Which Supplements Are Best for Your Brain Type? PT. 4 with Dr. Kidd
In the final episode in a series on nutritional supplements, Dr. Paris Kidd is joined by Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen to answer your questions. Dr. Kidd touches on such topics as the best time of day to take supplements, taking supplements with food, combining supplements, and which supplements will help most for your brain type.
Dr Daniel Amen: Welcome back. We are going to talk about frequently asked questions with our friend, world-renowned scientist and the chief science officer for BrainMD.
Tana Amen: And I've got a list here of-
Dr Daniel Amen: Thank you so much for being with us.
Dr Parris Kidd: You're very welcome. My pleasure.
Tana Amen: Yes, thank you, I've got a list here for from our community. One of them, which you answered in another video, but in case they didn't see the Kidd video, is about whether supplements can be taken together or they should be separated.
Dr Parris Kidd: Yeah, so supplements are easily compatible with each other, so they can be taken at the same time.
Tana Amen: Are there any that should be taken separate?
Dr Parris Kidd: Not that I can think of. It's really only the ones, the few that have to be taken between meals or on an empty stomach that make a difference. People can usually plan to take the majority of their supplements during or at the end of one of their large meals. And best to take them early in the day with breakfast and lunch.
Tana Amen: Oh, so that matters?
Dr Parris Kidd: Yeah.
Tana Amen: So time of day matters?
Dr Parris Kidd: Yeah. If they have some leftover and they want to take them with dinner, they should make sure it's at least three hours before bedtime.
Tana Amen: Oh, interesting. So I sometimes get lazy and get mine before bed. So I shouldn't do that?
Dr Parris Kidd: Well, it depends on whether you want to have sweet dreams or not.
Tana Amen: Oh, interesting. Okay. They can actually interfere with your sleep is what you're saying?
Dr Daniel Amen: Now-
Dr Parris Kidd: They can give you a lively dream life, let's put it that way.
Tana Amen: Interesting, okay. That's really good to know. Time of day matters.
Dr Parris Kidd: Right.
Tana Amen: I'm assuming if they should be taken in between or on an empty stomach, in between meals, it'll say on the package?
Dr Parris Kidd: Yeah. Now, at BrainMD, and this is a way, by the way, to distinguish supplements products that are not scientifically formulated from those that are, we are very specific on our product labels about how to take the products, and where there are potential issues with medications or whatever. We're very specific about putting those right beneath the recommendations for use.
Tana Amen: Perfect.
Dr Parris Kidd: We're very specific as far as we can be.
Tana Amen: Okay. What about fat? People ask all the time, do I need to take them with fat?
Dr Parris Kidd: Right. There's no need to take supplements with fats, because we have our own emulsifier called bile, which has a type of fat that's very healthy, and as we begin our meal, the bile begins to be released, and the bile disperses all of the nutrients and is designed biologically to optimize their absorption. So, we make our own bile. Unless you have a really diseased liver, you really shouldn't have to worry about that issue.
Tana Amen: So that's a myth, and I learned something, because I always thought the fat-soluble vitamins had to be taken with fat, so that's really good to know.
Dr Parris Kidd: Right, that is really a myth, and the bile takes care of it.
Tana Amen: Fantastic. So those were two. Do you have any questions? Those were two that I had. Yeah, people are asking, probiotics with vitamin D. You're saying you can take all of them together. What time of day, you answered that. Which supplements-
Dr Daniel Amen: I have a question. Our most popular products are systems, Brain and Memory, Power and Brain, and Memory Power Max.
Dr Parris Kidd: Excellent products.
Dr Daniel Amen: They have two packets a day. Should they take both packets at once or they should take one in the morning and one in the evening?
Dr Parris Kidd: I always tell people that the bottom line is to get it done, so if you're having a really busy day or maybe you're going to travel or something and you have doubts about whether you're going to really get around to a second session, then take them both at once. Otherwise, try to take one packet with each meal, preferably breakfast and lunch.
Tana Amen: Okay, so not at night. Again, I want to make sure that I understand it for myself.
Dr Parris Kidd: Preferably not at night, yeah.
Tana Amen: Okay, and then what I do want to point out here is there are people who are confused about the stimulating or calming supplements. Those should be taken morning or night or both?
Dr Parris Kidd: There are actually-
Dr Daniel Amen: If it's stimulating, you should stay away from bedtime.
Dr Parris Kidd: There are actually few stimulating supplements. The only two that I can think of are SAM-e, S-adenosylmethionine, which is the very best single supplement for mood, and acetyl-carnitine, which really cranks up the brain. I can't think of any others that can be said to be stimulating-
Tana Amen: So Focus and Energy is okay for?
Dr Parris Kidd: Yeah, yeah.
Dr Daniel Amen: But you wouldn't want to take it at bedtime, because it's meant to help you focus and boost your energy.
Dr Parris Kidd: Well, all supplements that work tend to increase a person's energy, but they don't give you that-
Tana Amen: Nervous.
Dr Parris Kidd: That edge. [crosstalk 00:04:32].
Tana Amen: It's not like a caffeine high.
Dr Parris Kidd: The don't give you a caffeine high, that type of stuff, but they will give you more energy.
Tana Amen: So SAM-e, if I can repeat that again, SAM-e should be more in the morning or earlier in the day?
Dr Parris Kidd: Yeah, right.
Dr Daniel Amen: That's what I tell my patients. And I do that for Focus and Energy, although I love that product, because it not only has green tea in it, it has rhodiola, ashwagandha, ginseng, and choline. So many good things. The Russians have rhodiola on the space station to counteract stress.
Dr Parris Kidd: Excellent ingredients, all excellent.
Dr Daniel Amen: Ashwagandha's been known to counteract stress, but also help you focus. It's really a great product.
Tana Amen: So if you're anxious and nervous, 5-HTP, GABA, you can take those in the morning and they'll calm?
Dr Parris Kidd: Right. No, no, there's a widespread misconception about neurotransmitter building blocks like 5-HTP or even GABA. It's the nerve cells that are doing the work, so it's not that the brain is swimming in a pool of GABA or a pool of 5-HTP or serotonin or adrenaline or whatever. The nerve cells have to release those, so the nerve cells get them from the blood supply to the brain-
Tana Amen: So it takes time?
Dr Parris Kidd: And the nerve cells process them, and the nerve cells regulate what they want to do, etc.
Tana Amen: Okay, so that takes time, and that's more of a ...
Dr Parris Kidd: Yeah, yeah.
Tana Amen: Okay, got it. So you can take those just generally with your other supplements, and they'll-
Dr Parris Kidd: Right, right.
Dr Daniel Amen: But, let's talk about one thing that's really important to you, which is sleep.
Tana Amen: Oh, dear lord.
Dr Daniel Amen: So, when I'm working with a patient who has sleep issues, if they have trouble going to sleep, we'll use Restful Sleep, and maybe I'll add some magnesium to it.
Tana Amen: Oh, my gosh. I love you guys for that product.
Dr Daniel Amen: If they worry and they can't let go because they have a little mouse in their head on an exercise wheel and the mouse can't get off-
Dr Parris Kidd: Yeah, tell me about that.
Dr Daniel Amen: Then I'll use Serotonin Mood Support, because it helps calm down the part of the brain that makes you worry. Sometimes I'll use both of them together, because they can't get to sleep and they worry.
Dr Parris Kidd: No, the saffron in Serotonin Mood Support will go right to what we call receptors, the little antennae on the outside of the cells, and the saffron then has a GABA-type effect. That can give almost immediate calming.
Tana Amen: Maybe that's why I felt kind of high.
Dr Parris Kidd: Yeah, yeah.
Tana Amen: I'm telling you, I felt high. But anyways.
Dr Parris Kidd: So some of these herbals will have straightforward more or less immediate effect.
Tana Amen: Yeah, interesting.
Dr Parris Kidd: That's why we use them very carefully but also very effectively, and I am constantly monitoring the clinical research on it.
Tana Amen: But what I like, this is really interesting. My little sleep cocktail, I'll sometimes take my Sleepytime Tea also. But I take three Restful Sleep, and I take between 400 and 800 milligrams of magnesium depending on what's going on in my life. I literally, I couldn't drive after. I'm out. I can't keep my eyes open. But I'm not an easy sleeper, because of all the stuff I've been through physically, biologically. That combination just knocks me out.
Dr Daniel Amen: And it changed when you had a baby.
Tana Amen: Oh no, I used to be able to sleep on the top of a picket fence. I could sleep anywhere, anytime, anyhow, but after having a baby, I can hear a noise other end of my house with earplugs in. I could hear anything in my house and I am up and down the hall ready to fight.
Dr Parris Kidd: But you can almost never go wrong by taking that much magnesium, because magnesium is such an incredibly important mineral.
Tana Amen: It's wonderful.
Dr Parris Kidd: It's so important all over the brain.
Tana Amen: And so calming. [crosstalk 00:07:59].
Dr Daniel Amen: We're coming out with a brand new magnesium. It's 150 milligrams, but it's a wafer, so talk about how you developed that.
Dr Parris Kidd: Well, it's been a long time coming, but we were told by you and the Amen docs that you really need a magnesium product, so I felt that it might be nice to do a chewable.
Tana Amen: I like that, because they come in big horse pills a lot of times and they make me gag, so I like that.
Dr Parris Kidd: And you suggested we use the same beautiful sugar-free orange flavor that we have in the kids [inaudible 00:08:26], so we used that to make this magnesium chewable. It's 150 milligrams per chewable.
Tana Amen: That's perfect.
Dr Parris Kidd: You take two or three of those and you should be all set.
Tana Amen: I like that. That's fantastic. That's most of my questions. Do you have any other ones that you want to add to that? That's sort of the general ...
Dr Daniel Amen: If we just think, Parris, what are the objections people have had to supplements. I don't want to take so many pills. That's why we developed the Bright Minds powder. Is there really any science?
Tana Amen: I like that a lot.
Dr Daniel Amen: It may not work immediately. When do you get, for example, with omega-3 fatty acids, when do you get the optimal benefit from the omega-3 fatty acids?
Dr Parris Kidd: With the omega-3s, it takes four to five months to build them up in your cell membranes. One point I wanted to make with respect to supplements is that it's a very good idea to get tested for as many of the vitamins and minerals as you can and for the omega-3s.
Tana Amen: And we do that.
Dr Parris Kidd: It's a very easy test called the omega-3 index. If you can get your omega-3 index above eight, then you have protection against all sorts of things that can go wrong in the body. But even with a powerful supplement like our Omega-3 Power, it still takes a few months to get the index to go up. Now, with the cheap omega-3 products, as you would find in many pharmacies, the basic omega-3, you find take it for years and never get past eight on the omega-3 index.
Dr Daniel Amen: Well, what's funny is Lorenzo, our copywriter, when he first came to see us, he'd been taking omega-3s for years, and when we tested his level, it was five. I'm like, you need to throw that out and take this. So, I convinced him to take Omega-3 Power, and two months later-
Tana Amen: So mine was 12. That's good, right?
Dr Daniel Amen: ... We tested him again, and it was 10. Yes, yours is awesome, like so much about you is awesome.
Tana Amen: I'm very competitive, so. [crosstalk 00:10:22].
Dr Parris Kidd: Realistically, and I've looked into this very, very carefully, and I have my obsessive side, too. It really takes at least two soft gels per day of our Omega-3 Power [crosstalk 00:10:32].
Tana Amen: But it won't hurt me to take three or four?
Dr Daniel Amen: Absolutely not.
Dr Parris Kidd: Yeah, no. If you have an issue, if you have any sort of issue with your brain that's affecting your productivity, you want to go to four.
Tana Amen: Or what if you have-
Dr Parris Kidd: ... Of the Omega-3 Power.
Tana Amen: ... History of health issues where you have a tendency toward inflammation and-
Dr Parris Kidd: Anything where you feel you need help, you're best off to take four of the Omega-3 Power.
Dr Daniel Amen: Well, it has been a joy to be with you. Thank you so much.
Dr Parris Kidd: Very much my pleasure. I completely enjoyed it.
Tana Amen: Please watch our first video with Dr. Kidd on general information. It was just an overall video on why should I take supplements. It's loaded with just so many more details. You have been so helpful.
Dr Parris Kidd: Thank you.
Tana Amen: It's been such a blessing to have you with us.
Dr Parris Kidd: Thank you, it's really a pleasure to work with the Amen family.
Dr Daniel Amen: Thank you for being part of our family.
Tana Amen: Thank you.
Dr Daniel Amen: Stay with us.