Breast Implant Illness with Danica Patrick

Summary

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Change Your Brain Every Day

Episode: Breast Implant Illness with Danica Patrick

Hosts: Dr. Daniel Amen & Tana Amen
Guest: Danica Patrick
Date: April 3, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen sit down with racing legend Danica Patrick to discuss her personal health journey, with a powerful focus on breast implant illness (BII), the impact of toxic exposure on brain and body, and integrative strategies for healing. The conversation also delves into brain imaging, trauma, and practical guidance for brain health, making this essential listening for anyone interested in root-cause medicine and whole-person wellness.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Danica Patrick’s Health Struggles and Discovery of BII

• Danica’s Initial Symptoms and Search for Answers

  • Danica describes her health spiral: originally noticing thyroid issues, seeking a “magic pill” solution, but quickly realizing the problem was much deeper (01:07).
  • She was diagnosed with severe heavy metal toxicity (mercury, lead, cesium, barium, thallium) and gut imbalances, explaining how health is like “a jigsaw puzzle... everything is connected.” (01:39)
  • Despite trying various protocols (peptides, fasting, NAD loading), Danica saw no real improvement until removing her breast implants—“I found immediate relief with that.” (02:37)
  • Healing was not linear: after explant, improvements came in waves—a “yo-yo process” of forward steps and setbacks (02:44).

• Breast Implant Illness—Underrecognized but Real

  • Dr. Amen highlights how BII is neglected in both research and mainstream medicine:
    • “If it got more attention, there would be fewer [implants] placed because body image is such an issue... 93% of young girls don't like their bodies.” (03:15)
    • “Breast implant illness is a real thing.” (03:45)
  • Danica thanks Dr. Amen for acknowledging BII, “Not very many doctors do.” (03:48)

• Studies and Brain Health

  • Dr. Amen shares there are SPECT imaging studies showing “lower blood flow to their brain” in patients with breast implants, underlining the toxic load. (03:52)

Notable Quote:

“Breast implant illness is a real thing.”
—Dr. Daniel Amen (03:45)

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2. Brain Imaging and What It Reveals

• Dr. Amen reviews Danica’s brain SPECT scans, explaining the images and comparing healthy vs. affected brains—“You have a stunningly beautiful brain, man.” (05:30)
• Danica reflects on her lifestyle, concussions, and efforts toward healing, surprised by her healthy results.
• The conversation explains how traumatic brain injury (TBI) is detected (“your brain... got pinched”), and how injuries can result despite helmets in racing due to rapid deceleration. (06:08–07:07)
• Dr. Amen introduces his “Four Circles” framework:
  • Biological (your body/brain)
  • Psychological (thoughts/mindset)
  • Social (relationships)
  • Spiritual (meaning, purpose)
    Achieving balance helps avoid burnout and enables optimal health. (07:07–08:42)

Notable Quote:

“Despite the fact that I had a couple of concussions... your brain looks really good now. It can be better.”
—Dr. Daniel Amen (05:42)

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3. Healing and Optimization—Practical Steps

• Treatment Approaches

  • Dr. Amen recommends hyperbaric oxygen therapy—“I would go in 40 times” (09:53), suggesting Danica use her home chamber even with a busy schedule. Regularity, not perfection, is key.
  • Suggestions for dietary changes (“If you could make one of them [coffee] green tea, that would even be better... Matcha could be better still”) and the importance of reducing toxins (10:11–10:45).

• The “One-Page Miracle” and Four Circles in Practice

  • Dr. Amen encourages writing down one’s goals for all life areas (relationships, work, health, spiritual):
    • “I want you to do the one page miracle, because I believe... I'm thinking about those four circles all the time so I don't get burned out.” (08:42)

• The BRIGHT MINDS Framework

  • Dr. Amen offers his top strategies for brain health:
    • Blood flow (via exercise, hyperbaric oxygen, foods like beets and cayenne).
    • Mindset—“Brain envy. You got to care about it. You have a beautiful brain, and it can be powerful... Is it good for my brain? Is this going to get me a better brain or not?” (11:02)
    • Practicality over perfection: pursue what you can, consistently.

Notable Quotes:

“I'm totally vain. I want a better brain.”
—Dr. Daniel Amen (11:14)

“Healing's not linear... it seems like a bit of a yo-yo process.”
—Danica Patrick (02:41)

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Memorable Moments & Speaker Attributions

• Validation of BII:
  • Danica’s relief—“Thank you for saying that. Not many doctors do.” (03:48)
• Celebrating Brain Health:
  • Dr. Amen: “You have a stunningly beautiful brain, man.” (05:30)
  • Danica: “That's mine on the left? That's me.” (05:36)
• Pragmatic Advice:
  • Dr. Amen on setting realistic goals for at-home therapies and maintaining balance: “Do it once or twice a week... that’s awesome.” (10:01–10:04)
• Lifelong Learning:
  • Danica: “Knowledge is power. And no matter what it looks like, I know that it only gets better from here.” (00:21)
• Four Circles & Avoiding Burnout:
  • Dr. Amen: “…in 40 years, I haven’t been burned out because it’s like balance.” (08:37)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:07 – Danica begins her health journey exploration
• 02:37 – Discovery of instant relief post-breast explant
• 03:15 – Dr. Amen on BII prevalence & image pressures
• 03:52 – SPECT studies and BII impact on brain health
• 05:30 – Dr. Amen reviews Danica's brain scan
• 06:08 – Concussions and TBI in athletes
• 07:07 – Four Circles model for understanding whole-person health
• 09:32 – Discussing hyperbaric oxygen therapy routines
• 10:11 – Caffeine, toxins, and swaps (green tea, matcha)
• 11:01 – Dr. Amen's “Bright Minds” brain health checklist

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Conclusion

This episode offers an honest, eye-opening conversation about underrecognized causes of chronic illness (notably BII), personal accountability in health, and the holistic, actionable steps anyone can take to optimize their brain and body. Highlights include Danica Patrick’s candid healing journey, Dr. Amen’s cutting-edge brain insights, and strategies encompassing mind, body, relationships, and purpose.

Listen for inspiration, tangible next steps, and to feel validated in your own healing path.

Transcript

[A]

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. Hi, dad.

[B]

Hi, doctor. Amen. How are you?

[A]

So nice to see you.

[B]

So nice to see you.

[A]

Excited to see your brain.

[B]

I don't know how excited I am for you to truly see me, but I am. I love this stuff. I'm just not. Knowledge is power. And no matter what it looks like, I know that it only gets better from here. So let's see what damage I've done.

[A]

Well, and that's what I tell people, no matter what we see is good news. You raced professionally?

[B]

How long professionally? I raced for 27 years, but I guess I started getting paid when I was 19, but let's skip that. I started racing Indycars when I was 23, and I retired at 36 or 7.

[A]

Wow, that's a long.

[B]

Yeah, so a good 15 years at the professional level where I was going 200 miles an hour.

[A]

In recent years, there's been some health stuff.

[B]

Originally, when I went to my OB and had blood work done, that's where I started. And my thyroid was low. I thought, oh, this will be so easy. Just give me this magic pill and everything will be fine. And it was merely scratching the surface. What ended up coming through was severe heavy metal toxicity, especially mercury and array of different things, dysbiosis, leaky gut and other things. And health is just so interesting because it's such a jigsaw puzzle and one thing leads to the next and everything is connected. Maybe not necessarily directly, but indirectly. And so it's such a balancing act. And so I know that it's about getting to what the root is. Right? I'm sure you lived this root cause and that's why you work on the brain so much, because there's so much, so much work to be done there. But finding a pathway to solving the other things. And one of the big things that I eliminated from the equation because nothing I was doing was working like I would try, whether it be thyroid medicine or gut protocols or just every. Anything from peptides to fasting to nad loading, doses of nad, anything that I tried, it was like, how do you feel? And I'm like, I feel the same. I look the same. And then I eliminated breast implants from the equation. I had them for seven and a half years, and I found immediate relief with that. But then healing's not linear. And so it feels like you make a lot. You feeling really good, and then you kind of regress and then you feel better than where you were before at your best. And then you go way back again. And then it just seems like a bit of a yo yo process. And so I'm working pretty hard on, you know, healing my body from being hard on it with my job. Exposure to heavy metals, whether it's through the implants or through the job that I had, because I have more than mercury. I have lead and cesium and barium and thallium. And there's like five metals that are above the threshold. And I don't mean above the threshold in the green. I mean in the red.

[A]

The breast implant issue doesn't get enough attention because I think if it got more attention, there would be fewer of them placed because body image is such an issue for young women. Like 93% of young girls don't like their bodies. And with social media and only gotten worse. But breast implant illness is a real thing.

[B]

Oh, high five. Thank you for saying that. Not very many doctors do.

[A]

No. And there's actually a spec study done on people who have breast implants showing lower blood flow to their brain. So there's a level of toxicity. And I'm friends with Yolanda Hadid who wrote a book called Believe Me oh, and she writes about Lyme and mold and heavy metals. But the one thing that really made the biggest difference was getting her breast implants out. Spec tells you three things. Okay, good activity, too little or too much. And then our job, my job is to balance it. So if it's low on activity, you want to stimulate it. If it's high in activity, we want to common down. The image on the left is our resident example of a really healthy brain. Not that many people in the world that have a really healthy brain. Just make a list of 10 of your friends and become crystal clear. So the top left image, we're looking underneath the brain. The top is the front part of the brain. The bottom is the back. The bottom right image, we're looking down from the top and then one side, other side, head injury. This is the cerebellum back here. These are the little booty.

[B]

The booty of the. The booty of the. Of the brain.

[A]

The booty of the brain. The images on the right. Blue is average activity. Red is the top 15%.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

This is really active. White is the top 8%. And it should be here in the cerebellum.

[B]

That's why it's not my brain yet. It's not white enough.

[A]

Here's your brain for what you have Been through. You have a stunningly beautiful brain, man.

[B]

It's amazing when I'm like, that's mine on the left. That's me.

[A]

This is you.

[B]

It looks like the one that you just showed me. Kind of.

[A]

It does. So super healthy. Okay, so you have a beautiful brain. When you leave here, I want you to go. Despite the fact that I had a couple of concussions, because I live mostly a healthy life and I've really been working hard to get to feel better, your brain looks really good now. It can be better.

[B]

How would you know based on looking at my brain, if I have damage from a concussion?

[A]

So you can see right here.

[B]

Uh huh. Okay. That's a concussion, a dent. It's like a. Yeah. Is it an imbalance? Perhaps.

[A]

And then you can see here, if we go back to our healthy guy, see how full that is.

[B]

Okay. Okay.

[A]

And if we go here.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

It's sort of like it got pinched.

[B]

Okay. Yeah.

[A]

And your temporal lobes, they're these guys here, they sit in a cavity. It's called the middle cranial fold fossa, the temporal fossa right here. And it's surrounded by bone and sharp bones. And so at some point when you hit the wall design even with a helmet on. Right. Because what, what do the helmets do?

[B]

Absorb some of the energy.

[A]

Absorb some of the energy. But still inside your brain does this because your brain is not anchored inside. It floats and water. So going 200 miles an hour and then stop. Your brain is doing this. So you have a biology. So that's your brain and your body that you've been working really hard to heal. You have a psychology, your mind want to train it to help you rather than hurt you. There's a social circle, which is your relationships and there's a spiritual circle, which is. So what does all this mean? What is your deepest sense of meaning and purpose? And I think understanding anybody, you have to understand them in these four circles and getting them, well, getting them. So for you, it's helping you be optimal. Right? It's all four circles. So what are the biological things you can do? What are the psychological things? Or we call it killing ants. That's where EMDR is to reprocess developmental trauma. And I think anybody that that's had a big successful career, it's a lot of little traumas along the way with it. Right. In 1986, I wrote this cool book called the Sabotage. All the ways we mess ourselves up from getting what we want. And I created an exercise called the One Page Miracle on One Piece. Of paper. Write down what you want. Relationships, work, money, physical, emotional, spiritual health. What do you want? And so I did that. And then I've taught all of my patients since then. I want you to do the one page miracle, because I believe even though I have worked really hard for a very long time, I'm thinking about those four circles all the time so I don't get burned out. And in 40 years, I haven't been burned out because it's like balance. Right? So if work is hard, then my relationships are okay or my health is okay. But I'm always working on all four circles all the time. From a bright mind standpoint, what are the things to do? So, blood flow. There's some supplements we can talk about. Hyperbaric oxygen. I'd be a huge fan of that for you.

[B]

I have one at home. I literally have it in my bed, bedroom.

[A]

I would use it. How many times have you been in it?

[B]

I only used it after surgery for like a week. And then I used it the week before my marathon. I. I guess I don't know the value of sporadic use because it's a soft chamber. So it's just the.

[A]

I'm a huge fan.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I would go in 40 times.

[B]

See, that's what I mean. And that's overwhelming because I leave literally every week at some point for.

[A]

Yeah, so do it once or twice a week.

[B]

And that's good.

[A]

And that's awesome.

[B]

Okay. All right, great.

[A]

And just go target 40, because your brain is awesome. But it could be more awesome.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Great for toxins. You know, you have your own relationship with alcohol and caffeine. You're not drinking so much. I'm like, you need to stop. And how much caffeine do you drink?

[B]

I probably drink. Let's just call it two cups a day.

[A]

Do the other things right. If you could make one of them, green tea, that would even be better because green tea has caffeine.

[B]

What about Matcha? Does that substitute Matcha could be better. Still, Matcha is even better than green tea. Great.

[A]

No, green tea is the best because of the thinning.

[B]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

Questions.

[B]

What would you recommend the highest for brain health overall? Like, if there was sort of like a master tablet. Like if there was the Ten Commandments, but maybe there was five or three or one. Like, what is. So these are the 11 healing.

[A]

So think of bright minds.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Blood flow. How are we going to get you even better blood flow? So exercise, which we're already doing. Hyperbaric oxygen. I'm a huge fan of that. Foods that increase blood flow, like beets, cayenne pepper. I mean, if you go. Okay, three things. Brain envy. You got to care about it. You have a beautiful brain, and it can be powerful. So I want you every day. It's good for my brain or bad for it? Is it good for my brain? Is this going to get me a better brain or not a better brain, Right? I mean, like, I'm totally vain. I want a better brain.