Frustrated that the diets you've tried never seem to work? According to Dr. Daniel Amen, you could be picking the wrong type of diet - for your brain! While studying the electrical patterns of people's brains, Dr. Amen claims to have discovered a connection between patterns and how people approach food. "The scans give us a roadmap of what to do to balance your brain so you can have a better life," he says. "What we've seen in our clinic is not everyone's brain is the same, and for people who have issues with weight we've actually seen that there are different types; if you know your type you can get on the right program for you."

Dr. Amen breaks down the five different brain types among people who are struggling with weight:

Type 1: The Compulsive Overeater: "These are people who think about food all day long."
Type 2: The Impulse Overeater: "I call them grabbers - whenever they walk past something they grab it."
Type 3: The Impulsive-Compulsive Overeater: "A combination of type 1 and type 2, they have very little control over their impulses."
Type 4: The Sad Overeater: "These are people who tend to be sad, maybe depressed - these people eat as a way to medicate their sadness."
Type 5: The Anxious Overeater: "These are people who tend to be filled with anxiety, tension, and they eat as a way to medicate their anxiety."

Dr. Amen explains that not only can your brain help you determine the best way for you to lose weight, but that shedding those pounds can also have a positive effect on your brain. "What we found with people who are overweight is that as their weight went up, the actual physical size of their brain goes down," he states. "For obese people, they had 8 percent less brain tissue and their brains looked 16 years older than healthy people." Dr. Amen adds that being overweight doubles your risk for Alzheimer's disease.

Take Dr. Amen's Change Your Brain Change Your Body questionnaire to determine what kind of brain you have!

Plus, enter here for your chance to win a copy of Change Your Brain, Change Your Body.

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