Daniel G. Amen - The Amen Solution: The Brain Healthy Way to Get Thinner, Smarter, Happier

MEDICAL DISCLAIMER

The information presented in this book is the result of years of practice experience and clinical research by the author. The information in this book, by necessity, is of a general nature and not a substitute for an evaluation or treatment by a competent medical specialist. If you believe you are in need of medical interventions, please see a medical practitioner as soon as possible. The stories in this book are true. The names and circumstances of the stories have been changed to protect the anonymity of patients.

Copyright 2011 by Daniel G. Amen, M.D.

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Crown Archetype, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

www.crownpublishing.com

Crown Archetype with colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

eISBN: 978-0-307-46362-3

Jacket design by Jennifer OConnor

Jacket photograph by Blake Little

v3.1_r1

To Matt, I am rooting for you

I n my book Change Your Brain, Change Your Body, I wrote about how you can use your brain to improve the health of your heart, skin, energy, focus, memory, sexual function, and weight. In it, I revealed that based on our brain imaging work at the Amen Clinics with tens of thousands of patients from eighty different countries over the last twenty years, we have discovered two of the major secrets why most diets dont work. And contrary to what you might think, they have nothing to do with your lack of desire to lose weight or your willpower. In fact, for some people the harder they try to lose weight, the worse it gets.

The first secret is that most weight problems occur between your ears. So stapling your stomach may, in fact, be working on the wrong organ. Not to mention that ten years after gastric banding surgery, the success rate is a disappointing 31 percent. It is your brain that pushes you away from the table telling you that youve had enough, and it is your brain that gives you permission to have that second bowl of ice cream, making you look and feel like a blob. If you want a better body, the first place to always start is by having a better brain.

The second secret, based on our brain imaging work, is that there is not just one brain pattern associated with being overweight; there are at least five different patterns. Giving everyone the same diet plan will make some people better and a lot of people worse. Knowing about your own specific brain will make losing weight and keeping it off a whole lot easier.

The response to these revelations has been amazing, and the book vaulted onto the New York Times bestseller list and stayed there for months. I knew people would respond to the message that their brain and weight are intricately connected and that if you boost your brain you can have a better body. What I wasnt prepared for, though, was the deluge of desperate requests from readers asking for more specific help on how to use their brains to lose their bellies.