Take Dr. Daniel Amen’s free Brain Health Assessment to discover your Brain Type and your Brain Fit Score!
You’ll get a personalized report, based on your brain type, with recommendations to better understand and improve your brain. We want to help you live a better, healthier and happier life. It only takes about 5 minutes, get started now at the link below and read on to find out exactly what the BHA is.
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For many years, I have been a big fan of natural supplements to support my brain health; however, like many other people, I learned the hard way that some supplements just don’t work for everybody. Ones that help some people feel better can make others feel worse. But, when I found out why, it made all the sense in the world.
One of the most important discoveries made at Amen Clinics after decades of analyzing the brain scans of our patients is that there are a variety of brain types. In fact, we have identified 5 primary brain types (and a total of 16 brain types), each with its own strengths and challenges. We used this information to develop a 6-minute online quiz called the Brain Health Assessment so that anyone who wants to know their own brain type can easily find out.
Our brain type quiz differs from a typical personality test in that it asks questions that are reflective of functions in certain areas of the brain. After I learned what my brain type was, I was able to dial in exactly which supplements, dietary plan, and overall health strategies help me feel my best. And I realized why some supplements I was taking weren’t right for me even though they worked for others.
After I took the Brain Health Assessment and discovered what my brain type was, I realized why some supplements I was taking weren’t right for me even though they worked for others. Click To TweetGetting to Know the 5 Primary Brain Types
Here’s a quick overview of the 5 primary brain types, along with supplement recommendations for each type and a word of caution on what to avoid.
Balanced Brain Type: Just like it sounds, people with this type have healthy brain function along with good emotional regulation, focus, impulse control, and flexibility. Like others, they have everyday ups and downs, but their strong brain and resilience let them stay balanced through the difficult times.
A basic daily supplement regimen is helpful for Balanced brains to stay healthy. So, if this is your brain type, be sure to take a multivitamin with minerals, omega-3s, vitamin D, and a probiotic to support your gut health. Note that these nutraceuticals are so beneficial to overall brain health, they are recommended for all brain types.
Spontaneous Brain Type: People with this type tend to love novelty, adventures, taking risks, and are often creative and out-of-the-box thinkers. They also tend to get easily bored, restless, and impatient, and struggle with impulse control. These challenges are associated with lower-than-normal activity in the front part of their brain, which is involved with decision-making, forethought, planning, and judgment and acts as the brain’s brake, so we don’t say or do things we regret. The low activity in this area can lead to problems with these functions.
Supportive Supplements: As far as supplements go, Spontaneous brains can benefit by increasing dopamine to boost their frontal lobe activity with nutrients such as rhodiola, ginseng, green tea extract, ashwagandha, and L-tyrosine, like those found in Focus and Energy.
Caution: If a person with the Spontaneous Brain Type were to take a supplement such as St. John’s wort or GABA that calms the front part of the brain—which already has low activity—guess what would happen? That low activity will decrease even more, exacerbating their predisposition for impulsivity and throwing caution to the wind. That’s no bueno!
Persistent Brain Type: Almost the opposite of the Spontaneous folks, those with the Persistent Brain Type have parts of their frontal lobes that work too hard, which can provide them with an incredible ability to focus. They like familiarity and routines, and being in charge, autonomous, and respected. They are the person to get the job done; however, they can be persistent to a fault. They tend to get stuck on the same thoughts and behaviors, are often rigid and inflexible in their thinking, can be critical and judgmental, and are champs at holding grudges.
Supportive Supplements: To help calm down the overactivity in the front part of their brain, Persistent types often benefit from nutrients that help to increase serotonin, like 5HTP, St John’s wort, folate, and vitamins B6 and B12. Serotonin Mood Support promotes healthy serotonin balance.
Caution: If someone with a Persistent brain was struggling with brain fog and decided to take a stimulating supplement that’s going to further elevate the high activity in the front part of their brain…watch out because they’re going to get even more stubborn and critical!
Sensitive Brain Type: In people with this brain type, there is increased activity in the emotional center of their brain. In part, this is what makes them sensitive, have deep feelings, and be empathic to the suffering of others. Conversely, they can be moody and pessimistic, and even struggle with depressive symptoms. Although they like to have time to themselves, they need to be socially connected to avoid getting stuck in a negative mindset.
Supportive Supplements: People with the Sensitive Brain Type can benefit from nutrients that promote healthy moods, such as SAMe or saffron. Known in the Middle East for more than 2,600 years as the “happiness spice,” saffron is one of my favorites. Aside from being a wonderful and aromatic herb to cook with, research studies have found that the mood boosting properties of saffron rival those of some antidepressants, but without the adverse side effects. When the crew in our house starts getting too cranky and stressed, Happy Saffron helps support healthy moods.
Caution: For people with bipolar disorder, a mood disorder that involves extreme mood swings, SAMe may trigger mania.
Cautious Brain Type: Those who have the Cautious Brain Type prefer a calm and organized environment and are very conscientious and motivated people. However, they also tend to struggle with worry, fears about the future, and are inclined to get stressed-out pretty easily. The benefits and the challenges of this type come from high activity in the anxiety centers in their brain.
Supportive Supplements: This type benefits most from nutrients that calm busy brains. I can totally relate to this. Sometimes I just can’t turn off my monkey mind. My go-to supplements to encourage relaxation include GABA (in GABA Calming Support) or magnesium (in Calm My Brain) and l-theanine (in L-Theanine Gummies).
Caution: This type does not do well with overstimulation, so caffeine or supplements that boost dopamine tend to make this brain type even more anxious.
Discover Your Unique Brain Type
Even though this is a quick overview, I hope it’s given you a better understanding about some of the key differences in the various brain types and insight into why a supplement that works for your spouse/partner, child, or friend might not work for you.
Take note that many people are combination brain types (like I am), meaning they have traits from more than one type. So if you haven’t already taken our free brain type quiz, I encourage you to spend a few minutes doing it. Once you discover your type, you’ll learn more about the nutraceuticals recommended for your brain type as well as other ways to help optimize the physical functioning of your amazing brain!
When choosing supplements, always opt for high-quality nutraceuticals backed by science, like the ones from BrainMD. Want 21% off? Enter TANA21 at checkout. It’s that easy!
If you’re struggling and need professional help, Amen Clinics is here for you. We offer in-clinic brain scanning and appointments, as well as mental telehealth, remote clinical evaluations, and video therapy for adults, children, and couples. Find out more by speaking to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here.
