Change Your Brain Every Day - Is Too Much Sanitization a Bad Thing? With Dr. Josh Axe

Episode Date: January 27, 2021

As the depleted stock of hand sanitizers has shown us, sanitization is at the top of everyone’s minds during this pandemic. But is it possible that we’re sanitizing too much? Can over-sanitization actually be harmful to our health? The answers may surprise you. In this third episode in a series with Ancient Nutrition founder Dr. Josh Axe, he and the Amens discuss what may be happening to some of your vital organs if you are obsessively using sanitizer, or even using the wrong kinds of sanitizer.  For more info on Dr. Axe's new book, "Ancient Remedies", visit https://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Remedies-Essential-Powerful-Medicine/dp/0316496456  

Welcome to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. I'm Dr. Daniel Amen. And I'm Tana Amen. In our podcast, we provide you with the tools you need to become a warrior for the health of your brain and body. The Brain Warriors Way podcast is brought to you by Amen Clinics, where we have been transforming lives for 30 years using tools like brain spec imaging to personalize treatment to your brain. For more information, visit amenclinics.com.

The Brain Warriors Way podcast is also brought to you by BrainMD, where we produce the highest quality nutraceuticals to support the health of your brain and body. To learn more, go to brainmd.com. Welcome back. We are here with Dr. Josh Axe and his new book, Ancient Remedies. I'm really enjoying this talk. Of course, I love anything food related and how food is medicine. So thank you so much. We were talking about mushrooms in the last episode. We're going to talk about sanitization and over um, over sanitizing. And, um, I have to just say, because you threw me under the bus at the end of the last episode, um, I am a nurse. And so I do believe in obviously cleaning surfaces, but as a nurse, I've also always thought that we over sanitized and then comes along COVID. Right. So I've always been

one of those people who didn't like, I was like, okay, kid, go play in the dirt. Um, you know, my daughter sucked her thumb. And so there were plenty of germs around. I was not one of those parents who believed in over sanitizing things, but now we're in the age of COVID and all of a sudden, you know, Daniel comes home one day and I'd stripped all the surfaces off our floors. Cause I bleached everything. And because we're in a different age now. And so now people are fearful. So let's talk about sanitizing, what it does, what over sanitizing does, and how do we balance it in this time of COVID? Yeah. So I think balance is really important, but I also think it's about what you're using and what you're eating. I'm going to give you an example of this when it comes to

medications versus supplements today. When you look at what a lot of people choose to do when it comes to their health, uh, is they will choose something like, um, you know, like an antidepressant drug, right? So that's what a lot of doctors will prescribe. And it doesn't work necessarily with your body by design. I mean, it's something, it's something foreign. It's a chemical made up versus if you're using something like, you know, the brilliant Dr. Amen here might recommend is something like ginkgo biloba, you know, lion's mane mushroom, omega-3 fatty acids, like, you know, eating walnuts and more coconut and getting all the healthy, like that your body can recognize and it can work with and it's going to help address more of the root cause of what the problem that's going on. The same thing here is I want to use that analogy of you can either choose

a chemical drug, or you can use these things in nature that work more easily and are more gentle on your body. So, you know, using something like essential oils, you know, using other things like vinegar or very hot water. Those things also have really powerful sanitization properties that I think are effective enough when we're talking about fighting off different types of, you know, you know, and we're talking about airborne viruses, you know, that sort of thing as well. So really, if anything, diffusing essential oils in the air, I think is gonna be beneficial. There's a few oils in particular tea tree oil has very, very strong antimicrobial properties, but it's been shown to be more effective against some of the things that we want to get rid of like acne. I

mean, you know, that's a, that's a bacteria and yeast that you can actually start getting, um, on your skin. And it's very, very effective at treating that, but it's been shown to be effective against staff and other forms of viruses and bacteria and that way. So tea tree oil is a great one. Clove oil contains a compound called junal. I just had this thought. Yeah. Tell me if I'm crazy or not.

So your skin has a microbiome as well. That's right. There are trillions of bugs on your skin and just washing them off on a regular basis, not necessarily a good thing for the health of the microbiome. And we have two, soon to be three teenagers in the house. And so acne is often a big deal. And I wonder if that's when the microbiome on

their skin because of their hormones and their diets might not be as good as, you know, we could control when they were seven. I wonder if that their microbiome becomes a contributor to skin health and how you break out and so on. And so they often will go to the dermatologist and get an antibiotic like Cleosin, a roll-on antibiotic. And that's doing the same thing to the microbiome that taking oral antibiotics does to your gut, which can cause an overgrowth of candida and so on. Thoughts about that? That's a perfect example. And you're absolutely right.

I mean, today people are calling it your, I mean, your gut is directly connected really closely to a few organ systems, your immune system, probably the most closely, and then your brain and then your skin. Those are probably the three big ones. And so, yeah, there is a deep connection between your, your gut and your skin, but also, yeah, using an internal antibiotic or an external antibiotic. Those are both going to not only kill off the bad, but good, right? Good bacteria also keeps that bad bacteria in check. And when you're using something like a essential oil, like tea tree, it's not going to kill off as much as the good. It's going to really do more of the bad versus something that kills off everything. That's what happens today when people are taking

a lot of these conventional medications or using things that have triclosan, which is a, which is a, a sanitization compound found in anti antibacterial hand soap and a lot of these hand gels and those sort of things that we're using today. But it's been linked to liver and kidney disease there that we're using. So here's the thing to just remember is that there is a side effect. Oversanitization, the side effect is damaging your skin and damaging. The big thing, your gut microbiome and your liver. Those are probably the two organ systems that are the most harmed. So here's the thing. I encourage people proper sanitization, but use essential oils or other things that are natural using natural ingredients, the bleach and the compounds that are high in triclosan. Those are going to kill the bad,

but remember you're killing all of the good as well. And there's studies that show if you've taken a single round of a prescription antibiotic internally, it increases your risk of cancer and heart disease dramatically. I'm talking about by more than double. And by the way, I'm not trying to scare people. I hope that didn't sound like I'm trying to do that there. My whole point there is, is that your gut's a big deal. Those good guys, those probiotics in your gut, they're a big deal. And you want to do everything you can to help them flourish and doing things more general, like essential oils, it'll help. Well, I think that goes with your story of chronic stress when you were a child. Well, and that's why I wanted to talk about that. Bad food. In the last episode. But it was also bad food, multiple rounds of antioch oh i was a frequent flyer

and then yeah developing thyroid cancer when you're 23 right right so um all of that matters and so yeah okay so we're in the age of COVID. What sanitizers would you recommend? Because I think it's important. It's important to be thoughtful, to wash your hands and not touch things because we don't want to pass on this virus that hurts people. So we want to be thoughtful. But at the same time, we don't want to damage our own immune system in the process. So I like one thing you've said really quick, if I can just go back, so it doesn't get bypassed. So when it first came out, of course, I went crazy, because we didn't know what we were dealing with. And I'm like, I'm bleaching everything, which I did.

But then I calmed down and we started to understand a little more. And one thing that I like, I have a steam mop. So you said heat. I like heat. So heat damages the bacteria. And so I have this little steam thing that cleans the floors. The virus. Yeah.

Not the bacteria. Sorry, the virus. I have this little steam machine that cleans the floors and it gets very, very hot. And yeah, I think that that's, you know, that's actually a really good way. And I use a vinegar compound in it and that cleans the floors really well. And I like what you said about, I like what you said also about essential oils. Yeah. You know, I think there are four things. In fact, I have a recipe in the new book, Ancient Remedies, and I have food recipes in there. I also have DIY recipes, like how to make your own toothpaste. I have recipes for natural hand sanitizer.

And the oils that are most beneficial for this, I mentioned tea tree oil. Thyme oil actually is probably maybe the best out there. So thyme essential oil is very good. Cinnamon clove, and there's one other I was going to mention. Actually lemongrass is another one. So those five oils in particular, but even lavender actually has a lot of antimicrobial properties.

In fact, I know my wife's a yoga instructor. That's what they'll, they actually have an essential oil spray that they spray their mats with. Yeah, I have that. So I think those are really good options. So Ancient Remedies, you can buy it now. It comes out February 2nd. We're very excited about Dr. Axe's new book.

Stay with us. When we come back, we're going to talk about stress or I'll be in trouble. I will be stressed. Stay with us. If you're enjoying the Brain Warriors Way podcast, please don't forget to subscribe. So you'll always know when there's a new episode. And while you're at it, feel free to give us a review or five-star rating as that helps others find the podcast. If you're interested in coming to Amen Clinics, use the code PODCAST10 to get a 10% discount on a full evaluation at amenclinics.com. For more information, give us a call at 855-978-1363.