Fix A Broken Brain with Dr. Hyman (Part 2)

January 17, 2018

Dr. Mark Hyman is leading a health revolution—one revolved around using food as medicine to support longevity, energy, mental clarity, happiness, and so much more. Dr. Hyman is a practicing family physician and an internationally recognized leader, speaker, educator, and advocate in the field of Functional Medicine. He is the founder and director of The UltraWellness Center, the Head of Strategy and Innovation of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine, a fourteen-time New York Times bestselling author, and Board President for Clinical Affairs for The Institute for Functional Medicine. He is the host of one of the leading health podcasts, The Doctor’s Farmacy. Dr. Hyman is a regular medical contributor on several television shows and networks, including CBS This Morning, Today, Good Morning America, The View, and CNN. He is also an advisor and guest co-host on The Dr. Oz Show.

Want more from Dr. Mark Hyman? Watch his FREE docuseries on how to optimize your brain function and reclaim your health, energy, and mental clarity.

"Remember: your brain is an organ — and by fixing your body, you can fix your brain."

Dr. Mark Hyman

Subscribe To My Podcast:

How do you fix a broken brain?

How do you fix a broken brain? According to Dr. Mark Hyman, the formula is simple: just take out the bad stuff and put in the good stuff. Discover what ‘the bad stuff’ is in today’s episode.

To listen to Part 1 of this episode with 10-time New York Times bestselling author Dr. Mark Hyman, please click, here.

Many of you know that I was labeled the boy with the broken brain as a child. That’s why I was so thrilled to be one of 50+ brain experts in his FREE docuseries, Broken Brain. Discover how to optimize your brain function and reclaim your health, energy, and mental clarity with me and 50+ other experts for FREE, here.

Subtraction can be powerful. Whether it’s people or projects, subtracting can multiply your life.

In this episode, Dr. Mark Hyman reveals what you should remove from or reduce in your life to optimize brain health.

‍Disclaimer: The content of this episode is for informational purposes only. For medical questions, please seek advice from a qualified healthcare practitioner.

What to Remove to Fix Your Brain

Remove the wrong foods

Sugar and flour (gluten) are well-documented to drive brain dysfunction.
Be careful of refined vegetable oils because we’re consuming them in quantities we never have before.
Large amounts of vegetable oil can be inflammatory, especially without enough omega-3s.
Avoid trans fats and hydrogenated fats.
Avoid food-like substances, such as additives and colorings.
In one study, children who drank a dyed drink vs a naturally fruit-colored drink had ADD, hyperactivity, and violence.
Beware of excitotoxins such as MSG and aspartame.
MSG has many names, including healthy-sounding ones like ‘hydrolyzed vegetable protein.’

Drink less

Alcohol is one of the biggest brain-damaging substances out there.
A little bit is OK, but a little bit more is not.
Depending on your genetics, you can dramatically impact your health by minimizing alcohol consumption.

Avoid toxins

All environmental toxins affect the brain.
Mercury is a particularly powerful brain toxin in our food supply and our fillings. Watch how much sushi you are eating.
Use resources like the Environmental Working Group to avoid toxins in your food, household products, and beauty products.
Many lipsticks have lead.
Detoxify yourself.
Eat foods that upregulate detoxification like broccoli and garlic.
Use saunas.

Remove harmful medications

Many drugs affect the brain.
Taking a statin drug, which is one of the most widely prescribed drugs, increases amyloid production in the brain.
Amyloid is the substance in an Alzheimer’s brain that creates the damage.

Stop depriving yourself of sleep

The glymphatic system of the brain clears out all the debris at night, which is why you wake up feeling refreshed.
Sleep deprivation affects your brain function just as much as alcohol does.
In a study of military soldiers, sharpshooters who slept over 7 hours shot with 98% accuracy. If they slept about 6 – 7 hours, they shot with 50% accuracy. If they slept 5 hours, they shot with 23% accuracy. If they slept less than 5 hours, they shot with 13% accuracy.
Over a third of us sleep less than 7 hours a night.

Avoid stress

Stress shrinks the hippocampus, which is the brain’s memory center.
Stress impacts the blood-brain barrier and leads to inflammatory processes in the brain.
Cortisol (the stress hormone) can literally shrink your brain.

Get enough exercise

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a compound that helps stimulate brain growth.
When you don’t exercise, BDNF doesn’t work.

What did you learn from this episode?

Share your takeaways on social media with me (@jimkwik) and Dr. Hyman (@markhymanmd)!