BRIGHT MINDS & 1st Sept. week; Healthy Body, Healthy Mind

Was just watching Dr. Daniel Amen on PBS's pledge week "Change Your Brain"; He has a thing: "Bright Minds", and here are some notes I took on keeping brains healthy, turns out it's a lot of same stuff we're already working on...

The graphic below is from when Dr. Amen was on Dr. Oz*, and the text there is a little different than what was on the PBS show; they also have an option to print out the graphic, & they do a 3 minute segment too
*link here: www.doctoroz.com
/article/dr-daniel-amens-m
emory-rescue-plan
*BRIGHT MINDS*:
B: Blood Flow exercise, & using bright white lights help with this; the complete $240 PBS donor package includes his book, some dvds & now, a bright white light
R: Retirement: keep your mind active
I: Inflammation: Lowering sugar in diet, brushing, & flossing is key, also get omega3's & gut health is very important...75% of neurotransmitters are in the gut (why emotions are felt in the stomach, from butterflies, to loose stools when in desperate fear)
G: Genetics-Alzheimer's & other mental issues or illnesses run in families
H: Head Trauma-even from decades ago can be expressed later in brain issues
T: Toxins-from drugs, Rx's, to environmental and even workplace toxins

M: Mind Stealers (He calls them "ANTs": Automatic Negative Thoughts...basically bad mental health habits; he says just because you think it doesn't mean you have to believe it...it could be something that is affecting and produced by a period of poor Mental Health
I: Immunity...work on it and Infection (like lyme disease-apparently the highest incidence of schizophrenia is also where lyme disease is highest) also other infections can mess with the brain
N: Neuro-hormonal factors...THYROID etc. As someone who's thyroid failed in her 20's I esp. paid attention to any discussion about this, because in the past, when I didn't have health insurance at one point & couldn't get my Rx and then went to a community clinic, that Dr. was like "Finally, someone who REALLY needs to be here getting a refill, unlike the pain meds that people were seeking from him (I think he was trying to make a point that it was MOST important for me to make sure I took my thyroid, even more than if I had been in severe pain); he also said that without thryoid hormone, with someone as severe as my case, that my brain might look like swiss cheese, like Azheimers, just because of not taking my Rx
D: "Diabesity" - Diabetes, Obesity -yep
S: Sleep-is the toxin cleaner for body and mind

I posted the above in one of the thyroid groups I'm in; the rest, below, wasn't in that post:

He had 6 steps, I think BRIGHT MINDS was step 3 (& I'd tuned in a bit late so I think I missed steps 1 & 2, but it's on my PBS again tomorrow eve, so will blog if I catch it and hear anything I missed)

Step 4 was "First, Do No Harm": this was kind of about mind-altering Rx's for depression, anxiety, ADD/ADHD, & SMD (severe mental disorders);
1) his point was use the least toxic first, and that all Rx's (he's a psychiatrist & said if a patient came in with severe depression he'd prescribe an anti-depressant right away, but work with these other things too)
2) "skills, not pills"-that skills of mental health, talk therapy, coping skills, etc. should be tried asap
3) The US population is deficient in the following (and if you track your food on Spark, and run the daily report, you can check your own numbers)
MAGNESIUM, choline, omega3's, Vitamins C, D, E, POTASSIUM, Iron (re:iron, he said you need to have this tested

*Handy tip* from me: Selenium is something that is key for both thyroid health & thus weight loss, and ONE Brazil nut pretty much takes care of it daily, along with the bits in a healthy diet. The easiest (& tastiest) supplement by far

After I watched the program, I read online that he's been criticized for his 'spect' brain scans-that they prove nothing according to other Drs., but line his pocket, and that some regard him as somewhat of a quack, similar to Dr. Oz; both of them push other supplements
Speaking of supplements, he recommended Magnesium, GABA, and theonine, and also green tea and rhodiola for ____? (anxiety?), also saffron, SAMe, and curcurmins (found in tumeric) for ____? and some others, but he rattled them off, & I wasn't watching on a TV where I could rewind

THEN he talked about 6 anti-anxiety strategies
(I took notes here because an ex (not the brain foods one, below) had SMD & after researching it, it appears to me that most, from depression to schizophrenia, have some root in anxiety)
1) Lower blood sugars (by eating & drinking less sugar), fix anemia, high thyroid can also lead to anxiety
2) Meditation, Hypnosis, Sauna (he noted that people who use sauna the most have the lowest levels of depression and alzheimers)
3) When stressed/anxious: immediate de-stresser = 10 slow, deep breaths
4) Calming exercise, like tai chi
5) Kill those ANTs (see above)
6) Magnesium, GABA, theonine
Lastly, he noted that no brain, well or ill, lives in isolation, and our brains affect our families, so he had 5 ways to support family communication
1) Just communicate-people aren't mind-readers so everyone needs to speak up
2) Give openings for communication with phrases like: "I'm concerned..."/"I am here for you..."/
3) Model and verify that asking for help is a sign of strength; he made the point that if a biz was struggling, you wouldn't ignore the issues and diagnose them first to work on them
4) No tough love for someone who's struggling; it works if your brain is doing well, but not when it's not
5) ___ will edit in a minute

In terms of my week of health, I'm back on my program, and because I was off it for such a short time, I was able to be back in working it to the max in 4 days of good effort. I ramped up into max exercise and water after 2 days, and have tracked every bite for 4, and had enough calories several days at the end that I could actually do some decadent indulgences for dessert.

I've also been more productive, and even got back into my own self-imposed and desired (but not done until today) coding continuing ed (& it changes more than most & faster than almost all fields, so it's a thing that I'd been struggling to make time for...because I've been in the field for decades, but there's so much to learn to retool myself). After I went for a walk today, I sat down to relax, and opted to go on my PC, and my tabs were empty (SO rare, lol), & I went on spark & did the 'plan my day' 5 points, and read it, which reminded me to code. I also happened to be in my bedroom, where I had bought this really massive bottle of round, fake bright orange 'cheese balls' snacks, which is hidden under a cloth in the corner. An ex of mine, now head of an academic department, when she was doing her grad work always wanted these type of cheese snacks as study snacks. She called them 'brain food', and when I was at the store, months? ago, debating on whether to buy them or not, I remembered that and thought...why not? I'm glad I hadn't give in to eating them before today, so I looked at the calorie count (130/serving) & counted out a serving (32 balls), & started my continuing ed. So it was a good, productive, healthier week than the last few.

Member Comments About This Blog Post

v IMPROVINGME
Thanks for all the info. Very interesting.
I love watching PBS!
343 days ago
v 1CRAZYDOG
Wow! Lots of good information. I do believe there are things from Dr. Amen and Dr. Oz that are maybe questionable, but the bottom line is the same for ANY information . . . take what works and use it and chuck the rest!

Thanks for this share.

344 days ago
vCD6913562

344 days ago