1KHO 937: The Most Powerful Thing You Can Do For Your Brain | Dr. John Ratey, Spark

Ginny Yurich (0:00)

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I have always thought that sweet and salty is one of those combinations that just makes sense, like something that can be perfectly good on its own, but add just a little salt to something sweet, and suddenly it's ten times better. So I was very excited when kachava came out with their new flavor, salted caramel. Caramel is already good, but that little bit of salt just makes the whole thing work. And what I love about kachava is that it's not just something that tastes good. Two scoops give you plant-based protein, fiber, greens, and so much more in one really simple shake. It's an easy way to help fill some of those nutritional gaps, especially on days when you're busy and just need something quick. And there aren't any artificial flavors, colors, or sweeteners. It's just clean nutrition that actually tastes delicious. Embrace your salty side. Go to kachava.com and use code 1000hours for 15% off your first order. That's kachava, spelled kachava.com, code 1000hours.

Welcome to The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast. My name is Ginny Yurich. I'm the founder of 1000 Hours Outside. And I have a guest here today that I have been a fan of for so long. I read the book Spark, which came out in 2008, a while back. And I've been such a big fan. This author also wrote Go Wild, a fantastic book delivered from distraction talking about, he talks about ADHD.

And he's also an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Just incredibly accomplished and knowledgeable Dr. John Ratey. Thank you for saying yes and welcome.

John Ratey (2:28)

Well, thanks for the introduction and thanks for having me on your program.

Ginny Yurich (2:32)

I would love to talk about this book Spark that you wrote. It's a national bestseller. It sold so many copies all over the world about the science of exercise in the brain. And I think it's a very interesting topic because I have teenagers who are really interested in exercising for their looks. And I think that makes sense for the age that they're at. But then sometimes you hit a point in life where you're like, well, this isn't probably going to be for my looks anymore. And that's not your primary motivation. And so this book is a lot about how exercise helps the brain.

It makes the brain function at its best. So could you give us a little bit of your back story about how you got interested in studying the effect of exercise?

You're like, it helps the body, but most importantly, it helps the brain.

John Ratey (3:26)

Right. Well, I got interested because I grew up playing all the sports.

To sort of treat my own ADD in a way. I was always moving, always engaged in some sports activities. I had a really wonderful feeling about exercise, but never really learned much about it. Then I got into medicine and then into psychiatry.

One of the things that I noticed was basically, that we were missing the diagnosis of adults who had attention deficit disorder. So I was talking about it early in my career. Maybe two years after residency training at a cocktail party, and one of the guys there said, can I come see you? Well, I said, sure. So he said, I think I have all the symptoms of ADD because all my life had been very productive. He was a MacArthur Fellow, a Genius Grant person, a professor at both Harvard and at MIT.

And also one of the initial members of the Marathon group here in Boston, running marathons. He ran all of his life. He said, and I've been very productive and I've been running, but now I hurt my leg. And it's been months since he's been able to run. And he says, and I think I have all the symptoms of ADHD for the first time in my life. So it was like, what? And so I had been talking about ADD a little bit. And so I started treating him. He got better on a little medicine, just a little bit, and we continue to follow him. And he rehabbed his leg, got back to running and eventually stopped all the medicine because he didn't need it because running was his medicine. So that just switched me on to two major careers, ADHD and exercise. And so I was always fascinated with exercise. What could this possibly do to your brain? Well, as we know, it does everything for your brain. We're mover. We are born movers. Our brain is a moving brain. And that's the sort of beginning of the tie over of all the stuff I've written in Spark.