Food and Mood to Prevent Digital Dementia

Guest: Trudy Scott

All rights reserved. This material may not be

published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
in whole or in part without express written
permission. The purpose of this presentation is to
convey information. It is not intended to
diagnose, treat, or cure your condition.

Dr. Krista Burns: Thank you so much for joining us on the Digital Dementia
Summit. I'm your host, Dr. Krista, co-founder of the American Posture
Institute, and today we're talking about digital dementia. I'm so excited to
introduce to you our next guest, Trudy Scott. She's a food mood expert and
nutritionist. Her emphasis is on educating successful women about a healthy
and balanced lifestyle, dietary choices based on a whole foods approach and
individualized nutrient supplements as needed, and so she can help you be
your healthiest, look your best, and feel on top of the world emotionally.

She's also the author of a great book, The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the
Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood, and
End Cravings 1. We're going to learn a lot from today's conversation. I've been
looking forward to this one. I can't wait to learn more from Trudy. Trudy,
thank you so much for being here. Please say hello to everybody.

Trudy Scott: Hi Krista, thanks so much for having me. I'm really excited to
be talking to you. I think this topic is just so important, and I can't wait to
learn from all the other experts as well.
1
Trudy Scott, The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind,
Improve Your Mood, and End Cravings (Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, 2011)

© 2019. All rights reserved. 1

Dr. Krista Burns: Yeah, it's been amazing connecting with so many experts
from around the world who are sharing literally just incredible information
that all of our viewers, you, can take and implement to raise healthier
children. Now we're talking about digital dementia, and what digital dementia
is, is dementia-like symptoms in adolescents associated with the
overstimulation of technology combined with poor lifestyle habits. Today we're
going to talk about some great ways that you can help safeguard your family
to prevent digital dementia from affecting you and your children, as well as
your family at large. So as we get started today, Trudy, why do you feel that
it's important that we address this viral epidemic of digital dementia, and
what do you feel is really the root cause of digital dementia and digital
addiction?

Trudy Scott: Well, I would like to switch it around and say that we've got this
vicious cycle going on, because we've certainly got the digital aspect, the social
media, the excessive use of iPhones, and excessive use of computers that are
contributing to these cognitive issues. So that's definitely, we know that that's
an issue. But we've also got to think about why is there this need to self-
medicate. We’re self-medicating with this.

So, this use of digital media and social media and iPhone use is really, for
some people, many people, it’s just a way to feel good. So we've got this vicious
cycle of making us feel bad, and then we've got these underlying causes that
we're going to address in today's interview that may be driving some of this
need to actually be on social media in order to feel good. And when we
recognize that diet and these brain chemical imbalances could be at the root
of some of this, and — there're many different causes obviously, but the area
that I focus on is brain chemical imbalances — if we can recognize that these
brain chemical imbalances maybe driving some of this, I think we are going to
be in a long way to turning things around. And when we address this, we're
going to fix these memory problems, these cognitive problems that you talked
about.

But we are also going to address the anxiety, the depression, the social
anxiety. And this is an epidemic that we're seeing at the moment as well, this
increase in anxiety in children and adults as well. The great thing is when we
address this, we also address some of the physical problems that we're seeing
that are going crazy: cancer, heart disease, diabetes.

I think the fact that we've got this digital dementia issue, it's almost a wake-
up call for us. It's a wake-up call to say, “Hey!” And there's so much
awareness, which is great, but having this wake-up call is a way for us to

© 2019. All rights reserved. 2

switch things around and actually improve our mental health and improve our
physical health. So that's a reason why I'm just so thrilled about the summit
because I think it's a great way for us to look at it.

And if we look at these problems from different angles and with different
perspectives, it just gives us so many more tools to work with. Obviously,
we've got the whole tech industry, which is huge. I saw some stats saying it's
even bigger than Big Pharma, the telecommunications industry. So there’s a
really big push for them to get everyone hooked, and for every single person to
have an iPhone, and for everyone to be online as much as possible. But if we
can switch things around and address some of these biochemical factors that
are driving us to self-medicate, I think we can go a long way.

Dr. Krista Burns: Yeah, we can definitely go a long way. And I like that you
mentioned the self-medicating, because it's easy to just grab our device and
kind of go on a digital vacation where we're ignoring the problem that we're
experiencing, or we're ignoring the fact that we need to address certain issues.
And so we go ... we escape or self-medicate through our devices, and yet when
we turn the device off, guess what? That situation is still there because we
haven't handled it, which can, of course, lead to more anxiety, more stress,
more depression.

Trudy Scott: Yes, that word “escape” is perfect because one of the
deficiencies that I see is low endorphins, and we'll get to that in a second. But
when you've got low endorphins, you numb out, and you escape, and you
don't want to address what's going on in the world. And there’s a biochemical
reason for it, and there's a solution for it, which is exciting.

Dr. Krista Burns: Yeah. So let's talk about how the overstimulation of
technology combined with a sedentary lifestyle, because what we tend to do is,
we are seated while staring at our devices, now, what is this doing? What does
the research on EMFs tell us, what are the neuropsychiatric effects associated
with the overstimulation of technology in a sedentary lifestyle?

Trudy Scott: We really need to make sure people know about this because
there are some really severe effects. So when everyone thinks about a mobile
phone and, “Maybe it's not so good for me,” they want to get some protective
device, and they're worried about the SAR, which is not the only thing that we
need to know about. And I know you've got Nick Pineault on the summit, and
he's going to talk all about digital use in terms of iPhone use and getting
exposed to SAR and some of the biological effects of what this digital media is
doing to us.

© 2019. All rights reserved. 3

But we know from research that it has some far-reaching effects. There was
actually a paper published in 2016 called “Microwave Frequency
Electromagnetic Fields Produce Widespread Neuropsychiatric Effects
Including Depression2” and I'm going to read to you some of the commonly
reported changes that were seen as a result of these electromagnetic fields or
EMFs. A lot of people will use the term EMF.

So what they found was sleep disturbance, headache, depression, fatigue,

concentration, which you talked about earlier, memory changes, dizziness,
irritability, loss of appetite and body weight changes, restlessness, nausea,
and skin burning. So these are very physical effects that we are seeing just
from exposure to EMFs. And that could be from an iPhone, it could be sitting
at the computer, it could be from electrical fields.

And we know that some of the biological effects that are causing these
symptoms could be things like lowered melatonin. There's plenty of research
showing that these EMFs can lower melatonin; that is going to have an effect
on your sleep. Melatonin is a wonderful antioxidant. So it could have
implications down the road for cancer development. And we know there's a lot
of research on these EMFs and cancer.

We know that some of the other biological effects include depression of zinc.
So we'll see a zinc levels go down. Now, zinc is a key nutrient for immunity.
It's really important for making our neurotransmitters, so really important for
making serotonin and GABA, our feel-good chemicals. So if we've got lowered
zinc because of being exposed to EMFs, we're going to have that issue as well.

The oxidative stress is a huge thing other than just the effects of lowered
melatonin. Mitochondrial damage — mitochondria are energy powerhouses in
our body, and if those have problems, we're going to have lowered energy. And
then there is some research showing that it might actually be affecting our
microbiome, and we know how important our gut bacteria and our
microbiome is for mental health.

So these are very, very real biological effects that we are seeing.

Dr. Krista Burns: Yeah. Very real biological effects. And if you've ever
experienced any of these symptoms, recognize that it's not just in your head.
Or if you're feeling like, “I'm fatigued. I can't explain how I feel right now.” It

2
Pall ML, Microwave Frequency Electromagnetic Fields Produce Widespread Neuropsychiatric Effects
Including Depression, J Chem Neuroanat. 2016 Sep;75(Pt B):43-51. doi: 10.1016/j.jchemneu.2015.08.001.
Epub 2015 Aug 21 (PubMed ID: 26300312)

© 2019. All rights reserved. 4

could be this; it could be an overexposure of EMFs that we're bathing in on a
daily basis. So recognize that these symptoms are real, they have a direct
impact with EMF exposure. And if you've been feeling a little under the
weather recently, and you're not sure why, it could be this, or the same with
your children as well. So bringing conscious awareness to it is really
important so that we at least know what to look for. And then of course, we
can safeguard our families. And we talk about it ... Go ahead.

Trudy Scott: I would just love to add something on a personal note. I have
figured out that EMFs are an issue for me. And one of the first things that I
noticed was this tingling and tightness, and almost like a thickness in my
mouse arm. I had a Wi-Fi mouse, and I had a Wi-Fi keyboard that my
wonderful husband bought for me as a gift. And it was great because it
worked so well, and it was handy and convenient.

And then I did Nick Pineault’s course on EMFs, which is amazing. Highly
recommend it if anyone wants to learn more about the biological effects and
the research. And he said it causes this numbness and there's tingling, and it
can actually thicken your blood. So there was a first clue to me — at the end
of the day, I would notice if my arm was very thick.

I like that you said notice things, observe how you feel. So anytime you feel
anything weird or something out of the norm, think, “Well, this is a message;
now need to look at it.” And I've dramatically reduced my EMF exposure. I
work off a battery. I no longer have anything Wi-Fi. Our whole house is wired,
so we've got no Wi-Fi in the house anymore. So we're not saying you can't be
on the computer, because we need to if it's part of our business or if we need
to communicate, but there are ways that we can do it safely.

Dr. Krista Burns: Yeah. And that's what this summit is really about. It's not
about getting rid of technology. We're not anti-tech, but what we're saying is
that we're recognizing these issues. We've never seen them in previous
generations. So it's an alarm signal.

And what we're saying is that we need to develop these habits where we're
creating an environment in which we have healthier boundaries and a
healthier relationship with technology.

Now that leads us really well back into that concept of self-medicating through
our cell phones or smart devices. Let's talk more about chemical imbalances
and what is happening to our brain as we're on these devices. How is this
leading to more chemical imbalances? For example, with dopamine, with
GABA, with serotonin. Tell me more about this.
© 2019. All rights reserved. 5
Trudy Scott: When we are addicted to anything, whether it's social media,
whether it's being on our iPhone, whether it's sugar or carbs or alcohol or
street drugs or prescription drugs like pain medications, there's often the
same underlying mechanism. You can be as addicted to social media as you
are to sugar or drugs or whatever.

I remember one of the clients that I worked with when I first started working
as a nutritionist. We were having her go off gluten. And when I used these
amino acids, which we are going to talk about in a second, it made it easier for
her to quit the gluten. But she said getting off gluten was as difficult as it had
been in her twenties when she had a cocaine addiction. So there you can see
that just getting off bread was as difficult as getting off cocaine.

And there's plenty of research showing these underlying mechanisms. So it's a

drug addiction, it's like drug addiction. And so for people who feel guilty about
it, or they feel like, “Oh my gosh, how can I spend so much time on social
media?” or whatever you're doing. “Why are my kids online all the time?”

Just recognize that it's ... one of the underlying mechanisms could be this
addiction aspect. And as we said earlier, just like with sugar, we self-medicate
so we can feel good. So we use social media, like you mentioned with the
numbing out feeling, this escape or this reward. We use it just like we use it
with a drug. So the one that we hear most about, as you said, you mentioned
dopamine, this is the one we hear a lot about.

You get this dopamine hit; this is a feeling like a thrill feeling. Think about
someone who does a bungee jump. They like to jump off a bridge to get their
thrill feeling. That's a dopamine hit that we’re thinking about. So we'll often
hear about this dopamine hit with social media; when you do a post, and
someone likes your post, and then you get it shared, and you see people
saying it's going viral. That's that dopamine hit.

So when you've got low dopamine or low catecholamines, you feel like you
need that little oomph. You feel like you need that little kick, almost. And
social media and digital technology can give us that. Now if you have low
catecholamines, and dopamine is one of the catecholamines, there is an amino
acid called tyrosine which you can use to help replenish your levels.

So you're not needing to get that little kick of dopamine from using the social
media or whatever it is that you're using. It's pretty amazing. And the way that
I do this with all of these brain chemical imbalances, whether it's dopamine or
one of the others, is I have my clients do a questionnaire and rate their

© 2019. All rights reserved. 6

symptoms on a scale of one to 10, and then we will trial one of the amino
acids to see if they're getting results.

So in the case of the low dopamine or the low catecholamines, the symptoms
that we’re looking at are fatigue, low motivation, poor focus issues, and
sometimes depression. It can be that kind of depression where you just want
to curl up in bed and not see anyone. And in this instance, we would do a trial
of tyrosine. Tyrosine is an individual amino acid; it's a supplement.

And using the tyrosine can replete our levels of dopamine so that we’re no
longer needing to self-medicate in order to get that dopamine hit. Now, there
are some other neurotransmitters that are also implicated here.

The other area that I look at is low GABA, and with low GABA, you have
physical tension. So you may have stiff and tense muscles. You may feel like
you need to self-medicate in order to calm down. Often we’ll self-medicate with
alcohol; certainly, if we’re an adult, often we’ll use wine at end of the day to
calm down and relax. But some people will get onto social media or get onto
the computer just to relax, just because they want to feel relaxed.

The amino acid that helps to address low GABA levels is actually also called
GABA, gamma-aminobutyric acid. And using GABA to address those
symptoms of low GABA can completely take away that need to self-medicate in
order to feel calm and feel relaxed.

So this is the physical calmness and the physical anxiety. And I want to just
pause and see if you've got any questions. I'm going to share two other areas
that come into this when we’re talking about brain chemical imbalances.

Dr. Krista Burns: No, that's perfect. And after you share, I'd love to see how
this actually manifests in a real-life example. So I'll keep going, we're learning
so much.

Trudy Scott: Great. So the other area that we see is low serotonin. Now low
serotonin, we often associate with depression, but we also have a low
serotonin aspect when it comes to anxiety. And this kind of anxiety is in the
head: ruminating thoughts, re-processing, not being able to sleep, irritability,
PMS, and this need for stimulation towards the afternoon and the evening, so
if you find that your kids are really into their social media or their computer
late in the day, or you are — and for a lot of moms, the kids are asleep, and
now they have this time to get on, and at the end of the day, they are using
the social media to help with their low serotonin, just like you use carbs at the
end of the day.
© 2019. All rights reserved. 7
So with each of these, there's the addiction aspect and there's also this mood
aspect. With low serotonin, the carb addiction or the digital media addiction is
towards the end of the day, because serotonin starts to take a dip towards the
end of the day. And that's when we feel like we need to self-medicate. So
again, in this instance, I'll have my clients do the questionnaire, look at their
symptoms on a scale of 1 to 10. We'll trial the amino acid for this particular
brain chemical imbalance and see how they respond.

So if we're low serotonin, we use tryptophan or 5-HTP and within five minutes
of taking one of these amino acids sublingually, I'll be able to get feedback
from a client. Like they'll say, “Oh, I'm feeling like I'm really worried. I've got
this ... can’t stop thinking about something.” And I'll give them the
tryptophan. And within five minutes, their symptoms could go from a 10 out
of 10 to maybe a 6 or 7 out of 10.

We’re getting quick results. I just wanted to share that, because a lot of people
say, “I've been trying this amino acid for months and months, and it's not
doing anything.” If that's the case, it means that maybe you don't need it.
Maybe that's not what the issue is. It could mean that you don't have the right
amount. With the work that I do, it's targeted individual amino acids. It's
based on your unique biochemistry.

Your kids may have more of an issue than you. You may have more of an
issue than someone else. And there are different amounts that can work for
different people. Now with kids with low serotonin, a starting dose of
tryptophan is around a hundred milligrams. And there's a really, really nice
chewable tryptophan, which is amazing for kids who have these low serotonin
symptoms.

Then the final area, which is what we talked about earlier, is the low
endorphins. When you've got those low endorphins, you get on social media to
either feel joy — when your endorphin levels are good, you feel joyful, and you
feel optimistic — but you also use social media to numb out, and it's a reward
sometimes. Some people would say, “Well, I've had a hard day. I need to just
use it as a reward.”

So any of these areas can be a factor when it comes to self-medicating with

social media. And it may be all of the above. Some people have issues in all
areas, and we just go through each area one by one and address them. Now
what we didn't say right at the beginning of the interview is that I primarily
work with women. So everything that I'm talking about is primarily based on
the work that I do with women.

© 2019. All rights reserved. 8

But I do work with kids via their mom. So if I'm working with a mom who has
anxiety issues, I will help her with the amino acids, with all the dietary
changes that we need to make. And then she'll say to me, “Oh my child has
these issues,” and then I'll work with the child as well. Everything that I'm
talking about applies to adults, and it applies to children as well, to a lesser
extent. Often with children, making some dietary changes, and maybe if that
is not switching things around, using some of these aminos for a very short
time can be helpful as well. But I always like to say, you hear about these
amino acids, and I call them amazing because they work so quickly and they
give us such incredible results, is not just to jump to the amino acids.

We need to think about the basics first, the real whole food, getting protein at
breakfast and everything else, that's important. But then these amino acids
help you address those deficiencies, and then eventually we should be able to
stop them. So the amino acids are short-term. It's a short-term solution to
break that addiction, to help us to start to feel good quickly, and then it
makes it easier for us to make all these other changes because, as I said
earlier, getting off gluten can be very challenging. Getting off sugar can be very
challenging. And getting off this digital addiction that we’re on can be equally
challenging. And if we can make it easy for people, then that's what we want
to do. So you're feeling good right away, it makes it easy for you to make these
changes.

Dr. Krista Burns: Yeah. How brilliant is that, Trudy, thank you so much for
sharing that, your insights, because what you're saying here is recognizing
that when there's a change in neurochemistry, which we know that there is
when we are on our screens, then we are literally wired to be addicted to these
devices, and it doesn't feel good to let them go. It doesn't feel good to get off of
them because we're wired to want to be engaged in these social conversations
or watching our screens because it's stimulating, and our brain is wired to be
stimulated in that way.

And if we recognize what it’s actually doing on an underlying level to our

neurotransmitters, and then we say, “Okay, this is where we're feeling
depletion,” if we can then supplement those amino acids — and we'll talk in a
minute about some superfoods for your children — then that gives us the
ability to feel good, make better decisions, and then be able to start breaking
these addictions.

Because it's not easy. That's why it's called an addiction. This is not just a bad
habit in many cases. This is something that can be controlling your life, and

© 2019. All rights reserved. 9

we want to set you up for success so that it feels better to make the right
decisions.

Trudy, can you share with us an example of what this really looks like in real
life and a possible solution to share with our parents who are tuning in today
at the Digital Dementia Summit?

Trudy Scott: I've got a great example, and what I'm going to share is an
example of someone addicted to Facebook. In March, Facebook went down for
12 hours. And a lot of people listening to this may be fully aware of this and
realize how they felt when it went down. And there are a lot of people who
wouldn't even be aware that it went down. So if you weren't aware that it went
down, you're probably in good shape, but if you were freaking out when it
went down, then you want to hear the story and a possible solution.

There was a story in the newspaper here in Australia where they said some
people called 000, which is the emergency number here, because they were so
worried about the fact that Facebook was down, and they couldn't get on and
they couldn't post.

I actually saw it had gone down myself, and I thought, “Oh, there's a glitch.”
And I went on with my business, and then I came back a few hours later. It
was still down, and then I just ignored it. They are definitely people who have
issues. But I shared this article on Facebook and my community — ironically,
I shared it on Facebook — and I wanted to get feedback to see how my
community responded. The good thing is, I must be doing something right
because about 90% of people in my community said “No, it wasn't a problem.”
So that's a good thing. They've got balanced brain chemistry and they’re eating
well.

But there were a few people that had problems, and they admitted it. And this
one woman said, “I'm highly addicted, and I felt very isolated and cut off from
friends, not good.” So she was recognizing that it was a problem, and she
actually said a few other things that I'm going to share with you here.

“I had tried to limit my time just a week before, and then I was back doing it
again. So people are trying to get off but they're not able to do it. And I know
it's bad when I get on the website and I go somewhere and then I go
somewhere else and then I'll come back to Facebook. And then my mind is
thinking, I just did this. Why am I opening it again? But my body is doing it
anyway.” These are her words.

© 2019. All rights reserved. 10

So this is a true addict saying “It's a problem. I'm trying to stop it. Why am I
doing it? But I'm doing it anyway.” And she said, “When I realize that, I get off
and I'm disgusted, but sometimes I don't even realize it.” So the first thing I
want to say is there's no reason to feel disgusted.

This is a real problem. The good thing is that she was recognizing that she
was addicted. She was feeling bad about it. So that was the first step. And I
shared with her that it's the slacker drug, but there are solutions, and
recognizing that it's a problem is a good thing. And I said, “How does it make
you feel? Does it make you feel calm? Does it give you joy? Do you feel happy?
Does it numb you out? Are you're getting that dopamine hit?” She wasn't quite
sure.

So when I ask these questions, a lot of people are a little confused. Why are
you asking this question? But she said, I'm not sure if it calms me or makes
me happy. Maybe it's a little bit of both. So yeah, we've got low GABA, which is
the calming aspect. It may also be low serotonin because serotonin is involved
with this calming aspect.

And the good thing is, once she addresses whether it is the low serotonin or
whether it is the low GABA, she's maybe, possibly, going to find that she's got
less of this drive to be on social media, and she's not going to have to use this
willpower. Because a lot of people are saying, “This is crazy, but I can't stop,
and I'm trying to use willpower, but willpower gets the better of you.” So again,
recognizing it, addressing those deficiencies, and you can feel really great.

Now I just want to share one other thing. When I posted this, someone
responded and said, “We don't want to judge.” Obviously we're never judging.
But they did say there are some people who are homebound, and they are
relying on social media to stay as part of a community, to connect with loved
ones in order to help. And certainly in my community, with anxiety and social
anxiety being prevalent, there are some people in my community who do not
leave the house because they’re just afraid of open spaces.

So we've got to realize that they are going to be some people that have a real
fear when social media is down, like when Facebook was down, because they
have this need, they've got to actually communicate. So there are many
different elements that we need to think about. But certainly, if you can relate
to what I shared with this woman who was freaked out by the fact that social
media went down, hopefully that'll give you a bit of an illustration.

Dr. Krista Burns: That was a perfect illustration. I mean what a unique
experience, and I love that she started by saying, “I have a problem.” It was a
© 2019. All rights reserved. 11
recognition by saying that, “I'm addicted,” and then recognizing how much she
was truly impacted with her withdrawal, which, in this case, was a 12-hour
withdrawal. And then recognizing from your perspective that it's okay to have
felt that way because this really is an addiction, and unless we're supporting
those neurotransmitters, and unless we're supporting that hormonal balance
within the brain, it doesn't feel good to go through a withdrawal.

And so supporting that helps you feel better so that you can then make
healthier decisions, especially about technology. And that is just a perfect
illustration really. That really hit home when you were sharing that story of
how that truly did impact a lot of people.

And one of the things I want to mention too is it's good to find camaraderie on
social media. You don't need to give up your social media profiles. You don't
have to throw out your cell phones, but recognizing that there are those limits
and those boundaries, and making sure that when you're on your device that
it’s for meaningful connections. It's not just mindless scrolling or just sitting
and staring, and suddenly hours pass, and you've just been mindlessly
watching YouTube videos. Having mindful connections is a good thing on
social media and continue to do that but just recognizing those limits and
those boundaries.

Trudy Scott: Absolutely. And I want to just say something about the
mindless scrolling. That has been specifically created to keep us on social
media longer. You may be aware that one of the algorithms is to make the
scrolling infinite so you don't have to page down, because if someone has to
look on a screen and then hit next screen or hit next page, it's a stopping
block. People may not do that.

So what they've done, for example with Facebook, is they've got this infinite
scrolling. So you scroll and you scroll and you scroll and you scroll and you
scroll and you scroll. You think, “What am I doing?” It is devised to hook you.
And so we've got all of these things at play. We've got our biochemistry, and
we've got the industry that's trying to keep us hooked. We've just got to
recognize it. And when I read that, I just thought, “Wow, this is crazy. It really
is crazy.”

Dr. Krista Burns: And it's intentional, and unless we're consciously aware of
it, then it's easy to get sucked in. I call it like a tech trance or a computer
coma where hours can pass and you don't even realize because ... You shared
this in the example, which was a very real example that you get on to social
media for example to do a post to your community. And it was an intentional

© 2019. All rights reserved. 12

post, but then maybe hours pass and you go, “I don't even remember why I
got on social media anymore,” right? Because we go into that tech trance
mode, and it can happen. So as long as we're consciously aware of it, then we
can really create those boundaries.

Now let's talk more about anxiety. I know you're an anxiety expert, and you've
helped so many women overcome anxiety. What are some indications that
women should look for that they could be experiencing anxiety themselves, or
even their children at a young age? Because we know that this is a newer
problem specifically in adolescents that's becoming more and more prevalent.
So what are some signs and symptoms associated with anxiety that we should
be looking out for?

Trudy Scott: So in children, it may look a little bit different. In adults, it's
usually pretty straightforward. A lot of adults will recognize that they are
anxious, that they're stressed out. They will self-medicate with wine at the end
of the day, or other alcohol. Women will often have ruminations and sleep
problems, lack of confidence, negative self-talk, stress eating. So those are
pretty easy to identify in adults.

With children, it can be a little bit more challenging. They may have fears of
certain things. They may worry a lot, and they may feel ... You may see that
they look overwhelmed when there's some project coming up at school or
something. And that can all be tied to low serotonin in children.

But it can look like attention problems. A lot of kids with ADHD type of
problems, they may actually be diagnosed and the school wants to put them
on medication — that can actually be anxiety.

And I've had a number of children in my community through the moms that I
work with get on GABA and then the attention problems go away. So they
were really anxious, and that was showing up as attention problems. We can
also see anger issues that are really anxiety. It can be quite challenging.

Often kids don't know how to say that I'm anxious, so we've just got to look at
some of those behavioral aspects and see if it could actually be anxiety as well.
And then keep in mind that with low serotonin, we have anger issues as well
as anxiety issues. So if we address the low serotonin, we’ll see the anxiety go
away, and we will see the anger issues go away as well.

We can also have physical problems. A lot of kids will say they've got an upset
stomach, they may have stomach pain. We know we make so much serotonin
in the gut and a lot of the other neurotransmitters in the gut as well. And we
© 2019. All rights reserved. 13
have this feeling where we say, “I've got this feeling, this fear in the pit of my
stomach.” So anxiety can manifest as physical symptoms. If your child has a
lot of stomach pain, obviously you've got to look at food sensitivities and all
the other factors. But it could be a neurotransmitter imbalance as well.

Dr. Krista Burns: Yeah that's so important, and recognizing the signs and
symptoms. So just remember that any time your body is expressing a
symptom, it's doing so in a meaningful way. If your child is telling you that
they're feeling a certain way, or if you're feeling it yourself, then this is an
indication to look further, to understand more about what's causing it.

And of course, recognizing where you could have deficiencies or where you
could be overstimulated and then starting to determine the healthy route to
then supply your body with what it's deficient in and reduce what is being
overstimulated.

I love these examples because they're very real, and it hits home when you
hear some of these things, you go, “Oh yeah, I've said that myself.” Or “Yeah,
you know what? My child did tell me that recently.” And so you start to
recognize that these are things that are happening that we need to stay ahead
of.

And when it comes to superfoods and when it comes to diet, there are a lot of
choices out there. It's easy to grab a quick grab from the pantry, have a
sugary food while sitting there scrolling on your devices. It's more meaningful,
it takes a little bit more time, to have superfoods and have your diet planned
out in a way that supports good health and longevity. So it really is about
preparation. Talk to me about what superfoods that parents should have in
the house to really fuel their children in a healthy way in the digital age.

Trudy Scott: Well, what I consider superfood is real food. So if we just get rid
of those processed foods, and we go back to eating the way our grandparents
and great-grandparents ate, that's superfood. Just eating this real food, no
processed food, no additives, no colors, no sugar, and no caffeine. We are
going a long way to improving mental health, physical health, and helping to
stop some of these addictions that we have.

I'm going to mention a few things. I talked a little bit about gluten earlier when
I talked about gluten and cocaine. But we know that gluten impacts the gut,
can cause leaky gut. It lowers serotonin, so then it's going to drive the low
serotonin symptoms which can cause more addiction, increases inflammation.
I find that for most of my clients with anxiety issues, getting off gluten is
really, really important.
© 2019. All rights reserved. 14
And then, some specific foods that are very helpful: sauerkraut is wonderful.
It's full of probiotics which helps with gut health. Pumpkin seeds are great.
Pumpkin seeds are a good source of tryptophan and zinc. Sardines are
wonderful, a great source of omega-3s and a great source of protein. And then,
interestingly enough, grass-fed red meat is amazing.

Dr. Felice Jacka, she's a nutritional psychiatry researcher here in Australia,

published a number of papers looking at the impacts on diet and mental
health. And when she did her thesis, she thought red meat was going to be a
problem, and it turned out that red meat was actually beneficial when it came
to mental health. And she's actually just written a new book called Brain
Changer3 where she talks all about this connection between what we eat and
how we feel.

There are a lot of foods that we can do, and I love that you said, “Be prepared.”
Blood sugar issues are a really big problem with kids, so having a snack for
yourself and for your kids is important to help with that blood sugar crash
when they might be — irritability and explosions and anger and anxiety with
that low blood sugar as well. Having something to help keep that blood sugar
stable throughout the day instead of these up and down blood sugar swings is
really important.

Dr. Krista Burns: Yeah, that's such great advice. And by having that
awareness, it's so much easier to make the healthy decision. And I really want
to encourage all of our parents who are watching this summit to get the whole
family involved to make healthier decisions. Because just maybe you've tried a
diet yourself in the past, and if you are the only person in your family who was
trying to follow these diet habits, or let's say, reducing screen time, if you're
the only person doing that, it becomes that much more difficult because the
environment that you're in doesn't support you being successful. By getting
the whole family involved with this healthy decision making, then everybody is
supporting the success of one another to really, truly, build up thriving
children to thrive yourself within your environment.

Now I think it's important that we take a step back and maybe a step up
looking down, and we think to ourselves, “What societal impact can digital
dementia really have?” Knowing what we know now from the information that
Trudy has shared with us today, what would happen if we did nothing? I
mean, it's really normal to have a cell phone.

3
Dr. Felice Jacka, Brain Changer: The Good Mental Health Diet (Macmillan Australia, 2019)

© 2019. All rights reserved. 15

Almost everybody we probably know has a cell phone. If we just said, “You
know what? It's easier to just use my phone. I'm not worried about this
affecting myself or my family.” What would happen? Like how would we be
failing the next generation, Trudy, if we didn't bring this to the forefront? And
what is going to be the impact on the next generation with digital dementia?

Trudy Scott: I think the implications are very, very serious. We know that
anxiety and depression and mental health issues are increasing, and I think
it's going to further fuel it.

I wanted to share an article that was in the news in Newsweek last year, and
it's a pretty serious headline. It says, “iPhones Pose Suicide Risk to
Teenagers,”4 and this was Apple investors that were making this warning. So
we are seeing this already as being a huge issue. We know that suicide rates
are increasing in teens and it's a really serious issue.

And this particular article said that the average American teenager receives a
smartphone at the age of 10 and spends over four and a half hours a day
using it. And what they said is that teenagers who spend more than three
hours a day using electronic devices are 35% more likely to have a risk factor
for suicide than those who spend less than an hour.

So there are some numbers that you might want to think about. And then
teenagers who spend more than five hours on their phones are 71% more
likely to have a risk factor for suicide. Again, we've got to turn this around and
say the iPhones are causing problems. This digital media is causing problems.
But how much are the biological effects of the iPhone causing these problems?
And how much is it about the fact that we've got this poor nutrient status,
that we've got chemical imbalances, that is driving this use of smartphones?

So I think coming at it from all angles is really important, and we can address
all the aspects. It's not just in the home as you were talking about, it's not just
changes that your family is going to make. I think it needs to be policy
changes at a bigger level. It needs to be school changes. It needs to be changes
in organizations that you are part of. So if you can get involved in advocacy, I
think that's going to really help as well, because it's a big issue, and we've got
to do something about it.

Dr. Krista Burns: Yeah. Trudy, when you read the name, the headline of that
article, it just, I mean, I had a visceral response. It's scary, it's frightening.
4
Anthony Cuthbertson, “iPhones Pose Suicide Risk to Teenagers, Apple Investors Warn,” Newsweek, Jan 8
2018

© 2019. All rights reserved. 16

And although I just cannot stand hearing it, I'm glad that you shared that
with us because it really paints the picture of what can happen if we don't
take this seriously.

And just because it's normal to have a cell phone, and again, you don't have to
throw away your cell phone, but just because it's normal to sit there and
spend hours and hours per day on your iPhone, it doesn't mean it's ideal, and
it does not mean that you're setting yourself up or your child up for success.
So please recognize the importance of having healthy boundaries with
technology to really thrive within your environment.

Trudy, I want to acknowledge you for sharing your expertise with us today. I
know I've learned so much. There have been multiple moments where I've felt
goosebumps. I felt a visceral response. I've felt empowered, and all of this is
from the information that you've shared with us, so just a huge thank you and
just a warm thank you for sharing this expertise with us.

Now, as we're wrapping up today, what parting piece of guidance do you have
for parents who are raising children in the digital age?

Trudy Scott: Wow, there's so much, but I will just share two points. One is
educate yourself. And listening in to this and listening to all these experts is a
great way to be informed so you know what's going on. Don't judge other
parents who may not know about this, and be a good example.

And I'm going to share what I mean by don't judge. I shared a post on
Facebook, again, about a restaurant in Sydney that was saying parents
cannot have iPhones at the table with their kids. And there were a lot of
people who were very unhappy with this. And I shared this on social media,
and I had some response from some mom saying, “We’re doing the best that
we can. We don't know what else to do.” And I want us to communicate with
those moms that we're not judging, we’re just educating so that there’re
problems. So we don't want to judge anyone. Someone else may not be aware
as you are. So just educate if you can.

And the other thing is setting an example. So be aware what's going on. Set an
example with your kids. Go and do some fun things with your kids. Get
outside, just find something that you and your kids can do together. I love
that you said get involved in the kitchen together. That's a great thing to do.
Maybe get some bikes and go bike riding with your kids.

I have a background in rock climbing; I met my husband on a cliff face, and

we traveled America rock climbing. So I'm a big fan of the outdoors and rock
© 2019. All rights reserved. 17
climbing. And there's actually research showing that bouldering and rock
climbing helps with mental health, so just the fact that you out there on the
rock, you’re in nature, you're problem solving, you're having fun together and
laughing with your kids, those are things that can create lasting memories
and could start to help break this addiction that we have with digital media
and can help stop this digital dementia, this anxiety and all of these other
problems that we're going to see.

Dr. Krista Burns: Yeah, what an empowering way to finish our interview
today. For all of our viewers who are here today, I just want to applaud you
and thank you for taking that first step that Trudy mentioned, which is really
educating. Now that you have this information, it's time to implement with
your family to be healthier, but in addition to that, to share this with more
people in a nonjudgmental way.

So not judging where they're at currently, but helping empower them to

continue raising awareness within your community, recognizing that little by
little each day, we make these decisions to be healthier, to reduce our screen
time, to eat healthier foods, to move more, to be in nature — all of these things
together are improving mental health. They're improving your physical health,
and they really are helping your child thrive in the digital age. With the Digital
Dementia Summit, we're committed to the mission of exposing the viral
epidemic that's destroying children's brains.

I want to thank all of you for being here, for taking that first step forward. And
Trudy, again, just thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us today
on the Digital Dementia Summit. We loved talking with you.

Trudy Scott: Absolute pleasure. Thank you for having me.

Dr. Krista Burns: Thank you.

© 2019. All rights reserved. 18