Change Your Brain Every Day - Q & A Session: Can ADD Be Cured? Is It True?

Episode Date: January 28, 2017

Join us in another lively discussion as Dr Daniel Amen and Tana Amen, answer some of the most interesting questions surrounding ADD, ADHD, brain health, nutrition, sex, and more. 

Hi, I'm Donnie Osmond, and welcome to The Brain Warrior's Way, hosted by my friends Daniel and Tana Amon. Now, in this podcast, you're going to learn that the war for your health is one between your ears. That's right. If you're ready to be sharper and have better memory, mood, energy, and focus, well then stay with us. Here are Daniel and Tana Amon.

Hi, I'm Linda. Hi, Linda. Thank you. We have a history in our family that looks like the third type of ADD or ADHD, and I'm hearing about the anxious ADD, and I identify with the anxiety also and see that. Especially if you're raised in a family with over-focused people, they totally make you anxious. It worked when I was growing up,

sort of a puzzle together. How do you differentiate between generalized anxiety disorder and the anxious ADD? In other words, generalized anxiety disorder combined with the type 3 ADD, or is it the anxious ADD? So how you tell the difference is generalized anxiety disorder, those are people who are tidy. They're on time. They can focus for a lot. In fact, my anxiety disorder patients are early. My anxious ADD patients are late. You look at the cluster, short attention span, distractibility, disorganization, procrastination,

impulse control. And if they have three of those and the anxiety, then that's what I think of as anxious ADD. But typically, my generalized anxiety disorder can focus just fine. They're early with their term papers. They're not late. They're early to appointments. They're not late. And they tend to be organized. So which really are looking at clusters of anxiety and clusters of ADD and do they cross. Okay. And you don't need Aslan to close the damn cabinet doors. But see, this is where I didn't think I had.

I just want to point this out. I did not believe in it because, you know, I don't procrastinate. I'm not late. Because procrastinating for me, like I had everything done early in school, did really well in school because my anxiety was so high. That's that anxious, over-focused ADD. But I could care less about cabinet doors because something had to give. You know what I mean? So I was busy doing other stuff.

So that's where that something has to give thing. And I just thought that was normal, you know. So you want to pay attention that you don't necessarily have all of the symptoms. Right. It's how they cluster. Now, the over-focused ADD, which I just find endlessly fascinating, is they have the ADD symptoms and the over-focus. So you can clearly be OCD and not ADD at all. It's worried, rigid, inflexible. Things don't go your way. You get upset, you're counting things. I mean, you clearly can have that and not be ADD. But it's very interesting because they cross a lot. And Tourette's syndrome is

actually the disorder that teaches us about over-focused ADD because half the people have Tourette's. You know what Tourette's is, right? It's a tick disorder. People have both motor ticks and vocal ticks, sometimes even compulsive swearing. I actually gave a lecture to the National Canadian Tourette Foundation. I was in a room with 400 people who had Tourette's. They were barking, honking, swearing. It was hysterical. But when there's that impulsivity, which is different than compulsivity, that's when I think, oh, they have over-focused ADD. And if you get the treatment wrong,

see, if they have over-focused ADD and you give them a stimulant, you make them compulsive. If you give them a serotonin drug, you make them more ADD and they don't care. They're more ADD. And so I often see that combined type in children and grandchildren of alcoholics. In fact, I did my research. My first wife grew up in a very abusive alcoholic home. And so I did my research on children of alcoholics. So one, I could understand her, but then also on grandchildren of alcoholics because I ended up with them. And it's just so interesting when you raise both serotonin and dopamine at the same time.

So saying Prozac and Ritalin, unbelievably great response to the right brain. The wrong brain, it's a disaster. But my over-focused ADD tended to do really well. Something for serotonin. So an SSRI like Prozac, or 5-HTP would be the supplement alternative, and then a stimulant.

But if I only did one and not the other, I would unbalance them. That makes sense. Again, food is so important. That is a different diet for the over-focused. It's more of a carbohydrate. It's a little bit more carbs. And balanced. But the right carbs. Right. Like you're talking about the sweet potatoes. And I do use your recipes and those are awesome. Thank you. Thank you. So I should be eating less protein if I have the over-focus,

correct? You want to be more balanced and add some healthy fat to make it a more balanced. You should be eating both. Right. So as opposed to the classic or inattentive ADD, do really well with a high protein, low carbohydrate diet. Right. It makes the over-focused ADD people mean, but we don't want you going the pasta route. What we want is, so if you think of a plate, 70% plants, but in that, garbanzo beans because they raise serotonin, sweet potatoes, but the carbs, the healthy carbs. And the healthy fat, though, too. We don't want to lose the healthy fat. Oh, healthy fat for everybody. Like you're talking about. In fact, I'm going to give you a secret. Those of you who have high cholesterol and you're taking a stat, you might want to rethink it. People who have the highest

levels of cholesterol have the best brain function as they age. It's a huge myth. People who have the lowest levels of cholesterol, like under 160, have a higher instance of depression, aggression, and suicide. We have come to believe that cholesterol is the enemy, where in fact, cholesterol is your friend. Your brain is 20% cholesterol. And the problem is when they mix cholesterol with sugar, then that causes disease. Right. It's the inflammatory diet. So it's not cholesterol that's the problem. It's the simple sugars. So I don't want you eating simple sugars, you know, bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, like

Tana was talking about, but really smart carbohydrates like sweet potatoes. I really think of them as the over-focused person's best friend. Okay. I could ask you questions forever. I would like to ask as the over-focused person's best friend. Okay. I could ask you questions forever. I would like to ask about the over-focused. I go through not being able to even move hardly. Like this morning, I went through hours trying to get ready for this, and I'm real sleepy without medication.

Is that common with over-focused? You mean you're sleepy without the stimulant medication? Right, right now I'm not taking that, and I'm not around people that much. And there's not the noise going off that helps the over-focused person to switch gears. Is that common to be very sleepy? For the ADD part. But, you know, the first thing I'd be thinking about is what's your thyroid like? Right, get the rest of your numbers checked.

Okay. Because you don't always just want to think just ADD. You want to get everything checked. Right. Keep everything in balance. Absolutely. Okay. And so if you have low energy, you know, I'm thinking about your hormones, especially estrogen and thyroid. Vitamin D, testosterone. Yeah. And that's why in the program. So with this program, we're going to have a program called Healing ADD at Home in 30 Days. And in the first week, you got to go get your lab work done. Everything. Because if you don't get your lab work done, how do you know? And if your thyroid is low, you feel like you have ADD. You just, you can't move, you can't think. And a little bit of

thyroid can make a huge difference. Yeah, I just want to add, it's so interesting because I have, you know, thyroid issues. So they keep me on thyroid, very high doses of thyroid, probably forever because I've had thyroid cancer three times. And I got scanned one time when I was going through thyroid treatment when my thyroid was low. My scan came back really wacky. And I didn't really put it together that it was because my thyroid was really off. And then we talked, I'm like, oh, okay, my thyroid medication is off. But it made my scan look really screwy. And thyroid disease is actually commonly associated with ADD. Right.

So I think everybody should get their thyroid checked on a regular basis. I could keep asking questions, but I'll allow others to ask questions. Thank you guys so much. Thank you. Absolutely. Hello, my name is Thomas. I have a question. It seems that every other adult might have one or two, maybe even more of these symptoms. Right. And if overlooked as a child and just thinking he was more of a problem child, how does one as an adult who never actually got, I guess you could say tested for for ADD know if he actually has ADD without being brain scanned? So the most common way ADD is diagnosed is really by understanding the story of your life. So if you look back on your life, and I talked about those five hallmark

symptoms, if you've had a short attention span. Now, everybody has a short attention span at some point, but we're talking about a short attention span. Now, everybody has a short attention span at some point. But we're talking about a short attention span that interferes with your life. If you're easily distracted, disorganized, tend to procrastinate, and you get yourself in hot water by saying or doing stupid things, that's when I think, okay, we really have to look at this. But there are other things that can cause it, being exposed to pesticides,

which is why we like buying organic food. Now, we understand not everybody can buy everything organic. There's a wonderful website called the Environmental Working Group that tells you which foods you absolutely should buy organic. They're called the Dirty Dozen. And which foods, you know, like bananas and avocados, you really don't have to buy organic. They're called the Dirty Dozen. And witch foods, you know, like bananas and avocados, you really don't have to buy organic.

So, but if you have it and it's not treated, I mean, the statistics are just a disaster when you look at the incidence of ADD in prison or the incidence of ADD in substance abuse programs or the incidence, it triples the risk of Alzheimer's disease because it's associated with a lot of the risk factors of Alzheimer's disease, like obesity or diabetes or head injuries. And people with ADD don't live as long because of the impulsivity. You know, I was sort of kidding with running with the bulls. But that's the kind of thing that they do where, you know, people are a little bit anxious like me.

It's like, are you crazy? What rational person would do that? Well, and it's so funny because when he first came up with that scan, I looked at it and I go, oh, I always wanted to do that when I was young. I always wanted to go to Spain and do that. So Thomas, so this is actually the Thomas in the show. And we're grateful that you allowed us to use your story. I appreciate it. It's an honor for me. And this was mostly through food and exercise, right? Yes, yes. So tell the group what kind of differences you know. I mean, we told your story, but tell us a little bit of your story. It's amazing. When I first, like I said, when I first came in, I was weighing 250 pounds.

I weighed myself just like about a couple of days ago, and I'm about 175 right now. And that's through vigorous. The eating plan has helped out so much. It has helped me focus on what I need to do and what I need to accomplish. My exercise has gone from 15 minutes to I can actually work out to about two hours. I just, I actually feel very proud of myself because about two, three weeks ago, I actually ran on a treadmill 13 miles it

took me an hour and 20 minutes or 40 minutes something like that so straight non-stop and i've you know i was just amazed at it and you know where i'm at everybody encourages me so that gives me a little more boost on my self-esteem and i'm getting recognized so it's kind of like my head's getting a little bit big. But I like it, though. But that's a good reason. Thank you. Also, as I was going to say, my sons have six children. And it seems like they all have ADD in one way, form, or another.

And my thing is this. Okay, as an adult, I know I have to eat right and eat healthy. And I actually enjoy it. But how can I implement that with my children if they're so used to eating the wrong way or, you know, to make it enjoyable for them without them? Because every time I try, I used to try to feed them the vegetables. It'd be like a big old argument, ADD argument with everybody. There's no argument. So there's no argument. And for, you know, I have a very strong-willed child. Really?

Yeah. I have no idea where she gets it from. But, you know, the way I see it, and I get hate mail every time I say this, and I'm sorry if you're one of those people. It's okay. I have thick skin. Last time I checked, it takes like 30 days for a kid to starve. So, you know, what I mean by that is you're the parent.

You buy the food. Okay, so don't make 30 decisions. Make one. Don't have 30 fights. Have one conversation. You buy really healthy food. You learn how to make it taste really good. You buy the healthiest tasting snacks.

There's many alternatives that taste amazing. So you do the best you can in that sense, and that's where it ends. Now, they're going to find a way to get food outside the house, but they don't get it inside your house. And there's no conversation about it. So you model and you educate. You be the change you want to see. You model and then you educate.

But you can't ignore the six kids and then expect them to listen to you. So in our New Skills for Frazzled Parents program, you have to spend time with each of them and build a bond. And so many ADD families, there's no bond because the parents are distracted and they're always running from this thing to that thing to this thing to that thing

and they just don't fit with the kids so that there can be this connection. So they look up to you. They trust you. They want to be like you. But in ADD families, because your mind is like a pinball, there's not that focused attention on them. And then they don't listen. And then there's guilt. And so then you overcompensate, right? So one of the things when I discovered how sensitive I was to gluten and dairy and then my daughter was

and we took it out of the house completely, of course there was kicking and screaming and she was little, but she really wanted the bread and the milk and all that stuff. And I knew it was gonna be a problem and there was not gonna be arguing. I was gonna do it anyways, but I made it fun.

So you find ways to play games with your kids. I took her to the store, got her a really healthy treat while we were doing it. So she'd make those positive associations. Went on a scavenger hunt. Now I incentivized her. I told her for everything, I taught her how to read labels really early. So for everything she could find to replace some of those foods we were taking out, if she could find multiple alternatives, things that she liked, we've had a game. We played a game with it. And our daughter is a capitalist. Totally. She figured out she likes shopping early on. So, you know, I could incentivize her to find these foods. But then we went home and you know what? I just started playing with her in the kitchen and making foods, like making different, we'd make up recipes, let her make the biggest mess with me.

There were no rules around it. It wasn't like, oh, let's stick to a recipe. It's like, let's just make a mess. So you've got to make it fun too, but you still stick to your guns. And the hardest one to get on board is to make sure you and your wife are on board. Because if you guys are on board together, because you have to really think about this. You have any girls? No, I'm actually a single dad also. Six boys? Wow. Oh my goodness. Well, for those of you who have girls, they're born with all the eggs they'll ever have. So what they eat is turning on or off

certain genes, making illnesses more or less likely to happen. So the nutrition for the kids is really important because it's not just about the kids. It turns out it's about the generations of the kids. But dad, you're not off the hook because new research shows that you actually are in this equation also. Not me. Absolutely. So the lifestyle choices you're making when you're young are contributing to your children later also. And so I would teach them about that.

But bonding, education, and you control what's fed at home. And I would totally take that goal. But they don't want that. It's like, well, I don't really care that much. You know, it's like, or, you know, I mean, I did a lot of work with the NFL and they said, well, my kid wants to play. And I'm like, well, if he wanted to do cocaine, would you let him do cocaine? Probably not unless you're an idiot, right? It's okay to say no. Yeah, I mean, my daughter, there's been times where she just didn't want to eat something. You know, when I made changes and she threw a big fit and I'm like, okay, honey, there'll be something healthy waiting when you get home.

You know, she didn't eat breakfast. I'd rather her not eat breakfast than eat something really bad. Oh, well. Thank you. Thank you. Hi, I'm Chris. The first question I had was, is it really possible to heal ADD? I've always thought in terms of the best you could hope for is kind of coping

with your condition. Well, if you look in the dictionary under what heal means, it doesn't mean to get rid of it. It means to make it better. And there's no question in my mind, people can thrive with it and it can be radically better. Now, some people outgrow it and your behavior either encourages that or it discourages that. Not everybody takes medication. Some people can do it with diet and exercise. The drug treatment program that we've been working with, it's mostly through exercise and through food. As Thomas was just talking about, exercise and food, and it made a radical difference for him. Does that mean it went away? No, he's still got to focus on it so that as he goes through the different stages of

his life, it doesn't come back and bite him. And I can tell you from a personal standpoint, as somebody who didn't even really think that it existed, now when I look back, I'm like, wow, I wonder what it would have been like if I'd have had this information before, because I was doing well. You totally would have been the doctor. Well, and I was doing well, I thought, you know, but I can tell you just because I have medical issues that actually mess with it also, like the thyroid, when that's off, it totally makes the ADD symptoms worse. So, and I mean, I can tell you from a personal standpoint and just interactions with family, you know, I mean, I have a family who, you know, early on these were issues, but, you know, you

work on those issues and you fix the, you fix the things that make it worse. And suddenly everyone's doing better and everyone's successful and everybody's getting along. And it makes a huge difference. You know, I understand what you said. When Healing ADD first came out, my publisher wanted to put the ADD cure on it. And I totally wouldn't let them do it. They're like, come on, it's the difference between selling like 100,000 books or a million books. And I'm like, I don't care. Because that would send the wrong message that I can get rid of this. And no, but there's so many things you can do to heal it. One other question. And first of all, I want to say it's been really enlightening with the seven different forms of ADD. I can see all of them in my immediate

family, which explains a lot of craziness. And I think the first step for us, and this is not something new, but it's hard to do is trying the elimination diet. Absolutely. And one aspect of that, I mean, all of that's difficult in the crazy, overscheduled, overbooked, hyper busy lifestyle we lead around here. We're eating on the fly a lot. But one part for me personally is the no dairy, no soy element. Because if I go two days without dairy, I am absolutely craving it. And what's the best solution? Yeah. One of the reasons you're probably craving it is because the casein, there's certain things about dairy make you want it, number one. It's insidious that way. Right. And casein is actually an excitotoxin in the brain as well. Okay. So it's not helping you. But when casein, so that's the milk protein,

mixes with stomach acid, it produces something called an exorphin that works on the heroin or morphine centers of your brain. Just like drugs. I need it. And so that's why you crave it. But all you have to do is be away from it for like six days and that'll go away. But if you keep doing it, you're going to keep craving it. So it's just like bread and all that other stuff. Bread, which by the way, has the exorphins really badly as well. So gluten contains it. So you need to stay away from it for a week, okay, and find alternatives. Coconut milk, almond milk. You have to have those replacements. My daughter threw the biggest fit for a week.

And then it was over with. She got over it and she got healthy. So you guys need to get over it and get healthy. It takes about a week. I know I'm sort of having that. So almond milk is a wonderful alternative, but not the almond milk they make with sugar. And so what we do, because often if I want it, I'll just put a little bit of stevia in it and it tastes great. I actually think almond milk tastes better than cow's milk. Why don't you get used to it? And it's like, okay, so I can put it

in tea or put it in coffee, and I'm totally satisfied. And coconut milk is great, too. You just have to, you know, it takes that week. And coconut milk has actually the right kind of fat that's good for your brain. It's a paradigm shift. It takes about a week. And she has the Omni Diet and her cookbook. They're just awesome.

So, you know, we were in Dallas, and we just were going around the country with her public television special. And we went to a steakhouse in Dallas. So this is how you eat on the Omni diet. So we had a big salad. She ordered cioppino without the bread or the pasta. It was wild fish. And they had grass-fed steak there. And I got a New York steak.

And then we shared broccoli and asparagus. And at the end of the meal, I'm like totally stuffed. I'm totally happy. And I looked at her and I went, eating the Omni way, it just, I feel so deprived. It's so easy. I mean, there's no suffering required. God gave you a big brain for a reason. And that when you really get this and you focus on it, and she makes it so easy, is you feel better. Your energy is better. Your focus is better. But our society is out for you. They are out to make as much money on you from the food standpoint and then to get you sick early because the medical establishment totally makes money on illness as opposed to England,

where everybody pays if people get sick. So England actually took away food dyes and food additives because there are studies that say if you eat this, you have more ADD. And so they went, as a society, we pay for people who are sick, so we're not going to do that. But in the United States, people who are sick pay. And, not going to do that. But in the United States, people who are sick pay. And, you know, it's not a great model. No. Thank you. Thanks for listening to today's show, The Brain Warriors Way. Why don't you head over to brainwarriorswaypodcast.com. That's brainwarriorswaypodcast.com, where Daniel and Tana have a gift for you just for subscribing to the show. And when you post your review on iTunes,

you'll be entered into a drawing where you can win a VIP visit to one of the Amen clinics. I'm Donnie Osmond, and I invite you to step up your brain game by joining us in the next episode.