Change Your Brain Every Day - The Amen Solution Q&A Session - Part 2

Episode Date: March 18, 2017

This weekend, we’re bringing you the second part of our Q&A sessions for The Amen Solution. Be sure to head back to Episode 99 if you haven't listened to it. We hope you enjoy.

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 Melody. In regards to number eight and targeting supplements to boost your brain and your body, you mentioned SAMe and 5-HTP. Could you explain what those are? Yes. There are a number of supplements I use to help people with their mood and with anxiety, and it depends on the type of brain a person has. So SAMe is actually something your body makes naturally. But when people get depressed or when they're in pain, their SAMe levels tend to go low. SAMe actually has very good scientific evidence as an antidepressant, but not for everybody. So if you're the compulsive type, that's not the right thing for you. SAMe is more for the sad people who are not worriers. I give it to a lot of my

fibromyalgia patients because they have chronic pain. SAMe is good for pain, but it also boosts their mood. Now for the compulsive people who have low levels of serotonin, then I use the supplements that have been found to raise serotonin. 5-HTP is one of my favorite ones. Also, saffron, so the spiced saffron that people put in rice dishes and St. John's wort. So there are actually a number of ways, and I love that. As a psychiatrist, I have more tools, and I'm not just stuck, the drug company said I should use this, so let's use it. Because I've been a psychiatrist, I have more tools and I'm not just stuck. You know, the drug company said I should use this. So let's use it because I've been a psychiatrist for about 30 years and I got weary of giving people sexual side effects and rashes and things that frightened them and me. And it's like, well, let's try the natural stuff first because less side effects and it often works when you use it in a thoughtful way.

Okay. Thank you. Hi, Dr. Amen. My name is Donald. And based on the excellent results from the NFL player study and some of the learnings you've had there, what are some of the recommendations you'd make to parents who have children in contact sports and things that potentially may cause brain injury? It's a very important question. If people knew what I know from looking at thousands of scans, and then in a very targeted way, this group of professional athletes, golf is good. Tennis, terrific. Table tennis is the world's best sport. Your brain is very soft and it's housed in a really hard skull that has many sharp bony ridges. Your brain does not finish developing until you're about 25. So to take a 14 year old,

or just this last week, a 12 year old boy who I saw just this last week, who loves playing football, and he already has a vulnerable brain. And it's like, well, let's talk about basketball. Let's talk about other things you can do. And I explained it to him. It's not bad, don't do it. It's like, your brain's not going to be finished developing until you're 25. Do you really want to be slamming it up against other kids? Even with a helmet, it still rattles inside your skull and it delays and I think can permanently delay development. And so we have to be much more thoughtful. And I'm horrified at our society. Now, the NFL has done a complete 180 from the time I started our study. I was so angry at them that I funded this study. This was not an inexpensive study

because I just saw them as lying to the world and in the process hurting retired players, people who really gave their minds and their lives for this game. But since we started our study, they have done 180 degree turn and now you're hearing about it on Monday night football. You got a concussion.

You can't play. Let's be really smart about this. I love that. But why is ultimate fighting legal? There is no good reason ultimate fighting is legal. We're going to build another generation of people who have problems with depression, dementia. And if it's like Chris Benoit, who ended up killing his wife, killed

his kids, killed his children, that comes from a damaged brain. Thank you. Hi, Dr. Eamon. I'm Leslie. What is the optimal length of sleep for the healthy brain? I was a pediatric trauma nurse and changed career tracks recently. And after achieving a new level of life work balance, I have trouble justifying the 10 hours of sleep per night that gives me optimal performance, productivity, and serenity. You know, the optimal amount of sleep is different for different people. But what I say is don't go below seven hours. In fact, there are professors who think if you sleep less than seven hours a night, if you're an employer interviewing that person, it's like, don't hire them because they're going to make more mistakes. I mean, that's what the research says. And probably not more than nine. So there's a window.

Did you know in 1900, on average, Americans slept nine hours of sleep every night, but with the advent of the light bulb, well, we didn't need to sleep so much. Why do you think coffee is so prevalent? Because people are sleep deprived and they're using it as a drug. So coffee to get up in the morning, alcohol to go to sleep at night. It becomes a vicious cycle that is just disastrous. Thank you. Hello, Dr. Amen. My name is Judith. I have a question that's a little bit in reverse of what you were talking about earlier, but I was wondering, because today's children are so smart, do you have any educational programs at school that the children can bring home to their parents

and influence the parents into serving more nutritional lunchbox meals, snacks, and dinner meals? You know, I think that is just so important. We have a high school course that's in 42 states and seven countries, and there's a whole lesson on brain healthy nutrition. And when we do the course, we get the parents in week one, because we say your children are going to come home and irritate you if you're smoking if you're drinking if you're not eating right we're going to teach them scientifically proven ways to optimize their brain health so help us and they're teenagers so they're going to irritate their parents anyways. Right. But is there anything in earlier grades where the children could start earlier?

Not that I'm aware of. It needs to happen. And I completely support President's wife who is tackling childhood obesity in a smart way. This is a serious problem. There's it's becoming a national security crisis. Obesity in children has gone up radically, 4% in 1982, 32% in 2010. That's a crisis. And people at the Pentagon are saying it's a national security crisis because 75% of young adults do not now qualify for military service. And obesity is the number one reason why. That should scare you.

Thank you very much. Thanks for listening to today's show, The Brain Warrior's 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.