We're sunsetting PodQuest on 2025-07-28. Thank you for your support!
Export Podcast Subscriptions
cover of episode Hacking Dopamine & Simple Ways to Improve Your Brain Health

Hacking Dopamine & Simple Ways to Improve Your Brain Health

2022/12/15
logo of podcast The Mel Robbins Podcast

The Mel Robbins Podcast

AI Deep Dive AI Chapters Transcript
People
D
Daniel Amen
M
Mel Robbins
一位专注于领导力和个人成长的著名_motivational speaker_和播客主持人。
Topics
Mel Robbins: 改善大脑物理健康可以显著提升心理健康,并影响幸福感、精力和活力。脑部扫描可以提供大脑结构信息,帮助理解自身行为和应对机制,并诊断疾病,例如长期抑郁症。通过简单的日常习惯和方法,可以改善大脑结构,提升心理健康。应该关注大脑的物理健康,可以通过增加血流量等方式来改善大脑健康。无需高昂费用,即可学习并实践改善大脑健康的方法。 Dr. Daniel Amen: 应该关注大脑健康而非“精神疾病”,通过改善大脑健康来提升身心状态。大脑的物理功能决定了精神状态。任何人都可以通过改善大脑的物理健康来提升身心健康。大脑参与所有行为,包括思考、感受、行动和人际交往。改善大脑健康的三步法:关注大脑健康、避免有害行为、定期进行有益活动。每天早上积极的自我暗示可以改善大脑状态。睡前回顾当天积极的事情可以提升大脑健康。高质量的综合维生素对大脑健康至关重要,甚至可以逆转记忆力衰退。Omega-3脂肪酸对大脑健康至关重要,缺乏会导致各种问题。血清素与多巴胺具有平衡作用,血清素与幸福感相关,多巴胺与动力和驱动感相关。应该少量多次地获得多巴胺,而不是一次性大量摄入。疲劳、悲伤和缺乏动力可能是多巴胺不足的迹象。冷水浴可以增加多巴胺和去甲肾上腺素。早晨的光线照射可以提升多巴胺水平。运动可以同时提升血清素和多巴胺水平。随着年龄增长,保持强壮的身体可以降低患老年痴呆症的风险。力量训练对整体健康至关重要,可以增强身体的蛋白质储备。皮质醇有助于管理压力和炎症,但长期高水平皮质醇会损害大脑记忆中枢。冥想、祈祷和放松技巧可以降低皮质醇水平。在做出决定时,要考虑该决定是否会损害大脑健康。15秒呼吸法可以快速缓解焦虑。腹式呼吸和引导思想可以帮助平静忙碌的大脑。人们不必相信自己所有的想法,可以学会引导自己的思想。学会质疑想法的真实性和益处,可以帮助引导思想。检查甲状腺、贫血和铁含量可以帮助诊断慢性疲劳。慢性疲劳可能由生物学、心理学、社会学和精神因素引起。鲑鱼、浆果、坚果、种子和绿叶蔬菜对大脑健康有益。可可粉对大脑健康有益,可以用来制作健康热巧克力。预防或治疗11个主要风险因素可以保护大脑健康,其中包括增加脑部血流量。避免熬夜、暴饮暴食以及仅根据症状用药,对大脑健康有益。早晨的光照、运动和避免睡前摄入咖啡因可以提升情绪。睡前避免蓝光照射可以改善睡眠质量。在做决定时,要考虑该决定是否对大脑有益。

Deep Dive

Shownotes Transcript

Translations:
中文

I love this time of year because we're all thinking about goals and priorities and what we want. But have you had to take a vacation to the list? Because you should. And right now is the perfect time to plan your trip. And all you need is one website. Say hello to Expedia, one-stop shop for killer vacation planning.

Expedia literally has every tool and everything you need to plan a great trip. Download the Expedia app or visit Expedia.com to start planning. You do need to be a one key member to use price tracking. Signing up is easy and free. Expedia, made to travel.

Voice noise, ja. That was pretty good, huh? That's how you say happy new year in German. And I've been practicing thanks to my friends at Rosetta Stone. They make learning a new language so easy and fun with lessons you can do anytime, anywhere. In fact, I've been tackling my new year's goal of learning German. I learn it over my morning coffee or while I'm waiting at the airport and I'm just loving every minute of it.

If learning a new language is on your 2025 goal list, why not make it happen? Today, the Mel Robbins Podcast listeners can take advantage of Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership for 50% off. Visit rosettastone.com slash mel. That's 50% off unlimited lifetime access to 25 language courses at rosettastone.com slash mel. Hey, it's your friend Mel, and welcome to a mind-altering episode of the Mel Robbins Podcast.

Today, I'm going to introduce you to someone who has had a profound impact on my life, on my husband's life. Who am I talking about? His name is Dr. Daniel Amen. He is one of the world's leading experts on the brain.

He is a psychiatrist and brain disorder specialist, and his 10 brain clinics around the world treat over 4,000 patients a month, including treating more than 100 former NFL players with concussion trauma. And I not only love this guy because of the difference he's made in my life, I love him because he is so focused on teaching us all

how to improve the physical health of our brains through very simple, accessible, often free little changes that you can do that based on his research can change and improve the health of your physical brain.

And what I learned from Dr. Amen is that when you start to improve the physical health and the structure of your brain, when you learn how to increase blood flow and take better care of your brain, it improves your mental health. It impacts your happiness, your energy, your vitality, all of it. And so I'm going to tell you the difference that he made in my life.

I first met Dr. Amen because he has these clinics all over the world. And I went to one and I got a brain scan and it really revealed on a physical level all kinds of things about the type of ADHD that I struggle with.

And when I went over the brain scans with Dr. Amen, he explained to me that one of the reasons why I respond so profoundly to medication is because the medication, when working correctly for somebody like me, it shows in the brain scan how certain parts of my brain light up, how blood flow increases. I learned so much about my old coping behaviors. It was like

It was almost like somebody had pulled back the curtain and explained so much simply based on the physical structure of my brain. He was even able to show me a part of the brain where I have damage from a car accident that I experienced when I was little. And he told me simple things that I could do to even start to heal that part of my brain.

and so you're going to learn today even if you don't get a brain scan i'm going to give you all kinds of tools and tactics you're going to learn simple things you can do in order to improve the health and structure of your brain to actually heal it and what happened next is he said you know i would love to scan your husband's brain and at this point in time

It had become very clear that my husband, Chris, who's very stoic, he's a very centered, mindful guy, but he was really struggling. He just seemed down and sad. And so we go and we see Dr. Amen and they scan Chris's brain. And when we went over the results of Chris's scan, it was one of those medical conversations that is very sobering.

Because Dr. Amen looked at the two of us over a Zoom call and said, normally when I see a brain that physically looks like this, it's on an autopsy. And he not only pointed out that Chris had had lots of concussion damage due to being a ski racer growing up, but he also pointed out that Chris was clearly struggling with dysthymia, which I had never heard of that term, but it's a term that

that they used to describe long-term treatment-resistant depression. He also pointed out that there was damage based on addiction. And it was Dr. Amen's diagnosis that made Chris truly accept the fact that he wasn't just sad, he wasn't weak, he was dealing with depression.

It's what led him to go see a psychiatrist. It would led him to lose the shame and the stigma associated with seeking treatment and to take an antidepressant. And using simple protocol from Dr. Amen over the course of a year, Chris has not only improved the structure of his brain and the simple habits that you're going to learn today are the simple things that Chris did. And you can do them too.

After a year of taking medication, Chris is now no longer on an antidepressant. He doesn't drink. He doesn't smoke weed daily. His physical brain has changed. I feel like I have the guy that I met 27 years ago back. Like it's this is really big stuff, you guys.

And, you know, I think a lot when it comes to mental health, we think about your thoughts and we think about your nervous system. But Dr. Amen is the first person that made me really stop and think, oh, I've never really thought about the physical health of my brain. Never really thought about the fact that if I increase blood flow up there, it's going to make a big difference. I never really thought about the fact that you could heal your brain.

And that's what Dr. Amen's mission is, to teach all of us how to take better care of our brains, to teach all of us simple daily habits that you can use to heal damage that's been done by life, and to teach you how to be smarter about your health overall,

by focusing on that, I don't even know what it is. I always think about the brain like a giant bowl of macaroni because that's what it looks like, but to get serious about it. And you don't need to go to his clinic.

You don't need to spend a lot of money because he is going to give you things you can do today, things that I do, things that Chris does, and things that people around the world are doing to heal their brains and to become happier human beings. And so I am so excited for you to hear Dr. Amen today.

I mean, this dude is a double board certified psychiatrist. I don't even know what a double board certified psychiatrist is, but it sounds like he's got a lot of degrees and a lot of education. And more importantly, he is on a mission. He's on a mission to help end mental illness by creating a revolution in brain health that is accessible to you and me. He is the author of 12 books.

Did you hear that? 12 New York Times bestselling books, including a new book called Change Your Brain Every Day that's going to be released in 2023. He has clinics around the world that see over 4,000 patients a month. And he is constantly sharing video content for free all over social media. I mean, this guy is 68 years old. He's bald. He wears a lab coat and he is going viral almost every single week on TikTok.

Because of the video content that he shares online about ADHD, depression, brain health, this guy is a genius. And today, he's your doctor. He is joining us to help you learn simple ways to improve the health of your brain.

that yes, you can boost your mood, you can increase dopamine and serotonin, you can lower cortisol levels, all of which make you happier and healthier human being. And so, without further ado, please meet my friend and a complete brainiac, Dr. Daniel Amen.

Thank you so much for being with us. Well, I love being with you. So thank you for having me. Oh, you're the best. You know, one of the reasons why I love you is you have been a expert on the brain and a psychiatrist for 40 years, and you do not focus on what's wrong with us.

You literally teach us how to bring out more awesomeness through brain health. You call it elite brain training. What is that?

Well, a long time ago, I realized I hated the term mental illness. It shames people, it's stigmatizing, and it's wrong. There are brain health issues. And if I can teach you to get your brain healthy, well, your mind is better. People often don't understand that. Your brain, physical functioning of your brain creates your mind.

Everybody wants to be better. Nobody wants to be told they're mental. And so the mission I have on the planet is to end the whole concept of mental illness and create this revolution in brain health, which is why I'm so grateful to hang out with you today. Oh, I wasn't planning on asking you this.

But I just was struck by the fact that you distinguished between the brain and the mind.

What's the difference between your brain and your mind? Well, your brain, the physical functioning of your brain creates your mind. And people get this mixed up all the time, but you just have to think of someone who has Alzheimer's disease. And if you saw the scans of people with Alzheimer's disease, you see that they're wildly damaged.

And then that person is no longer fully that person because their brain has been damaged. People really need to know if you want a healthy mind, the first thing to have is a healthy brain. And so are you saying that absolutely anybody?

can improve the physical health of their brain. And that will have an impact on your happiness, your performance and your mental health. Everything. And it happens quickly. So for example, if you get better sleep tonight, your mind will be better tomorrow. If you get drunk tonight, your mind's going to be worse tomorrow. And because those both

a direct impact on the physical functioning of your brain. Wow. Like, you know, it's interesting because you're right. There is so much information and so many conversations out there about mental health.

But you have this revolutionary approach of teaching all of us how to take better care of our brain and how to improve our brain itself and how that has a direct impact. So I want to start at the very beginning because, you know, you've been doing this for 40 years. You are, in my opinion, the world's leading expert on the brain.

And can you give us just a 101 on the brain and what you want anybody and everybody to know about the brain? And I want you to speak directly, Dr. Amen, to somebody who may be listening who's never thought about this topic before. So your brain is involved in everything you do, how you think, how you feel, how you act.

how you get along with other people. It's the organ of intelligence, character, and every single decision you make. And when your brain works right, you work right. And when your brain is troubled for whatever reason, you're sadder, sicker, poorer, because your decisions aren't as good.

Today, I'm in Miami, but I usually live in Newport Beach, where we have more plastic surgeons than almost anywhere in the world, because people care more about their faces, their breasts, their bellies, and their butts than they do their brain. And that's insane.

Because it's your brain that makes you attractive. It's your brain that makes you happy. It's your brain that keeps you purposeful. Or it's your brain that is the organ of rage. And so getting your brain right is critical. And it's these three steps. Brain envy, got to care.

Avoid anything that hurts it. Know the list. And quite frankly, most second graders would get a 90 percent if you gave them 100 things that hurt their brain. And then the third thing is regularly do things that help it.

And I worked with BJ Fogg for six months. He runs a persuasive tech lab at Stanford on how people change. And we develop tiny habits. You know, what's the smallest thing you can do today that will make the biggest difference? And the mother tiny habit is whenever you go to do something today, ask yourself, what

Takes three seconds. Ask yourself, is this good for my brain or bad for it? And if you can answer that with information and love, love of yourself, love of your family, love of your mission, you're going to just start making better decisions because you care about the organ that makes you, you. Wow. All right. Let me unpack this. So number one, brain envy.

is this idea of actually caring about the health of your brain. And so do you recommend that you have somebody in mind that you envy? Like clearly I envy you because you take incredible care of your brain, but is it just this concept that you just actually have to wake up and realize that what's in between your ears is the most important aspect of your health and wellness period? Is that what you're saying?

Yes. And number two, you then said that there are these micro habits that you have developed. What are three micro habits that have the biggest impact on the health of your brain other than asking yourself, is this good or bad for my brain? So I start every day with today is going to be a great day because once you get the physical functioning of your brain healthy, you then have to program it.

So I start every day. So why is today going to be a great day for you? Directing your mind, it puts your brain in a positive state. And then my favorite of all the habits I do is when I go to bed at night, I say a prayer and then I go, what went well?

And I go on a treasure hunt. And I actually start from the very moment I woke up looking for what was right.

about the day. And I've done this now seven or eight years. And even the night my dad died about two and a half years ago, it was an awful, awful day. I did it because it was my habit, right? The brain is lazy. It does what you nudge it to do. And so

It really helped me even in a really hard time. But it's almost my favorite time of the day because like you, I'm busy and great things will happen and I'll just not really focus on it. Let's take a short pause to hear from our sponsors and we'll be right back with Dr. Raymond.

You know, there's one thing that I know about you because you listen to this podcast, that you have big ambitions. You care about your goals. And the question is, are you there yet? If you're not, that's a good thing. The highest achievers among us all are the people who are still striving, people like you, still reaching for something beyond what's right in front of you. And for people who approach the impossible and embrace it, there's a vehicle for you. It's called

the Defender. This iconic vehicle now has a cool and sleek and modern design, which is called the Defender 110. The Defender 110 is legendary. Whether you're wanting to face off-road challenges or harsh weather conditions, this car is engineered to meet challenges

From one business owner to another, I know how important it is to hire the right people. It's everything. Hire a professional.

Hiring the wrong people means nothing goes right. But here's the thing. It's also confusing, time-consuming, and draining. I mean, where do you even begin? Well, you need Indeed. Indeed is the number one job site in the world, and it's here to make the hiring process easier. You see, Indeed knows the best way to search for candidates isn't to search at all. Don't search. Match with Indeed.

The results are in from a recent Indeed survey. 93% of employers say Indeed delivers the highest quality matches of all job sites out there. That's thanks to Indeed's matching engine, which is constantly learning from your preferences. In other words, the more you use Indeed, the better it gets. If you're hiring, why wouldn't you use a platform where 23 hires are made every minute?

And listeners of this show get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com slash Mel Robbins. Just go to Indeed.com slash Mel Robbins right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash Mel Robbins. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? You need Indeed.

You know how after the holidays your house somehow ends up overflowing with more stuff? Well, in the Robbins household, it's the opposite. Things mysteriously vanish the moment the kids come home. Especially my hats, gloves, scarves from Quince. And honestly, I don't blame them. Quince makes the softest, coziest winterwear you can imagine. I'm talking cashmere hats that keep your ears toasty warm. Gorgeous scarves that you can dress up, you can dress down. Super sleek, luxurious leather and shearling gloves. It's not just my kids who are obsessed. I'm

I've been gifting Quince to practically everyone this year because they have incredible clothes, accessories, my favorite, the Mongolian cashmere sweaters, even home goods. Perfect presents, perfect treats for you. The best part, Quince priced 50 to 80% less than similar luxury brands because they partner directly with top factories, skipping the middleman. They pass those savings on to you and me. Treat yourself this winter without the luxury price tag. Go to quince.com slash mel for 365 day returns plus free shipping on your order. That's

Okay, so Dr. Raymond, is there one supplement that you believe everybody should take for better brain health?

Well, a couple, multiple vitamin, a really high quality multiple vitamin. I make one called NeuroBite Plus. Brand new study showed people with memory problems who are headed to darkness when they took a high quality multiple vitamin within a matter of months, their memory was better. What? Wait a minute. Hold on a second.

So you're saying that a high quality multivitamin can not only improve your memory, but if you're sliding on a slippery slope toward memory loss, research shows that it can actually bring memory back?

Yes, brand new research just came out. They're actually comparing it to placebo and cocoa extract chocolate. And they were hoping the chocolate would do it. It wasn't the chocolate, it was the multiple vitamin. Now, I never make a disease claim with supplements, but if this level of B6, B12, and folate is

Did that. Wow. I'm going to start popping it like candy is what I'm going to do. That's incredible. So a multivitamin has a huge impact. I hear a lot about fish oil too. Omega-3 fatty acids have been found to be good for your heart, good for your brain, good for your hair, good for your skin, good for your eyes. Why is it good for the brain?

25% of the nerve cell membranes in your brain are made up of omega-3 fatty acids. So if you're deficient, your brain is not going to work as fast and efficiently as it could. And low levels have been associated with all sorts of bad things from depression to dementia to ADHD.

I'm going to sprint out of this interview. Go get this, these supplements. I mean, I've been really, I'm sort of embarrassed because we've got a brain that I clearly envy here in Dr. Amen. And I feel like I am really dropping supplements.

the ball here on my own brain. And so I'm going to report back the next time we have you on about how I feel really religiously taking a multivitamin and my fish oil. I promise, Dr. Amen. I want to go into some of the other, I guess, chemicals that you hear associated with the brain.

And have you explained to us what they are and why they're important for happiness, for brain health? Let's talk about serotonin. What is it and why is it important? Serotonin is hugely important for many different functions in the brain, but for happiness, for flexibility.

And respect. And respect's the ones that fools people. But when your serotonin levels are low, you more easily feel disrespected. And if you have a social fight or you feel diminished in some way, your serotonin levels drop.

And when serotonin levels go low, people tend to worry. They get stuck on negative thoughts, negative behaviors. They tend to be argumentative and oppositional. And if things don't go their way, they get upset, which on the surface can appear selfish, but it's really not selfish. It's rigid.

and boosting serotonin with like bright light therapy, which is why it's so important to get sunshine and wild, you know, as we go into the holidays, um,

Time change happens just at the wrong time, right? As we get less sunlight and it gets colder outside, we just, you know, then got a bomb dropped on us. Like all of a sudden you lose an hour a day of light. Let me back us up a second. So does your brain create serotonin? Is that like, what is like, what is the function of serotonin in the brain?

So your gut makes about 90% of the serotonin in your body, but it doesn't go directly into your brain. Your brain creates serotonin from the amino acid precursor called tryptophan.

And that's why often eating tryptophan rich foods like turkey can be helpful. You have to eat tryptophan rich foods with a carbohydrate because you need an insulin response to drive tryptophan into the brain. So turkey and sweet potatoes together is a great combination to boost your mood.

So when you have high levels of serotonin, how does that impact you? We tend to be happy. You're a little bit less motivated. You sort of don't care that...

that much. I remember when Prozac first came on to the market and, you know, I would give it to some of my depressed patients and they would say they would be less depressed, but also less motivated because as tryptophan goes up, dopamine, another chemical we should talk about, goes down. They have this sort of counterbalancing effect.

So a lot of people who take SSRIs, they go, well, I'm happier, but I don't really care that much. So is serotonin sort of the happiness one and dopamine is the motivation and drive one? Is that their relationship? Dopamine is the molecule of more.

It's when you get dopamine, you go, oh, I like that. And the problem is the more you get, the more you want. And then it turns into trouble. We are wearing our dopamine centers.

In the brain and our society with our phones and social media and the nonstop video games and texting, we're being thrilled to death, which ultimately wears out the pleasure centers in the brain. So you have to be very careful. I often talk to people about drip dopamine. Don't dump it. What does that mean? Drip dopamine. Don't dump it.

So you want little tiny piece, you know, little tiny bursts of dopamine, not a big splash. So, for example, cocaine, big splash of dopamine and you go, whoa. But the problem is you have none left and then you get depressed, which you then start using.

Alcohol is the same way. Alcohol dumps dopamine. Nicotine vaping dumps dopamine. Scary movies dump dopamine. Falling in love dumps dopamine. You want to drip it.

So would an example of dripping dopamine include the two micro habits you talked about? One being waking up in the morning and saying, I'm going to make it a great day. How am I going to do that? And also at the end of the day, going on that treasure hunt for what went right? Yes. Excellent. How can you tell if you have low dopamine?

If you're tired, if you're sad, and you just don't have the motivation to get done what you want to get done. But the good news is even if you've been back to your brain by doing the right things, your brain, you know, we call it neuroplastic, is it can be better even in a matter of months.

Wow. We've talked about supplements. We've talked about some micro habits. What are simple ways to increase dopamine? Cold showers will do it. So I just took a shower before I did it. And I always finish with like two minutes. I turn all the way cold because cold therapy has been shown to increase both norepinephrine, another neurotransmitter, and dopamine.

Any like certain times of day where your dopamine is higher or lower just naturally? In the morning. And is the same true as serotonin? In the evening. Okay. So explain that to us and then how we can use something natural to boost it.

Everybody's circadian rhythm or the rhythm of their energy is different. There are morning larks and night owls, and you sort of have to know what you are. A lot of my ADD is

patients are night owls and society is sort of biased against them. You know, because school starts early, work starts early for a lot of people. But you just have to know your rhythm. And if your dopamine is high in the morning, that's when you want to focus and get work done. If it tends to be higher later in the day, know yourself.

your rhythm. I'm like slightly overwhelmed. I don't even know where to start in terms of like how to boost my serotonin naturally, how to boost my dopamine naturally. So are there certain things you should do first thing in the morning to keep your dopamine levels high, to stay focused, to promote your brain health?

So one thing I really like is morning bright light. Okay. Morning bright light therapy. And you can actually get these therapy lamps, 10,000 lux. So it's bright. Okay. Put it, don't look at it. Put it like an arm's length away from you for 20 or 30 minutes in the morning. Super simple therapy.

can significantly improve dopamine, your energy, mood, and cognitive function. Exercise. Whether you want to increase serotonin or dopamine, it does both. Walk like you're light for 45 minutes, four or five times a week. Super simple. Bright light.

exercise, just incredibly helpful. I just turned 68 this year. And it's very clear to me that the stronger you are as you age, the less likely you are to get Alzheimer's disease. But it's really for older people, it's frailty that kills them almost more than anything else. So like

exercise, simple supplements. And now you can eat in certain ways to boost the neurotransmitters in your brain. So when you say frailty and strength, are you also recommending in addition to the 30 to 40 minutes of walking as if you're late three or four times a week, that you also add in strength training?

You bet. I think it's absolutely critical for men and for women. Your muscles are your protein reserve. You've probably seen one person gets into a car accident and they come out of it just fine. Another one's permanently damaged. Same accident. Why? Because it's the level of brain health

or brand reserve, they brought into the accident that often determines the outcome. So every single day of your life, from my perspective, every single day of your life, you should be bracing

your brain reserve. Well, that's what I find to be so inspiring and empowering about your work, your research, your message, Dr. Amen, and all the content that, you know, goes crazy viral on TikTok. You are very clear that there are simple things that we can do

to train our brains, to make our brains healthier, and that has an enormous impact on the quality of our lives. And so it's not too late for anybody listening to improve their brain health doing these simple things. Can we talk quickly about cortisol, like what it is, why it matters to kind of understand what it is when it comes to your brain health? So cortisol is...

It's made by your adrenal glands and it helps us manage stress and deal with inflammation. When it's high because of chronic stress, chronic negativity, that it actually puts fat on your belly and shrinks your hippocampus, the major memory center in your brain.

Dr. Raymond, hold that thought. We're going to take a short break. And when we come back, we're going to dig right back into it. Listen, from one coffee lover to another, Rise is not your average cup of joe. I want you to picture this, a morning coffee that gives you all the energy and focus you need to conquer the day, but no crash, no jitters that come with regular coffee. Too good to be true? Nope. That's exactly what Rise Mushroom Coffee delivers.

Rise is a blend of six functional mushrooms carefully chosen to do way more than just wake you up. Every time you sip, you're supporting all-day energy, sharper focus, healthier digestion, even your immune system. It's kind of like your favorite coffee, but supercharged to help you feel amazing inside and out. Now I know what you're thinking. Mel, does mushroom coffee taste like mushrooms? Nope, not even close.

RYZE has a smooth, coffee-like flavor that satisfies your morning cravings without that earthy mushroom taste. And here's the best part. It's a total win for your health. Check out RYZE Mushroom Coffee and get 15% off your first order at ryzesuperfoods.com slash melrobbins. That's R-Y-Z-E superfoods.com slash melrobbins. Don't just wake up, awaken with RYZE.

Is it just me, or does all this rushing that happens during the holiday season really wear you out? I mean, from planning and prepping meals, to finding the perfect gift for everyone on your list, to decorating, wrapping, holy cow, just listing all those things makes me feel tired. Sleep is everything. Mattress Firm gets it. That's why they're all about helping you find the perfect mattress so you can finally get your best rest. And here's the best part, they offer free, fast delivery straight to your door, so you don't have to wait to get better sleep.

Plus, with their 120-night sleep trial, it's completely risk-free. Love your new mattress or they're going to give you your money back. So why not start the new year feeling refreshed and recharged? Check out Mattress Firm's premium selection of top mattress brands. In fact, it's a great present to give to yourself.

Get matched at Mattress Firm's semi-annual sale and clearance and sleep at night. Text MEL to 766693, that's 766693, for $100 off your next purchase at Mattress Firm. Restrictions apply. See mattressfirm.com or store for details.

It takes a lot to grow your business, a lot of audience attracting, a lot of lead scoring, and all the channel managing you can manage. Plus a lot of long days, late nights, and weekends, a lot of wishing there was an easier way. But with HubSpot's new collection of AI tools, Breeze, it's easier than ever for marketers to attract audiences, increase leads, and score customers fast, which means pretty soon your company will have a lot to celebrate. Visit HubSpot slash marketers to learn more.

Okay, so Dr. Raymond, what are three things you can do to start to bring down those cortisol levels? Meditation, incredibly helpful. Prayer for people who do that. Hypnosis, I'm a huge fan. I've done it with my patients for the last 40 years. Having a regular relaxation process. Ask yourself, what is your best way to bring down those cortisol levels?

is this worth killing brain cells for me? You know, whenever I listen to people arguing or really focused on, you know, whatever the latest conspiracy theory is, I'm like, is this worth killing brain cells for me? No, it's not. I know you have a specific breathing pattern that is associated with a calmer mind. Can you teach it to us?

I love it so much. It's the 15 second breath. So if you're having a panic attack,

This is going to fix it in two minutes or less. And what researchers discovered is you take twice as long to breathe out. As you breathe in, it produces an automatic relaxation response in your body. So the pattern is this. It's four seconds in. Hold it for a second and a half.

Eight seconds out, hold it for a second and a half. Will you walk us through it? So four seconds in, hold it. Eight seconds out, hold it out. And then repeat. So let the energy of breathing go lower in your body. And if you just practice this on a regular basis, cortisol will go down and you're just going to get flooded.

with a feeling of calmness and relaxation. Now you gotta practice. You have to create halfway in your brain of relaxation. - Why does this 15 second breath work? - Because it stimulates.

encourages your brain to go into a parasympathetic state. So there's a difference between stress, what scientists call sympathetic state, has nothing to do with sympathy. It's a bad word. But a sympathetic state is where I was on the beach at Corona Del Mar walking my dog and I saw two pit bulls running toward me. Oh, my God.

Oh, my God. Right. So my heart went fast. I mean, it was panic and ended up turning out OK. But what happened now? I'm on the edge of my seat. Did you pick up your dog? Did they just jump up? No, he's a big white shepherd. Oh, I got bit. He ended up in the ocean. Yeah, it was sort of a disaster. I still get triggered sometimes. It's critical.

to eliminate trauma. Because I love walking on that beach so much. So I actually did a session of EMDR. I don't know if you've talked about EMDR. It's...

specific psychological treatment for trauma. It's actually really cool. You're right. It is really cool. So I have been doing EMDR for the past two years as part of my work with my therapist on a whole host of issues. And in particular, EMDR, you guys, it is

super helpful, or at least it has been, for addressing childhood drama. And so what it is, because it's a big long name that I can't even remember what EMDR stands for, but here's what you basically do. You're with a therapist and you revisit something from your past. It's super triggering. And as you do that, you then stare at this ball moving back and forth on the computer screen. And I have no clue why this actually works because

But I do know it has helped me a lot. And it's so powerful and super cool that I want you to know more about it. And so we're just going to do another episode on it. That's what we're going to do. But in the meantime, Dr. Amen.

I have another question, and it's this. How do you calm a really busy brain? So the first simple thing to do is the diaphragmatic breathing, the breathing pattern that we just talked about. The second thing that we haven't talked about, but so important, is to direct your thoughts. I was 28 years old before I learned breathing.

I didn't have to believe every stupid thing I thought. And I'm in class when I was a psychiatric resident at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. And I heard my professor say that.

And I'm like, no way. Because my mind would torture me. You know, I'm one of seven children. I was pretty much irrelevant. I have, you know, five sisters. There's a lot of chaos in my family. And my mind would torture me. And if you start writing down your negative thoughts and just ask yourself whether or not they're true.

And there's a whole process I teach my patients. I need to be the director of my mind rather than my ancestors directed or the voices of my parents directed or the news or, you know, the gossip at work. I need to be the director of

I want to be happy, connected, purposeful. I often go, well, does this thought fit me being happy, connected, and purposeful? And you know, Mel, just because you have a thought has nothing to do with whether or not it's true or whether or not it's helpful. You know, everybody has crazy thoughts. Jerry Seinfeld once said the brain is a sneaky organ.

All of us have weird, crazy, stupid, sexual, violent thoughts that nobody should ever hear. And just because you have a thought, it doesn't say one thing about you. It's just sort of, you know, like the weather. It's not the thoughts you have that make you suffer. It's the thoughts you attach to that make you suffer. I want to ask you a question.

Because I want you to talk to the person that has never considered that they could direct their thoughts or that the things that they think aren't necessarily true. If there's a person hearing this, just like you were 28 years old, sitting in a class when it first entered your mind, other than taking out a notebook and just start to write down the things that are popping in your mind,

Is there some other way to help someone kick the door open? Because this is a revolutionary and life-changing concept when somebody first entertains the notion, Dr. Amen, that you can direct what you're thinking about and you can dismiss some of the crap that you torture yourself with as untrue.

How do you begin this mental training and reprogramming? So I don't have any tattoos, but if I got one, one of the first tattoos I would get is, is it true? It's just start carrying that question around in your... And so when you get a thought, my wife never listens to me. I've had that thought. If you have that question,

then you don't automatically have to attach to it. You can talk back to it. We don't have to believe the nonsense that's going on in our head to sort of begin to think about it like the weather and then go, does this thought serve me? Does it help me? Is it even true?

And it's so often the lies we tell ourselves that keep us overweight, depressed and feeble minded. Yeah, I can give everybody an example from my own life. When I was super sick, I started to tell myself this story that my husband, Chris, was mad at me, that he was annoyed that he was taking care of me.

I was telling myself this story that people were mad that I had to cancel things. And all of those thoughts made me feel terrible. And none of them were true.

And so you're right. I didn't interrupt them last week. I just sort of marinated in them. But I'm realizing sitting here listening to you that I allowed those negative thoughts that were not even true to make me feel bad. What advice do you have for people who are chronically tired, Dr. Amen? Well, the first thing is get your thyroid checked. Get your thyroid checked. Okay. Okay.

Chronic tiredness can go with low thyroid. It can go with you being anemic. It can go with you having low iron. So, you know, I always think of people in four big circles, biological, psychological, social, and spiritual. And so I'm always going to, so what's the biology of tiredness? Okay. You know, got an infection. How's your gut health? What's going on in your hormones?

You can also be chronically tired because you're filled with automatic negative thoughts. So that negativity can drive higher cortisol production and you just feel wiped out. You also might not be sleeping well and getting checked for sleep disorders.

apnea is critical because that goes with chronic tiredness. So if you start loudly, if you stop breathing at night, chronically tired during the day, you should get sleep apnea checked. If you're

in a conflict with a loved one that so drains your energy, or if you're holding on to hurt some huge fan of forgiveness, you know, not holding onto hurts where you're drinking the poison and hoping someone else is going to die. Um,

And then tiredness and spirituality, I think of purpose. The more purposeful someone is, the more dopamine they have.

And so really focusing in on why you're on the planet, I think is a critical piece to energy as well. I want to come back to some tips and some tools that people can use to start boosting brain health. What are the five best foods that you can eat for brain health? Salmon, especially wild salmon for the omega-3 fatty acids.

Berries, blueberries, I often call them brain berries. So people take blueberry extract, as has been shown, to improve memory. Okay. Nuts and seeds. People who eat nuts and seeds on a regular basis have a lower incidence of depression and dementia. Okay.

leafy greens for the fiber and the magnesium. But my favorite one is raw cacao or, you know, the main ingredient in chocolate. Wow. I want you to try this. I make brain healthy hot chocolate virtually every day. How do you make it?

And so I get raw cacao. So for each serving, you know, say the servings like 12 ounces, a heaping teaspoon of raw cacao, unsweetened organic almond milk. And you could do with other nut milks, but I like almond milk. And there's a company called Sweet Leaf that makes liquid chocolate stevia. And so I heat up the milk and,

I mix in the raw cacao. I put a couple of dropper bowls of chocolate stevia and put it in a blender. It tastes amazing. See, I love that there was an ambulance driving by in the background as you as my and our brain doctor.

were telling us to make hot chocolate. That was just a beautiful thing. I think that was the universe telling us all, we need to have our brain healthy cacao with the Stevia chocolate sweetener. I'm actually gonna make one when we are done with this. What can we do to improve our memory, Dr. Amen? - Think about this Mel, 50% of people 85 and older will be diagnosed with dementia.

Like those are odds I am not okay with. And if you want to keep your brain healthy or rescue it, you have to prevent or treat the 11 major risk factors that steal your mind. And I know we don't have time to go in it, but the mnemonic I have is bright mind. So for example, maybe the most important thing B is for blood flow. Whatever you can do to increase blood flow to your brain,

you're going to be happier, your memory is going to be better, and you're going to be more sexual. So is that the brisk walking? So you want to avoid things that steal blood flow, caffeine, nicotine, being sedentary, having any form of heart disease. And then you want to do things that enhance blood flow. So walking, raw cacao,

Beets, the supplement Ginkgo. These things all increase blood flow. Cinnamon, oregano. Cinnamon, oregano. Wow, this is starting to sound like a cooking show. But don't worry, everybody. We're going to put Dr. Amen's information, including the information on Bright Minds, in the show notes because there are 11 of them. And I don't know about you, but I definitely cannot keep track of 11 things right now. So, Dr. Amen, you've been a psychiatrist for 40 years.

What are five things that you would never do because it's bad for your mental health and your brain health? I would never say everything, I think. Some people come to me and say, oh, Dr. Amen, I'm brutally honest. And I'm like, well, that's usually not helpful. I would never purposely stay up late and screw up my sleep. I would never eat everything I want.

And I would never take medicine just based on symptom clusters. I always want to look at the brain and then target whatever treatment I need to how somebody's brain's functioning. Yeah. The one thing I forgot to ask you, this time of year, when it gets darker earlier and it's colder, I...

Notice my mood drops and I feel sad. What do you do whether it's because of the time of year or because of chronic stress, you feel this sort of languishing or heaviness set in? What are three things that you would recommend that somebody do to boost their mood?

So morning bright light, exercise, don't overdo the caffeine. And it's really important. We haven't talked about this yet. Turn off blue light when the sun goes down. What is blue light?

constantly flooded with blue light. And in the morning, it's fine. But after dark, it's not because it decreases the production of melatonin. So you get it from your laptop or you get it from your phone or you get it from whatever gadgets you might be looking at.

And so after dark, either put blue light blockers on your gadgets or just turn them off and go read a book. If you could leave everyone with just one thing to start doing today to create better brain health, what would it be? Whenever you come to a decision point in your day, just ask yourself,

And what I'm doing, good for my brain or bad for it? And if you can answer that with information and love, I'm serious about this, love of yourself, love of your family, love the reason you're on earth, you're going to start making good decisions for your brain. And then everything in your life will be better. Dr. Raymond, you're so awesome. Thank you for giving us

very tactical and doable strategies based on research that help us improve not only the physical and functioning aspect of our brains, but also tools and strategies to help us to start to reprogram the brain and the thinking patterns in it. Dr. Amen, you are a gift. We so appreciate you. I love you. Thank you for spending the time with us. Thanks, Dr. Amen. Thank you, my friend. What a joy.

What a joy is right. And there is so much that Dr. Amen threw at us today in terms of resources and things to do. And there's a particular resource that he has for free that I want to make sure you know about. He has a website called brainhealthassessment.com. I want you to check it out. And here's why. There are 16 different brain types. And based on 200,000 brain scans, Dr. Amen has a free assessment that you can take online that

that based on these 200,000 brain scans that measure blood flow and activity in the brain, he literally can help predict what your brain might look like if it was scanned in one of his clinics based on the most common symptoms that you experience. So in less than five minutes, you can discover a comprehensive approach to optimal brain health,

based on your brain. You can know your brain's risk factors. Why? So that you can actually address it starting today. And so I want you to go to brainhealthassessment.com if you want to learn more, if you want to know what specifically you should do for free, and you will get a personalized email report. And I believe so much in this, obviously, because Dr. Amen's work

has helped my husband. It has helped me and I know it will help you. We'll put this all in the show notes. You can peruse it at your, you know, leisure, your desire, whenever the heck you want, but it's there for you because as you know, the Mel Robbins podcast, we're not just here to listen. We're here to do something about it.

And one final thing, in case nobody else tells you, I want to be the one to tell you that I love you. I believe in you. I believe in your ability to create a better life. And what we both learned today.

is it does begin with you starting to take better care of your brain. That bowl of macaroni that's between your two ears, you and I, we need to start to really pay attention to it. And I hope that you now feel better equipped, I know I do, to be able to do that. All right, I'll see you in a few days. Stitcher.com.

Celebrity Cruises semi-annual sale is so good, you're going to need a bigger bucket list. Explore the Caribbean, Europe, or Alaska with 75% off your second guest plus bonus savings. Book today and see why nothing comes close to Celebrity Cruises. Visit celebrity.com, call 1-800-CELEBRITY or contact your travel advisor.

Offer applies to select sailings. Savings amount varies by stateroom category. Other terms apply. Visit celebrity.com for details. Ships registry, Malta and Ecuador. Hey, it's your friend Mel. If you love the Mel Robbins podcast, you're going to love this. If you want to hear new episodes ad-free, subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts on Apple Podcasts and start your free trial today.