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For Dan Brandt, finding success in life depended largely upon changing the nature of his negative thoughts. Having gone through most of his life dealing with undiagnosed ADHD, which exhibited itself as anxiety and bouts of depression, Dan didn’t give much thought to changing his daily practice at first. That is until his wife insisted he get tested for ADHD.
When his psychiatrist confirmed he was “very distractible,” and that ADHD seemed to be a symptom of a greater anxiety disorder, Dan was shocked but knew something had to change. He tried standard psychiatric medications, but his life insurance was threatened to be canceled as a result. Then, a high-functioning friend with ADHD, who Dan greatly respected, suggested he try Hardy’s Daily Essential Nutrients.
After four years of consistently taking Daily Essential Nutrients, Dan is excited to share how the power of these highly research-backed clinical micronutrients gave him the space to stop, collect himself, and change the way he approaches life.
“It’s not a magic pill,” Dan warns. “But I’ve found it 100% makes improvement possible.”
In this NutraTalk podcast episode, Dan discusses his journey with Hardy’s Daily Essential Nutrients and how changing his day-to-day practice has helped him as a husband, businessman, and father.
Listen to the full podcast, or read the transcript below.
Hardy’s: Why do you take our Hardy’s products and what does it do for you?
My first exposure to it was through my sister, who struggled with a lot of health challenges. She recommended it and even gave me a bottle, and- first off- I just wasn’t very good at taking it regularly, and second when I found out the price, I was like ‘no way.’
For a couple of years, I didn’t know or think about it again until my wife insisted that I get tested for ADHD. I thought she was crazy. And then I went and met with a psychiatrist, and I failed it. She said, “whoa, you are very distractible.” This was crazy to me because I was such a great student, I can hyperfocus if something’s got my attention. But now in retrospect, I can see where that was accurate. The diagnosis was an anxiety disorder, and ADHD was the symptom.
So anyway, about that time I started talking to a friend who had ADHD, he’s the CEO of a company, he’s high functioning but really struggles with it, and he shared Hardy Nutritionals with me. At that point, I thought okay, TWO people recommending it, and being someone so high functioning, that I really bought in. I started taking it more consistently, didn’t feel like I could really tell if it was making much of a difference, but then any time I stopped taking it, I would really notice it.
Hardy’s: I hear that every day!
At that time, the anxiety disorder diagnosis, they gave me Wellbutrin. So I started taking Wellbutrin. Similarly, I didn’t notice it was making a difference or not, unless I had good sleep, that I had a spiritual practice, was getting exercise and a good diet… the Wellbutrin didn’t seem to make a difference one way or the other. And then I was denied life insurance because I was on it. As the sole provider, I really felt like it was important so I had to quit taking that. So I felt very motivated to find something else that was going to help.
Hardy’s: Is it the Daily Essential Nutrients you use? How long ago did you start taking that consistently?
Dan: Four years ago probably.
Hardy’s: And you still take it now?
Dan: Yes. I go through cycles where I’m not as good at taking things, but I now take six a day consistently. If I’m struggling, I will get up to 12 a day, occasionally as needed.
Hardy’s: Do you feel like you can spot a correlation between taking the nutrients, and your ability to better carry out positive self-talk and the things that you talk about in your book and in your Ted Talk?
Dan: Yes, that is what it is for me. I lose control of my emotions and my thoughts if I’m not taking Daily Essential Nutrients. When I’m taking that, I find it a lot more possible, a lot easier, to replace the negative feelings and redirect those.
Hardy’s: That’s what I think too. I think that there has to be this practice but that it's a lot easier to do that if you're in the right headspace, and I think the micronutrients help allow that. I’ve noticed that with myself and I have a couple of kids who take it and I notice with them when they take the nutrients, they get that moment to pause before they act or speak.
Dan: Yes! There’s a gap that appears. And instead of just being reactive and totally stimulus and response, there’s a small gap that appears. It does not make the choice for you, it does not make the negative stimulus not feel bad, it just gives you the power and the ability to think.
Hardy’s: It’s not a cure, it’s not a magical pill, it’s a tool and it goes along with that practice of constantly making decisions to do things a little smarter, a little bit slower, a little bit more organized. So it’s cool you found a way to put all those pieces together. I think if you just took the micronutrients by themselves and you weren’t trying to change your thinking, I don’t know that they would work as well. Do you agree?
Dan: Totally. And I think a lot of people would take them and be disappointed if they expected it to be a magic pill that’s going to solve everything - which I have been guilty of myself. But I’ve 100% found it makes it possible.
Hardy’s: I think that your story is so relatable to anybody. Because everybody can use more positive thinking and that gap to stop and pause and make better decisions, it doesn't matter if they've been diagnosed with anything or not. I think every single human being can benefit from an improvement in their ability to think before they act and to get their emotions under control so you can deal with them as they come, instead of masking them, stuff them, hide them, ignore them, which is - I think - kind of how the world likes to make us feel like we need to do.
Dan: Totally. Our default is typically to brood over our emotions or bottle them up, and neither of those is going to be healthy long term.
Hardy’s: Yeah! So that’s cool you found healthy ways to deal with human emotions and the micronutrients are a tool to help you do that but you’ve got your toolbox full of other things too.
For more background on Dan, you can read his book “My Friends That Are Not: Rewriting Your Negative Self Talk Script,” or watch his Ted Talk “Rewriting Your Negative Self Talk Script,” on Youtube. You can purchase the book at ThinkingUp.org.
