Transcription
Today, we're diving into brain health. Not just mindset, not just motivation, but the very fuel that powers every thought, emotion, and action you experience. With leading expert Dr. David Stevens. Dr. Stevens is a renowned clinical psychologist, neuropsychologist, and brain restoration specialist who's dedicated his career to understanding and restoring brain function. With over 20 years of experience, he served as the Director of Mental Health for three state prison systems, led groundbreaking work in correctional facilities across the US, and now consults as a brain health and neuroscience expert through his company, Falcon Incorporated.
In this episode, Dr. Stevens is bringing us deep into the science of the brain and sharing how the fuel that powers it affects everything from memory to emotional health, resilience, and even our relationships. If you've ever wondered how trauma, stress, or even diet can impact your mind and body, or if you're looking to gain a deeper understanding of how to optimize your mental health, this episode is for you. Get ready to unlock the secrets to fueling your brain for a better, more resilient life, one where you can go from not just surviving and existing to actually living. So, let's dive in. Dr. Stevens, welcome to the show.
Thank you. So good to be here. I am just so excited. Um, I was kind of telling him how excited I was for this conversation. I am just a total nerd for science, health, and I always love learning about new research, new data that has come out that can really help us live our best lives. So I just really appreciate you coming on the show today.
Happy to be here. Thank you for having me.
Yeah, so I want to kind of just dive into, um, kind of where it all started. You have expertise in correctional mental health and brain restoration. It's very unique. Um, tell us what led you into this field and how your work has evolved into focusing on brain fuel and restoration.
Yes, and I'll try to keep it relatively short. A little bit of a long story, but the very first intro to site course I took undergrad, I at that moment, I became interested and fascinated with the brain and so pursued psychology. I was also very interested in helping people and just continued my interest as I got my undergraduate degree. And then I got a master's in counseling and then a doctorate in Clinical Psychology. And I really focused my studies on neuroscience and neuropsychology in my doctoral program. And then immediately after graduating, went to work in a Colorado State mental hospital in a unit for people with severe mental illness and severe chemical dependence. And found through working with people on that unit, what a powerful effect their life history had on their brain function, on their emotional function, even on their physical function. And so just continued to learn, really by doing, about the reality on the ground of the tragedy of psychological trauma, concussions, traumatic brain injuries, how that really devastated people's lives. And so many people who find themselves either in a state hospital or incarcerated have just never had the opportunity for anybody to understand what was going on, much less know how to quote unquote fix it. So really, just my interest continued to grow, continues to grow every day. I continue to study, I continue to learn. I'm just fascinated, but to see people full, the word I use is restored, to see them fully restored is just an incredible thing.
Yeah, it is. It is a really beautiful thing, and I think it's very, it's an area that is in dire need right now. Um, I've, you know, I've been working in the emergency medical field, um, for gosh, almost 18 years actually. Um, and I have seen it get worse and worse, to be quite honest with you. And so, um, what you do means a lot to me, and I think it's just really a necessary thing that we talk about and we find, um, new ways to combat all, all of the issues that we see. And I want you to share your beautiful story too, of how you came across the work that you do right now, and then go into what you are, what your data and your research has shown, and let's go into it from there.
Okay, so I'm a person of faith, and I call how this all came about inspiration. It wasn't any audible voice or handwriting in the sky or anything like that, but in October of 2017, I was awakened. I was researching what happens with concussions, what is the effect of concussions, and was awakened in the middle of the night with the simple, I call it inspiration, some people could call it just the product of my brain's processing, but triy glucose. And that seemed like a very strange thing to wake up with. So I certainly wasn't going to run out and start recommending that people take glucose based on that in the middle of the night. So I did the research and contrary to almost everything you read, glucose is completely safe in the human body in any amount. I'm not sure you could even find that in the clinical literature anymore, but it was certainly there in 2017. But found out it was completely safe. So I had a new guy coming in, he, um, said he probably had 15 concussions in his life. And so I said to him, I was doing neuro testing with him. I said to him, I have some glucose tablets. And I put my very best salesman's hat on. I said, I have no idea if this will help you. What I know for sure is it won't hurt you. Would you like to try? And he said, kind of surprisingly, sure. So I gave him four, five glucose tablets. He took them and probably 15 seconds later, he turned to his wife and he said, you know that pressure that's always in my head? And she said, yeah. He said, it's gone. And it's kind of funny, she said, no, it's not. And he said, no, it's gone. And so he kept taking glucose. I don't know how much people know what standard deviations are, but you can think of them as letter grades in school. And so he improved pre-test, pre-glucose to post-test. And I gave him a different version of the test, so it wasn't just that he was a better test taker or that he knew the test, but gave him a post-test and he improved by three standard deviations, or the equivalent of three letter grades in school. And wow. Four T of one standard deviation is required for what's called clinical sign, or sorry, statistical significance, which means the result didn't happen by chance. And his result was seven times that. Wow. And so I just kept going, kept saying to people, have probably the first hundred people I worked with, I have no idea if this will help, but I know for sure is it won't hurt. Would you like to try? Yes, they would try it, and they would have all of their symptoms within, kind of on average, about six months, all of their symptoms would be gone, whether it was cognitive or emotional or physical. And so I was very careful to not introduce a placebo effect. So I would, would say to them when I would meet with them subsequently, what have you noticed? Not, are your headaches gone or is your depression gone? And then they would report it, and we just keep monitoring. And so it's really been an incredible journey.
Yeah, it, it is, and it's fascinating. And I, I love it. So one of your main discoveries is that the brain really relies on glucose as its primary fuel, and it impacts everything from like heart rate to decision making. So could you explain why glucose is so essential for brain function and how specifically, uh, it fuels the different regions of the brain?
Yes, so you can find if you Google, what's the role of glucose in the brain and the body, you'll find that glucose is the fuel for our brains and the fuel for our bodies. It is the primary fuel. The brain must have fuel to function. And when the brain doesn't have sufficient fuel, it starts limiting different functions based on its determination of what's the most important need in the moment. And will underfuel various functions while preserving fueling to the brain stem, which is where our breathing happens, our heart rate happens, those sorts of things. So the brain is always going to fuel those if there's any fuel available. And then again, just makes decisions about what's the most important functional thing in the moment. And we were talking off camera before we started about amblyopia, which is a condition, some people call it lazy eye. That's kind of the general description or lay description of it, but really that lazy eye is because the brain has stopped fueling, either partially or completely, the visual processing of one eye. And so then it's kind of off-line. And then it goes in or out, or even can adjust why. And so glucose is again, absolutely required in the body. If you don't have enough fuel or glucose to your body, you'll die. If you don't have enough glucose in your brain, you'll die. So it's that critical. And part of my work over the last seven years has been discovering the fact that glucose to the brain gets limited and how that happens and how to eliminate that limitation.
Yeah, so you mentioned, you know, it's both for body and brain, um, that we need glucose to operate. Uh, however, you also, we talked about, or not yet, but I've heard you speak about how blood glucose in the brain is different from glucose levels in the blood. And so I want to talk about that and make sure people also understand that, uh, concept, how these two types of glucose levels differ and why my traditional blood glucose measurements miss the issues in brain fuel.
Yes, so like, like just like you said, the brain glucose and the body blood glucose are two distinct systems. And glucose gets to the brain and the body via different mechanisms. And there's significant overlap between the two, but they are distinct. And the brain, which is everybody knows this, but people don't think about the extent to which it's true, the brain controls the body, everything in the body. And so the brain regulates blood glucose levels. And when the brain isn't getting enough glucose via the diet, getting to the brain via the, or past the blood brain barrier, it will activate the liver to release stored glucose into the blood as a mechanism for the brain to get more glucose. The body is still getting the glucose it needs, the brain isn't, because of, and we haven't talked about this yet, but sympathetic nervous system activations or fight or flight or freeze activations are what limits glucose to the brain. So the brain will keep activating the liver to release stored glucose, or what's called glycogen, into the bloodstream when the brain is low on glucose. And that's actually what raises blood sugar levels is the brain again, attempting to get more glucose from the body.
Yeah, so fascinating. So many people are kind of unaware that behavioral issues that we see, or mental health conditions, um, even things like paranoia, dementia, or even like lack of behavioral control, can be linked to low glucose levels specifically in the brain. So can you dive deeper into how inadequate brain fuel might lead to these symptoms, such as those, you know, with some mental health issues?
Sure. And it really comes down to, and I think we may be talking about this in a few minutes, but what I call restoration science. And that is that when the brain or the body doesn't have enough of the primary fuels, and really there's three of them: water, oxygen, and glucose. But when it doesn't have enough of any of the primary fuels, the brain can't function the way it should. And so the brain continues to make choices as glucose reduces. The brain has to make choices about where it will provide fuel. And unfortunately, cognitive function is one of the things that doesn't have a direct strong connection to staying alive. So the brain can underfuel cognitive activities and still pro-, still maintain body function. But as glucose levels lower, then even body functions start not working the way they should, and body organs and systems start to break down. And ultimately, in my opinion, that's what leads to death is the brain just can't regulate body organ or systems anymore, and they start failing. And then ultimately, then there's not enough glucose even to maintain staying alive.
Yeah, which is, um, you know, in the hospital, right? Like, like let's say if somebody comes in with stroke-like symptoms, the first thing we do is actually actually check a glucose to make sure that's actually not the reason that these symptoms are existing. So, you know, it makes so much sense what you're saying from, you know, a clinical perspective in that regard too. You know, um, um, and I, I know that another thing that people can actually see, which maybe is not significant as, um, paranoia or, um, some other, you know, more common, when we think of mental health issues, you know, we think of those kinds of things, schizophrenia, those kinds of things, but even things, um, I've heard you mention like a sense of laziness or low motivation or like not reaching your potential can be a sign of, like, low brain fuel, not enough glucose to the brain.
Yes.
Yeah, so I want to, um, and I, I wanted to bring that up for just awareness. And then I also want to dive in. There's so many things I want to talk about, but I'm like, I have so many things, um, I want to talk about, like, because there's a lot of things out there that talk about, you know, don't eat so much sugar. And I want to talk about the difference between sugars so that people really understand what that means, uh, between food and glucose and all that. Can you kind of, uh, educate on that?
Sure. There are different types of sugars. Glucose and fructose are what are called monosaccharides, meaning they're simple sugars. And the entire chemical makeup of glucose is six atoms of carbon, in the glucose molecule, 12 atoms of hydrogen, or essentially water, in the glucose molecule, and six atoms of oxygen. And there's nothing else there. And so it's, in chemistry terms, it's called a light chemical, meaning there's not that many atoms in the chemical makeup. So that makes it able to cross the blood brain barrier and provide fuel to the brain. Sucrose, which is the sugar in desserts and candy and soda and all that sort of thing, is a di-, or even a polysaccharide. And so it's twice as chemically heavy. So it's 12 atoms of carbon, 22 atoms of hydrogen, 12 atoms of oxygen. So like I said, it can't get past the blood brain barrier to provide fuel. It provides some level of fuel to the body, but glucose again, continues to be the far preferred sugar or fuel for our body and our brain function.
Yeah, so when we see things like, um, on our food, like when we're looking at food labels, for instance, M-hm. And, um, we're told that like we shouldn't eat a bunch of sugars, right? We're not necessarily saying that it's, um, a good idea to go eat a bunch of sugar, U, according to what we see on food labels, 'cause that's not true glucose, is that correct? What you're saying?
That is correct.
Yes, as I wanted to make sure we, we set that up right. Um, and, and the difference between the two.
Yes. So if you see the label dextrose, glucose and dextrose are the same thing, then you'll know it is the fuel for your body and brain. If you just see sugar or sucrose, that is not fuel, again, for the body or the brain. And fructose is kind of interesting. Fructose, like I said, is a monosaccharide. It has the same chemical formula, but the arrangement of that chemical formula makes it, it's labeled a ketose, which means it just goes, well, it primarily goes to storing fat. Glucose is what's called an aldose, which means it actually has an active role in the brain and the body. So important to differentiate between those as well.
Yeah, okay. And then another thing I want to, I want to talk about is, you know, we kind of went through, you know, some of the, um, mental health issues that we see, um, and how like these can be a result of, um, not fueling our brain properly with glucose, as you are seeing in your research and data. Uh, can you also, you mentioned, um, concussions, and you, we also mentioned like psychological trauma. So how can these affect glucose regulation in the brain, and why can this lead to chronic symptoms?
Yes, and great question. So every activation of what's called the sympathetic nervous system, or the fight or flight or freeze system, results in, um, they're called pericytes, to differentiate from parasites, not little organisms, but cells in the capillaries in the brain are what regulate the blood brain barrier. Here, as soon as there's a sympathetic or fight or flight reaction, those pericytes basically open wide the blood brain barrier so the brain can get as much glucose as possible. But that only continues for about 20 minutes. If that blood brain barrier was completely permeable, the brain could drain the body of glucose, and that would kill us. So obviously, we can't, the brain can't allow that to happen. So after about 20 minutes, it will tighten the blood brain barrier, but not back to the original setting. It will tighten it a little more as a mechanism to protect the body from being drained of glucose by the brain in this sympathetic or fight or flight situation. So what happens is, in a concussion, a psychological trauma, even being startled or frightened. So if you have kids or siblings or whomever that like to hide in the dark hallway and jump out and scare you, unfortunately, that's probably a sympathetic nervous system activation. But each time that happens, the brain and the pericytes tighten that blood brain barrier after the 20 minutes, progressively more so. If it was a 80% of normal flow, then after a sympathetic activation, it would drop to maybe 78%. And then after the next one, after that, it would drop to maybe 74%. And it stays there until the next activation when it lowers again. And that progressive lowering always causes anxiety in one way or another, but does result in symptoms of mental illness, so to speak, of depression, of paranoia, of schizophrenia. It is the brain has less and less fuel, less and less ability to regulate emotional functions. To many people, even at a relatively young age, get to where they can't remember words, even though they know what the word is. That's evidence of lowered glucose to the brain based on these sympathetic activations. And it really doesn't take a lot for that to happen. You could bump your head on a cabinet, that could be enough to activate the sympathetic or fight or flight system, and you would lose a little more fuel or glucose to, to your brain after that. And so that's where every symptom comes from. That's where dementia comes from, mental health problems, physical problems. It all boils down to the brain doesn't have enough fuel to regulate all the systems of itself and the body. And so as it diminishes fuel to certain functions, then we have symptoms. And as the fuel gets lower and lower throughout our life, we continue to have these bumps on the head or get startled or get pulled over for speeding, not that I would ever have that happen, but all those kinds of things continue to lower our glucose level and continue to lower our function. And it's kind of interesting, it can happen with kids, adults, with people of any age. But I worked with a teenager a while back, and he was in a hail storm and got hit with a pretty tiny hailstone. And right after that, all of a sudden, he couldn't concentrate anymore, his anger dramatically escalated, he lost motivation. That minor thing was enough to activate his sympathetic nervous system and get to low enough fuel that it was significantly noticeable for him and his family.
Wow. Well, you have developed this brain restoration approach, approach, um, that really focuses on fueling the brain. How does this approach work, and kind of talk about the approach, um, in practice, and how quickly might someone experience benefits, um, from your approach?
Yes, so really simply, the approach is to refuel the brain. And people always ask, well, can I just eat a lot of carbs? Yeah, won't that do it? Can't I just, I wish, right? And most of us are very sad that eating chocolate doesn't accomplish that, darn. And the reason is because sucrose and the other sugars can't get past the blood brain barrier. And so even though more glucose is being created by the body, and I didn't mention that, that a portion of everything we eat, our bodies convert to glucose. That's the normal way we get fuel for our bodies and brains. But because of the limitation I just talked about, then people aren't getting the glucose that's being created for their brain. But taking it, as it turns out, gets to the brain via a different pathway. So almost all of what you take when you take dextrose or glucose gets directly to the brain, and usually within about five seconds. And this is not, not yet been proven scientifically. My opinion is that it's likely that the cerebral spinal fluid is the pathway that gets the glucose to your brain, but again, that's not yet proven. But what we do know is it gets there that quickly that people, as their brain gets more and more fueled, they can take glucose and if they have a headache, it'll be gone in 10 or 15 seconds.
Yeah, and, and just to point out, too, like, let's say, uh, somebody's blood sugar that we measured in the field, like for an emergency situation, somebody is like near unconscious, but they can still alert enough to have something by mouth. You know, paramedics might give them, you know, glucose, like you're talking about, um, and it works almost, you know, pretty instantly if that's actually the problem that that person is having.
Yes.
So very interesting. I just like to relate it back, you know, for, in, in the, what I do as well.
Yes. And you may be aware that paramedics carry a gel called D50. Yeah. Which is half of it is dextrose. And they most often, my understanding is, will rub it on the jaw. Oh, no. See, we, well, we do a lot of, um, so in the hospital, as a nurse, I give D50 all the time. If we have it, it's, and it goes into their IV. Um, and then in the field, a lot of the times it could be glucagon, right? Um, which is a form of glucose, right? That they give by mouth, um, sometimes, yeah, or D50. And some paramedics, though, in the field, have told me that they carry the gel and that they literally will rub it on the jaw, and that people will become responsive again in a very, very short period of time.
Wow.
Yeah, it's amazing.
Yeah. But the D50, and of course, you know this better than I do, but is very commonly used in emergency rooms. But oh, yeah. So typically, I recommend that people start by taking three tablespoons of glucose or dextrose, mix it in some kind of liquid and drink it. And it depends on the person. Generally, people 35 to 40 and under will start to notice some immediate effect. Although it's kind of interesting, most commonly the effect people have is they feel more tired. And that always seems kind of strange to them. They say, well, wait a minute, this is fuel, why would I feel more tired? And the issue is that their brain is almost immediately a little more aware of your, your situation, your functional level. And so many people are sleep deprived or not fully rested. And so a little bit of glucose results in them being more aware of their actual condition. And then it typically takes about six months for people to fully recover. People with autism take longer, older people, people with Alzheimer's or other dementias, it takes longer. But that's the most common recovery time for, like I said before, which is kind of an amazing thing for people to hear, but for all symptoms to go away.
Wow. Um, so for people like listening that maybe they have diabetes, can you, like, and they're listening and they're saying, oh man, like my doctor would be so mad if I took extra sugar. Can you just speak on that?
Sure. And when I first started doing this, people would refer people to me, and I would do a history about head injuries and psychological trauma and the things that limit glucose. And then some of them said, but I have diabetes. And my initial reaction was, well, then you can't do this. And that was multiple people. But then I had a few persistent ones that said, well, what if I can get my doctor to agree? So I said, well, if your doctor agrees, then yes, why don't you? We'll try it. We'll try it starting very low and work up slowly and continue to take your blood sugar, etcetera, etcetera. And what I found in every case is as people take more glucose, their blood sugar drops and gets down to the normal range. That's a little bit controversial. That actually continues to drop in terms of what's considered normal, but roughly 90 to 105 is where people end up. And that includes people that are on insulin pumps, people that were diagnosed with type one diabetes at two or three years old. Literally, every single one of them, their blood sugars go to normal, and they can stop taking insulin. They can get rid of their insulin pump. And the explanation briefly, like we talked about a few minutes ago, is as the brain gets more glucose via the different pathway that we talked about, then it doesn't need to activate the liver to release stored glucose into the blood anymore. So that process stops. And that's what lowers the blood glucose level.
Yeah. And how about, um, does glucose have calories? Should we be, is this affect weight at all?
It does have calories. It's four calories per gram. And some people lose weight while taking glucose. Generally, people under, again, about 35 to 40, don't gain much of any weight. Probably the higher percentage of people do gain weight. But this is really pretty recent understanding and discovery. But what I've seen in everybody I've worked with, if they gain weight taking glucose, they get to a point somewhere in the process where they stop gaining weight, even if they continue taking more to get to symptom elimination. And then when they stop taking the glucose, they will lose the weight. And in most cases, lose weight beyond what where they were when they started. So if they were 180 pounds when they started, they might go down to 160 pounds after they stop taking the glucose in the same amounts and regularly. And my, I would say it's a theoretical formulation, is is that higher glucose burning in the form of stress, in the form of thoughts of unworthiness or worthlessness, in the form of spending a lot of time on screens, anything that excessively burns glucose, results in more storage of fat. That fat, it's a little complicated chemically, but a significant, um, portion of fat is actually long-term stored glucose. And so what the brain is doing is putting away glucose for a rainy day, so to speak. If, yeah, the amount of glucose intake reduces based on this high glucose burning, the brain knows there needs to be a significant amount of glucose. So it will store it until the glucose burning comes back to normal. And that's always part of the process, taking enough glucose to get your brain fueled, reducing glucose burning so you're functioning more efficiently. And that just leads to weight loss and getting to a good weight for that person's body structure.
Yeah, so what about, um, like dosing? Like how does that work? Is it just like based on how much you weigh? Is it based on how old you are? How do you determine how much glucose someone needs?
It really doesn't depend all that much on what you weigh. But, okay, children take less than adults do, probably not surprisingly. And typically, I have older people start a little lower as well, because they're not metabolizing it or, um, absorbing it as quickly. But so for roughly somebody 16 years old to maybe 70, I recommend they start by taking three tablespoons of glucose at a time, three times a day. And then we increase that by a tablespoon per dose per week until we get to symptom elimination.
And, uh, so is this something basically you would follow your clients on?
Yes.
Okay. And do you, how does one, um, get the glucose? And do they call you? How does this work?
Yeah, them, there's actually maybe a surprising number of sources. But so you can go to Natural Grocers, if they have that where you live, or actually breweries very often carry it. And you can buy it in bulk. And the most economical is to buy a 50 pound bag of dextrose. Typically, that's somewhere between 80 and $100.
Wow.
Okay. But then Mars' candy is pure dextrose. So I've had teenagers and kids that have done their entire restoration process eating Smarties candy.
Seriously?
Yes.
Real?
Okay, I'm gonna have to tell my daughter's teacher actually, because she, she will hand out Smarties like for like a reward. I'm gonna tell her how great she's doing. She is doing exactly the right thing. She's feeding brains. And when, like my kids were little, when I get them like a treat for doing something, like let's say it was like going potty or something, you know, when they were little, I would always have Smarties because it was like, you could give them, it wasn't like a big piece of candy, you know, they could just have a tiny little piece of candy to reward them.
Yes.
So you also were helping their brain. I know. I didn't even know it. I think that is awesome.
Um, and then, so I want to also dive into, because I thought this was also fascinating. So we are talking about so many different areas of our life that this brings out a positive result. We're talking about, um, people that have suffered a traumatic brain injury, we are talking about people that had concussions, um, we are talking about people with mental health issues, we are talking about someone who is just feeling low motivation and fatigue. And then I also found it really interesting and read that you've seen positive shifts in like families and couples that, once glucose intake improved, that they had better communication. How, how does brain fuel and glucose really impact our interpersonal relationships, and what, what do you think contributes to these changes?
Yeah, it's a great question. And so, like I said, glucose really, the brain must be fully fueled to function. And so the brain has relational functions as part of what it does. And very often, when a brain is lower on glucose, it will start by underfueling relational functions because, again, that's not very much related to survival. So I recommend everybody, this, they sound a little bit like a tangent, but I recommend everybody now that after they finish the restoration process, once they get to symptom elimination, that they take a maintenance dose. And I did, I did the restoration process myself. If I continue to take a maintenance dose, and not too long after starting the maintenance dose, I would find my brain in real time editing what I said to my wife. So I would think of something to say, or I'd start to say something, and my brain would say, I don't think you want to say it that way. That isn't loving, that isn't gracious. And so part of being fully human is being loving and patient and compassionate and understanding and merciful. And so when our brains are fully fueled, we can be fully human. And we will love our spouses better. We will be just really automatically. I didn't set out to, well, let me make sure I'm thinking ahead of time before everything I say. I just caught this editing on the fly, like, nope, say it a little different, or maybe you can avoid saying that at all, that it's caused more problems than it's going to solve. So that understanding, and even the compassion, understanding if somebody is mistreating you, ultimately that's because they're low on fuel. It isn't that they're a mean person, it isn't that they're a lazy person, it isn't that they're dangerous. Even in the prison system, behavior that is dehumanizing happens because of lower fuel.
Yeah, so when you talk about the maintenance dose, so you, you kind of increase your, um, glucose, how much you're taking, your dosage until symptom elimination. How do you determine what the maintenance dose might be?
It's a little bit of an experimentation process for many people. It's maybe a quarter or 20% of what their restoration dose, so to speak, was. But just today, I had a conversation with a woman I'm working with, who she was diagnosed with type one diabetes at age two, and she's been on an insulin pump since, I think, age 10. And her blood sugars are now under control, she's stopped her insulin pump, she has basically eliminated taking any insulin. And so we were talking about a maintenance dose, but she's also a therapist and has a pretty significant mental load. So I said to her, your maintenance dose may be higher than some other people's, simply because you're burning glucose fast every day, just with your job. So again, it takes a little experimenting, but it's very often 20, 25% of what the dose was that got to symptom elimination.
Yeah, it's, it's just so, so fascinating to me. It, and, you know, it's so funny because I think as humans, we like to complicate things. You know, we like to, we like to make things so difficult. Um, and it, so it's interesting, you know, you talked about, you know, there's three things our body needs, you know, water, oxygen, and glucose. And to be honest, I mean, I know that to be true too, from my science degree that I have in background. And, and, and it's interesting, you know, how we can just going back to the basics, right, of like, what do we actually need to fuel our bodies, to, you know, really, um, perform at an optimal level, to interact at an optimal level with each other. Um, and so I, I, I think it's just so interesting. Um, what, what, what do you think, um, and you've done extensive research, um, at this point, where do you see the future of brain health and mental wellness? Where do you see this headed, especially in terms of like public understanding and treatment approaches, and for brain fuel deficiencies?
I think it's just going to continue to grow. That in terms of my work, virtually every person I work with these days has been referred by somebody else. M-hm. And so people are seeing the benefit. But one of the things, if I can mention it quickly, I just finished a new book.
Is this your book?
It is. Oh, wow. Restored Hope.
Uh-huh. Okay. I'm writing that down. And tell us about, tell us a little bit about it.
Yeah, the book really describes human function with the primary focus on brain function and describes how brains control everything. And that brain function is the key to hope. That people who are suicidal are suicidal because their glucose level in their brain is too low. I worked with a little girl, been a while ago, but 11-year-old girl at the time, I was working with her. She was, she estimated she was having a hundred suicidal thoughts a day and would not let her mother get out of her sight because she was afraid she was going to kill herself. After about three months on glucose, she was having no suicidal thoughts at all.
Wow.
But so continuing essentially to spread the message that, like you said, it really is simple, really is direct. People will get their full human function back. And that includes being loving to their spouse or their children. That includes being patient with other people on the roads. That includes doing acts of kindness. And so I think there's going to continue to be, I hope there's going to continue to be more and more awareness of, we give our brains what they need, and we will function fully as humans. And through this podcast, through your work, that is helping to increase people's knowledge that there's nothing broken about them. They're not mentally ill, they're not defective, they're not lazy. They are simply underfueled. And that can be directly and relatively easily corrected.
Yeah. Um, what do you recommend if people are listening to this and maybe they're struggling right now, um, with various things, what do you, and they're hearing this and going, you know what, that, that could probably help me, that might help me. What do you recommend they do next?
So I think the book will be helpful, but I think starting on glucose. But it's very challenging to do this on your own, simply because the brain continues to make decisions in the moment about what gets fuel and what doesn't. So people will have symptoms kind of come and go for a while, and that can be pretty confusing. And it's also very difficult to reduce or eliminate excess glucose burning on your own. So I recommend that people work with me or somebody that I've trained. And I work with people across the US and even internationally and could do that via Zoom or phone call, whatever. And just so people know that this isn't a money-making proposition on my part. I, what people pay me is what they tell me they can afford. And so probably at any given time, 25%, 30% of people I work with don't pay anything.
Wow.
And I don't ever turn anybody away for a lack of money.
Wow.
So again, it's not about making me richer or getting money from me. It's more about helping people be restored. That's, that's for me, my life's mission.
Yeah. Well, you can tell you have, um, a great energy about you. And, um, I just really appreciate, um, the research you've done, the knowledge that you have, and your willingness to, um, help and give is amazing. And I think is really, I think what the world, um, needs right now, in particular, you know?
Yes.
So I just, I really applaud you for all your work and everything that you've done. And, and really listening, you know, I think, um, you know, God plants things in our hearts for a reason. And many times we ignore them, right? Or we, you know, we go past them, or we, or we, you know, put them to the side for a long time. And, you know, I think it's really awesome that you, you know, got that, um, inspiration and really dove in and have such a heart for this, and it truly, truly shows.
I'm glad.
So if they want to contact you or your team, how, how can people get in touch with you or, and what you do?
They can email me at D Stevens, S T E V E N S, at restored humanity.com. Or they can, and I don't mind giving my phone number out, they can call or text me at 573-594-638.
That's amazing. And then how can we get your book?
It's available on Amazon.
Okay.
So if you just type in Restored Hope, it will come out.
That's so cool. So the great news is right now, it's very inexpensive on Kindle. I think it's 99 cents. And you may be able to get it for free even with some credit. So also isn't expensive. The paperback, I think, is $14.99. And the hardback, $22.99. So, but yeah, through Amazon is the short answer.
Awesome. Well, thank you so much for just sharing your groundbreaking work with us, the science behind brain health with us today. Um, I think this conversation's truly opened my eyes, and I know so many others listening to all the importance of fueling our brains properly and what the impact that has on, on really every area of our life.
Yes, absolutely.
Yeah. Well, to everyone listening, I hope you're feeling inspired, as I am, to look at brain health in a whole new way. Remember, real wellness starts with giving our brains the fuel they need. And today's insights are a powerful reminder of just how transformative that can be. If you found today's episode valuable, please consider sharing it with someone who might benefit. And subscribe to Life Without Secrets for more episodes. Go ahead and find Dr. David Stevens, um, and go back and get his info. I will also put it in our show notes. And until next time, keep exploring, keep fueling your brain, and remember that lasting change starts from within.
Hey there, it's Jillian from Life Without Secrets. Ever feel like you and your partner aren't quite on the same page? Well, you're not alone. And that's exactly why I created our latest issue of Truthful Magazine. It's packed with insights and stories about bridging that gap and finding a deeper connection. We're diving into real conversations about needs, feelings, and how honest dialogue can rekindle that closeness that you've been missing. Why not explore this together? Go grab your free copy right now at lifewithsecrets.com and turn those pages into shared moments. Can't wait for you to dive in and share your thoughts with me.