Participants: Nick Evenson (Host), Dr. James Marcum
Series Code: UP
Program Code: UP000069A
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00:16 If you want to improve your brain function,
00:19 then this is the program for you, stay with us! 00:22 I'm Dr. James Marcum, are you interested 00:25 in discovering the reason why? 00:27 Do you want solutions to your health care problem? 00:30 Are you tired of taking medications? 00:33 Well, you're about to be given "The Ultimate Prescription" 00:38 Mental health problems are plaguing our world, 00:41 and what can we do about it? 00:42 Dr. Marcum has some suggestions that might just help 00:45 us think better and also the rest of the world. 00:47 Dr. Marcum, welcome to the program. 00:49 Thank you, it's nice being here, Nick, and this is a major 00:52 problem that many people struggle with and I'm hoping 00:55 that those that have mental health issues are 00:57 paying attention today because it's estimated 01:00 that 1 in 4 people now have mental health problems. Wow 01:04 And that might include things like depression, anxiety, 01:08 phobias, fears... you know, all sorts of things 01:12 can fall into this mental health problem. Right 01:15 And, unfortunately, we look at what's out there, 01:18 and the numbers keep going up every year... 01:20 so it concerns me that maybe 01:23 what we're doing is not the right path. 01:26 So we wanted to answer some questions about mental health 01:29 issues about how people could help their brains do better, 01:32 and when I think about how peoples brains can do better, 01:36 I think if we want to do things that make the brain 01:39 work better... now let's think logically about that. 01:42 Well, what logically, do you think would 01:45 help the brain work better, Nick... what would you say? 01:47 Fresh air? YEAH! 01:49 I mean, you know, if you are outside and get fresh air, 01:55 that makes the brain work better because it gets 01:57 better oxygen. Right 01:58 We've seen that brains that don't get good oxygen 02:01 get other chemicals that they're breathing 02:03 that doesn't do well. 02:05 Another thing that our brains need is water! Yeah 02:08 Eighty percent plus of our brain is water. 02:10 If you were dehydrated, if you were walking around 02:13 the desert all day, you would start not working well. 02:16 So that's another thing, movement, exercise, 02:20 getting around that improves the blood supply to our brain. 02:24 Circulation and more oxygen to the brain. 02:25 Exactly, more oxygen. 02:26 So we've talked about breathing, we talked about water... 02:29 Nutrition - very important for the brain. 02:32 The brain has to get the substances 02:33 it needs to work well. 02:35 Remember, the original design for our brain wasn't made 02:39 to have lots of processed foods. Right 02:41 Lots of high processed sugar... 02:44 We know that people that take heavy processed sugars, 02:47 they spike chemicals like dopamine in the brain. Right 02:50 There are certain chemicals that we get addicted to 02:53 in the brain - that's not good for the brain. 02:56 All this fat content - we know that fat 02:58 causes inflammation in the brain. 03:00 We know that too much animal products, proteins... 03:04 some people eat foods... for instance - Mr. Chicken 03:06 Let's pick on Mr. Chicken for a while. 03:08 Chickens live thousands and thousands of them 03:11 live next to each other and, you know, to get them 03:14 to grow up quicker, guess what the farmer does? 03:16 He feeds them high protein feed; 03:20 he gives them growth hormones because they live 03:23 next to each other and they might catch infections 03:25 so they give them antibiotics. Right 03:27 In fact, 80% of the world's antibiotics are now 03:30 used on livestock. Really? 03:32 So if Mr. Chicken gets all these chemicals in him, 03:35 and you eat Mr. Chicken, and you absorb all these 03:38 chemicals in you, eventually it could 03:40 get to the brain. That's a lot of stuff we 03:41 weren't made to have in our baskets. Yes! 03:43 And, you know, a lot of stuff and we always hear about 03:45 fish and mercury and all these toxins, 03:48 but there are toxins everywhere that affect the way we think. 03:53 And it used to be, years ago, we didn't hear too much about 03:55 mental health problems, and Alzheimer disease. 03:59 But it's not only the food, I think it's also the media, 04:02 remember, our brains weren't made to have media. 04:05 The average person spends about 8 hours a day in the media. Wow! 04:08 Now, I know that people out there 04:11 don't spend a lot of time on cell phones, computers, 04:13 face books, TV, but other people are! Sure, sure! 04:17 And when it does that... see, our brains were designed 04:19 to be creative and not to be entertained. 04:23 Our brains were designed to serve and not to be selfish. 04:27 Our brains were designed to 04:28 drink water and eat healthy foods? 04:30 And when we've done all these other things, guess what? 04:32 Damage occurs and then when we start having these 04:36 neural pathways that don't do well, 04:39 it's sort of like we... have a hard drive and a soft drive, 04:42 and if we don't put good, new programs in our soft drive, 04:45 things just don't work well. 04:47 And sooner or later, guess what? 04:49 Things begin to malfunction, we even have bad ways 04:52 of thinking that we perpetuate. 04:54 Some people might have guilt and fear and things like that 04:57 that just dominate their lives and they don't know 04:59 how to handle it and our world 05:02 sometimes doesn't have good coping mechanisms... 05:04 And it used to, we used to have lots of relationships, 05:08 we used to be able to talk out problems. That's right! 05:10 People just don't talk as much. 05:13 I just don't think texting does the same job as talking. 05:18 When you can hear somebody, you can see their face, 05:21 you can listen, you can empathize with them, 05:23 it's a little bit different than texting, 05:25 but our world is changing, and then as our world 05:28 is changing, we see more and more brain problems develop, 05:31 and yet, we aren't getting real solutions. 05:34 So one of the real solutions I want to leave with 05:37 everyone today, I think, you know, 05:39 to understand that everything we put in our body 05:42 affects our brains and we want to put in our brains 05:45 the things that God made to put in our brains... 05:47 and part of that, we found out that having a relationship 05:51 with God - worship, that's a great place to start. 05:55 If you remember that text... 05:56 "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, 05:59 I will give you rest." 06:01 "Create in me a new heart," a new brain... 06:03 God has promised to do these things for them. 06:06 And, Dr. Newberg, at the University of Pennsylvania, 06:09 has done studies that show when people do worship, 06:11 the chemical composition of their brain changes. 06:14 That's fantastic! The stress of the body 06:16 goes down, new neurons form, the chemistry of the brain 06:21 changes totally, so there is great truth in those Scriptures, 06:24 and God is the One that can change the way thoughts are... 06:27 give us the power to make changes to do things 06:30 for our brain. 06:31 So, if nothing else today, I think the key to mental health 06:34 is to continue to improve our relationship 06:37 and worship with God and I just wanted to start there. 06:40 I know we've got a lot of questions that we have come in. 06:44 Do you have something you want to add, Nick? 06:45 I was just thinking of the Bible verse... 06:46 "Whatever is pure and whatever is right, 06:48 think on these things." And there's a lot of truth in that. 06:49 We hear a lot of other things in the media, 06:51 but, you know, if we focus on what the Bible says 06:53 and God's love for us, that really can help our brains. 06:56 Yeah, and it concerns me, you know, 06:57 remember, our brains weren't 06:59 designed to see people kill each other. That's right 07:01 And you know, now on TV, we weren't designed 07:03 to know what is going on in every country 07:04 of the world every second. 07:06 Well all of these inputs, they add up, 07:09 and our brain is so very complicated... 07:12 I don't think we can really understand how it works, 07:15 but the general principles that God gave us 07:18 can give us some places to start... 07:19 And that's why when I see a lot of people taking 07:22 medicines that change the chemistry of the brain, 07:24 I wonder - does that make sense? 07:26 Does changing one chemical pathway 07:28 going to fix the problem? Right 07:30 And that's why, there's probably a place for medicines, 07:33 but hopefully, it's only as a bridge until they can do 07:37 things to put healthy things in their mind, 07:39 and get their brain on right. 07:41 I was talking to a counselor not too long ago 07:45 and, you know, people change the brain chemistry by 07:48 something called, "cognitive therapy," 07:50 that's thinking therapy. 07:51 They actually re-train the brain to think. 07:54 And, the way I think of it is, when someone sins, 07:59 God just says, "Well let's throw it in the sea 08:00 and forget about it." That's right 08:02 Unfortunately, we can't forget about it sometimes, 08:04 and our brain has to be taught how to do things, 08:06 but I didn't realize that there are many different 08:08 types of counselors. 08:10 You know, there are secular counselors that come from 08:13 secular basis - "What can I do to make myself better?" 08:18 "The answers are within me," 08:20 that's sort of secular counseling. 08:22 And then there's Christian counseling where they 08:26 talk about Christianity, but don't focus on it. 08:29 And then there's biblical counseling where counselors 08:32 are trained to use the Bible to help people think differently 08:36 and change the chemistry of the brain. 08:38 Well I tend to agree that I think biblical counseling is 08:41 a great way to start and turn it over to God to help change, 08:44 and there are many other physicians that think these ways 08:47 but there are also many physicians that will throw 08:49 all sorts of different things... 08:51 And it gets very hard for people 08:53 that have mental health problems to get help. 08:55 You know, you hear things like, 08:56 attention deficit disorder in kids. Right 08:59 And a lot of people put on depression medicine, 09:02 so we're going to talk about these things today, 09:04 not that we have all the answers but I do know that the 09:08 place to go to find the answers is in our relationship 09:12 with the Ultimate Physician - where we can turn to Him, 09:15 ask Him, petition Him. 09:16 He wants to be part of our life. 09:18 He wants to help change our brains. 09:20 You know, David asked for it to be done. 09:23 He can do these things and He can direct us to the 09:25 places in our lives where we find answers. 09:29 So we've got some questions to answer, 09:30 but we've been on this series, we've been talking about 09:34 our first aid box, right? 09:36 That's right and I know I've heard you say 09:38 a number of times that "serving other people, 09:40 and loving other people - will help your brain as well," right? 09:43 Absolutely! So let's talk about first aid - that's how 09:44 we're going to serve other people maybe if we need to. 09:46 Yeah, today... And so, how are we doing with our 09:49 first aid kit and what are we going to put in there today? 09:50 Well, we've added some different things that people 09:53 can look into to put into their first aid kit to help 09:56 other people in an emergency and today 09:58 I have a substance that I think is very useful. 10:01 This is charcoal and charcoal comes in many different forms. 10:06 It can come in pills, it can come in sort of like 10:09 poultices - that's sort of a cream that you put on things. 10:12 And what charcoal is good at doing is it's good 10:16 absorbing things. Yeah 10:18 It's good at absorbing things. Right 10:20 So, for instance, let's say - when I used to work in the 10:23 emergency room, people used to do overdoses of drugs... 10:27 Well we used to give them charcoal in their stomach 10:30 to help absorb some of the poisons. Okay 10:33 So it pulls it out - so it would not get absorbed 10:35 into the bloodstream. Sure 10:37 Another thing that charcoal has been good on is some 10:39 people have bites and things like that, 10:41 and it has been good sort of as a poultice or a cream 10:44 that people put on the things and it helps pull poisons out, 10:48 and I've see it on some bug bites and things like that 10:50 where people put charcoal and that sort of pulls things out. 10:54 So I think this would be very useful to have 10:57 in a first aid kit as charcoal helps to extract poisons 11:01 especially until they could do something more definitive. 11:04 And some people have used it, I've seen it in people that 11:08 get bad food - you know, food poisoning. Yeah sure 11:10 They take some charcoal and that might help pull out 11:13 some of the bad poisons in food so they don't absorb 11:16 it into the bloodstream and get so sick. 11:17 It keeps the bad stuff from getting into the blood, 11:19 and then to the rest of your body. 11:21 So I think for a first aid kit, this would be something that 11:24 everyone who would talk about making a first aid kit, 11:26 this might be something you would consider 11:28 getting some charcoal that could absorb some of this. 11:30 Now this is something - I don't know if everyone would need, 11:32 but this is aromatic ammonia. 11:35 Have you ever seen smelling salts? 11:37 I've seen a few football games where they might use this. 11:40 This is a smelling salt and it's sort of a respiratory 11:43 stimulant and you use it for people that are sort of foggy, 11:47 passing out and they come back quickly. 11:51 So this is something that I know I've used it a few times 11:55 in people that are fainting, that seem to be going out. 11:58 It seems to sort of stimulate their respiratory system, 12:01 it's sort of "whoa, get them in the game." 12:04 You know, you see it a lot in sporting events, 12:07 especially concussions. 12:09 It helps sort of get things sort of going again, 12:11 but I would still want to, again, for both of these, 12:14 this is just first aid. Right 12:16 This just treats the symptom 12:17 so you can get at the cause of healing. 12:19 It buys you a little bit of time. Yes! 12:21 And Nick, that's so important in all of these things 12:24 that we've been talking about, most of modern 12:26 medicine is good at treating symptoms, 12:28 get you over the hump so you can find out 12:31 what the cause is. 12:33 And if we can find out the cause, especially 12:36 do natural things that can get at the cause, 12:38 that's our best bet to staying happy and healthy... 12:42 And the same thing works with our mind... 12:44 If our mind is malfunctioning, 12:46 if we have a symptom of the mind, 12:48 what can we do to help the mind get over the hump, 12:51 and then get back to the original state 12:53 where it's going to function the best. 12:55 And that's why we're going to 12:56 talk about some questions a little later on. 12:58 Yep, those are two great items to have in any first aid kit. 13:01 Now, we'll be back in just a moment... 13:03 We've got some questions from our website 13:04 heartwiseministries.org 13:06 and Dr. Marcum is going to help answer some questions 13:08 on mental health and how to 13:10 better your brain function, stay with us... |
Revised 2016-06-21