Participants: Hans Diehl, Don Mackintosh
Series Code: HFAL
Program Code: HFAL000059
00:46 Hello and welcome to "Health for a Lifetime"
00:48 I'm your host Don Mackintosh 00:49 We're glad you are with us. 00:50 Also, today we have Dr. Hans Diehl with us... 00:53 Welcome Dr. Diehl. Good to be here, Don 00:56 Many times when I have spoken with you or we've talked, 00:59 over the years we've talked about the "CHIP Program" 01:02 "Coronary Health Improvement Program" 01:05 And just recently, you have finished a new series of videos 01:08 updating that with the latest scientific information, 01:11 all those different things, it's a delight to watch. 01:13 We have used it in our community. 01:15 I understand that these videos are also available 01:18 for other communities or other groups that want to get 01:20 the message of health out and have a team to support them. 01:24 Isn't that right? Yeah, that's right 01:26 Today, we have a very interesting subject though, 01:29 the brain, undernourished or overfed, to that effect, 01:34 and tell us a little bit about that... 01:37 What are we going to be talking about today? 01:40 Usually when we talk about being overfed and undernourished 01:43 we think more about the body usually... 01:44 Too much foods, the wrong foods, 01:46 not the proper nutrient values. 01:48 But could it be that we have a similar situation 01:52 with the brain or some portions of the brain 01:55 such as the frontal lobe... are actually UNDERFED 01:59 in contrast to the other portions of the brain 02:02 which are OVERFED. 02:04 I mean, just think about the informational age... 02:06 we are barraged with reports on stocks and bonds, 02:10 and greeds and scandals and everything else... 02:12 And could it be that some portions of the brain 02:16 that take in that information, 02:18 namely the BACK portion of the brain, 02:20 are actually OVERFED at the expense of the frontal lobe 02:25 where we store ethical values, spiritual values, family values. 02:30 That's the question! 02:32 And it sounds like, from that question, 02:34 that you have an answer! 02:35 Well, you see, when you look at the brain, 02:39 you look at the ultimate computer. 02:41 You have 3 pounds of gray mass, 02:45 you have some 50-100 billion cells and they ALL work 02:49 together... it's sort of the ultimate computer network. 02:53 And in this computer network everything is stored; 02:57 our experiences early in life; 03:00 we can have recalls within split seconds. 03:03 This is the ultimate design of electrochemical stimuli 03:09 that are representing many, many, many computers 03:13 that are all hooked together. 03:14 It's nothing like it ever designed. 03:17 So what you're suggesting is that 03:19 even though it's a great design, 03:20 we could somehow maybe make it be out of balance, 03:24 or undernourish a part or whatnot. 03:26 You know, it's very interesting when you think about the brain 03:29 brain anatomists began to map out the brain area, 03:34 and as they probed with special electrodes, 03:41 while people were sort of under anesthesia, 03:43 they began to realize that when you stimulated the 03:46 back area of the brain, that you see right now, 03:49 then all of a sudden they talked about figures 03:52 and facts and these kinds of things, 03:55 but when they began to stimulate the frontal lobe, 03:57 all of a sudden, it was different... 03:59 Then all of a sudden, they talked about 04:01 "I hear music of Beethoven" 04:03 They talked about ethical things. 04:05 They talked about family values. 04:07 And you see, it's interesting isn't it... 04:09 that when you have, for instance, 04:11 a rainbow that you see, 04:13 you see it at the back of your brain. 04:17 When you have a kiss, just like you see on the video 04:19 right now there... when you have a kiss, 04:21 that kiss is not being perceived on the lips... 04:27 No... it's back there on the sensory strip, right there! 04:30 And that's why somebody said... 04:32 "Well, it's probably all in the brain anyway" 04:34 and it IS! 04:36 Well, it's in your head... it's all in your head! 04:40 Yeah, and you have a very 04:41 carefully structured sensory strip. 04:43 This sensory strip is sort of in the middle of the brain, 04:46 the outer cortex here, and it picks up 04:49 the different sensory information in different areas. 04:52 For instance, you can pick up materials 04:55 pertaining to the knees at the very top of the strip... 04:58 OR, when you perhaps begin to move your trunk, 05:02 your pick up sensor information 05:04 right there in the trunk or the hands, 05:07 and so then it goes down the line... face and neck, 05:11 or, for instance, the lips and the tongue... 05:13 And please note, look how large the area 05:15 for the lips and the tongue is. 05:18 This is because the brain assigns groups of cells 05:23 according to the precision that is needed. 05:27 For instance, language, the formation of our lips... 05:33 all of that takes a lot more groups of brain cells, 05:40 so you have much more territory assigned on the sensory strip. 05:46 So I've heard this... that an elephant, 05:48 they have such a large brain because 05:49 they have to operate the trunk. YES! 05:52 And all that goes right to the nose. 05:54 Well for instance, if you happen to have a stroke, 05:56 right there... you see those 3 little areas there? Yes 05:59 This is now affecting the mouth area, 06:02 and perhaps the tongue area, 06:04 and that person will not receive sensory information 06:07 after a stroke pertaining to the mouth and the tongue, 06:10 and, therefore, they might have 06:12 speech impediments after a stroke. 06:13 Problems talking and all that. Yes 06:15 But aside from that sensory strip, 06:18 you have another strip right next to it, 06:20 and that's called the "motor strip" 06:21 and here now, you have information that is 06:25 coming into the sensory strip 06:27 and within milliseconds that information is translated 06:31 and being pushed towards the motor strip, 06:33 and it now activates things on the motor strip. 06:36 For instance, if you hurt your knee, 06:39 this is the information that comes to your brain 06:41 and goes to the sensory strip 06:43 where the knee is located. Right? Um hm 06:45 And THEN, it immediately is being transferred to the 06:48 motor strip so that you begin to jerk your knee. 06:52 And all of this happens in split seconds... 06:55 It's all integrated very, very carefully and processed. 06:58 Amazing! It really is! 07:01 So here again now... when you look at the 07:03 motor strip, you again see the lips are 07:06 UNUSUALLY large in the space that these brain cells occupy. 07:12 Again, just think about how we form our lips; 07:17 how we form words and how all these muscles 07:19 have to work together to produce language, 07:22 and that's why somehow, we have a larger area right there. 07:27 So the sensory strip and the 07:30 motor strip, they are closely aligned. 07:34 So when we are involved in a bad habit, 07:37 say... smoking which has the lips and these different 07:40 things involved in it, would that be the reason 07:43 it's so hard to change that habit... 07:44 because there is such a pattern right there? 07:46 Yeah, it could very well be. 07:47 You have to develop sort of a 07:48 brain-rut type of a thing, right? 07:50 And, every time you do something, 07:52 it gets into that same pattern again. 07:55 So we want to break-up the pattern somehow. 07:57 Yeah, we want to break-up that pattern. 07:59 Feed the right place and not the... 08:00 Yeah, but then the question is, how do we really do this? 08:03 So we have to be concerned about the sensory strip, 08:05 and we have to be concerned about the motor strip 08:07 because THAT'S where things are happening. 08:09 Well what about the frontal lobe then? 08:11 What role does it play? 08:12 That looks like midbrain what we've been talking about... 08:14 What does the frontal lobe do? 08:15 Well, maybe I can tell you a story. I love stories! 08:20 It happened at Harvard University. 08:24 A young man by the name of "Phineas Gage" was temping 08:29 dynamite and somehow, as he was working there, 08:33 the dynamite exploded and sent one of these iron rods 08:39 from his lower eye right through the frontal lobe 08:42 coming out again and everybody was concerned about 08:46 Phineas Gage - what would happen to him? 08:48 Did he die? 08:49 That's the amazing thing! 08:51 He did not die but this wound actually healed. 08:55 But something happened! 08:57 Phineas Gage, after this accident, 09:01 was no longer the same Phineas Gage! 09:04 You see, before this accident, he was very responsible, 09:07 he was devoted to one woman, he was a family man, 09:10 he was reliable. 09:11 He was just a high character kind of a person! 09:15 Ethical, moral, all those different things. Yeah! 09:18 And then something happened, this accident took place, 09:21 and all of a sudden Phineas Gage was 09:24 no longer Phineas Gage. 09:25 He was no longer the dependable person that 09:28 would come to work on time. 09:29 He was no longer the devoted husband. 09:31 He would now follow more the 09:33 wine, women and song kind of a motto of life. 09:37 Something had happened, something had changed 09:40 the taproot of his personality; 09:43 it was no longer the same Phineas Gage... 09:47 And it was later that researchers began to 09:51 understand that what had actually happened was 09:54 that the frontal lobe had been damaged 09:57 where you have ethical values, 10:00 family values, spiritual values located, 10:04 and when you damage that frontal lobe, 10:06 something then can happen to the person. 10:09 So here on the graphic then, 10:12 is this the part you're talking about? 10:13 This was the part that was damaged? 10:15 Yeah, that's correct. 10:16 And it just took that out? Interesting! 10:20 Yeah, and you see as a result of this... 10:21 his personality began to change, 10:23 his temperament began to change, 10:25 the ethical values were now being changed and modified, 10:29 his judgment was no longer quite there, 10:31 and his religious values all of a sudden 10:33 had a different connotation. 10:35 So then it's the frontal lobe where these values reside, 10:38 and my question is... 10:40 Could it be - that in our society which emphasizes 10:44 informational pieces, information overload... 10:51 Yeah, data, statistics, facts and figures, 10:53 that feeds the back portion of the brain... 10:56 Could it be that the back portion of our brains 10:59 is overloaded-overfed and maybe, 11:02 at the expense of a balance, 11:06 where you have then, also the feeding of the frontal lobe; 11:09 responsibility, temperament and so on. 11:12 So, out of balance... that's an excellent question. 11:15 Could it be that we're feeding the back portions of the brain 11:17 while neglecting the front portions, 11:20 or in other words, having a self-induced 11:22 lobotomy so-to-speak where we're doing a 11:25 Phineas Gage on ourselves, excellent question! 11:27 We've been talking with Dr. Hans Diehl 11:29 We're talking about the brain... 11:31 Are we feeding the right parts the right things 11:33 in the right way? 11:34 When we come back, we're going to answer that question, 11:37 and we hope you'll join us! 11:40 Have you found yourself wishing that you could shed a few pounds 11:44 Have you been on a diet for most of your life, 11:46 but not found anything that will really keep the weight off? 11:49 If you've answered "yes" to any of these questions, 11:52 then we have a solution for you that works! 11:54 Dr. Hans Diehl and Dr. Aileen Ludington 11:57 have written a marvelous booklet called... 11:59 "Reversing Obesity Naturally" 12:02 and we'd like to send it to you FREE of charge. 12:04 Here's a medically sound approach successfully 12:07 used by thousands who are able to eat more 12:10 and lose weight permanently without feeling guilty 12:12 or hungry through lifestyle medicine. 12:15 Dr. Diehl and Dr. Ludington have been featured on 3ABN 12:18 and in this booklet, they present a sensible approach 12:21 to eating, nutrition and lifestyle changes 12:24 that can help you prevent heart disease, diabetes, 12:26 and EVEN cancer. 12:28 Call or write today for your free copy of... 12:30 "Reversing Obesity Naturally" 12:32 and you could be on your way to a healthier, happier YOU! 12:35 It's ABSOLUTELY free of charge, so call or write today. 12:43 Welcome back, we've been talking with Dr. Hans Diehl 12:45 and we've been talking about the BRAIN, 12:48 and more specifically the frontal lobe. 12:50 Dr. Diehl, I have a question about this story... 12:52 about Phineas Gage. 12:53 He was the one that had that self-induced frontal lobotomy 12:58 with that rod going through his brain... 13:00 Did it just affect his character and personality? 13:04 Was anything else damaged in his brain? 13:06 Did it affect his memory? 13:07 That's very interesting... it did not affect his brain 13:10 in terms of memory function or intelligence, 13:13 but it affected his will power and his moral values. 13:17 So he was coordinated, able to walk to work 13:19 do all those different things? Everything! 13:21 He could remember who he was and everything, he just was... 13:23 Well it seems that the taproot 13:26 of his personality had been changed - that was the big thing 13:29 ...the taproot of his personality was CUT, 13:32 the frontal lobe had become affected. 13:35 So he was just operating on 13:36 the other portions of his brain 13:38 rather than frontally through that part. 13:40 Well there's a famous Russian scientist, 13:44 Dr. Luria, and he recently said... 13:59 This is a Russian scientist. 14:00 Dr. Bernell Baldwin, as a brain physiologist recently said... 14:06 "When you look at the frontal lobe, the frontal lobe 14:09 is the front seat driver of the brain. " 14:13 Now it's almost like a symphony conductor... 14:16 The frontal lobe integrates, synthesizes, brings together, 14:22 creates balance, spiritual values, 14:26 service orientation... these kind of things 14:29 are seated in that frontal lobe, 14:32 and that's the symphonic conductor... 14:35 if that's indeed the symphonic conductor 14:37 you will hear music instead of noise. 14:41 So aside from having a terrible injury like Phineas Gage, 14:45 could we be inducing frontal lobe damage by things we do 14:49 as Americans or as individuals, maybe not just in America, 14:53 but wherever in our own lifestyle? 14:57 There are probably various ways of how you can 15:01 damage the frontal lobe and how you can build it. 15:04 You can damage it by perhaps playing down the sense of 15:09 responsibility, making ethical judgments, 15:12 and basically perhaps focusing on facts and data and so on. 15:21 You can also harm this by alcohol, by habit patterns 15:27 that are now emerging as being perhaps not in the 15:31 best interest of health; they now appear to be 15:33 irresponsible choices. 15:35 So you can damage the frontal lobe by our behaviors 15:38 but we can also build it up. 15:41 Let's come to that building up in just a minute, 15:43 but one of the things that damages it is alcohol. 15:46 What would be some other foods 15:48 or different things that would damage it? 15:49 Well, I don't know if there are specific foods, 15:54 but I would think that, for instance, when you have 15:58 a pension for violent exposures via movies or 16:07 becoming involved in violent behaviors. 16:09 These are then things that perhaps 16:11 damage the frontal lobe. 16:12 It's not just the physical damage that I talked about 16:15 in Phineas Gage's situation, 16:17 but it could also be these kind of things that we embrace 16:21 ...visual things that come into our frontal lobe. 16:25 So we need to be careful about what we eat, 16:27 what we drink, what we see, 16:29 what we hear... all those different things. 16:30 Well you know, I kind of wonder what the effect of 16:32 soap operas might be on the frontal lobe. 16:34 You know... allurements! 16:37 These are all things that perhaps don't build 16:40 that sense of having a balanced lifestyle 16:44 to shape the ethical values that we were called to have. 16:48 So by beholding, we're changed. 16:51 Yeah, yeah, you can behold different things. 16:55 You can behold violence, or you can behold, 16:58 shall we say... family values. 17:00 You can, perhaps, become concerned about 17:06 how to take care of my kids... 17:08 How can I make time for my children so I am 17:12 a father that is involved in shaping the destiny of my kids. 17:16 I mean these are all values that 17:18 relate to giving of yourself, serving others, 17:22 nobility of purpose, LOVE... 17:25 These are all values that apparently 17:27 influence the frontal lobe. 17:29 Let's say someone is watching today and they 17:31 accidently turned to 3ABN instead of their soap opera... 17:35 and they realized that they are just hooked on 17:38 this particular soap opera, and they just 17:40 watch it again and again and maybe they want to change it 17:43 What are some of the good things 17:44 they can do to replace that? 17:49 Yeah... what are they going to do? 17:51 Well first of all, I think you want to, perhaps 17:54 expose yourself to some other things. 17:56 You know, maybe you want to read a biography or 18:00 perhaps pick up a video that talks about... 18:04 shall we just say... the life of Albert Schweitzer 18:07 ...A man who was a great organist, 18:09 well-known, famous, and yet he was 18:12 drawn by the needs in Africa, 18:15 and then turned his life around and now 18:16 became involved in serving others... 18:18 maybe that would be one step. 18:20 So read biographies, read meaningful history, 18:24 read these types of things that there are noble characters 18:28 that we're focusing on. 18:29 Yeah but I think it has to go beyond that... 18:32 I think once we become more aware that our 18:36 greatest joy in life, really, 18:38 comes by being of service to others.. in a proper way, 18:45 once we realize that there's a nobility in becoming involved 18:50 in the betterment of our society, 18:53 then we have to just go beyond that recognition 18:56 and do something about it. 18:59 And that means... what can we do? 19:02 So we can then focus on these noble characters; 19:05 we can maybe read the Bible, look at the life of Christ, 19:08 all these different things and this is going to help us 19:11 in our actions and different things as well... Anything else? 19:14 Yeah, it will balance our personality, 19:16 it will drive the personality in a more balanced fashion. 19:19 You know when I was doing the CHIP Program in India, 19:23 I ran across a story of one of the Indian philosophers, 19:27 and the story is told of an affluent man, 19:31 a Brahmin in the Himalayas... 19:33 It was wintertime, it was cold, 19:36 and as he was on his way home, he saw some human wreckage 19:42 on the sidewalk, a drunken body... 19:46 And he first tried to make his way home and ignore what he saw, 19:52 and then he thought about that. 19:54 He went back and he picked up this bundle of humanity, 19:58 he put it on his back... 19:59 It was cold and he dragged this man home and took care of him. 20:04 The next morning, the light came on in his mind, 20:10 and he realized that this man, this human wreckage, 20:15 had actually given HIM the human warmth that he needed 20:19 to make it home without freezing to death. 20:21 So here it is... as you serve others, 20:25 you also, I guess, find true happiness yourself. 20:29 And that's what you found in 20:30 serving others in the CHIP Program around the world too. 20:34 Yeah, that's correct, but it really all comes down 20:37 in the end, I think, at least for me to one basic question. 20:41 You know... What is really the purpose of our life? 20:44 And you know, I'm reminded of this light bulb here... 20:46 You know, this has something to do with our purpose of life. 20:52 This light bulb can look pretty good... 20:56 We can look pretty good on the outside; 20:58 we could smell good. 20:59 We get all powdered after coming on the set here. 21:02 You know, the wrinkles are all taken care of. 21:04 Well ALMOST all. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha... 21:08 And so, everything looks good, but you know, 21:11 the purpose of life REALLY, to me at least, 21:15 is to better the life of someone else; 21:21 to illumine the pathway of someone else. 21:24 You see, life can look pretty good on the outside... 21:28 You got your BMW in the garage. 21:30 Your house is paid for. 21:32 Everything looks nice on the outside... 21:34 BUT if you are not connected on the inside, 21:37 if there is no central mooring to a source of power - 21:41 when the symphony conductor 21:45 is not there to make music out of your life, 21:49 and it's just noise, then we begin to realize 21:52 that maybe something is missing, 21:53 maybe we're not plugged in. 21:55 Maybe just like this filament inside this light bulb, 21:58 if that filament is broken or that filament is not connected 22:02 to the power net, there's nothing going to happen. 22:04 It just looks good but it doesn't do anything. 22:05 Yeah, but if it is connected, LOOK! 22:09 That's right! You see, and I think 22:10 THAT to me at least has become an illustration of 22:13 the purpose of life. 22:15 If my life does not illumine the pathway of someone else, 22:22 then it's not really lived in its fullest sense. 22:26 And so, I have found in my own life, that by being able to 22:30 respond and to give and to make a part of my thinking, 22:35 and feeling of being other-person-oriented, 22:39 it doesn't quite have that 22:40 quality that is now so meaningful to me... 22:43 And that is one of the reasons why the CHIP Program, 22:46 the "Coronary Health Improvement Project" 22:48 has become such a great JOY to me because through it 22:50 people can learn responsibility; 22:53 they can learn how to make some simple lifestyle changes 22:56 and the hypertension disappears, they lose weight, 23:00 their cholesterol does goes down, 23:03 the heart disease diminishes, 23:05 the diabetes, oftentimes, is no longer there... 23:09 And that gives me a PROFOUND JOY, 23:12 And I know that, you see, then my life 23:15 hopefully will illumine the pathway of someone else 23:20 and maybe of whole towns or cities. 23:24 Now I notice here in your video series, 23:27 and of course I've used it in the community that I'm from, 23:31 and we've had about 700 people 23:32 go through the program where we are... 23:34 Currently now, they're running a program, 23:37 and they run them several times a year, 23:39 and there are different people from all walks of life there... 23:42 But what I notice in that program, 23:44 you talk about the light going on, 23:45 and I want to see whether or not 23:46 you agree with me on this... 23:48 You present... I mean I have people that come 23:51 YOU KNOW... to the program and they've been 23:54 somehow dragged there by circumstances... Their wives! 23:59 Maybe their wife is "Mrs. Circumstance" 24:01 I don't know or whatever, and they're there... 24:03 And they are not really happy to be there, 24:06 but then the information starts to come to them... 24:09 And, I don't know, maybe that's midbrain information 24:13 because there's a lot of facts and different things 24:15 and it kind of moves maybe from the back... 24:17 You get them up there walking around or the program does. 24:20 In our particular thing, we have a map 24:22 where they're walking along and they're starting to 24:26 drink water... which they never 24:27 drank water before, all those different things... 24:29 And THEN, pretty soon about, I think it's about week 2, 24:32 and, you correct me if I'm wrong, 24:33 it seems as though THEN, up here, they start saying... 24:36 "Wait a minute" They make a decision 24:39 that this is good rather than being, what would you say... 24:43 tolerated - Is that what you see? 24:45 Yeah, I think after about 2 weeks on the CHIP Program, 24:49 the benefits are coming to these people. 24:51 You know there are sometimes many mundane things 24:53 like the constipation problem becomes alleviated... 24:59 Then the light comes on! Right? 25:00 Well, this is very important, yes. 25:02 Or the blood pressure goes down, 25:03 and they have now HOPE again in life. 25:06 And as we begin to move into the 3rd and 4th week, 25:08 and we begin to talk about... we actually talk about 25:11 the purpose of life! 25:12 Because health is not just eating right and exercising, 25:15 but it's also... How do you treat yourself... 25:18 and how do you treat your fellow human being? 25:20 I mean, you can eat ALL the alfalfa sprouts 25:23 and if you abuse your wife verbally or you are lying 25:29 to cover yourself in an employment situation, 25:32 you're not really healthy! 25:33 "Healthy" then has to do with being BALANCED. 25:35 "Healthy" has to do with EMOTIONAL HEALTH, 25:38 PHYSICAL HEALTH, SOCIAL HEALTH, 25:40 and SPIRITUAL HEALTH... 25:42 And I think that's ULTIMATELY where a lot of meaning 25:47 comes to people as they begin to identify with the finest 25:50 Role Model available. 25:53 In other words, probably Christ, 25:55 is that what you're referring to? Yes 25:57 And I think the Bible puts it this way... 25:59 It says, "... The Light that lighteth 26:01 EVERY man is coming into the world" 26:03 This is the whole idea. 26:05 You know, in our personal experience, 26:09 then with the CHIP Program, 26:10 and then with the interaction 26:13 we have with these different people, 26:15 we see them then trying... 26:17 Well, what I find and, again, correct me if I'm wrong 26:20 with your experience, but what I find is that 26:22 the people that are long-term successful, 26:24 are the ones that move to that frontal lobe 26:28 spiritual consideration, is that right? 26:30 And that's why we cannot leave it out. 26:32 It's one of the basic ingredients of good health... 26:36 How to feed the frontal lobe and strengthen it, 26:39 so that we are not overfeed in the wrong area, 26:43 and undernourished in the frontal lobe. 26:46 A couple of weeks ago, in our CHIP Program, 26:49 we had the privilege of having a friend of yours, 26:51 Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn with us, 26:53 and you know, as I talked with this wonderful gentleman, 26:57 I saw that, in his way of dealing with patients as well, 27:02 really, when it came down to it, the personal interaction 27:05 that he was having with people 27:07 was helping them learn how to feed that frontal lobe... 27:10 And he was, what would you say... 27:13 spending personal time with these individuals, 27:15 opening his home, his heart, 27:18 had a monthly phone call with them, 27:20 and his study, as you've referenced in your 27:23 CHIP Program many times, is one of the longest 27:26 running study that shows long-term success. 27:29 You see, he was not just doing it as a professional person 27:32 fee-for-service, but he was 27:34 genuinely caring for his patients, 27:36 invested himself in their lives, 27:39 and that's what made all the difference, I think. 27:42 We've been talking with Dr. Hans Diehl 27:44 He has given us facts that can feed not only 27:48 the back of our brain and the middle of our brain, 27:50 but can help us nourish that frontal lobe 27:53 and, thereby, serve others, serve the Lord, 27:56 and have health that lasts for a lifetime! |
Revised 2014-12-17