you mentioned some supplements there what I mean there is an endless list of things that are supposed to improve brain function what are the ones that are the the biggest winners from a supplement perspective omega-3 fatty acids help mood memory uh and pain i love that um my favorite of all of them is saffron so the spice the most expensive spice in the world has been shown in 26 randomized controlled trials to be equally effective as anti-depressants with fewer to virtually no side effects what's the mechanism it's working on it it seems to increase multiple neurotransmitters and decrease inflammatory markers um and why I got interested in saffron is around 25 years ago there was a study showing it helped mood and improve sexual function and most of the anti-depressants I prescribe decrease sexual function and that was always something that used to really irritate me i'm going to help your mood and ruin your sex relationship and I'm like no I don't like that um and so I started paying attention to it and then all this research brand new study out just last week where they looked at 192 studies on 17,000 patients looking at what supplements worked for depression and they compared them against anti-depressants and saffron came out the best alone interestingly when you added zinc to anti-dopressants dramatically improved their effectiveness that's so interesting when you added curcumins from turmeric to anti-depressants dramatically increased its effectiveness and so one of my favorites saffron zinc and curcumins for mood they also found Sammy very effective for pain and mood um I've only heard that used to help you get over MDMA comedowns again you can tell I was a club promoter for a long time uh 5HTP um not as effective in the studies as saffron i'd like it if I'm trying to specifically boost serotonin and did you know women have 52% less serotonin than men i did not which is why if you make them mad they're never going to forget it because it stimulates the part of their brain that keeps them stuck um and why women are at twice the risk of depression as men the predisposition to rumination to being stuck on thought patterns okay so they also have better frontal loes though so I published a study on 46,000 brains and looking at differences between male and female brains and women have much better frontal lobe function which is why they go to jail 14 times less than men do i would imagine the testosterone plays a play plays a role there as well it does but also the lack of forethought risk-taking behavior if I do this I'm more likely to be in a cage than if I don't do that okay omega-3s saffron Sammy uh theanine love theanine especially for anxiety um but it also can help with focus i like that um I like a good multiple vitamin especially that has vitamin D because low levels of vitamin D are associated with virtually every bad thing um B6 B12 and folate um methylated or have you not got a preference methylated yeah uh and it's about a third of the population has a folate genetic me too and so I take extra methylolate every day to decrease my homoyine and decrease my risk of heart disease let me give you an interesting one for my most recent set of bloods tests my uh MCV was uh unusually high and then I had a a test done uh my entire genetic profile got done toward the back end of last year i've got four different polymorphisms that wreck my ability to do B12 so one in the gut one in the blood one in the brain and one in the methylation pathway something like that uh so I've switched to um B12 injections uh to try and bypass all of that and that made a a really big uh impact in what way i noticed improved energy um was the main thing that I was having these dips in energy throughout the day especially sort of post lunch uh and then earlier on in on an evening so I'm still working through a bunch of stuff on an evening time but this made this made an impact despite the fact that every type of different methylated B12 B6 vitamin under the sun but when you've got this series of different sort of hurdles that you need to jump over uh and when you think it's got to the stage where your uh the size of your red blood cells is actually being manipulated by this think huh yeah I should probably pay attention to that any alcohol no never because sometimes that'll give you big red blood cells it's one of the first things that I see um but that's not it what else have we not gone through from that omega-3s saffron sami uh ashwagandha i like ashwagandha it actually helps boost testosterone levels um and can sort of calm you down uh magnesium I think have you got a preferred type depends on what we're using it for if you're constipated oxide if you can't sleep glycinate it's because you have muscle twitches torate um but many people are magnesium deficient and it's like let's do the simple things before you go to the psychiatric medications that doesn't mean you won't use the psychiatric medications but it shouldn't be the first thing but most doctors they get no training in supplements and so it's the medication that keeps you coming back before we continue you've probably heard me talk about Element before and that's because I'm frankly dependent on it for the last 3 years I've started every morning with Element element contains a sciencebacked electrolyte ratio of sodium potassium and magnesium with no sugar no gluten or artificial ingredients or any other BS it plays a huge role in reducing muscle cramps and fatigue while optimizing brain health regulating appetite and curbing cravings that's why it's used by everyone from Dr andrew Hubman to Dr mike Israel Olympic athletes and FBI sniper teams and me this orange flavor in a cold glass of water tastes like a beautiful salty sweet orangey nectar and there's a no questions asked refund policy and you don't even need to return the box if you don't like it that's how confident they are that you love it plus they offer free shipping in the US and you can get a free sample pack of all eight flavors with your first purchase by going to the link in the description below or heading to drinklnt.com/modernwisdom that's drinklmnt.com/modernwisdom thank you very much for tuning in if you enjoyed that clip the full episode is available right here [Music]