The UltraMind Solution (119 page)

You can use this same system to reintegrate other foods not allowed on the program as well. However, always keep in mind the foods you should permanently avoid, and be wary of falling back into addictive patterns like eating sugar, flour products, or consuming too much caffeine (more than one cup a day) or alcohol (more than three drinks per week).

While you may want to reintegrate some of these foods, there are other habits you learned on the program you will definitely want to adhere to from now on.

The basic supplement plan is one of them. As I have said throughout this book, using the basic supplement plan I outline is critical for long-term health.

Exercise and relaxation is another. Exercise and stress reduction are among the few things that always correlate with long-term health in the scientific research. Don’t stop moving your body, and always take the time to relax. These are critical to finding UltraWellness.

The single biggest gift you can give yourself at the end of this program is identifying which foods you are sensitive to, which were causing you brain problems, and which you can eat and enjoy safely.

That is why I focus on eliminating the two main foods that lead to mood problems and cognitive disorders and then reintegrate them systematically. It is the best way to find out which foods harm you and which help you.

Your fork is your key to a healthy body and mind. Listen to your body’s wisdom—sometimes it is smarter than your mind.

Now you have learned the basic maintenance program that will take care of 70 to 80 percent of problems with your mood, behavior, attention, cognitive function, and memory.

If you follow the basic plan as I have outlined here, you will discover
improvement not only in mood, focus, and memory, but also in energy, weight, metabolism, and many other chronic health problems.

However, some of us need a little extra help. We suffer from deeper imbalances that require a little more fine-tuning. Since you have taken all the quizzes in Part II, you should know what areas you need to focus on.

In Part IV, I will guide you in going deeper. What supplements and other treatments are available that help correct these imbalances? This and more you will learn in Part IV. We are all unique and different. In the next part you will learn how to personalize the UltraMind Solution.

Balance the Seven Keys to UltraWellness and Optimize the Six-Week Plan

My deepest wish for each of you is to find and work with a Functional/Integrative Medicine practitioner, someone who will help you fine-tune and personalize the UltraMind Solution.

However, I know that is not possible, because there are not enough around. I am working with the Institute for Functional Medicine (
www.functionalmedicine.org
) to create curriculums for medical schools, residencies, and certification programs to train more doctors in practice. In ten to twenty years, I believe, all physicians will be trained in and practice the principles of Functional Medicine, because it is the medicine of the future.

Fortunately, for 80 percent of you it may not be necessary to work with a physician or Functional Medicine practitioner if you follow the six-week plan for an UltraMind.

I also believe that, by using the quizzes in Part II to identify which keys are out of balance, you can customize the UltraMind Solution for yourself by adding the suggestions I will provide in the chapters that follow.

The quizzes in Part II offer three options to fix your broken brain and optimize your health. These are:

1.
The UltraMind Solution

Follow the basic six-week plan for an UltraMind in Part III.

2.
Self-Care

Add the recommendations for specific foods, lifestyle suggestions, and supplements in the chapters that follow to optimize the keys that are out of balance for you.

3.
Medical Care

If you have a severe imbalance in any of the keys I advise you to seek the assistance of a practitioner of Functional or Integrative Medicine. In addition to the suggestions for optimizing the keys,
I will give you recommendations for tests or treatments you should discuss with your physician in the chapters that follow.

In each quiz your score will put you in one of the three groups:

1.
If your score qualifies you for the UltraMind Solution, simply follow the basic plan in Part III.

2.
If your score qualifies you for Self-Care, then integrate the additional suggestions here in Part IV into your six-week plan.

3.
If your score qualifies you for Medical Care, follow the UltraMind Solution with the additional recommendations for Self-Care for six weeks. Then retake the quizzes. Many of you will then no longer qualify for Medical Care. If you still do, then seek out a practitioner of Functional or Integrative Medicine to request the necessary tests and treatments.

I have kept to a few suggestions in each key that I have found to be the most effective and important interventions to optimize your body’s core systems. There are, of course, many other options that are available to normalize function in each key; however, they are best applied with an experienced practitioner.

Each of us is unique, genetically, developmentally, environmentally, psychologically, and spiritually. Each of us has areas of weakness and strength. Finding those and adapting your health practices and treatment to that uniqueness is essential if you are to regain full health and vitality.

The practice of Functional Medicine, the art of creating UltraWellness for my patients, is so very different from the process I learned in medical school. Yet it is a much better map for the territory of illness. And ultimately it is quite simple. It involves two simple principles:

1.
Get rid of the bad stuff.

2.
Add the good stuff.

That’s it.

The amazing healing powers of the body for regeneration and repair show up if we simply find what’s not agreeing with you and remove it, and then provide the missing ingredients your body needs to thrive.

This is the process I have done thousands of times with my patients and I have had extraordinary success.

In this part of the book, I will use these same principles to guide you toward optimizing key areas that may be out of balance for you. I will also explain how you can integrate these steps into the six-week plan outlined in Part III, so you can take full advantage of the UltraMind Solution. There are a few simple steps to follow.

For all the seven keys to UltraWellness that help you create an UltraMind there is a short list of things that create imbalances and a short list of things that are needed to create optimal function.

Here is the list of the bad stuff and the good stuff. It’s not a long list really, and it is enough to address nearly any medical problem. This is the different map. And it will get you to where you want to go—optimal, vigorous, resilient, and robust health—or, more simply, the state of UltraWellness.

The Bad Stuff

These are the things in your diet, lifestyle, and environment that are sending your body out of balance. These five factors are, in fact, the cause of
all
disease.

1.
Poor diet (nutrient poor, calorie dense)

2.
Stress (physical or psychological)

3.
Toxins (chemicals, metals, biological, and internal metabolic toxins)