0:03

What if every experience,

0:06

every hardship, every obstacle

0:09

was given to you not to break

0:11

you, but to mold you and strengthen

0:13

you. What if the center of your suffering was actually

0:15

the key to ultimate health? And what if your

0:18

own pain was meant to be the catalyst

0:20

for your rate is purpose. Welcome to

0:22

bud belly life, empowering purpose, mind

0:25

to microbiome. So,

0:29

one thing that I love, I know that

0:31

what I wanna talk about the future of

0:33

brain and mental health. One part that

0:35

I love that I shared with , um , some of

0:38

my coaching community the other day that I

0:40

just read in your book, functional psychology

0:42

for anxiety, depression, and cognitive

0:44

decline. Um, was

0:46

that meaning having

0:49

meaning, doing things of meaning is

0:52

neuroprotective. Can

0:55

you, can you elaborate a little bit on that?

0:57

Because I am the hugest believer that

0:59

each person was created for purpose

1:02

and to create. And I think creation

1:05

turns into purpose yet a lot of the

1:07

time, not maybe a single solitary purpose,

1:09

but purpose in life and that that can

1:11

help people with addiction , um,

1:13

with all the things, getting out of the rut of just trying

1:16

not to do it, whether it be a diet, you

1:18

know, issue of having a food addiction, whether it

1:20

be a drug or alcohol or substance

1:22

addiction or , um , depression or anxiety,

1:25

though , if we can tap into purpose while

1:27

we're, while we're working on

1:29

, uh , nurturing our bodies and,

1:31

and doing therapy and doing the things that

1:34

it can just skyrocket us into a place that

1:36

sticks and keeps us there. And when you said

1:38

that in your book, meaning is

1:40

neuroprotective. I , I think

1:43

that is the coolest thing. Can you elaborate a little bit

1:45

on that?

1:45

Yeah. Yeah, sure. So

1:49

again, this, this approach is

1:52

holistic. Meaning we're working on every level,

1:55

body, and brain heart,

1:57

the emotional level, mind,

2:00

the cognitive level and spirit as

2:02

well, all four levels,

2:04

all of these get integrated

2:07

into the brain and

2:10

the self, right? They all become

2:12

synthesized into this unitary

2:15

experience of ourselves. And

2:19

I guess where I'm coming from is

2:21

that underneath

2:23

it all, we all our , our fundamental

2:25

identity. And I think all the spiritual traditions really

2:28

say this, our fundamental identity is

2:30

spirit is the soul. And

2:34

I think in many of these traditions, each

2:37

individual soul, each

2:40

spiritual being is unique. There

2:42

, there is something universe, soul , and

2:45

impersonal to our spiritual

2:47

nature. That is one with everything and

2:49

one with the divine, but there

2:51

is also something unique to each

2:53

individual soul. And

2:56

that we incarnate. We take

2:59

birth in order to

3:01

learn certain things and order to contribute

3:03

certain things to this world that

3:05

our soul has a mission. Our soul

3:08

has something that needs to do here. Some

3:10

things that needs to learn and some things that needs

3:12

to contribute and the

3:16

degree to which we are out of alignment it

3:19

with that is a degree

3:21

to which we experience a lack of meaning,

3:24

a lack of purpose, right

3:27

? That the soul puts forth

3:29

a new body, heart mind in

3:32

this incarnation that has certain potentials

3:36

certain abilities, certain. And

3:42

as we, as,

3:44

as the brain meets,

3:47

the world Meets

3:51

the challenges of the world that

3:54

calls forth these abilities, that calls

3:56

forth, these talents that we have

3:58

inside ourselves, right? You

4:03

know, people talk about

4:06

stress as only a

4:08

negative thing. Um,

4:11

and chronic stress and

4:13

severe stress is negative. It

4:15

slows down the neurogenic rate. It creates inflammation

4:18

bad for the brain bad for our mental

4:20

health, but moderate

4:23

stress short term stress

4:26

actually is good for the brain. It , it increases

4:29

the neurogenic rate and

4:32

a short term stress is a challenge that

4:35

forces us to sort of bring forth new

4:37

abilities, new capacities, as we

4:39

meet that stress, that moderate

4:42

stress. And if

4:44

we can find it's sort of a Goldilock zone

4:46

of stress, where we, we are challenged

4:49

by life in a way that

4:51

is optimal, that sort of brings

4:53

forth our brains capacities,

4:55

our self capacities. And

4:59

as we do that optimal,

5:02

we entered this state of flow, right

5:04

? What Chickie Miha talked about

5:06

is the state of flow where this

5:08

there's this optimal meeting between

5:11

. It's like, if the challenge is too simple, it

5:13

gets boring. If it's

5:16

too much, then it's frustrating. But

5:18

if it's just right, then it , this state

5:21

of flow is, is created where

5:24

there's this optimal meeting of our

5:26

abilities, our potentials that

5:29

then get actualized in

5:31

life, right? We, we find our

5:33

true work. We find the

5:36

people we are meant to be with there's this,

5:38

this state of flow. And

5:40

that's where the program

5:44

, the soul's mission begins to come

5:46

forth, right? That through

5:49

the brains, capacities and

5:52

abilities, through the self, just

5:54

inherent potentials in

5:57

actualizing, those life

5:59

is meaningful. We feel, and

6:02

, and , and that state is

6:04

neurogenic . That state is right,

6:08

because that state is one in which we are

6:10

around people who see

6:12

us really get us, who, who love

6:14

us for who we are, not who projecting,

6:17

who we wanna be, but really get

6:19

us and who we can really be ourselves with and

6:21

, and be intimate with and

6:23

vulnerable with. And , um, where

6:26

there's a deep, loving connection. Love

6:29

is highly neurogenic . And

6:32

anti-inflammatory, it's really good for

6:34

the brain. I mean, the spiritual

6:36

dish have been saying this for thousands of years,

6:39

that love a state

6:41

of inner peace. A state of actualizing

6:44

our soul in the world is the

6:46

spiritual path. It turns out that's

6:48

also really good for the brain as

6:51

well. Um , I mean, it

6:53

seems kind of intuitively obvious, but it's nice

6:55

that there's research that actually shows this

6:58

Well . And I , I think it's easy too. When we live in

7:01

such a, a technology driven

7:03

, uh , material world to

7:05

forget a lot of the

7:09

non-material components of

7:11

life and how things work or, or

7:13

people get confused. And they think that

7:16

it has to be associated with religion

7:18

or it's anti their

7:21

faith, their religion, or all

7:23

these things. And they don't realize that you're not

7:25

just, it , it's just, it's, you're not a

7:27

robot. We're not just these mechanical, you

7:30

know, EMBAs, you know, like with

7:32

nothing to us, we have feelings. We think thoughts,

7:34

we create, we , we do art,

7:37

we have true trauma. And,

7:40

you know, I think, I think people who have

7:42

experienced hard things

7:45

or yucky experiences

7:47

, um, if

7:49

they can believe in their purpose, in

7:52

purpose in general and seek

7:54

it, that they not only find healing for

7:57

things of their past, but realize

8:00

they come to a , a realization eventually

8:02

that they

8:04

have something major to

8:07

contribute to this world in

8:09

that every experience before this

8:11

was a piece of, of

8:13

the journey to cultivate them and into who

8:15

they are. And , um, if we

8:17

can believe that, then we're not a, not a

8:20

sitting duck. And we don't feel that we're,

8:22

you know, our life is out of

8:24

our hands. I love, I love

8:26

that. I love that. So

8:30

, um, the

8:33

future of brain and mental

8:35

health, I I'd be line if I didn't

8:37

say I wasn't . Um, in as

8:39

most PC term , as I can put it highly

8:42

disappointed with how

8:44

mental health is handled, I

8:46

support, I know we have hotlines for

8:49

, um, you know, if

8:51

someone's feeling suicidal and all that. And

8:53

every time I see that stuff, it really, it,

8:55

it bothers me, bless the people's hearts

8:57

behind those phones and , um,

9:00

the intention, you know, to do that. But

9:03

I feel very strongly that we are dropping

9:05

the ball with people in

9:07

suffering, in prevention, and

9:09

we are band symptoms and

9:12

profiting off of their suffering.

9:14

Yeah . So what is a , what does a perfect world look

9:17

like for treating

9:20

and preventing and working with mental

9:22

health and cognitive , um,

9:25

dysfunction? Yeah . You ,

9:29

That's a , a great question and

9:32

a huge question, right? Um,

9:35

I like to ask huge questions, doc.

9:37

Yeah , that's great . It's great . No , no , it's good. It's

9:39

good. Um, because

9:44

it really starts with healing myself first,

9:46

right? It's like, yeah , if

9:49

I'm gonna have kids who are gonna

9:51

come into this world, I

9:53

first of all need to do some of my own work

9:55

. I wanna heal my own brain. I

9:58

wanna heal my own self so that

10:00

when my kids come into this world , it's

10:04

inevitable to pass on some of it , but hopefully a lot

10:06

less than I got . Right . And

10:10

so to create a culture where

10:16

having a child is really supported,

10:19

where motherhood is

10:21

really honored and where

10:24

the mother really has

10:26

learned how to be deeply empathic

10:29

to have this kind of empathic attunement

10:32

with her infant, and

10:35

to be able to raise child, that

10:37

is where we are tuned

10:39

into the child and tuned

10:42

in not just psychologically and emotionally,

10:44

which is really important, but

10:47

also physically that

10:49

is building a brain that

10:51

is really going to be robust and strong.

10:55

Um, yeah . And is, again

10:57

, this kind of holistic atmosphere

11:00

where physically, emotionally, mentally

11:02

there is stimulation spiritually.

11:04

There is an environment in which the,

11:07

the deeper being can

11:09

come forth and be honored. Um,

11:12

I think that this kind of holistic

11:15

or body heart, mind, spirit

11:18

environment is important.

11:20

And what we see in the world today

11:23

is, as you're saying very technological,

11:26

very materialistic, very

11:28

consumer oriented, very oriented

11:31

around pharmaceuticals to treat things

11:33

rather than really looking

11:36

at what does the brain need to heal? What

11:38

does the self need to heal and

11:41

most important of all? How do

11:43

we prevent this? Right? An ounce of prevention is

11:45

worth bound, a cure.

11:47

Do you have a desire for fulfillment? That's

11:50

helping people tap into their own health mentally,

11:52

emotionally, and physically fire you up. Do

11:55

you believe in the impact of the gut microbiome on

11:57

overall wellness, you may

11:59

be an H WCA coach for

12:01

more info on our cutting edge

12:03

health coach trainings visit H

12:06

w C a coach.com

12:08

. I

12:10

think his mother Teresa said something nearly when

12:12

she was asked, you know, where

12:15

does one start? Because she had done so many

12:17

amazing things. And she said something

12:19

to the effect that if you wanna heal the world, the

12:22

best thing to do is go home and focus on your family,

12:25

like focus on which, which feels it

12:27

can feel weird sometimes for people who are really

12:29

driven to, to give and

12:31

do things, a purpose, because it

12:34

there's a whole world out there that's suffering, you

12:36

know, but, but if we all in

12:38

order to be the best with our kids, I've learned this, my

12:41

husband and I have a combined family of six children

12:44

below the age of 11 .

12:45

Wow .

12:45

Yeah, it's crazy. And we've

12:48

never delved so much into

12:50

our own healing in growth through

12:53

this process of coming together, the two of us and

12:56

the raising of this blended family of children, and

13:00

it has been incredibly

13:02

difficult and deep, and, but

13:04

also uproots a

13:07

lot of stuff that you didn't realize just laid

13:09

there and infected you because you gotta

13:11

figure out why it's coming on your child. And

13:13

, um, so I

13:16

love that. Um , on a more basic note,

13:21

I know this is a touchy subject for people, and

13:23

I'm, I'll make this statement. I'm not gonna put this on you , but

13:25

, um, you know, when it comes to what we

13:27

are feeding our kids, that obviously

13:29

the emotional nourishment is so important, but

13:32

I know that I am very keen , I

13:34

to the damage that we cause to our mental health

13:36

of our children and with the, the absolutely skyrocketing

13:40

rates of mental health and

13:42

even suicide amongst teens and young

13:45

children, kids , um, I

13:48

know that a huge that

13:51

what we are feeding and how we are nourishing their

13:53

internal bodies affects their little brain in so

13:55

much as they're grow and developing. And it's

13:58

almost a taboo subject to talk about because

14:00

we don't wanna invoke shame in people

14:02

. But also I feel like

14:04

it's like ignoring the person , the secondhand

14:07

smoke in the car with the child in their , I think it's

14:09

important for , to know what it's

14:11

doing with our kids and what the food that they're

14:14

consuming is doing to their

14:17

Absolutely eating organically. First

14:19

of all, would be the single most important thing

14:22

anybody can do. The other thing

14:24

I think would be making sure that the

14:26

kids have enough omega3 fat acids.

14:28

If there's one change I could , would

14:30

go back and make with my kids, I

14:32

would add a lot more omega three to their diet.

14:35

Cause again, it's the fundamental building block

14:37

of the brain. Um, and

14:40

also eating this neurogenic diet neurogenic

14:43

. Um, I don't think ketogenic

14:45

is so important when you're , uh , raising a child,

14:48

but certainly anti-inflammatory , um,

14:51

and gut friendly, you know, not

14:54

doing antibiotics unless absolutely

14:56

necessary, and then doing

14:59

some probiotics, but more

15:01

than doing probiotics than increasing

15:04

the numbers of strains, right?

15:07

So we not only

15:09

need to heal the tight junctions of

15:11

the intestines and heal the gut, but we need

15:13

to increase the number of strains. So

15:16

it used to be thought that we had way

15:18

more bacteria than we

15:20

do cells of the body, but they

15:22

had recount and they figure, they now think it's

15:25

about the same about we have about 40

15:27

trillion cells in the body in about 40

15:29

trillion bacteria. And

15:31

of that in indigenous cultures,

15:34

they have about 20,000 different

15:36

strains of bacteria in

15:38

the west. We have about 10,000

15:40

, sometimes as little as

15:43

1000 , which is a

15:45

disaster for the immune system, right? Because

15:48

immune system is there. And

15:51

so we need to increase the number of strains.

15:54

Probiotics are helpful. Like there

15:56

are certain probiotics which have been shown to

15:59

decrease anxiety and depression scores

16:01

by 50%. There

16:04

are other strains which have been shown to

16:06

increase cognitive scores and

16:08

, and the book goes into these, but

16:11

more than I think doing those is important,

16:14

but more than that, we need to increase the number of strains

16:17

by hundreds at a time like

16:19

eating a lot more fiber Increase

16:23

the number of strains going

16:25

in .

16:26

Cause it feeds them. It's their preferred food.

16:28

Exactly, exactly. Um

16:30

, it's like the , uh , the

16:32

obstetrician telling the pregnant woman, you know, you're

16:35

not just eating for one. Um, here,

16:37

you're eating for trillion .

16:39

Um , yes, that's um , I'm gonna

16:41

make a note to quote that, cuz that's a good

16:43

one.

16:46

And, and going into nature, when

16:49

you just inhale in a forest, you

16:51

are taking hundreds of rains

16:53

of bacteria, which get into your nasal passages,

16:56

going down to your throat and colonize your

16:58

gut. If you're swimming in the ocean,

17:01

just swallow a couple of gulps of

17:03

ocean water, you'll be taking in hundreds

17:05

of strains. Um , if

17:07

you're working in the garden, don't wash

17:10

yourself off. Immediately let

17:12

some of those bacteria, you get onto your skin

17:15

and they'll eventually find their way into

17:17

your body. Um, so

17:20

we need to be not so antiseptic.

17:23

Um, you know, another difficulty with

17:25

the whole coronavirus thing is

17:28

that everybody was cleaning everything all the

17:30

time , a disaster for the microbiome.

17:35

And then let's also add sugar

17:37

consumption to that list, especially

17:40

with our kiddos, I would say, you

17:43

know , um, I was astonished

17:46

at the things that were being offered at some of our kids'

17:48

schools, our kids , our kids go to two different schools. Um,

17:51

but one of 'em she, we asked , you

17:53

know, what do you eat? One of the schools we have to pack all

17:55

lunches, always have done that pack

17:57

lunches, you know, whatever. But the other

17:59

one, and we share our children, not in just

18:01

our house and things like that. So, you know, they're eating school lunches.

18:04

And, and we found out from our five year old that she

18:06

was picking the veggie tray every day . So

18:08

I asked what was on her veggie tray and every

18:10

day it's something similar to this. It's

18:13

a chocolate chip muffin, a

18:16

sugared yogurt, a

18:18

string cheese, and chocolate milk.

18:20

This is every day , this is considered

18:23

lunch. And I, I haven't

18:25

even done the math to add up how many grams of actual sugar

18:27

that is. Um, and how void of

18:30

actual nutrition that is and how the heck

18:32

we are giving this to our kids and calling it nutrition.

18:36

Um, but you wanna grow the gram

18:38

negative bacteria in your gut rather quickly.

18:41

You just consume a lot of sugar and starve

18:43

them of fiber. Like you said, that

18:45

good solid fiber that's

18:49

supposed to feed all the bugs. So

18:51

sugar, sugar, sugar be

18:54

for ,

18:54

Thank you for saying that. Um, I, I

18:56

didn't say this back then when we were talking about

18:58

this on , on a previous one, but it

19:01

turns out that a high sugar diet will

19:03

cut your neurogenic rate in two.

19:06

Whoa. So you imagine being a

19:08

kid who has a high rate

19:11

and needs a high Egen rate to build this

19:13

brain, cutting that rate in

19:16

two , that's gonna have a disastrous

19:18

of that . And you look at the standard American diet, you

19:20

know, sugar cereal. Um

19:23

, it's just like

19:25

What you describe .

19:26

It's unbelievable. That is a disaster

19:29

for American kids' brains. Absolutely.

19:31

And then we're trying to diagnose them with a D D

19:34

ADHD, behavioral function, you

19:37

know, focus issues and everything else. And we're

19:39

not even coming back to the drawing board of how we're

19:41

supporting or not supporting their

19:43

brain and it's functionality.

19:45

Exactly.

19:46

And then you add to that screens technology,

19:49

and we're not shame in anybody, you guys, this is

19:52

just education is power. And

19:55

then we make the choices. So if

19:57

we don't know, we don't know what we don't know, but once you

19:59

know it, you can choose different. And I

20:01

think that's, what's important with that. I'm

20:03

gonna put all the links, you guys in the show notes,

20:06

and you can find, I'm sure you can find on Amazon

20:08

where I did. If you want the book that I'm reading right now,

20:10

it is called functional psych call for

20:13

anxiety , depression , and cognitive decline.

20:16

And you can go to brat , courtright.com

20:18

, which is B R a NT C

20:21

O RTR I ht.com

20:23

. Find more information about

20:26

Dr . Brant Courtright and everything he's doing. Thank

20:31

you for joining us for another empowering

20:34

episode of Budha belly life. For

20:36

more information on gut health and mindset, resources,

20:39

visit Budha belly , life.com and

20:41

remember heal yourself and then empower

20:44

others to do the same .