Change Your Brain Every Day - Q&A: Which Personal Products are the Least Toxic?

Episode Date: October 31, 2019

In this episode of The Brain Warrior’s Way Podcast, Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen address some listener questions and dole out helpful advice. This week’s topics include clean products for personal and household use, sedation vs. general anesthesia during surgery, workout tips, intermittent fasting to lose weight, and eating clean while away from home. If you’d like your question answered on the Brain Warrior’s Way Podcast, you can submit your questions at brainwarriorswaypodcast.com

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.

In this episode, we're going to answer your questions. And earlier in the week, we promised Gem60 we were going to answer his or her question. Right. I don't know what Gem 60 is, but before we do, Lee, think about what's the one thing you're going to learn during this podcast and then post it on any of your social media sites. And don't forget to leave us a review,

a comment or a question. And when you do, we'll enter you into a raffle to win the Brain Warriors Way cookbook. Okay, this is a good question. Do you want to answer this one? I do. We'll both answer it, but let me start. So I've been on a mission.

I've been posting on my Instagram a lot. We did a podcast about natural products. I'm on this mission to start to replace everything I can that's toxic with the app Think Dirty. And I was shocked at how many things. Yeah, so you can actually run your hands through my hair now because I don't have any hairspray. Stopped using so much hairspray or none. Her hair is prettier.

I mean, it's not, well, I don't know if it's prettier. It's softer. It's in my face. No, it's prettier because you do this for me. And I say it's prettier. Thank you. It's in my face, but it's okay because it's not toxic anymore.

So it's good. He likes it better. because it's not toxic anymore so um so it's good he likes it better and i guess that's what really matters um so i've been that's what really matters what really matters so i'm trying really hard to replace everything and i agree jim that it was difficult at first so when i started this journey you know what eight years ago the products weren't as good it was really hard especially things like makeup and sunscreen and hairspray. And they were not good. They were hard. They were hard to switch. Now there are so many great products. So several of my brands that I love for body products and face and makeup are things like 100% Pure, Lux is really good for makeup. Elia is really good. There's some really great makeups and products

out there now. For household products, Ecos is awesome. Seventh Generation is awesome. And they actually make products that work. So to answer your question, yes, they work. Now, do they always work the same? So to be honest, there are times where if we're filming and we're filming something really important,

I need HD makeup. Okay. Then I actually do need something that it looks different than the natural stuff that doesn't really look the same. Right. Well, you think it looks the same, but it doesn't look the same. It doesn't look the same. So, so during those times that I have to use it.

Doesn't she look awesome for those of you that are watching? What are they going to say? First of all, they can't say anything. They can write it in. Yes, she looks awesome. Okay. say first of all they can't say anything they can write it in yes okay so anyways the point being this what i decided to do was go as like i haven't found a way around hair dye because i'm not ready to go gray yet but i did find a less toxic version that has no ammonia in it so i found less toxic

versions of things and so what i do that's what you always say compared to what compared to what and so what i do is during the week when i'm not filming, when I'm not in front of people, I really wear almost nothing. So I've gone to this place, which I never thought I could do, but I'm doing. No makeup almost, like maybe some blush and lip gloss or lip balm. That way, when I do, on the rare occasion that I do, I'm not doing it very often. I'm not overburdening my body with all these toxins. I just don't do it very often anymore.

So you're being nice to your liver. Right. And so I'm doing like a 95-5 rule now. Be nice to your liver. Just like we do with food. That should be like a whole campaign. Yeah. Be nice to your liver.

What did it ever do to you other than help you? So just like we do with food, 95-5, I'm doing that with product now. There you go. So I use Kiss My Face shaving cream. I've used Barbasol ever since I was 14 until I got Think Dirty, the app, and it was a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. I'm like, no, I'm not going to put something on my face every day that hurts me. And now I'm like only shaving every other day.

But Kiss My Face is rated like a two and it lasts longer. So it's actually cheaper because the lie is, oh, I can't do that. It's so expensive. And what the lie really is, is you're not that smart because you're not going to actually take time, focus, find things you love that love you back. Yeah, it takes a little time. So if we can help you with the time part, like Bebos makes a really, Bebos, Babos, whatever, makes a great sunscreen. That's a zero. That's really hard to find because sunscreens are hard to get that are non-toxic. That one's a zero. So that's really great. All right. More questions. After hearing Tana describe her experience with brain fog following anesthesia, my question is, does sedation for surgery affect the brain as much as general anesthesia?

I don't know. This year, I've had two total knee replacements, both done with a block administered through my spine and IV sedation. It's 10 weeks after the second surgery, and I'm still rehabbing three times a week, but tire easily. What are your recommendations for optimal brain health following these surgeries? P.S., I have learned so much through your podcasts and books. Thank you for making them available. Awesome. From Carol. I think you did the exact right thing is by doing the block and the IV sedation versus

general anesthesia. Because general anesthesia, you actually aren't breathing for yourself. You're on a machine. It's a very different thing. So I'm assuming it's probably not great for you, but probably not as bad as general anesthesia, right? Not as bad. That would be the thing I would do.

But I want to answer her question about why she tires easily. People underestimate the healing necessary after something like a knee surgery because your knee's small, right? So they don't really think about it. It's bone, and it requires a lot of healing, and it takes a long time to heal, and it does make you tire easily. So that's not abnormal. Just FYI. You want to read the next one?

You guys are terrific. Thank you. You're full of so much good information and everybody should be a brain warrior. I'm writing to you to ask a question. I took the brain health assessment and it said for me to work out, to lift weights twice a week. I didn't know which muscle groups to work or like which days so thank you and god bless okay so i'm assuming the question here is the brain assessment said for him to work out lift weights twice a week and doesn't know which muscle groups to work yeah so i would do upper body one day right lower body

the next day or you can do circuit training both days. So we're less focused on, if you're going to be a bodybuilder, then find someone who's going to help you do the perfect workout to build which muscles on what days. No, we're focused on your brain health. We want you to be overall healthy. And that means move your body. Just get up and move and do exercise a couple of times a week. And if you're going to do, we want you to work work we want you to exercise more than two days a week but if you're going to do weights two days a week you can either do upper body one day lower body the other day or do circuit training and do the whole body both days twice a week so do something for your chest something for your upper back do your abs something for your lower back, your arms, your triceps, the front of

your legs, the back of your legs. And I have a whole basic workout in Omni Diet. If you're not sure where to start, I have an entire basic workout to get you started in Omni Diet. I also post on my Instagram. On tanaayman.com is there- There's workout stuff. Workout stuff.

There's a lot of workout for free. On Brain Fit Life, which we're really excited about. But it will get you started. Don't get so hung up on what to do. Just start doing it. Next question. I recently joined your podcast and have listened to several of them in the last couple of days. I'm trying to decrease the toxicity in our household. My problem is finding personal products.

The guys in my house will like body wash, shampoo, deodorant. What products do you like and use, Dr. Amen? Another one. So, Alafia, for one. Okay. I mean, you know, I don't have a lot of hair, so shampoo is gone. But Alafia makes this great body wash. Not terribly expensive.

I get it on Amazon. I like how it smells. They have a couple of different scents. And I've got a couple of ideas for the other stuff. For my teenage son, it's all about the smell. Thanks so much for your help. And I love the podcast from Deng, from Dina. So I think a lot of men would love the one you use

because it really doesn't have a lot of smell. It just smells very light mint. But if your son loves fragrant, likes the smell of things, if that matters to him, then one that I found that I love, besides 100% pure, they've got amazing ones. They have a lime one and a eucalyptus one. That's fantastic.

But pure Tanica, I found Pure Tanica that has rosemary, mint, and lavender, and rosemary, mint, and vanilla. One of those. Anyways, it's super clean smelling, light. It's not girly. And so it's just clean. And that one's a zero on Think Dirty. For deodorant, Biosense is my favorite. It's because there's other ones that are a zero, but they don't work as well. Biosense actually works. You can get that at Sephora, actually. So Biosense is amazing.

It works really well. And I think it's a zero too. So those are my favorites. For shampoo, Pure Tanica or 100% Pure. I've been watching your podcast for the last three to four months and bought the book Brain Warriors Way, and I'm grateful that I found you. Your information has been so helpful,

and I'm ready to change. Awesome. How do you feel about intermittent fasting? Oh, I just did a thing on a video on my Instagram on that. I take blood pressure medication morning and night, and I'm not sure if intermittent fasting is safe. I do feel much more fatigued since going on the medication. I love this question. There's so many things. The Brain Warriors way is just perfect for you. And you might want to start intermittent fasting with 12 hours rather than 16 hours and just see how you feel and see if you can go to 13 or 14 hours. I try to do intermittent fasting actually most days. And so if I finished eating last night at seven and I didn't have anything to eat until nine o'clock this morning. So that's 14 hours. And I try to do that routinely. And the beautiful thing it does is it just cuts down

nighttime eating, which is what puts fat on people's bodies. Right. And I want to address the heart medication because I actually was on heart medication at one point. It does make you feel pretty yucky at first. Now, they say that most of the time you'll adjust to it and you won't feel as awful. If you continue to feel that bad, go talk to your doctor because most of the time there are other medications they can use. They can switch you to something else that's equally effective if that one's you're not agreeing with you. Now, that's not always true, but sometimes that's true. So make sure you do that. And one thing that's going to help you is light exercise.

You want to keep the blood flowing, right? It's going to help you feel better. One more question. On a recent road trip, we watched several of your YouTube videos where you recommended on the sugar epidemic. Knowing that you and Tana often travel, I was wondering how you guys eat clean on trips away from home. We packed some things that we took with us, but struggled to always find healthy options for meals. What are your solutions for clean eating

when you are away from home or traveling? Thanks again for all you both are doing. You've changed the way we think from Melanie. So Melanie, I think first of all, thank you for that. You're going to learn. First of all, we're 95.5. We don't do it. I want people to hear this. We eat super clean 95% of the time. Once in a while, if you're out somewhere, I mean, there was one time we literally got stuck in the middle of nowhere and there was nothing. I remember we got McDonald's because it was the first time I had McDonald's in like 10 years. And I felt like it was going to make me sick, but there was literally nothing else. And so it's not like it never happens, but it's so rare. Okay. So the 95 five rule applies. Um, the second thing is we do try to be prepared. So we travel with bars. We travel with,

like, I like truth bars. I haven't found a bar that I'm completely in love with yet, so I'm actually going to try to make one. But I travel with protein powder in bars because if you have protein powder, you just dump it in some water. Travel with nuts. But you're going to find that as you do this, what's going to happen, the biggest obstacle to finding healthy food on the road is your mindset. There's healthy food all around you, or at least healthier. So we say compared to what? Healthier options. Even at McDonald's, you can get scrambled eggs. And make sure when you go to a restaurant that you go, oh, I like this salad, but dressing on the side. No cranberries. No croutons or fried onions. I mean, you'll know what's the healthy thing if you're a brain warrior. And just be assertive in a kind way. And most restaurants, because they want you to come back, are going to do what you ask them to

do. So it just takes forethought. And in the Brain Warriors Way cookbook, Tan actually has lots of tips for snacks. All right, we have to stop. But this has been a great week. It has. And I adore you. And I adore you. Thank you for being my partner.

And if you learned one thing, which we hope you did, please post it on any of your social media sites and hashtag BrainWarriorsWayPodcast. Leave a question, a comment, or a view on BrainWarriorsWayPodcast.com. Leave reviews on Apple Podcasts. We're just so grateful if you help us spread the message. You have to live it, and then it's important to give it away. Stay with us. as that helps others find the podcast. If you're considering coming to Amen Clinics or trying some of the brain healthy supplements from BrainMD, you can use the code podcast10 to get a 10% discount on a full evaluation

at amenclinics.com or a 10% discount on all supplements at brainmdhealth.com. For more information, give us a call at 855-978-1363.