Tana Amen (5:32)

And then there's less than ants. So that's comparing yourself negatively to others. So examples of how this is related to physical pain is I can't handle pain as well as other people can, or everyone else recovers faster than I do. Would that be similar to I'm weaker than other people, less than, right? So other people don't let pain stop them like I do. Examples related to emotional pain would be, I'm not as successful as my friends, I'll never be as happy as others. Other people have better relationships than I do.

Dr. Daniel Amen (6:07)

Just the bad ants seeing only the badness situation related to pain. My pain is so bad today, nothing else matters. Even though I feel better. I felt better yesterday. Today is terrible. The treatment isn't working because I still have pain. When you think of examples related to emotional pain, my friend didn't call me back. They must not care about me. I didn't get the job I wanted, my career is going nowhere, my partner criticized me, they must think I'm worthless.

Tana Amen (6:45)

And there's guilt beating ants. Women are so good at this one. So this is thinking in words like should, must, ought, or have to. Examples related to physical pain would be I should be able to push through the pain. I must have done something to deserve this pain. I ought to be more resilient in dealing with my pain. And examples related to emotional Pain would be I should be over this by now. I must always keep my emotions in check. I ought to be happier given all the good things in my life.

Dr. Daniel Amen (7:17)

And labeling ants. This is what's killing our society. Whenever you label someone with a negative term, you lump them with all the other people like that. And you can't deal with them individually anymore. Oh, he's conservative or she's a liberal and it's just killing our society. So examples of labeling related to physical pain. I'm so weak because I can't handle this pain. Or I'm a failure because I had to cancel plans due to my pain or I'm broken because of my chronic pain. Labeling ants related to emotional pain is I'm worthless because I feel depressed or I'm a loser because I couldn't keep my relationship going or I'm pathetic because I struggle with anxiety.

Tana Amen (8:14)

I'm weak. I hear that one a lot. Fortune telling ants. This would be predicting the worst possible outcome without any evidence. And examples of physical pain would be this pain is going to get worse and worse until I can't function. I know this injury will ruin my chances of ever playing sports again. I'm going to be in pain for the rest of my life. And as it relates to emotional pain, I will never recover from this heartbreak. My anxiety is going to ruin my career. I'm going to fail this project and.

Dr. Daniel Amen (8:47)

Get fired so we don't have to go through the rest of them. Get the book. But what you see is these thoughts are so toxic that they increase tension and actually increase pain and negativity drops frontal lobe function. So now not only is it activating your emotional pain, it's dropping the part of your brain that helps to calm pain. And one strategy I just love so much is give your mind name so you don't have to. Just so you can begin to separate from the noise in your head. There's actually a part of your brain called the posterior cingulate gyrus. It's part of an area people are starting to hear about called the default mode network. And it's basically the chatter in your brain. And one of the reasons people like psilocybin is it decreases activity there. So that nasty negative voice in your head shuts up for a while. And actually some people can reset it. The problem is it sort of drops all the activity in your brain. It's probably not a good thing over time. It's not healthy for your brain. There are other ways to do it. Meditation calms that part down, giving Your mind a name so you just don't have to believe every stupid thing you think or what. Both you and I found Byron Katie's work so powerful is whenever you feel sad, mad, nervous, or out of control, just write down what you're thinking and ask yourself whether or not it's true. And I remember when you and I were first dating and I took you to Esalon up in Big Sur and we hung out with her for three days and went to her conference. And it blew your mind a little bit.

Tana Amen (11:04)

Yeah, I was not used to thinking like that and being open.

Dr. Daniel Amen (11:09)

And now you think like that all the time, right? That you just don't believe every stupid thing you think. But then it was such an eye opener. And you're a very educated person, but nowhere in your education did they teach you absolutely not to just question your thoughts.

Tana Amen (11:30)

Right?

Dr. Daniel Amen (11:31)

And ultimately it's just logic.

Tana Amen (11:34)

It's such a powerful thing. And it's. It's pretty quick. I mean, when you first start doing it, you should take time. You should dig into it, use a questionnaire, like write them all down.

Dr. Daniel Amen (11:41)

And people don't understand this. Every time you have a thought, your brain releases chemicals. Every single time you have a thought. And when you have a mad thought, a sad thought, an anxious thought, a rage thought, your brain releases chemicals. And what immediately happens is your hands get colder, they start to sweat, your muscles get tense, blood flow to your frontal loes drop. And it happens immediately. Whenever you have a positive thought, a happy thought, a hopeful thought, a loving thought, your hands get drier, they get warmer, your muscles become more relaxed, your breathing slows down and your frontal lobes activate. Yeah, that happens immediately. That's why these thoughts are so important, to take each thought captive and just if you live with, is it true you'd be so much happier? What if the key to overcoming your pain isn't just in your body, but in your brain? My new book, Change youe Brain, Change youe Pain, offers strategies I've used with thousands of patients to break free from physical and emotional pain and reclaim focus, energy, and peace. Healing is possible, and it starts with your brain. Pre order my new book now and receive special bonus gifts at Change your Brain, Change your Pain book dot com. All right, let's talk about food. So you wrote the Omni Diet, and then you wrote a book that has now been reprinted almost 60 times, the brain Warriors Way Cookbook. And we have food principles, and I wrote them in Change your brain, change your pain, and let's just go through them. But before I do. I want to talk about Jeff because he came to see us in chronic physical and emotional pain. In fact, she had three suicide attempts, and he'd been seeing psychiatrists for 30 years. And we saw his brain. It wasn't healthy, but no one had ever tried him on an elimination diet. I think anybody in chronic pain should be. Should try, absolutely, an elimination diet. And what does that mean? Eliminate gluten, dairy, corn, soy, artificial diet.

Tana Amen (14:35)

It's basically eliminating the most common culprits that increase inflammation and food allergens.

Dr. Daniel Amen (14:43)

And so asked Jeff to do that. He did, and his pain went away. And he goes, my depression lifted. I'm like, that's awesome. I said, well, let's add things back one at a time. We added back gluten. Nothing happened. Added back corn. Added back dairy. Nothing happened. Added back corn. He said within 20 minutes, he had a vision of a gun in his mouth pulling the trigger.

Tana Amen (15:13)

So he clearly had some sort of allergen.

Dr. Daniel Amen (15:16)

Corn is in 70% of processed food.

Tana Amen (15:22)

It's in all of your products as well. Like, it's crazy. You're like, topical products.

Dr. Daniel Amen (15:29)

So he broke up with corn.

Tana Amen (15:32)

And a lot of people have reactions to corn and don't know it. It's highly inflammatory.

Dr. Daniel Amen (15:38)

Corn is a vegetable.

Tana Amen (15:39)

Well, it's highly inflammatory, though. So it's. It's very, very high in omega 6 fatty acids. It's mostly GMO. So people don't realize that it's not a vegetable, it's a grain. But it's very inflammatory grain. So that's one. One of the issues. There are other issues, but for purposes of this, we will leave it at. It's highly inflammatory.

Dr. Daniel Amen (16:02)

And why do farmers feed their animals corn?

Tana Amen (16:10)

To fatten them up.

Dr. Daniel Amen (16:12)

So we were at Mount Vernon. You remember this? We were at Mount Vernon, George Washington's estate. And on it, there's this plaque about feeding the animals corn and potatoes because it fattened them up. And I'm like, oh, that is a staple for so many people that maybe that could be part of the obesity.

Tana Amen (16:39)

Oh, you think?

Dr. Daniel Amen (16:40)

Epidemic. So an elimination diet just to see. Right. And again, it's just part of the R in the relief. It's like, recognize the triggers. Be curious, not furious. Every day you win or you learn. And our food principles, number one, love food that loves you back. That you're in a relationship with food. And people go, oh, I love rocky road ice cream, or I love sweet potato pie, or I love. What are the things you love?

Tana Amen (17:22)

Frosting. It's like crack.

Dr. Daniel Amen (17:23)

Yeah.

Tana Amen (17:25)

Good Find for me frosting. Yeah. If I'm in the corner looking frosting off of wax paper, and it's just like, crack.

Dr. Daniel Amen (17:30)

Yeah.

Tana Amen (17:32)

No, there are certain foods where once I. Once I have it once, it's like I don't want to stop. And it's like, I know. Those are, like, crazy triggers.

Dr. Daniel Amen (17:39)

Does frosting love you back?

Tana Amen (17:41)

No, It. It's like crack. Crack doesn't love you back.

Dr. Daniel Amen (17:45)

It hurts you.

Tana Amen (17:46)

What?

Dr. Daniel Amen (17:47)

It steals your will. Sort of like being married to someone who hurts you. Staying in a relationship. Relationship.

Tana Amen (17:55)

Yeah.

Dr. Daniel Amen (17:57)

We're at the White House, and I got to sit next to Lisa Trout. Lisa and her husband Kenny own Justify, the Triple Crown winning horse. And I'm like, would you ever feed Justify junk food? And she goes, no. I said, would you ever get them drunk? She rolled her eyes at me and she goes, no. I said, would you ever get him stoned? And she goes, no. And I'm like, why? He would never live up to his potential. Wow.

Tana Amen (18:40)

Seems so obvious.

Dr. Daniel Amen (18:42)

And it's like you're listening. You are worth so much more. And so why would you ever put crap in your body? And if.

Tana Amen (18:54)

It prevents you from living.

Dr. Daniel Amen (18:55)

Up to your potential, it would prevent you from doing that. Right. Because Your brain is 2% of your body's weight, but uses 20 to 30% of the calories you consume. So love food that loves you back. Two is high quality calories and not too many of them. And you don't have to worry about calories if your weight is healthy. But if it's not healthy, you need.

Tana Amen (19:24)

Because quality, quality really matters because you get to eat more, more calories. If you're eating high quality calories because of that inflammatory process.

Dr. Daniel Amen (19:34)

And there are a whole bunch of new studies out on same calories. Whole food versus processed food, because of processed foods create damage right in your brain. Brand new study out of England. They actually create damage in your brain. Ultra processed food. And I think of calories like money. And, you know, I'm a value spender. I hate wasting money. I don't mind spending it if I feel like I'm getting value for it. I feel the exact same way with calories. I want to know how much I'm eating because my dad used to hate when I say, come from a family of fat people. And, you know, it's like I'm vulnerable to being overweight, and I don't want to be because I published three studies that say as your weight goes up, the size and function of your brain goes down. So I often weigh and measure things just so that I stay around 2, 000 calories a day, which is why I'm not gonna have a big breakfast at McDonald's all by itself. That's like 1200 calories or something. Ridiculous. Three is high quality protein. And I love Brain MD's protein powder. I have a protein shake virtually every day. What are other good sources of protein?

Tana Amen (21:08)

Any clean protein. So grass fed, free range, organic if you can. Obviously people often will comment and say that's, you know, I can't do that. Focus on what you can do. And you know, now so many big box stores are making it available. So just do the best you can. Always focus on, you know, compared to what. So is this healthy for me? Always go with what you can afford. The, the most affordable thing you can do that is the highest quality. And when I'm thinking about protein, I want, I want small amounts of protein that are clean protein throughout the day. Because that's what balances the hormones of metabolism. That's what balances your blood sugar, it's what gives you focus and energy. So you don't want to just like one big meal of protein. You want protein throughout the day. So I think of the size of my palm, the width and the size of my palm, it's about the right size, it's about the right amount, a few ounces and obviously that's bigger if you're a bigger person. So you do that about three or four times a day and that's about the right amount of protein.

Dr. Daniel Amen (22:04)

And then healthy fats, I think very important, as we took fat out of our diet, chronic pain and depression went up because 60% of the solid weight of your brain. So if you took all the water out 60%, what's left is fat. If someone calls you a fathead, say thank you. People who have a fat based diet, think salmon, avocados, nuts and seeds, healthy oils, green leafy vegetables, have 42% less risk of getting Alzheimer's disease. People who have a protein based diet, think of a Caveman diet, have 21% less risk of getting Alzheimer's disease. But people who have a simple carbohydrate based diet diet, think bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, fruit, juice, Sugar, have a 400% increased risk.

Tana Amen (23:02)

Why? Because those foods are sugar. They turn to sugar immediately.

Dr. Daniel Amen (23:06)

And so healthy fats will decrease pain.

Tana Amen (23:10)

So, so when you say healthy fats, let's make it clear for people, healthy fats, again, clean sources of fat. But also fats that are not dominant in omega 6 fatty acids. You Want to be thinking more balanced and higher in omega 3 fatty acids. So for a lot of people that's going to be more plant based for not for everybody. Some people like, like tallow fats, people who are on caveman diets. I like to think more because because of my genetics, I tend to need to be careful with certain types of saturated fats. Not everybody does. I want to be clear about that. But. So I like avocados, nuts, seeds, olive oil. Stay away from certain types of vegetable oils that because they're inflammatory. Why? People always say why? Because they're inflammatory. They're high in omega 6 fatty acids.

Dr. Daniel Amen (23:57)

It's actually a section in the book on avoid pro inflammatory foods that increase the doom loop. So processed foods, refined grains, added sugar foods just like you said, high in omega 6 fatty acids.

Tana Amen (24:11)

I want to, I want to, I want to interject something there. When I was teaching the nutrition classes that they weren't nutrition classes, they were health classes. Before one of the big things so many people would mention, fibromyalgia went away. So chronic pain and fibromyalgia. And why? Because of the inflammation. So by cutting out the sugar, the omega 6 fatty acids, those vegetable oils, that type of food, rice, pasta, potatoes, because they quickly turn to sugar, but especially omega 6 fatty acids and things that were highly inflammatory. So many people would say that fibromyalgia went away. And I think I mentioned before that even like aspartame, when I would get this pain in my ribs if I have aspartame, but also if I have too many omega 6 fatty acids. When you have pain, anything that increases inflammation, like those foods is going to increase your pain.

Dr. Daniel Amen (25:04)

Being hydrated is another one of our rules because the more hydrated you are, the less pain you will have. Also you will have better energy and think sharper. Talked about protein and fat. Smart carbs. Like I always say, carbs aren't the enemy.

Tana Amen (25:28)

But it's the carbs that quickly turn to sugar that are the problem.

Dr. Daniel Amen (25:32)

Carbs that quickly turn to sugar and you're much more likely to have pain if you have anxiety and you're hypoglycemic. So I often will show my patients the symptoms of hypoglycemia. And they dovetail so nicely with anxiety. So sometimes getting a glucose tolerance test can be super helpful. Brain healthy herbs and spices.

Tana Amen (26:04)

Love them.

Dr. Daniel Amen (26:04)

Cooking with turmeric, ginger, turmeric.

Tana Amen (26:10)

Saffron, saffron, mint, rosemary, thyme, like love it.

Dr. Daniel Amen (26:15)

And you know one of the secret weapons is capsaicin. Which is things that are spicy are often good to decrease pain. Syndromes along with garlic can be helpful. The Brain Warriors Way Cookbook has a whole section on spices too good, especially the lamb chops. They're my favorite. But you also have many anti inflammatory.

Tana Amen (26:42)

The whole thing is anti inflammatory desserts. Yeah, the whole thing is anti inflammatory and there are lots of recipes in there. If you are vegan or you're vegetarian, there's enough options in there for everybody.

Dr. Daniel Amen (26:56)

Your brain is your most valuable asset. It controls everything from your focus and memory to your mood and energy. That's why I created Brain MD to give you science backed supplements that support your brain so you can feel and perform your best every day. If you haven't tried them yet, go to brainmd.com and use the code PODCAST20 for 20% off. Because when your brain works better, you work better. So there's so many practical tools and tips and Change your brain, change your pain. And if you pre order right away you get four free gifts including a 30 day online course, change your brain, Change your Pain, the Emotional Freedom journal Brain Curcumin that we've talked about a number of times and a group of hypnosis audios. Plus of course you get the book Change your brain ChangeYourPainbook.com Go there after you pre order and we will send you those free gifts. We're going to spend the next episode answering your questions, particularly about pain. We're so grateful you're on this journey with us. Leave us a Comment Question Review subscribe you literally can change your brain for the better every day.