Change Your Brain Every Day - Heather Rae El Moussa: On Her Secret Battle at 17, Hormones, Past Trauma and Hashimotos Disease

Episode Date: June 4, 2025

Heather Rae El Moussa has spent years in the public eye—from her battle with anorexia at 17 to becoming a star on Selling Sunset and launching a successful beauty brand. But after giving birth to her son, Heather faced a new set of challenges: crashing energy, mood swings, and a worsening thyroid condition that left her feeling like she was dying. In this deeply personal episode, Heather joins Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen to share how motherhood reshaped her body, brain, and priorities. She opens up about being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease, the toll stress and hormones took on her mental health, and why she turned to brain imaging to understand what was really going on inside. Find out what her brain reveals and what she’s doing to stay sharp, centered, and thriving. If you’ve ever felt off after a major life shift, this episode is a must-listen. 00:00 Intro 00:45 Sponsor 03:06 Beautiful on the Inside 06:31 Falling in Love with Your Brain 07:12 The Thyroid 11:55 Active Brain/Mood Cycle 14:16 Total Brain 17:57 Heather’s Brain 19:57 Concussion 23:29 The Emotional Brain/Coordination 26:00 Early Stress & Trauma 35:53 Addressing Past Traumas 38:53 Brain Makeover 49:14 Sponsor 50:28 Wrap Up

Every day I felt terrible. I just kind of pushed it away. I'm just tired. I'm tired from the baby. I'm exhausted. My lactation specialist, she said, why don't you get your hormones checked and see where you're at?

And that's actually how I found out. And my husband had thyroid cancer. So he had been through a lot of issues with his thyroid. So he kind of recognized what I was going through. So at least I had him to fall back on. I felt like I was dying. I was that tired. Heather Rae El Moussa is an American real estate agent.

Television personality. And model. She first gained fame when she appeared on Netflix's reality hit series, Selling Sunset. Now she is the star of her own TV shows called The Flip Off and The Flipping El Moussa. It was my early 20s. I was on my way down to San Diego

and ended up getting rear-ended by a car. When it hit me from behind, I got the whip wash and then the pain didn't start till the next day. So then I went to treatments with a chiropractor and massage therapist. I didn't do anything else. Every day you are making your brain better or you are making it worse. Stay with us to learn how you can change your brain for the better every day. Hi, I'm Dr. Daniel Lehmann.

I've experienced firsthand the powerful impact that proper supplementation can have on your brain, your body and your mind. That's why I founded BrainMD. Our formulas are scientifically created from decades of clinical research designed to help you think clearer, feel better, and improve every aspect of your health.

Whether it's Brain and Body Power Max, the same formula I used in the world's largest study of NFL players to optimize brain performance, to happy saffron, to boost mood and memory, and Pro Brain Biotics MAX to improve the gut-brain connection. BrainMD delivers the highest quality science-backed solutions to help you think and feel better. Tana and I take many of our products every day. And as a special offer, just for our listeners, you can save 20% on your next order. Visit BrainMD.com and use the code podcast 20.

With a better brain always comes a better life. Welcome, I'm so excited for today. I am actually here, we are here with a very dear friend of ours, Heather Rae Almosa. You may recognize her from the Flipping Almosas, the flip off and she's been on Selling Sunset, she was on for a long time. But we know her as a friend and just a beautiful person,

both inside and out, and I'm super excited. So excited to be here, you guys, thank you. I want to tell a little bit about the story. So, you know, the world is so, it's just such a small world and there's no coincidences. Now, I actually was in a situation where I was under a ton of stress having to do with real estate and did not know how,

but I knew I needed to meet you guys because I needed some help and I wanted to find someone to consult with, not knowing that you guys were not only my neighbors, but that you guys had wanted to come in and like see your brains and see how you could like, make the best. We've been talking about it for years.

Yeah, it's so great. So I'm so excited to have you here. So excited to be here with you guys. Yeah, so fun. Well, thank you so much. And tell me your goal in coming. Tell me why this is important and what you hope to get out. Well, health and wellness is major to me.

It has been my whole life. So anything that I can do to better myself and especially with my brain and learn, then I'm very intrigued by it. And I don't only want to be beautiful on the outside, I want to be beautiful on my inside. I work very hard at my health and my wellness. So I just want to be the best version of myself that I can be. And where did that come from? I've always strived for that since I was younger, started even with like skincare and taking

care of my outer appearance. And I think just as I got older, working out became really important to me. And then wanting to strive to just have like mental health awareness and be the best version of myself and always work on myself. I think probably within the last, I'd say 10 years is when I really wanted to start working on myself. And then even after I had my baby, I'd say postpartum, kind of the struggles with that. I didn't have depression, but I'd say, you know,

we go through challenges as women with the hormones. I'd say wanting to learn more about like my mental health after that and just become like a happier version of myself. That was really something I'm, and I'm, well, I am striving for that. Do you feel like after you had a baby, I know at least for me, it was like, I want to be the best mom I can.

And so that even became more of a focus and more important. Yes, I think I became more aware of my body after I had a baby, even just hormonal and even like ovulation. I just came more in touch with my body. And I learned a lot about myself after the baby. And what I went through mentally having a baby, I think that I changed a lot, especially during the first year.

And then I've been striving to kind of get back to who I was, which I don't think you ever get back to who you are after a baby, but trying to get to like more of like feeling like I don't have to always be such a responsible person. I'm very responsible, organized, as you know. And after seeing my brain, you know even more, but I'm very like structured. Well, good luck if you figure out more, but I'm very like structured. Well, good luck if you figure out how to do that, let me know, because I never figured it out after a baby.

Well, and one thing, you have been in the public eye for a long time. Now you were on Selling Sunset for how many seasons? Seven. Wow. Yeah, six and a half, seven. I left after I had Tristan. And then you're on TV now, you actually have a couple of shows with your husband. Yeah.

The flip off, which I thought was fun and challenging. And I often think, challenging. And I often think as you take these houses that are just awful, and then you turn them into something spectacular, that that's what I do. Yep. You do it with brains. We do it with houses. And as we'll see, you're fortunate that you're starting with really healthy brain tissue, which is important. I haven't done the image yet, not too much. Well, hopefully. So, the goal today is for you actually to fall in love with your brain to fall in love with your brain so that you would never want to hurt it because you realize it controls everything you do, how you think, how you feel, how you act, the kind of mom you are, the kind of wife you are, the kind of television star you are.

And nobody loves their brain because you can't see it, right? You can see the wrinkles in your skin or the fat around your belly. And you can do something when you're unhappy with it, but because nobody looks at their brain, most people just never care. Interesting. Yeah, that's true. In my notes, you had hypothyroidism. Yes.

Tell me about that. Yeah. So, I had some thyroid issues minor before I got pregnant. And then pregnancy kind of really changed and made it worse. And they had to level out my medication for that. And then just kept having to find like the right because it'd go up and or hypo. That's what, I was slow. So they'd have to like up my medication and I'd have to go in and get checked quite often because pregnancy threw it off. And then afterwards is when it got really bad.

And they told me I had Hashimoto's and it got so high, then it dropped so low that the doctor said they'd never seen such a dramatic change in levels and I am now leveled out at I take a hundred micrograms is it yeah of synthroid so that leveled me out and even more recently I'd say a couple months ago I started feeling off again and then they added another 50 on once a week and I feel good yeah but, but after I had to be- So you don't know anything about that? I would know nothing about that.

Thyroid hell I know a lot about. You had it worse than I did. I mean, mine, I associated mine to pregnancy like postpartum, I just thought I was exhausted from having a new baby and not sleeping very much and going brain fog. And I just felt every day I felt terrible every single day. And then my lactation specialist, she said, why don't you get your hormones checked and

see where you're at? And that's actually how I found out. Yeah, you can't. So, you know, if you don't look, you don't know. And it is such a huge problem that is tricky to manage. And if you don't stay on top of it. So, my wife has never said she's going to leave me. But when she found an endocrinologist she loved, she's like, if you die, I'm marrying you. And he's like 95. Because it was like the Lazarus effect.

He saved you. When my thyroid was off, it was like I was in hell. I was either wired and tired all the time or so tired. And I would have muscle aches and I was just so fatigued and had brain fog, or I would be like shaky and I just couldn't regulate it. So having the right endocrinologist and the right dose of thyroid makes all the difference not just in every other part of your life, but for your brain and for your focus.

It's just crazy. I had always been like very healthy. I never had issues until the thyroid situation. And like I said, I just kind of pushed it away. I'm just tired. I'm tired from the baby. I'm exhausted. And then getting it checked, I was like, wow.

And my husband had thyroid cancer. So, you know, he had been through a lot of issues with his thyroid. So he kind of recognized what I was going through. So at least I had him to fall back on, like I'm going through this. I feel exhausted. I felt like I was dying.

Like I was that tired. I had to get out of bed for the baby and for work. I was filming my show, but then I wanted to just be in bed all day because I was so tired and lethargic. Do you eat gluten? Rarely, yeah. I am vegan and gluten-free.

Because I remember when Chloe, our 21-year-old, when she was in second grade and her teacher had Hashimoto's and when we got her to get rid of the glute, she did so much better. When did the low energy start? After I had Tristan, I'd say it was when I got really bad and my levels were so off. So I would say that's when I felt my worst. And how's your energy now? Good. Yeah, I feel good. I mean, obviously, I think it's natural, like just mom stuff. And, you know, before you have kids, you can maybe sleep in a little bit longer, you know, take some, I could lay in bed, have my tea in the morning, but now like right when he's up, I'm up. So I'm

usually up before six. It's like five, between 530 and six, never later than six unless we're out of town traveling, I get a little break. But I think it's just, you know, I try to go to bed by 10. That's kind of my cutoff. And that's late for me. I'm not asleep by 10. I'm like, and then so it's like I get a 10 to usually 530 or six. So a lot of days, it takes me a little bit to get out of bed. Now, like where before I used to jump up and I was like good to go. And now I'm a little bit slower in the mornings. And have you tried our peak energy?

I just got it recently, but I have not been consistent. Yeah, it's a little miracle supplement that so many people like. And it's not like you're not under stress, right? You launched a beauty line, you've been in the public eye, you have a baby. And two other kids. So I have a 14-year-old stepdaughter and a nine-year-old stepson. So it's like between all the schedules, the filming, the baby, my brain does not shut off. So when do you get a break? my brain does not shut off a lot. So when do you get a break?

When we travel and we're out of town and we don't bring the kids and it's not for work and we're just going on like a little trip, we kind of disconnect. Sometimes we don't leave the room. We stay in bed, we watch shows and just zen out. Sometimes on the weekends, like when the baby's napping, but he's two.

So he's wild as you guys know, you know him. He's an all boy. So we all boy. So he's very go, go, go. And then launching my beauty line, I'd say that's added recently a lot of stress into my life. And sometimes your mood can shift as your cycle shifts. Now, is that something you've noticed since a teenager or is it something you've noticed more since you've had the baby? For me, it's not an every month thing.

I'm a husband might say different, but some months I feel fine. I might deal with like a little bloating, which is rare. I never get cramping. It's usually just like kind of a mood shift. And I think when I'm under more stress is when the mood is, you know, worse. I'm just like very like agitated and irritated and emotional, like more emotional. But it's not every month. Some months I feel fine and like, oh, I'm about to start. And in other months, I'm like, oh, I'm about to start. So, yeah, I'd say it depends on my stress level and what's happening. Yeah, that always matters. And I was under a lot of stress this last month and then I did the brain scan.

So, I… Where were you in your cycle when you did the scan? I was on it. Yeah. So, then that week before, so when all the questions were coming up with the tests, I was, when I was asking like mood, I'm like, well, in the last week, I have been more agitated. I have been more irritable, but I'm not normally like this. Well, and we also make something called PMS relief, which we have such great reviews on.

I love that so much. And the saffron. I want the saffron, yeah. Let's talk about your testing. Okay. So you did something called total brain that I give to all of. I noticed you guys are both very competitive. We are. So I was getting texts off the hook. We were doing the test, the X test.

You actually scored fine. Yes. So the X test is our ADD test. Did I do better than my husband? Oh gosh, don't answer that. Actually, on that test, both of you scored okay. And there's just nothing about you I thought associated with ADD. TARC's different. But on that test, both of you- And that matches my experience of you.

You're very grounded, rational, structured, like very, always the voice of reason. Like even when I see you on TV, it's like you're always the voice of reason. Not depressed, not anxious, not ADD, not socially anxious. High stress, which we talked about. Your long-term and short-term memory, great. Your planning, excellent. Flexibility could be better, which means you sort of like things to go a certain way and if they don't, it frustrates you. Very true. I've had to kind of ease up on that since I met my husband

because our life is very chaotic. And then with the kids and the traveling and the filming, so I've had to kind of like, it's OK. Everything's OK. Or if things aren't perfect, because I like a very clean, perfect space. And as you know, with two-year-olds, it's not. And I'm like, okay, it's fine.

We'll get to it later. So I've really, I feel like worked on that. I have a rule of 12. We were going to Paris for her 50th birthday. And I noticed sometimes we go on vacation if something went wrong, it would just sort of ruin things for a day or two. And I'm like, 12 things are going to go wrong.

Let's just agree that we're not going to be irritated or upset until the 13th thing goes wrong. Okay. It helps so much. And then we can throw stuff, we can curse, we can like lose our minds. And three things went wrong. And nobody was upset. And we just counted. We didn't count it as it goes. Okay, that was one. That was two.

Tarek and I, we need to say this more often but when we travel, you know, cause we're in charge or like we could say, go to Disneyland with the kids, we end up bickering. It's like, and like we're on the same team, babe. This is our, we're a team, you know, against the world. Like it's us, but cause him and I end up like, and we're on the same team, babe. We're a team against the world. It's us. But because him and I end up like, and then we're fine.

It's like this little stress moment, but we need to remember the 12th. It works so well. Rule of 12. Okay. It got like 10 million views when I posted on it. It's a great idea. That's amazing. And it goes what, because with you, you're awesome.

We can make a little better flexibility. And actually for Chloe, flexibility was on her chore chart. You guys remind me a lot of each other. When she was little. She's very structured and she's amazing because she gets structured. I am, but not in the same way. She gets a lot done. That girl gets a lot done and she's always multi, but she's got to she gets structured. I am but not in the same way. She gets a lot done. That girl gets a lot done and she's always multi, but she's got to be a certain way.

And so, but I had to sort of teach her it's like life doesn't always work like that. So we have to, you know, work on it. Yeah. Let's talk about your scans. Okay. So we did a study called SPECT. SPECT looks at blood flow and activity. It looks at how your brain works

and it basically shows us three things. Good activity, too little or too much. And then my job is balance. If it works too hard, want to comment down. If it doesn't work, pardon up. Want to stimulate. And here's an example of a healthy brain. One on the left looks at the outside surface and it should just be full, even and symmetrical. One on the right is looking at the most active parts of the brain, which should be in the back bottom part. So if we look here, so the top left image is looking underneath the brain, the bottom right looking down from the top, one side and the other. And the red, white and blue

ones share a balance, which has half of the brain's neurons, is typically the most active and everything else is sort of quiet. So that's kind of like underneath in the back. Okay. And when we look at, let's go the right way. When we look at your brain. Wow, wow. You have a stunningly beautiful brain.

That's dangerous because that's like a beautiful woman with a beautiful brain. Uh-oh. Oh no, it's so. That's like his. Yeah. How often do you see this? Not so often.

You have a beautiful brain, but you had a concussion at some point in the past. It's crazy. And actually see it here and if you did maybe 10 hyperbaric sessions, just plump it up and make it even better. So is that where that dent is? That's where the concussion? Yeah, I had the same thing. I didn't know it's from a car accident. I think so.

So tell us about whiplash. Okay. So it was, it was my early twenties. I was on my way down to San Diego and ended up getting rear-ended by a car. And at the time, damage, it didn't seem like there was much damage, but the next morning,

I didn't go to hospital, like nothing. It was drivable. But then the next morning, the car wouldn't start and realized the car had gone under my car. So the damage was, but then when it know, when it hit me from behind, I got the whip lash and then the pain didn't start till the next day. So everything felt fine. I continued about my day and then the next day is when everything happened. So then I went to

treatments with a chiropractor and massage therapist, but I didn't do anything else. I was young. I was in my early twenties. And most people don't know. In fact, if you ask me, what's the single most important lesson I've learned from almost 300,000 scans? Mild traumatic brain injury messes up people's lives and nobody knows about it. And again, if you think about it, the brain is soft about the consistency of soft butter, tofu, custard, somewhere between egg whites and jello. And inside the skull, there are a lot of very sharp bony ridges. And so, your brain is like going along, then all of a sudden you get rear ended. And what happens, the brain slams against the front, and then slams against the back. And your temporal lobe, so we're talking about this guy right here,

sits in a little cavity that is surrounded by sharp bone. Wow. And there's a reason shaking baby syndrome is illegal, right? Yeah. That's why. It shakes it around. Wow. So, but it can be so much better.

But on a scale of zero to 10, you're like starting at eight and a half. I mean, you just have a great looking healthy brain. Now, I want you to keep it that way. How you do that is you love it, right? There's a term I created many years ago called brain envy. I always say Freud was wrong. Penis envy is not the cause of anybody's problem. Brain envy. Brain envy. You got to love your brain and then avoid anything that hurts it, know the less, and then do things that help it. And what's good for your brain is also good for your skill.

In fact, I had one patient once who after she did our program, her sister said, tell me the truth. Did you have work done? Really? Yeah. It's like a little mini facelift for her. Oh. Because the health of your skin is actually an outside reflection of the health. Makes sense. Of your brain and you have beautiful skin. And you also just launched. My beauty line. Yeah. Yeah. And like going back to I've always

cared about skin and wellness and health and being vegan since I was in my early twenties. And I love it. I mean, it fits well with my body and my brain. So Hyperbaric Chamber can help the concussion. Yes. It'll actually work to repair it. And I think just 10 sessions. Wow. Would be super helpful for you. Now, the inside

is your emotional brain, a little busy. So that's right here. And your cerebellum here, it's just a little sleepy. And so what your emotional brain being busy could be when you get vulnerable and it's that time of your cycle, you get more durable. And so I think calming it a little bit, that would be good. And then table tennis. Yeah. Because coordination exercises activate the cerebellum. And that's why I don't want Tristan, your little one playing football or hitting soccer balls with his head. It's like dumb, dumb, dumb.

Yeah. But the more coordination things he does when he's young, whether it's dance or table tennis or tennis, it helps develop the cerebellum, which will then turn on his frontal lobes. And so it's one of the reasons I love martial arts for kids, as long as they don't get hit in the head. Yep. All of those complex movements have actually been studied and found to grow brain tissue. How often should I be doing something like that? Like stimulating?

A couple of times a week. Okay. Would be- So if I added in like ping pong or tennis or something. Okay. Yeah. And I think dance is great as well. Now, if you drink while you dance, it rewards.

Me not a club? That doesn't count. And do you know where you can play ping pong? I do. I need a teacher though. We were doing tennis for a little while and we stopped because they have the one in our neighborhood. So we were doing that and then it's just hard to fit it in to be honest. I mean, that's the hardest thing is fitting things in for me. Yeah. So you have to make an appointment.

Yeah. Put it on my schedule. You have to put it on the schedule. Yeah. And just say, oh, this is what we do. Because the better your brain, the more money you're going to make for a longer period of time. Yeah. So, if we look at your emotional brain and it's busy, is there anything in the past that might explain that?

I'd say I grew up in a very loving household. My parents are still married. They've been married 40 years and I'm very close with them. Today, they're my best friends. Super close with my family. My dad was an alcoholic when I was growing up. So he is sober now of about nine years. So he got sober later on in his life. But that definitely caused a lot of stress in our household. And I'm not like a shy person, I'm very vocal and outgoing,

but I would fight with my dad. So if he would be fighting with my mom, I would go in to protect my mom, then he would turn on me. So it was, I guess, hostile more on the weekends when he was home from work, but he was also a closet alcoholic. So it wasn't like he was drinking publicly and out and about.

And my dad was a hard worker. So he continued his like daily life and he just had this disease, this problem. And so I went to counseling when I was young for it and kind of learned to live with it, I guess it was either like live with it, I guess. It was either like live with it or separate myself from it because it caused me a lot of guilt in my life because I wanted to fix my dad. I wanted him to be better and I was, you know,

I couldn't make him better. And so that was like very challenging for me. How often did it show up when you were young? When did you first remember it being an issue? It's hard to remember exactly. I'd say I noticed it more when I was probably middle school into high school. It probably was happening, but I wasn't aware. And I'm sure they protect me a lot.

My mom did from other things. And then I had found out later in life that it was even worse than what I knew growing up. And my mom just protected me from knowing. And then I moved out right after high school, so as soon as I could. Because my dad and I were very combative. We didn't get along.

So I just wanted to separate myself from him. But then they still took care of me financially. So it was like, I had a really strong relationship with them and my dad was, he's a very standup man. He's an incredible man, an incredible dad, but he was struggling with this problem. And, but I feel like I had this like, I really could separate myself,

like, because the next day he'd be fine and he wouldn't remember what would happen. So, you know, and you live with the things. Yeah, but your brain remembered it. Yeah. And a lot of like verbal abuse. Yeah, no physical, but verbal. So I married my first wife, my childhood sweetheart.

Two months later, she tried to kill herself. And I took her to see a wonderful psychiatrist. And I came to realize if he helped her, it wouldn't just help her. It would help me. It would help our kids. And I talked to this woman every day for three years when we were teenagers, and I had no idea her dad was a raging alcoholic who beat her mother, who police would come to. It was a nightmare for her.

And so I started studying children and grandchildren of alcoholics because I'm married to a child of an alcoholic and our kids will be grandchildren of alcoholics. There are over 30 million children of alcoholics in the United States. They tend not to talk, not to trust, and not to feel. And what happens is your nervous system becomes more hyperactive because you're always watching for something bad to happen. And so some of that trauma sort of got stuck in your nervous system. Have you ever heard of something called EMDR?

I have. Have you ever heard of something called EMDR? I have. Have you ever done it? I've been wanting to. It can be super helpful. Yeah. Yeah. We have somebody we love.

I would love to. I've actually spent a ton of money because he has seen. Everyone in Norville. Tana, he's seen all the kids. I would love to. Because it just, it takes away the triggers. Because I imagine there's still times when you get triggered and you're like, why did

I react like that? And it could be obvious. Yeah. Or maybe not so much. I feel like, you know, I've, I'm so proud of my dad for getting sober later in life. My dad's almost 80. So my dad is like thriving. He loves life.

We're best friends. He's enjoying life now where he never got to enjoy life. You know, he would never go, we would never go and do anything because he was a closet alcoholic. So he couldn't be in public because where was he going to drink? And I think I really protect my family too, because we're in reality and I never wanted to tell my dad's story. It's not for me to out my parents, my family for what we've gone through. Is there alcoholism on your dad's side of the family? My dad's side, my grandpa died when I was eight years old.

So I don't know much about, but my dad, they had a really rough upbringing, just very, very poor, very poor. And so, you know, it was a hard life. Like my grandparents lived through depression and wars and had three boys. Like it was just a very hard life. And my uncle took his own life when I was 17. Yeah. So then I saw my- Uncle on your dad's side. Yeah. Uncle on my dad's side. And then, you know, it was really challenging on my dad's side, hard on my dad, hard on my grandma. She was still alive. And then after that, her health just deteriorated. She lost her youngest son. And we lost her when I was in my 20s, like early 20s. Well, and that's often how we see it. It's the stresses stack on top of each other. And so I'm so glad you got help.

But probably the traumas are still there. And the wonderful thing about EMDR is you just sort of pluck them out. And if you just go and talk about it with counseling, you sort of get retraumatized again. Yeah. If you just go and talk about it with counseling, you sort of get re-traumatized again. But EMDR takes it and moves it out so that the triggers, in fact, I always love it when my patients come and like, bring your triggers. Because whatever it starts, it tends to go to where it needs to go.

It's actually amazing. It's life-changing. Yeah. I would love to try it. Yeah. Okay. So overall, you're amazing. And you have a healthy brain. Your emotional brain is a bit busy. And thyroid and stress and some premenstrual moodiness. You just got labs. I want you to send them to me. Oh, yes. We got some today. Yeah. got labs, I want you to send them. Oh, yes, we got some today. Yeah. Good. So we got them to show you.

Great. From a supplement standpoint, PMS relief, I think that could be really helpful. We have multiple vitamin that I think you should be on. You're already on our vegan, omega-3, and then I do happy sephirin. Yep. And then when you get anxious, I would try the Theanine gummies. Okay. And what's your relationship with alcohol now?

I could take it or leave it. It's social here and there, but I mean, I typically could go for months and months without having anything. But I drink with my husband, like if we're out somewhere, I'll have like a glass of wine or a couple of glasses of wine, but it's not something that I feel like I need

or am missing out if I don't have. Like I loved being pregnant because I didn't, it was like, you know, nothing. No one expects you to be social with it. And I loved it and I thrived and I had a great time. So one of the things I learned is there's a genetic component to it. And when my kids were nine,

I'm like, we have this in our family. And if you don't drink, you won't have a problem. And if you do drink, you might have a problem. And so, educating them. So genes aren't a death sentence, but what they should be is a wake up call. We adopted our two nieces because both their parents were drug abusers. And when I caught the older one vaping, I grounded her for down on her really hard because I'm like, if you don't use, you won't have a problem. If you use, you might have a huge problem, right?

Because it's coming down both sides of her family. Do you find that it skips like, because I have no addictions and my sister doesn't either. We're very similar. Then could it then be like grandchildren? Yeah. And so you just want to not get crazy about it. But in our neighborhood where parents are smoking pot with their kids and, you know, providing the alcohol at the parties, you can't do any of that. Is there signs of someone that maybe could be an addict before they even start drinking or driving? Well, if they tend to be obsessive about other things.

Don't you think, Daniel, sometimes it's untreated, like they're self-medicating if their parents don't really understand if they have OCD or ADD. It just seems like a lot of the people we talk to is like, oh, I had OCD as a kid, or I had, you know, ADD as a kid and it wasn't treated. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. Okay. So being aware.

Yeah, being aware as parents. Yeah. Okay. And so hyperbaric oxygen, the supplements we talked about, I want you to become masterful at killing the ants. So ants stands for automatic negative thoughts, the thoughts that come into your mind automatically and just mess you up. And the exercise is super simple. Whenever you feel sad or mad or nervous or out of control, just write down what you're

thinking. Okay. And go, is that true? Mm-hmm. Because when you start, there's nowhere in our education system where they teach us to question our own thoughts. Like I was 28 years old in my psychiatric residency and one of our professors said, you have to teach your patients not to believe every stupid thing they think. And I'm like, but I believe every stupid thing I think. Thoughts come from all sorts of places. They come from the news, they come from the voices, social media, and they lie a lot. And so just learning to question it will help you so much. Questions? Okay. So I'm taking the vegan Omega. So I need to add in the, is the saffron once a

day, every day? Three capsules every day. Three capsules every day. And then that theanine, is that how you say it? Theanine. Theanine. Is that just- Just when you're anxious or you can't sleep. We also have something called put me to sleep. Like if you go travel. Yeah. I think that's it. It's like the extra stress or anxiety or when I do travel kind of regulating out. Have you ever been hypnotized?

No. So cool. Yeah. You like it, right? I love it. Do you meditate? I used to, I used to do. So cool. Yeah. You like it, right? I love it. Do you meditate? I used to.

I used to do TM. Before baby? Yeah. I think even before I met Tarek, I used to. And then, yeah, I loved it. It's like, for me, it's what saves my life. Yeah. I did it for years.

Prayer and meditation. Yeah. Hypnosis is sort of like meditation, but I have an app called BrainFit Life. BrainFit Life. BrainFit Life. BrainFit Life. So it has brain enhancing music, which is really great. It also has a breathing experience because if you're anxious,

breathing in a certain way just calms you down and it does it almost immediately. and there's no side effects to breathing in a different way. Yeah. And it also has six hypnosis audios on it. And the one I like for you, so there's one for sleep, there's one for anxiety, but there's another one for peak performance. So if you like, I'm going to go give this talk or we're going to start this show and you just want to show up as your best self.

I made that one for me. And I did when she was getting her first black belt in karate and she was anxious. It really helps. I was going to say, does it work? Yeah, it really helps. I was going to say, does it work? Yeah, it really helps. And it's just like all of these tools to manage your mind to just be happy. Yeah. Right. I want that. Happiness is a moral obligation. I wrote a book on happiness and I actually start with this quote, happiness is a moral obligation. And it's like, why? Because of how we impact other people. And

so- Especially your child. Oh yes. Yep. You know, I can be the happiest with my baby. I know. I've seen it. Literally like the most stressful, chaotic, outside noise and then I come to him and it's, I'm a completely different person. Yeah, it's amazing how motherhood can do that. Even when he throws the truck into the pool.

Into the pool. Tristan at other people's homes. He's all boy, so cute. He was, yeah, he was crazy this weekend. It's okay, he's fun. He's too. He's all boy. So cute. He was, yeah. He was crazy this weekend. It's okay. He's fun. He's too. He's a joy. Are there questions?

No. I would love to get on something to help me, the sleep, the regimen you were telling me. Yeah, I'll give you my sleep cocktail. Yeah. And see how that does for me. See, this is like brain makeover. Yeah. I feel good. See, this is like brain makeover. Yeah. I feel good.

I'm proud of my brain. I have some little tweaks, which I'm open to. I want to be the best. So I'm look at me being competitive. I want to be the best. But that's good. That kind of competitive is good. The one other thing we want to work on is conscious negativity bias.

OK. And it's on a scale of zero to a hundred. And you scored 34, which is not at some of my depressed patients score one. But 34 is not awesome. That could be better. Yeah. So being more positive. And so start every day with today is going to be a

great day. I mean, like say it to yourself, say it to your husband, say it to your child. Actually, when all you have all the kids go, Hey, why is your day going to be a great day? Okay. It's like begin to just nudge. Yeah. Push. Okay. When you grow up in unpredictability, it's like today sucks. Okay. When you grow up in unpredictability, it's like today sucks. And you're just afraid. It's like, okay, we're gonna retrain. And when you go to bed at night, what went well today. Which we did that last night.

And I liked it. And then Tana's got a great term I love. I stole this from her. Just throughout the day, look for the little miracles. Micro miracles. The micro miracles. And sometimes you overlook them because they don't seem like a big deal.

But if you really stop in your present, it might just be one thing that you've wanted someone to say or do for a long time, and you didn't really notice it. And all of a sudden they show up and say or do something. And you're like, oh, and you overlook it. But if you really stop and look at your day and look for what went right,

it's like those little micro miracles show up. So acknowledging. Just acknowledging it. Yeah. Okay. It's game changing. Okay. It's where you look determines how you feel.

And if you look for what's wrong, you feel wrong. If you look for what's right, you just feel lighter, happier. And it's training for you. Okay. Awesome. Okay. Thank you. This is amazing. It's very exciting to learn about this. Every thought, every decision, every success is created by your brain. And the one thing I've learned from looking at over 250,000 brain scans over the last 30 years is that you are not stuck with the brain you have. You can make it better and I can prove it. This is why I created BrainFit Life 5.0 to help you assess your brain

and then help you optimize it by knowing your brain type and giving you access to the tools you need to have a better brain and a better life. It includes a 30-day happiness challenge, brain and mental health trackers, hypnosis audios, Brain Enhancing Music, and Tools to Conquer Stress and Anxiety. You can feel better, think sharper, and live happier.

Go to the App Store and download BrainFitLife 5.0 today. Okay, for Heather's beautiful brain, thank you so much for watching. Leave us a comment, question, review, subscribe. We're so grateful you're part of our trip.