No.1 Brain Doctor: The Habit Speeding Up Dementia (You Do It Every Day) | Dr. Daniel Amen
In a Nutshell
Dr. Daniel Amen warns that marijuana is the second-worst substance for accelerating brain aging after schizophrenia, with prenatal exposure up 1,700% since legalization and users showing 450% higher psychosis risk. The single most critical daily habit is asking "Is this good for my brain or bad for it?" while rejecting "everything in moderation" as the gateway excuse to brain-damaging behaviors like refined sugar, alcohol, and artificial sweeteners. Key brain-health practices include diaphragmatic breathing for anxiety, evening reflection on positive moments, and prioritizing blood flow through exercise over sedentary activities like excessive Netflix watching.
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Many people attempt to solve mental challenges when the actual issue is a physical brain problem. Energy issues, fatigue issues, and focus issues often stem from missing fundamental brain health information. People never see their brains despite using them daily. The physical functioning of the brain creates the mind moment by moment. If the brain is not right, the mind is not right.
Alzheimer's disease demonstrates this connection clearly. Very damaged brains produce very damaged minds, causing people to act in ways they would never act if their brain was healthy. People with Alzheimer's do not remember individuals they deeply love. A healthy mind requires a healthy brain first.
Over 1,000 convicted felons and over 100 murderers have been scanned, revealing their brains are very damaged. The question becomes what habits and patterns damage brains from birth, potentially leading to extreme outcomes.
Marijuana exposure occurs even before birth. Since legalization in many states, babies born with marijuana in their bodies has increased by 1,700%. This prenatal exposure damages life trajectories. Affected children show more behavior problems, more attention problems, and less empathy for others.
Marijuana users need it because the substance changes their brain to require it to feel normal. The drug calms things down in the brain, which is why users feel it is helpful.
A study of 1,000 marijuana users showed lower activity in every area of their brain. The world's largest imaging study of 62,454 scans examined accelerated brain aging. Marijuana was the second worst substance for accelerating aging, worse than alcohol. Only schizophrenia was worse than marijuana for brain aging.
Marijuana dulls and slows nerve cell firing. While it may help busy, anxious brains feel calmer, it damages neuron structure. Kids who use marijuana have increased incidence of anxiety, depression, and suicide in their 20s. Marijuana users have a 450% increased risk of developing psychosis.
Modern marijuana is much more potent than in previous decades. Emergency rooms see "scromitting" - screaming and vomiting simultaneously - which people mistake for marijuana poisoning.
People turn to marijuana before learning non-toxic alternatives like diaphragmatic breathing, meditation, self-hypnosis, or EMDR for trauma. The non-toxic approaches should come first. While non-toxic methods are slower and require learning, they are not immediate like substances.
Diaphragmatic breathing can break panic attacks in two minutes using 4 seconds in, hold for 1 second, 8 seconds out, hold for 1 second, repeated for three minutes. This produces feeling better and calmer. People do not know these techniques and therefore seek quick fixes from dealers.
When feeling sad, mad, nervous, or out of sorts, write down thoughts. Ask if the thought is true, then write the opposite. Often the opposite of the torturing thought is also true. This technique works with spouses. Where you look determines how you feel - finding the negative creates negative feelings, finding the beautiful creates beautiful feelings.
The standard American diet damages the brain. The BRIGHT MINDS mnemonic includes:
- B for blood flow - low blood flow is the number one brain imaging predictor of Alzheimer's disease
- Excessive Netflix watching and lack of exercise damage the brain
- The brain has soft butter consistency while the skull is hard with sharp bony ridges
Mild traumatic brain injuries ruin lives. From 210,000 scans, mild traumatic brain injuries emerged as the single most important factor. Physical activities like snowboarding, falling off horses, football, soccer, and hockey cause these injuries. Physical abuse and domestic violence also cause brain damage. Falls, car accidents, texting while driving, and texting while walking contribute to three million new concussions annually in the United States. Over 30 years, this means 90 million people have had concussions. Concussions commonly cause depression, homelessness, addiction, suicide, panic attacks, and ADHD.
Frozen blueberries are recommended as "God's candy." Avocados are recommended as "God's butter." Hitting the head with soccer balls should be avoided.
Every morning when feet hit the floor, say "Today is going to be a great day" to program the subconscious mind. The subconscious pays attention to conscious mind words. Negative morning statements program bad days.
Bedtime is crucial for good days. When going to bed, ask "What went well today?" and go on a treasure hunt for right things that happened. Look for micro moments. This habit was maintained even on the day the speaker's father died. Despite internal criticism about being a bad child, the practice revealed a funny interaction between mother and police officer, texts from friends, and holding father's hand. The practice enables mastering the mind rather than being a victim of situations. Grief continues, but habits direct the mind while taking care of the brain.
Removing refined sugar from diet did not feel good initially. Things good for people do not always feel good when started. Benefits come later, along with pattern shifts. The goal should be feeling good now and later, not just now. Four-year-old mindset seeks immediate feeling good without considering later consequences.
"Love food that loves you back" means being in relationship with food. Wanting to love what is eaten while ensuring it loves back. Being in love with alcohol represents an abusive relationship since alcohol is toxic to brain and body. The choice is between immediate pleasures like mountains of fries or swimming pools of alcohol versus energy, clarity, memory, vitality, and creativity.
The brain is lazy and wants to continue previous patterns. Changing habits takes time. Giving in to every craving is the enemy of happiness because it wears out dopamine and pleasure centers. Drip dopamine rather than dump it. Dumping dopamine through fries, alcohol, or pornography leaves little remaining, requiring repetition. Chemicals then control rather than self-control.
Happiness is a moral obligation because of effects on other people. People raised by unhappy parents, married to unhappy spouses, or raising unhappy children recognize happiness as an ethical issue. Seek happiness in the context of health.
Every day ask: "Is this good for my brain or bad for it?" This simple question is the mother tiny habit for having a great brain for life.
"Everything in moderation" is the worst advice received. This is the gateway thought to hell and to cheating. People saying everything in moderation are about to do something bad for their brain. Moderation becomes an excuse for sugar, alcohol, marijuana, or fast food. It is one of the little lies people tell themselves that keep them fat, depressed, and feeble-minded.
The current purpose is changing how psychiatric medicine is practiced, taking it out of the dark ages, ending the concept of mental illness, and creating a revolution in brain health.
At age 37 in 1991, despite being a double board certified psychiatrist and top neuroscience student in medical school, there was no care for personal brain health. Being overweight, sleeping only four hours nightly, and chronically stressed led to scanning the brain and discovering it was unhealthy. The speaker's 86-year-old mother had a better-looking brain. This created "brain envy" - wanting a better brain. The last 31 years have been spent trying to get a better brain. Earlier knowledge would have prevented playing football and drinking diet soda excessively.
Diet soda was thought to be free because it had no calories, but aspartame and sucralose are harmful. A new study examined sugar, sucralose (Splenda), and stevia with brain scans and cognitive testing. Stevia showed no changes and seemed safe. Sugar caused dropped new learning. Splenda was worst, causing dropped new learning, dropped long-term memory, and surge of slow frontal lobe activity, deactivating frontal lobes. Yellow packets of artificial sweeteners are everywhere.
Government spending provides Pop-Tarts to poor children despite knowing they are harmful, which keeps them poor. Agricultural logic drives these decisions rather than health considerations.
Making a difference makes happy. Being one of seven children and in the middle created feelings of being completely irrelevant. Not being irrelevant helps make happy.
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