuild your life?   In this powerful conversation, actor Neal McDonough gets candid about the lessons, struggles, and turning points that shaped his journey. We dive into brain health, addiction and recovery, resilience, faith, discipline, and the mindset it takes to make lasting change.   Neal also shares insights into his latest movie, Jimmy, what continues to drive him creatively, and the experiences that have changed the way he approaches life and his work.   This is a conversation about more than Hollywood — it's about rewriting your story, taking back control, and becoming stronger through adversity.   Watch until the end — Neal's perspective may change the way you think about recovery, resilience, and your own potential.

I came up to Hollywood really to be a comedian. You're like, you don't look funny. You look like a cop. You're always up to kiss the woman in the end. Okay, if I'm like a kiss a woman, what can I do in Hollywood to have a career? I was given the opportunity to be in a film called Walking Tall. So I read the script. I'm like, oh, this is awesome.

I'm going to be the rock sidekick, I think. They want me to be the Johnny Knoxville character. And they're like, no, no, no, no, no. We want to rewrite it, and we want you to beat the villain in the movie. Hmm, I don't have to kiss a woman. I can be the villain de jour for years to come. Let's do that. Neil McDunner is an acclaimed American character actor, best known for his

intense commanding presence and powerful roles in band of brothers the marvel cinematic universe and various aeroverse television series you are not good to your brain for a while you struggled with an addiction when i hit my 40s i leaned on it for a couple years after really struggling with self-worth and who i was my wife rave one day just says okay you got a man out you get to stop this every day you are making your brain better or you are making it worse stay with us to learn how you can change your brain for the better every day. I want to tell you one of my favorite testimonials from Amen Clinics, you know, it's the reason we exist to help people get better. Eric said, I ended up going through 12 medicines

to treat OCD. That's 17 years of my life. I don't have time for this roulette guessing game. I wanted to see what was going on in my brain. At Aeman Clinics, there's no amount of guessing. Mental health is a medieval practice if you're not at Aeman Clinics. Welcome to Change Your Brain every day. I am so excited. We have Neil McDonough, who's an award-winning actor. You know from Band of Brothers, Yellowstone, Tulsa King, and Captain America.

but the roles he values most are husband, father of five, a man of faith. His new film, Jimmy, tells the remarkable story of Jimmy Stewart, war hero, wounded veteran, and the man who became George Bailey, and it's a wonderful life. Neil, it's such a pleasure to have you on Change Your Brain Every Day. Thank you so much. Yeah, I mean, to be part of the Jimmy Stewart story was just, you know, here's the guy that people don't realize. I didn't realize when I first started on the project. You know, my wife, Ravain and I are executive producers on the film and I played Jimmy's dad and, you know, really delving into the material.

Who knew that Jimmy Stewart was a brigadier general? Who knew that Jimmy Stewart did 20 combat missions in World War II? Who knew that Jimmy Stewart, you know, as his dad said, you just don't have. what it takes to be a soldier like myself and like your grandfather. You're just different. You're an actor. So just go back to Hollywood and be an actor and just you don't have to be in the war. And he took that to heart and he said, well, yes, I do have to be in the war. I have to stand up for my country and do what is right. And he didn't just do what was right. He went above and beyond. It's really incredible what Jimmy Stewart did as a man for our amazing country. And I'm so blessed

to be part of the story. So what was that like for you to really get involved with learning a lot more about him, but also playing his father? You know, it's interesting playing, you know, real-life characters, and I've done it several times. When they're still alive or their characters that you know, it's a lot more daunting. For KJ to jump into Jimmy Stewart's shoes was, it was really incredible to watch him, immerse himself in everything that is Jimmy Stewart. And here's the kid who's from New Zealand, right? And doesn't necessarily look like Jimmy.

But all of a sudden, you weren't talking to KJ Appa on set anymore. You know, me being a method guy and he, you know, the same kind of passion for the craft. He just went in at 110%. And had he not, the film would not have worked. And KJ. Appa should prepare himself for award ceremonies next year because he worked his butt off, not just to tell the truth of an American actor, but truly of an American icon who stood up for everything that made America great. And he's just an incredible young actor.

He brought everything he had, and I'm so blessed to play to his dad in the movie and get to be alongside him and see him really kind of immerse himself in Jimmy. So this podcast is called Change Your Brain Every Day. because what I do is I look at people's brains, and then I make them better. You were not good to your brain for a while. Can you talk about that? Not good to my brain for a while. I'm not sure exactly what that means.

You struggled with an addiction. Oh, I thought you're talking about all the fights I used to get in hockey and boxing and everything else. Well, let's talk about that. too. You know, it was, you know, all these teeth in my front of my face are all fake from fights and hockey and all kinds of other stuff. And that's what I thought that you meant in boxing and taking a good few punches to the head. And, you know, there are certainly trauma that I had at a young age, you know, hits in hockey were just so much more vicious when I was playing in high school and in college and thereafter. You know, I don't know how many times my

fellow was rung and just get back up and get back in there and play because that's just what you did back then. Now there's so many protocols and, you know, hockey gear. Now people laugh at me, I'll break up my old hockey gear from way back when. They're like, what is that? And now everything's all Kevlar and big helmets with cages and everything else. And there I was my old Jofa helmet with no cage or mask with my strap loose so it could pop off easy.

You know, it's just a different time. So, yeah, so my brain definitely took some licks, but I think I think I made through it okay. If you're talking about alcohol, yeah, it was always kind of a, you know, a fun guy drinking type of guy in my 20s and 30s. But when I hit my 40s, I leaned on it for a couple years immensely after I was going through some hard times in life. and after really struggling with self-worth and who I was and what was going on and my faith, my wife, Rave, one day just says, okay, you got a man out, you got to stop this. You're a lot better than what you've become. And I went back to church and immediately started to realize, oh, yeah, I'm kind of acting like it's all about me and not about what life is really about. Life is about serving others, not being served.

And I think it was a lesson that I learned quickly, especially when I gave up alcohol, I'm just having a clear mind thinking about, okay, well, what is life all about? Why am I struggling at this moment? Just because something happened in my life, do I need that to dictate who I am as a human being? Do I need to have that be what I am all about? And no, because we all go through struggles. Everyone who listens to this podcast go through struggles.

Everyone who's on this podcast, you know, is a sinner or we all do stupid stuff. You know, great people do stupid stuff every day. You know, not so great people also do stupid stuff every day. That's what we have in common, you know, and, you know, that's what makes us all human. And that's the beauty of humanity that we're not perfect, that we are all flawed. But it's our journey for perfection, which is never attainable. But trying our best to be the best human beings we can be every day, the best husband you can be, the best dad you can be, the best coworker you can be, the best child of God. God you can be. It doesn't matter what religion you are. You know, people, people say,

wow, you make faith-based films. I'm like, well, I'm not sure we make faith-based films for what faith-based films are. We make films that entertain everyone that make everyone think, how can make me better. Not just Christian, Jewish, Muslim, agnostic, Buddhist, Taoist, doesn't matter. We want to make films that make people think, how can this character in this film make the world a better place? Well, if you go to Jimmy Stewart, my goodness, that guy made the world a better place in every single thing that he did, not just here's a guy who won Academy Award before he went into the war. And by all rights, didn't even need to go into the war. He goes into the war and then gets what, you know, is now monikered PTSD. And have PTSD back

then. No one really talked about it. Here, take a couple, have a couple of beers and a shot of whiskey to look it through it. It's a different time, right? So, and for them, for him to grapple with all those feelings and then do, it's a wonderful life. And let's, you know, not forget that when It's Her Wonderful Life came out, it was a very dark independent film. And it bombed at the box office. And it wasn't until years later when in the 1970s that it was public domain. So any television network could run it ad nauseum.

And they did. So around Christmas time, it was cheap. It was free to air It's a Wonderful Life. And all of a sudden, people started to watch It's a Wonderful Life and realize, oh, my gosh, this is one of the greatest films I've ever seen. And then generation after generation after generation, you can't go through Christmas without watching It's a Wonderful Life or seeing it playing somewhere because it's such an incredible film

that all about this guy who overcame so much in life to be the greatest American that it could be. Not the greatest actor that it could be. Not the greatest actor that it could be, but the greatest American that he could be in his life. And we should all be more like Jimmy Stewart. Where did you grow up, Neil? Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Boston. I was born in Boston. I was born in Dorchester, so I grew up there for the first few years. And then my parents moved down to Cape Cod and they bought the small little mom-and-pop motel, the Rainbow Motel in Hyannis. And I lived there until my mid-20s and then went off to California to make it in the movies. I love Cape Cod. It's the greatest place on the planet. There's a psychiatric institute that I taught there for a number of years. And it's always one of my favorite places to be. and you played hockey in college?

Mm-hmm. And how many concussions do you think you had? Oh, gosh. I think the greatest hit that I ever got in my life was before college. It was in youth hockey. And it always seems like it's always your best friend. Mark Child, who's my best friend. I cross-checked one of his team.

We were on opposing teams. And I cross-checked this kid into the boards pretty hard from behind. It was a dirty hit. I know it. And as I'm getting up on the bench, I turn to the side and I see my friend Mark Childs with this look on his face and he just buries his shoulder into my head and knocks me just almost senseless on the ice. But I deserved it. You know, so I didn't get upset. And we still laugh about that hit to this day. So how many times I've been hit in the head from boxing or hockey or, you know, you know, all kinds of different things from being in so many stunts and so many. movies. I've banged my head against so many things. I couldn't even tell you how many concussions I've probably had in my life. We just had Eric Johnson on the podcast. He's the Colorado Avalanche. Player who won the Stanley Cup. And he had the most wicked concussion. But, you know, we looked at his brain and rehabilitated it, which, you know, I get so excited about your

not stuck with the brain you have, you can make it better. And boxing, tell me about boxing. Yeah, I used to love to box. I think I just loved the physicality of sport. I didn't mind taking a punch and I took some pretty darn good ones. It was just what you did. It's, it's, I love sport. I loved everything about sport. Everywhere there was football or baseball or, you know, hockey, basketball, chess, I don't care. I love the mental side of sport, even as much, if not more than the physical side. And for the physical side of sport, the mental side really gets you through the tougher times, doesn't it? You know, when you get your bell running, you get hurt, or you lose a game, or, well, how mentally tough are you? What are you going to do to prepare yourself to get ready

for the next game or for the next shift? So I always kind of loved, I still love sport to say, you know, I'm 60 years old, and I still think that I'm a pretty darn good shape, and I hit the bag a lot still and think, hmm, I wonder if I could still go back in the ring is 60 years old. Of course, my wife's like, you're out of your mind. Yeah, Mike Tyson did that recently, but it didn't turn out well for him. No, no. And he's a beast. He's a beast of a human being. He's, yeah, when I'm next to him, I mean, his arms are like four times the size of my arms. doesn't make sense. You know, and I love watching Tyson's fights. You know, when I'm on location away and I'm missing Raveh, which is, you know, it's hard for me. It's like a prison sentence every time I go on location.

A lot of times I will sit there and I can't tell you how many times I've watched the first 20 fights of Tyson. I think 19 of them ended in the first round or 17 were in the first round. And it was just incredibly to see a guy who was so dialed in and just a physical specimen. I mean, if you go to Boxer, you can talk about all the greatest boxers. of all time. I don't care what you say. You know, Muhammad Ali may have been the greatest actual boxer, you know, fighter of all time. But as far as, you know, pure pugilists go, when that bell rings and you see Mike Tyson coming at you, you know it's just a matter of moments before you're going to

hit the canvas. And it was just awesome to watch. Yeah, no, I have both of their brains. I actually have seven world champion boxers, brains, and they're bad. Oh, yeah. Because your brain is soft. It's about the consistency of soft butter. Your skull is really hard and has sharp bony ridges. Look at the size of this thing. It's so thick. It was meant for combat, I think. Well, no, God and I've had this discussion. If you look inside a skull, it has sharp bony ridges. And I'm like, if people were going to play football, you should have put bumper guards. And he said, who knew? Yeah, that's right. Yeah.

So with alcohol, your wife noticed the problem before you did. She encouraged you to stop. How was that being able to stop? I just did. you know, there was a phase where there wasn't enough booze in the room to stop the screaming in my head. And then she literally one day said, man up, you got to stop this. It's a bottle or me. What are you going to do? And I just walked straight to church and asked forgiveness from him and never had to drink since. And what happened to the screaming in your head? I had to answer those questions.

Was it past trauma? Is it just not being able to manage the noise? What do you think looking back? Oh, I don't know if I want to delve into that so much, but it was just, you know, things that I had in my personal life that had to answer to and get through and find myself worth again. And it was, you know, it was a pretty, it was a lot easier than I thought.

You know, when you lean on a crutch for a while, you just lean on that crutch, you keep leaning on it. Once you stop leaning on it and you fall to the ground once, you're like, okay, let me get, let me dust myself back off and get back up. Oh, I got up without the crutch. Okay. What did I need the crutch? Hmm. And those are the thoughts that were the things that got me through everything. And I knew that God had my back.

I knew my wife had my back. So how can I fail if I have all of that? And that's when I just realized what a blessed, fortunate, incredible life that I have and the gifts that God has given me. And I didn't see them in front of me. You know, because you blind yourself at times when you're leaning on certain crutches. And once you stop, you start to smell the roses. As corny as it sounds, you start to see the blue skies.

You start to see the positivity of life. You start to see the greatness of everything that God built for us. And you start serving instead of looking to be served. And I'm so fortunate that I went through some times in my life that made me question lots of things because I wouldn't be who I am today. I wouldn't be, you know, you look at my last 10 years of sobriety. You know, we've produced 15 movies. and I've been in so much work and traveling all over the place

and doing speeches about, you know, overcoming problems and how great God is and what you can do through him. And I'm living proof that you can get through things. You just got to believe in yourself and believe in God and know that he's got your back. And don't make it about you.

I think that was probably the biggest thing is I was always making, when I was going through problems in life, I was making about me, why me? Once you stop thinking, why me, instead of thinking, what can I do to make the world a better place? Well, gosh, everything just blooms in a different direction. Everything just looks a lot rosier and happier and clear. That is so smart that when it's about me, I suffer when I have a new book coming out in February called The Neuroscience of the Lord's Prayer. And it doesn't start with my father, it starts with our father, which is about attachment, belonging, community,

and connection. It's I'm part of a family. And whenever most suffering is, it's about me. Rather than what can I do to make the world a better place. I'm working on an initiative called the decade of brain health, which the people introduced to us, they're helping me with it. And the decade of brain health is based on one simple question, is what I'm doing now, good for my brain or bad for it, and does it make the world better? And if you can answer that with information and love, so hockey, not so much, boxing, not so much, alcohol, certainly not.

But what you're doing now, making movies that inspire people, sharing your faith, all of that makes the world better. And we're not in school. There's just no place where they teach people how to manage their minds or fall in love with their brain. One of the most important lessons I've learned after helping thousands of people is that when you support your brain, you often feel the difference in your life. I love hearing stories like this one. Happy Saffron Plus has given me the peace I've been looking for. I can't say enough about it. It has truly been a godsend. Stories like that remind me why I'm so passionate about helping people care for their brains. Visit BrainMD.com and use code podcast.

20 for 20% off. Better brain, better life. You often play the villain. Why do you think that is? Just you're excellent at it? Well, no, I said it was a choice. It was, you know, I came out to Hollywood really to be a comedian. You're like, you don't look funny. You look like a cop. You look like a police officer. You look like an army guy. You look like a cowboy. I'm like, okay. Well, that's great. And then to play those ones, you always have to kiss the woman in the end. And I was like, and just as my career really started to get cooking after Banda Brothers,

and I met Ravey during Banda Brothers, it was, they were coming after me for those types of roles. You know, to be the hero and kiss the girl in the end. I was like, you know what, I don't really want to put, I love my job. I love acting. I do. It pales in comparison to how much I love my wife and my kids and God. And so for me, it was, okay, if I'm like a kiss a woman, I'm going to have a big family.

I knew we were going to have a bunch of kids. I'm like, all right, what can I do in Hollywood to have a career? And I was given the opportunity to be in a film called Walking Tall. And the director wants to meet you. Read the script and come in and have a conversation with the director, see if you want to do it. I'm like, right. So I read the script. I'm like, oh, this is awesome.

I'm going to be the rock sidekick, I think. They want me to be the Johnny Knoxville character, obviously. So go in. I'm like, hey, this is going to be great. It's been like, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, we want to rewrite it and we want you to beat the villain in the movie. I'm like, what are you talking about? I've never played a villain in the movie.

And they're like, yeah, I think it would be a great thing for you. You've got that great look and just cut it all down and just, I think you're going to be an awesome villain. And they were right. And walking tall just took me into that thought of, hmm, I don't have to kiss a woman. I can be the villain de jour for years to come. Let's do that. And I decided I was going to be the. the best villain in the history of Hollywood.

That was my goal. It's just so funny because it's so exactly the opposite of what I came to Hollywood to do or who I kind of am. And I've had just this remarkable run as being the villain in all these different movies and how much fun I've had doing it. And then COVID hit. And everything came to kind of like, I stand still. And this one guy called me, says, we're doing a movie.

Um, we, we, we, we'd love for you to, to, to, to, to be in it. And I read the script and, and I, and I, and I, they want me to be the villain. And I read the script, like, you know what? I'd, I'd, I kind of rather be the hero in the piece. And they're like, sure, it was a $350,000 budget of film was nothing. And we did the movie. And like, wow. Okay, this is really where I think I'm supposed to be. I'm supposed to be that flawed hero. So we did the film and halfway through the film was that, okay, let's do part two to this. And I'll have bright part two, um, with Derek Presley, my part two, um, um, um, with Derek Presley, my part partner. And Ravei went out and raised a million and a half dollars to make the film. We made the film. It's called Boone. And I'm so stinking proud of that of that movie. Redstone was the first one. Boone was the second one. And then we just started writing movies where I'm the hero. And the last rodeo was the one that I'm the hero in. And Homestead was another one that we produced for Angel Studios has been so monumentally, phenomenally, fantastically. Oh, I love to help us. Yeah, Homestead was great. It was great. But Angel Studios is just I love them. That's my family. So they've given me the opportunity to play heroes now in films. And now we've got this, you know, I do my villains every once in a while. We have Angel and the Bad Men coming out this fall with Zach Levi and myself and Tommy Lee Jones. It's Angel and the Badman. Guess what character I play, of course, the bad man. But the next film we're doing is called New York Minute where I'm the good guy.

And another one after that, I'm a good guy. And it's fun getting to play both. It's fun finally being able to tell the stories I've always wanted to tell that John Wayne type of guy, you know, the hero with flaws. And still going back to playing the villains because I just love playing the villains too because I have such a great audience for, you know, for villains. They always like to see me playing the bad guy. So I don't want to let the audience down either. Well, Yellowstone and Tulsa King and it sounds like you're not slowing down at 60. No, I'm supposed to be fly fishing, aren't I?

No. You're supposed to be doing what you love. And, you know, to produce all these films alongside my best friend and the love of my life, Rovey, is, you know, if I talk about it too long, Doctor, I get, I get, I get, I get, I get, I get, I get, I get, I'm the luckiest SOB that I know, because, you know, God's giving me all this great stuff, and the more I do it, the more humble I become, because, I don't understand. It's to star in movie after movie after movie, you know, in the last few years and to have an audience of, you know, that loves not just the moves that I do, but what we stand for as a family and as a unit to watch our kids flourish and become the next generation of that same thought process. I don't, I can't. What's the age-wagon of your kids? I can't imagine what is better.

as a dad than watch your kids all want to be in the business that their mom and dad are in. That's awesome as itself. And, you know, we have, our oldest is off in college playing baseball. Our oldest daughter is off playing volleyball in college. We have two in high school and one more in junior high school. And so the range goes from 20 to 12. And it's a full house. It's a great house.

And it's just, it's awesome. Well, congratulations. What a great story. And alcohol wouldn't have helped to any of it. It's like, you know, I'm so concerned because you did that. So I've been a psychiatrist for 44 years. And I remember when I was a young psychiatrist, the idea of alcohol as a health food came out. Oh, yeah.

And but cancer deaths from alcohol have doubled since 1990. And it was about 1990 where all the marketing came out of you should drink every day. But as a psychiatrist, there's not a week that goes by that somebody I know or one of my patients ruins their life and alcohol was involved. And it's like the only drug you have to justify. if I not using. It's like you don't drink. Why don't you drink? Yeah, it's interesting.

It's, you know, alcohol, it's just toxic and poison. There's zero good about alcohol. You know, it's, but that's just for me. That's, that's me personally for, I can't tell you what to do. I can't tell anybody else what to do. That's not my job. My job is to be the best version of me possible for him. alcohol was getting in the way of that for me.

Yeah. Unfortunately, it does for a lot of people. It does for a lot of people. But again, I'm not here to preach or tell people what to do or one not to do in life. All I can say, well, this is what works for me. This is what doesn't work for me. This is what works for me.

Eating well, exercising every day, eating flip my life every day, our protein company, which I swear by, which has just changed so many lives. Can't tell me about that? there's a company that I was getting in shape for the last rodeo, the film that we did a few couple years ago and my trainer,

Scott St. John, after a couple weeks, says, you know what? We started this new stuff. It's called Flip My Life. Why don't you try it? See how you like it. And after a couple weeks, my joints felt better. Everything felt, you know, I was just clearer of mind. It was like, had probiotics,

probiotics, probiotics, super greens, pea protein, all these just multibon. Like everything in two scoops. I'm like, come on, this is, this can't, this doesn't work. And after a couple weeks, I was like, oh, wow, this actually, this is working. I could feel my body getting, you know, more ripped and my brain fog was just lifting a little bit. It was just a little sharper. I'm like, this sounds really good.

And I kept on trying it and just kept getting better. I said, I like to be part of the company. And they started selling, you know, a couple hundred bags a month. And now we've been selling five, six, seven thousand bags a month. And we were selling out, you know, a couple of times we've sold out. the testimonies from people is just been, I can't tell you how proud I am to be part of a company that helps change lives. And it's all faith-based people who have built this. And doctors who have worked so hard to make sure that this is the best protein supplement type of powder that you can,

that you could possibly have. And now we have creatine. We have gut support powders, all kinds of different things, things for kids. So, It's helping change lives. Now Tony Robbins has jumped on board, and we've, you know, part of every bag that we sell, some of the money goes towards 100 billion meals that Tony Robbins is doing. And also Tim Tebow is jumping on board. So we've got lots of great people jumping on board because the product works. It's just really simple.

It works. And I didn't want this to be a commercial, but flip my life. Well, I have both of their brains, Tony's brain and Tim's brain. Tim did our show. I do a show called Scan My Brain, where we take influential people, scan them, get their brains healthy. I love them both. Yeah. But, I mean, the point that I want our listeners to hear is what you put in your body often determines the quality of your life is what determines what comes out of your life.

from the food you eat, the supplements you take, the thoughts you have, all of it matters, that every day your brain's getting better or it's getting worse based on the thousands, tens of thousands of decisions you make. And the exciting thing, and your living prove that you're not stuck with the brain or the habits you have. you can change them. And when you do, you get a life that thrives. Do you think I like drinking black coffee? I do now.

But for years, it would be, okay, give me a latte with a couple sugars or some vanilla and something. Just that alone. Sugar is so bad for you, isn't it? It's got to wreak havoc on your brain. Well, it's inflammatory. And that is the root of so many evils. That's right. Not to mention it's addictive, not to mention it's worthless calories.

Don't get me wrong. You know, come Sunday afternoon, there is not a chance that I don't have an ice cold Mexican Coca-Cola in my hand. But I've earned it all week long. It's like instead of having Cokes or sodas are in the week, I'll have one Coke on a Sunday. So I trained myself, train my brain to say, okay, you really love Coke. You're going to really love it if you just have it on Sunday. You really love cupcakes.

You're going to really love it. And I have, Sunday is my cheat day for food. and I try to be the best that I can to not have any of those bad things during the week. But goodness gracious, you live once. So you've got to figure out where and how and when you can have those little things that make your smile a little bit. But after a while, you start to enjoy black coffee. You start to enjoy, you know, different types of foods that don't have all the sugar and all the chemicals in there. And I think that's a lot of it.

It's our diet as Americans that we eat so much processed junk. And I'm guilty. We're all guilty of it because it's so accessible. It's everywhere, and it's hard to stay away from it. It is. You know, often talk about you're in a war for the health of your brain. Everywhere you go, someone's including sets, right, movie sets. Someone is trying to give you bad food that will kill you early.

Drew Carey actually said one of the smartest things I ever heard. He said eating crappy food isn't a reward. It's a punishment. And when you get that mindset, and I often say you only want to love food that loves you back. And I got to sit next to Lisa Trout. I was at this very fancy lunch. And Lisa and her husband, Kenny, owned Justify, the last Triple Crown winning horse. And we have a high school course, and we teach kids to love and care for their brain.

And we have this exercise. If you had a million dollar racehorse, would you ever feed them, junk food. And they always say, no. Now I'm sitting next to someone who has a $75 million racehorse. So they sold him for $75 million. And I'm like, would you ever feed him junk food? And she goes, no. I said, would you ever get him drunk? She goes, no. I said, would you ever get him stone? Absolutely not. I'm like, why? He would never live up to his potential. I love that so much that, you know, I'm 72 and it's like, so what's my goal? I mean, love French fries and love brownies, but they don't love me back. My real goal is not the food, it's energy,

it's memory, it's passion, it's purpose, it's making a difference. And the lie we've been sold is open happiness, is Coke, or bet you can't eat just one. with lays potato chips. Right. That's right. It's a little lies that Madison Avenue or Hollywood have sold us, but the decade of brain health is just to bring awareness to, in fact, lead us not into temptation from the Lord's Prayer. It's, when I wrote that chapter, I'm like, it's really, what do I want now versus what do I want most. And if you can answer that question,

you just make better decisions. It's been so much fun talking to you. Thank you for making time. When does the movie come out? October. I'm not sure the exact date. I don't have it on me. That comes out in October.

Angel the Badman comes out in November. Where's the other way around? Gosh, I'm terrible with dates. brain fog well we're happy to scan you anytime let me know with your history if it's great

we'll celebrate and if it's not we'll rehabilitate I mean I love making brains better you love making movies I love making brains

better I'll come down a new port we'll have a date one day and you'll giggle at my head I will look forward to it Thank you so much. Thank you for your time. God bless you.

Thank you. Keep up for great work. I never get tired of hearing stories of hope. Gregory shared that after taking Happy Saffron Plus for several weeks, he felt more hopeful, less overwhelmed, and experienced no negative side effects. Hope changes everything. When people feel better, they think better, make better decisions, and create better lives. That's why stories like Gregory's mean so much to me. Visit BrainMD.com and use code

podcast 20 for 20% off. You've been watching, listening to change your brain every day with Neil McDonough and his new movie, Jimmy, coming out soon. Leave us a comment, a question, review, subscribe. We are here for you because you really can. Change your brain in a good way every day.