143. The Teen Health Revolution: Raising Resilient Teens in Digital Chaos

Summary

Podcast Summary: Extend Podcast with Darshan Shah, MD
Episode 143: The Teen Health Revolution – Raising Resilient Teens in Digital Chaos
Date: March 3, 2026
Guests: The Holistic Kids (Abdullah, Zain, Imad, and Qasim Ansari – brothers, youth health advocates, podcast hosts, and co-authors of "Teen Health Revolution")

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Episode Overview

In this vibrant and deeply relevant conversation, Dr. Darshan Shah explores skyrocketing teen mental health challenges in the era of ubiquitous digital technology. He’s joined by “The Holistic Kids” – four remarkable brothers (ages 10–18) who host their own health podcast, speak at conferences worldwide, and recently authored a bestselling book, Teen Health Revolution. Together, they discuss their research-driven, youth-empowered approach to resilience, well-being, and purposeful living in a hyper-connected—but often disconnected—world. The episode introduces their REVOLUTION framework: practical, actionable principles for regaining health, focus, and meaning amidst digital noise.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origin of "Teen Health Revolution"

[02:52–05:31]

• Genesis during the pandemic: The brothers launched their podcast to inform “neglected kids” about holistic health, interviewing top experts.
• Personal crisis: Zain shares receiving a death threat from a close friend, catalyzing the realization that teens are “destroyed” by “constant scrolling” and disconnection.
  • Quote: “Our brains are destroyed. We're constantly scrolling. We have no purpose in life.” – Zain [03:31]
• Recognizing that adults and schools aren’t teaching vital self-care, the brothers commit to empowering their peers directly.

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2. Why Early Health Habits Matter

[05:52–08:31]

• Kids believe they’re healthy now, but neglecting foundational habits means inheriting sickness later.
• Shocking ignorance about basic nutrition and food safety among peers.
• Quote: “No kid wants to be sick. But when you get older, you're already gonna be sick. So then what can you accomplish when you're sick?” – Qasim [06:53]
• Urges starting change today–not postponing until adulthood.

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3. The REVOLUTION Framework: Habits for Thriving Teens

Each letter stands for a pillar of youth health:

R – Revolutionize Your Gut
[09:18–12:45]

• Gut health underpins mental, emotional, and physical well-being.
  • Quote: “The gut is our second brain... 90% of neurotransmitters are created in the gut.” – Abdullah [09:49]
• Avoid ultra-processed foods; learn to read labels.
  • “Junk in, junk out.”
• Their mom taught them to scrutinize—then research—ingredients.
  • “If us as kids can do it, so can adults.” – Imad [12:37]

E – Eat Real Food
[13:59–15:01]

• Real food: nutrient-dense, minimally processed, “from trees, the Earth.”
• Food is “power” and “information” – it dictates every body process.
• Problem: food is engineered to be addictive.

V – Vanquish Toxins
[16:04–19:16]

• Modern teens are “surrounded by more than 80,000 toxins a day” (plastics, dyes, chemicals, EMFs).
  • “If you see a color before the name–Red 40, Blue 1–it doesn’t belong in your food.” – Zain [18:23]
• Read clothing and food labels; choose natural fibers and foods.

O – Optimize Stress
[19:52–22:07]

• Teens admit being more stressed than adults (study cited: teens 5.8/10, adults 3.6/10).
• Deep breathing, grounding, and mindfulness are simple, powerful tools.
  • “Imagine if teens could control their brain... we could achieve so much.” – Abdullah [21:47]
• Breathwork taught at school and home; multiple techniques (box, tiger, 4-7-8).

L – Loving Nature
[23:07–25:52]

• Nature is essential for mood, stress relief, and health.
  • “Even 30 minutes a day has so many benefits.” – Qasim [25:17]
• Generational shift: today’s teens are indoors, isolated on devices.
• “Hugging trees”: Science-backed benefits of time outside.

U – Unite With Others
[25:52–26:46]

• Social skills and real-life connection are declining.
  • Devices normalize isolation.
  • Reviving “community” is key to resilience.

T – Tech Limits
[26:46–30:34]

• Suggest no social media before age 16; "an hour" (ideally 45 minutes) recreational tech per day.
• Use devices with intention rather than for “dopamine” or “escape.”
  • “We are engagement machines for their profits.” – Zain [27:05]
• School digital use should be purpose-driven; mitigate blue light/EMF with glasses and protection.

I – Invest in Sleep
[31:54–33:52]

• 8-10 hours for teens, 10-12 for children.
• Late-night scrolling destroys sleep patterns.
  • “If you get good sleep, you do better in school, memory, athletics–it improves your life.” – Abdullah [32:42]
• Phones in bedrooms are a major culprit; avoid as alarm clock or sleep aid.

O – Open to Gratitude and Purpose
[37:28–41:33]

• Teens are “surrounded by negativity” and rarely practice gratitude or self-reflection.
• Daily gratitude practice: “10 things you’re grateful for.”
  • “Stop saying I hate. Start thinking about what you love.” – Zain [38:12]
• Sense of purpose arises from “boredom,” not digital stimulation.
• Creating intentional quiet time helps teens discover goals and passions.

N – Navigate Decisions With Mindfulness
[42:32–43:50]

• Mindfulness means being present and conscious (“what am I eating, why?”).
• Mindful teens make better choices and can interrupt negative cycles.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On teens’ digital stress:

  • “Our brains are destroyed. We're constantly scrolling. We have no purpose in life. We're so disconnected from each other...” – Zain [03:31]

• On food choices:

  • “If you put junk in your body, then you're gonna end up working like junk and you're gonna start thinking like junk.” – Abdallah, quoting a podcast guest [10:30]

• On intentional tech use:

  • “I was only on my device for 30 minutes!” – Dr. Shah humorously compares how kids should view screen limits [28:47]

• On the dopamine trap:

  • “We have our phones and can press a button and get dopamine, oxytocin artificially 24/7.” – Zain [27:10]

• On finding purpose:

  • “Finding your purpose just starts with being bored... when you're bored, you can truly think about who you want to become.” – Zain [39:32]

• On change:

  • “Don't start change tomorrow... start change today.” – Abdallah [08:10]

• On gratitude:

  • “Stop saying I hate. Start thinking about what you love.” – Zain [38:12]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction & Guests’ Background: [00:03–02:52]
• How the Book Began (Zain’s story): [02:52–05:31]
• Importance of Early Habits: [06:53–08:31]
• REVOLUTION Framework Walkthrough: [09:18–43:50]
  • Gut & Real Food: [09:18–15:01]
  • Toxins: [16:04–19:16]
  • Stress, Nature, Social, Tech Limits: [19:52–30:34]
  • Sleep: [31:54–33:52]
  • Gratitude & Purpose: [37:28–41:33]
  • Mindfulness: [42:32–43:50]
• Practical Family Tips & School Examples: [22:07; 41:33–42:05]
• Conclusion, Book Details, How to Connect: [45:07–47:37]

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Actionable Takeaways for Parents & Teens

• Start health education early—peer-driven, practical, and simple.
• Evaluate and cut tech use; use tech intentionally and sparingly.
• Prioritize gut and sleep health: foundational for mental resilience.
• Practice gratitude and mindfulness daily: these are skills for life, not just personality traits.
• Model and teach stress management, real food choices, toxin awareness, and connection with nature.

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Final Reflections: Dr. Shah’s Takeaways

[48:11+]

1. Teens aren’t unmotivated—they’re disconnected by technology.
2. Tech is just one of many environmental stressors; systems thinking is needed.
3. Tech limits only help if devices are used with intention.
4. Food, toxins, and gut health directly affect mood and focus.
5. Purpose and gratitude are skills to be taught, not pre-set traits.

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Resources & Further Listening

• Teen Health Revolution: The brothers’ practical, illustrated book for kids, teens, and parents.
• The Holistic Kids Show: Youth-led podcast interviewing leading voices in medicine, health, and wellness.
• Try morning breathwork and gratitude exercises as modeled by their school.

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Language and Tone:
Episode is upbeat, peer-oriented, practical, and full of hope—emphasizing empowerment, not just limits or warnings:
“If us as kids can do it, so can adults and so definitely can teens.” – Imad [12:37]

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to Xtend with me, Dr. Darshan Shah. A podcast dedicated to cutting edge science research tools and protocols designed to help you extend your health span. Having become one of the youngest doctors in the country at the age of 21 and trained and board certified at the Mayo Clinic, I've accumulated three decades of practice as a board certified surgeon and longevity expert. Over that time, I've discovered that a mere 20% of health knowledge yields 80% of the results. When it comes to your health span, we are living in a new era where we are creating a new healthcare system no longer focused on disease management, but achieving optimal health and vitality. Join me as I interview world renowned experts offering you a step by step guide to proactively avoid disease and most importantly, extend your health span. Teenager mental health is at a breaking point. And while most conversations focus on screen time limits, very few address what's actually happening inside young brains and bodies. In this fun episode of xtend, I'm joined by the Holistic kids, Abdullah, Zain Ahmad and Qasim Ansari. Four brothers ages 10 to 18, who are a leading global youth led movement for health. They host a top ranked podcast with over 200 episodes and they're the authors of the bestselling book Teen Health Revolution. And they speak at major medical conferences alongside physicians and researchers. We're going to unpack why anxiety, depression, brain fog and disconnection are skyrocketing in teens. And how technology and social media are rewiring developing brains, disrupting sleep, gut health, stress, resilience and even a sense of purpose. The brothers share their revolution framework, a practical system that goes far beyond tech limits to help teens reclaim focus, energy and meaning in a hyperconnected world. Whether you're a parent worried about your child or a teen who feels like you're overwhelmed by constant connectivity, this conversation offers a realistic roadmap already changing lives. Boys, this is such a special episode. We have five people in the podcast studio here today because the four of you co wrote this book, the Teen Health Revolution, right?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Amazing. Okay, so we have Abdullah, Zain, Ahmad and Kassim. Right? So who's who? Tell me who's who.

[C]

So I'm Abdullah.

[B]

Yeah, I'm Zain.

[D]

I'm Imad.

[E]

And I'm Qasim.

[A]

Amazing. And the four of you have been doing a podcast for a long time, right? What was the name of your podcast?

[D]

The Holistic Kids Show.

[A]

The Holistic Kids Show. I listen to your podcast with my kids in the car all the time. And so it's so Great for kids to hear from other kids what you guys are working on. And you wrote a book.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What made the book come to be? Who thought of the idea should write a book?

[B]

So I think it really started during the pandemic, when everyone was worried about their health.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So we started the Holistic Kids show, our podcast, because we wanted to specifically inform the. The neglected kids. So we were learning. We were talking the podcast, we were talking to experts. New York Times bestselling authors.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

World renowned experts. All these people about different tips that we can use for our health.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And we were learning as well as a lot of kids are learning.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But. But really, right when I. When I came to school, that's when I. I received a terrible death threat from my best friend.

[A]

What happened?

[B]

So he. He. Yeah, he sent a death threat to me, and it made me so scared for my life. And that made me realize that, you know what? These teens today. Youth today are so. We're so. Our brains are destroyed. We're constantly scrolling. We have no purpose in life. We're so disconnected from each other. So then I realized that, you know what? This podcast, it can't just stay a podcast. It needed to be a book. So a book that everyone could hold in their hands as a resource. Every teen, specifically.

[A]

Yeah. No, that's a crazy story. And you're right. I mean, I think in the beginning of the book, you say that it's an emergency right now to focus on this, and I agree. I think we're living in a time period right now where teens and kids are exposed to stressors that they never had before. Definitely not when I was growing up. But even in the last couple of decades, the number of stressors has magnified. Right. And so. And sure, you guys are feeling it, right? I mean, just. Just that your best friend did. Did something so horrible. Like, it's. It's coming. It's like it's real. Right?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Wow.

[C]

And this is. This isn't actually just our, like, his story or this is actually kids all around the world. This. This is what they're dealing with right now.

[A]

Yep. Mm.

[C]

And the. The reality is, is that if Zan's friend was being mindful about what his decisions were, he was actually. He was taking care of his mental health. If he was educating himself, that this wouldn't be the reality.

[A]

Right.

[C]

And the problem is that a lot of teens nowadays, we are just, you know, going from class to class. We're not focusing on what we're putting into our mouths. We're not focusing on what we're educating ourselves with enough. Just. We're scrolling and scrolling on, you know, our phones. And the problem is that because of that, we're destroying ourselves and we're destroying our brains. And that's why we're trying to get to teens out there, because most teens don't know this stuff, because adults aren't teaching us, especially schools aren't teaching us. And so we were like, if no one's doing anything about it, then we need to start to stand up and do something.

[A]

Yeah. Take matters into your own hands. Right. I love it. And then you two are not teens yet, though. But do you think this is important information even at your age?

[E]

Yes, definitely. Because, like, people in my class are like, they have all. They already have phones, and they're like, 10 already.

[A]

They're 10 years old and they have phones.

[E]

Yeah, yeah.

[D]

Like, also, health isn't just, like, a one topic, just only for teens. It's like a universal topic. No matter how old you are, you can still benefit from these simple tasks, like putting your phone down away from when you're sleeping. Like. Yeah, it's a universal topic that everybody should know, right?

[A]

Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I think the same health advice that adults use definitely should be using it at a younger age. But a lot of times, by the time you're doing it as an adult, you've already have a lot of things broken, Right. Like, your attention span is gone, your mental health is destroyed. You know, you're metabolically unhealthy, and all these things start at a very, very young age. So I agree with you that, you know, it's an important topic right from the beginning of when you can start learning about it. Right. And so a lot of kids probably are like, oh, yeah, I'm fine. I don't need to hear about this. Like, why. Why does it matter to me? Why does it matter to me, like, at a young age to, you know, eat real food or worry about toxins? Like, you're so healthy right now, right? Why does it matter?

[E]

So when you. No. No kid wants to be sick.

[A]

Right.

[E]

But when you get older, you're already gonna be sick. So then what are you gonna accomplish? What job are you gonna accomplish? What can you accomplish when you're sick?

[C]

And this is what, like, this is what our mom taught us when, you know, I was, what, 13 now Qasim is 10.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And the reality is, what we realize as well is that especially because these are our peers and classmates we're talking about. I know when we go to school and we're telling them about this stuff. Actually, a lot of them are like, oh, I didn't know that M&MS. Has a carcinogen in them that basically leads to cancer. If I knew that, I wouldn't be putting that into my body.

[A]

Right.

[C]

And also a lot of teens especially, we need to wake up and realize that if we don't do something about this now, it's going to affect our adulthood mentally, physically, emotionally, and even spiritually. And I don't think any teen, I mean, not at least, I don't want to be sick in my adulthood. And I don't think most teens would want to be sick when they grow up. And I know a lot of teens, like we talk about because that's the time when, you know, college is coming up, you know, trying to get our career set, figuring out our life. If we're sick, we're never going to be able to accomplish any of what we want.

[A]

Exactly.

[C]

We're just gonna, you know, nobody, no teen wants to be sitting at home on their couch or laying in their bed because they can't get up because they didn't take care of their health now. And that's why we're not saying to start change later on, don't start change tomorrow, don't start change when I'm. Maybe when I'm 19, when I'm 20, when I'm 21, start change today. Cause that's how change happens.

[A]

Yep, exactly. And you know, to your point, like, who wants to grow up and not be productive, not have a great life? And it really now is so important to style start in childhood because that's when the problems start accumulating for sure. So the book is called the Teen Health Revolution. And I love what you guys have did. You took the word revolution and you turned it into a set of guides for people. So I'd love to just like, touch on each one of these real quick because I think, you know, if you're a parent and you're listening to this re listen to this with your kids in the car or just at home where have you. Because obviously kids don't like to listen to their parents, but they will hear from other kids. But also I really like how you put it together for people. So let's go through these. Is that okay with you? I'm using okay R Revolutionize the gut. What does that mean?

[B]

So the gut is where health starts. And that's why we specifically have it like, as the first one. That's what we have as are the first word letter of the revolution. Because your health is going to start in your gut. The reason why you're dealing with all these chronic issues is because of like your inflamed gut. So when we say, like, revolutionize your gut, we're saying that, you know, yeah, we're going to start thinking about, we need to start really bringing the gut into the health topics so we can then transform the rest of our health aspects.

[C]

And plus, and I know it's shocking, but actually the gut has creates over 90% of transmitter. No neurotransmitters are created in the gut. And I know it's shocking to most people, but actually the gut and what you put into your body actually affects your mental health as well and affects your spiritual health and your emotional health as well as your physical health. And so most people think, oh, yeah, but how is what I'm going to eat and it goes down to my stomach effect here. Like, this doesn't make any sense. When in reality, the gut is our second brain. And if we put, you know, like we interviewed someone on our podcast, he's very knowledgeable. He basically said if you put junk in your body, then you're gonna end up working like junk and you're gonna start thinking like junk and you're gonna. It's gonna come out as junk. So everything starts from there.

[A]

Yeah, that makes sense. And I know you've talked to Dr. Jeffrey Bland and Dr. David Bermudder, who are like giants of functional medicine. They've talked a lot about the gut and how it is central to our biology. And it's not intuitive. Right, because we think the way we think the way we. Our spiritual health, our mental health starts up here in our brain. But the reality is what happens in our gut affects our brain very deeply. Right. So how do you treat your gut? Well, what do you do? What are some of the steps?

[C]

I know it's crazy to think, but we eat real natural food that are going to help us and not hurt us right now. I mean, come on, let's be honest. Teens, even adults, kids, we're just eating ultra processed foods, Takis, Cheetos, you know, Oreos, the list goes on and on and on. And that this is what we have, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And a lot of us, a lot of teens especially, we don't realize what we're doing to ourselves. And so I think the most simplest way to tell people, adults even, on how we can fix our gut is just to start reading labels. Because if you, you know, get something if you find, go to the grocery store. And this is what our mom used to do with us. We used to go to the grocery store and she used to say, go pick out this one. You want this? But we go to maybe like the cereal aisle and we'd see these colorful cereals and we would be like, please, can we have this? And so my mom was like, okay, first take it out, look at the ingredients and tell me what's in it. And so we went through the ingredients and there was, you know, red number 40. There was like tons and tons of stuff. This is like a seven year old me not even comprehending what these words even mean.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And so our mom basically said, okay, now research. Look up those. What do those do to you? What are those ingredients? Okay. Red number 40, a carcinogen that leads to cancer. You know, all of tons and tons of these ingredients lead to hyperactivity. They are directly linked to chronic disease. And so we were like, as, you know, kids, we don't want to put that in our body.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And so I think what we want to tell people is that if us as kids can do it, so can adults and so definitely can teens.

[A]

Yeah. But okay, so say you guys are in school, right. And your friends, They've watched some YouTube influencer talking about their latest food product. Right. Like, you know, this happens. My kids, my kids are 12 and 8. 12 and 9. Sorry. And like all the kids at school are eating Beastables or Takis or, you know, they're drinking. What's that drink that I forgot the name of the. Prime. Prime. Prime, yes. He's like, for the first time in history, I think kids are getting, you know, nutrition advice from influencers that are making food to sell them. Like, how do you tell the other kids they shouldn't be eating that? What do you tell them? Like, this is an influencer saying this,

[B]

you know, So I think we should start with like telling them to like reading the ingredients.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because when you can educate them, when you can help them realize that, you know, what, what these influencers are doing to me, it's for money.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And when they can realize that it's for money, they don't want to be a part of the, the money making scheme. Right, Right. So they're, they're going to. A lot of times, like I've told my, some of my friends, a lot of them felt like a little anger in them and they kind of want to, they want to see some, some more change. So I think, yeah, education is definitely key to Bringing that to them.

[A]

Yep. I agree. I agree. And so that gives you. Goes down to the E, which is eat real food. So talk about that. Like, what is real food? What does that mean? Real food is cereal. Real food.

[B]

So, yeah, real food is just literally the food that comes from trees. It was here on Earth before, like, humans came and started messing with everybody.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And also, real food is nutrient dense. It's not gonna hurt. It's. It's gonna help you and not hurt you. And that's why we like to say food is power. Food is information. Food literally dictates every single cell and every single, like, process that goes on in our bodies.

[A]

Right.

[C]

And it's supposed to kind of. You. We're supposed to be using food, this real food. Not talking about, you know, Takis or Cheetos or, like, that fake food. We don't even call it food.

[A]

Right.

[C]

But we're supposed to be using this food to thrive, to kind of live the life we want, because that's what food is here for. But sadly, now, obviously, we want to eat food because it tastes good. I know. I talked to my classmates. Like, but it tastes so good.

[A]

Like, come on.

[C]

Why can't I have this? But at the same time, it's destroying our bodies and it's destroying our future.

[A]

Yeah. I think a lot of times, you know, people have to understand is that a lot of these real foods are engineered by chemical engineers to taste good. They're not really tasting good. It's a trick to get you to eat more of it. Right.

[C]

It's like a chemistry experiment.

[A]

Experiment. Yeah, exactly. That's what you're trying to say.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

It is a chemistry experiment. You're right.

[E]

Yeah.

[D]

Like, they use different methods to get us hooked. Like, the color, the branding. Like, back in the day, like, they just put, like, in the cereal boxes, they just put, like, really colorful animals. Oh, yeah, it's so good. You should have this.

[A]

Right? Like, all the cereals, right?

[D]

Yeah, all the cereals.

[A]

Shapes and stuff. Right.

[C]

And also, I don't know if you remember, I think at least my mom's generation for cigarettes, they used to have, like, this, I think, purple Camel. And I used to go around saying, oh, you know, it's so cool to smoke. It's so cool for this. And kids like, oh, my God, we need to have. We need to have this. Come on. Everyone at school is doing it.

[A]

Camel cigarettes. Yeah, it wasn't. He wasn't purple, though. That was Barney. They're both just as destructive, I would argue. Okay, so then The V in revolution is vanquishing toxins. So what are the toxins that we're exposed to and how do we get rid of them?

[B]

So toxins are all over around us. The. The average person is over is surrounded by more than 80,000 toxins a day. So that is craziness going from like a long time ago. Barely any toxins around us. Now we're being like trapped by all these toxins.

[C]

We go to a.

[B]

We go to a our house, all the furniture is toxins. What we eat has all these toxins in it. So I think toxins, what they are is that they're. They're things that shouldn't. That don't belong in your body.

[A]

Right. That's a good definition for it. So how are we, like, what are some of the most common ones that we should be avoiding? Kids. What should kids be avoiding, toxin wise?

[D]

Yes, there's some, a couple of toxins that you can avoid. Like microplastics.

[A]

Yeah. Talk about plastics.

[D]

Yeah, microplastics. Again, we use them like almost everything bottles, like grocery stores. And they just start consuming into our diet.

[A]

Y.

[D]

And also the second toxin is emfs. Coming from like blue light or phones. These emfs can really damage. Like even putting it next to you when you're sleeping has huge effects.

[A]

Do you have a phone?

[D]

No, none of us really have phones.

[A]

None of you guys have phones. Amazing.

[E]

Okay, except for him.

[A]

He's in college now.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And you drive. At some point you gotta get a phone. But I think your point is well taken. Like don't sleep at your phone next to you. Right. And it's not only are there EMFs, which, you know, I think there's still a lot of research that needs to be done. Exactly what's the mechanism of the problem? But they do know that having the phone next to you when you sleep is very stressful and you have higher levels of cortisol. Just even if your phone is off sitting next to you at nighttime. So definitely don't use your phone as your alarm clock or sleep with your phone. Right. Okay. And what are some other toxins that you want to. Microplast is a big one. Right. What about toxins like in, in your food, for example? Like how. What. Where do all these toxins come from in your food?

[B]

So yeah, I mean, just all these toxins, like red 40, like all these ones that are chemically made. Like if you, if you see a color before the name, like, you know, it's not going to. It doesn't belong in your food. Red 40, blue one, yellow one. There's like, all these, like. So I can't even memorize all these names because it's just such a big waste of time.

[C]

So it's just. Yeah.

[B]

Gossan, like, mentioned it's a chemical experiment, and they're putting that in their food. And a lot of times, like, I know calcium propionate, like, is something that you put in a lot of, like, breads and stuff. And now, like, cultures, they have all these. They, especially in the Desi household, like, bread is, like, a staple. And now you're putting things like calcium propionate inside breads.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You're making people even more. You're really killing them for their, like, favorite food. So.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. So anything, any type of, like, chemical name on your packaging, avoid it. Yeah. Are you going to say something?

[E]

There are toxins in your clothes, like polyester clothes.

[A]

Yes. That's a good point, too. Yeah. So you should have, like, cotton clothes. Cotton or wool, right? Yeah, yeah. Like natural fibers, not polyester clothes. But, you know, the problem is a lot of the clothes that you could buy at the Target or Walmart or whatever, they do have that. So it's important to read also the labels on your clothes. Right. Make sure they're natural. Good. That's another good, good example. All right, let's talk about optimizing your stress. So what are you talking about with stress as a. As a kid?

[C]

So let's be honest. Teens, we have no clue how to manage our stress. And we are actually. I know, I know. There is a study actually came out that they asked teens on a. Like, they. They basically kind of measured how stressed are teens that are in school compared to adults. And actually, it said that teens were, on a scale of 1 to 10, were at least 5.8, while adults were about, like, 3 point, like 6.

[A]

Oh.

[C]

And so actually, I mean, it's crazy, but being in high school, being in college, we are not taught how to manage our stress.

[A]

No.

[C]

And because of that, we're running from class to class. We're just. You know, when this teacher is telling us this or this is happening in our lives or, like, especially with this entire. This phone of ours that we have in our hands, this entire universe of information that's just in our pockets, and then this is happening on the news, and then that's happening, and then for us, we feel overwhelmed, and there's Nobody's giving us any information on how to fix it and how to kind of put our bodies back into balance. And. And that's why I think for teens, they're so. It's so simple just taking a deep breath. I know, like, right before test, when everyone's trying to cram in all that information into their. Like, that's like the most stressful time. Then just take. I take a deep breath and I actually recognize that I do better on the test than if I was just to, you know, stress myself out right before. So even just, you know, deep breathing, which is one of our favorite things to do, just being mindful, you know, thinking, okay, what am I smelling in this moment? What am thinking? What am I, you know, seeing? What am I feeling? There's so many easy, simple ways to ground yourself. And as teens, if we're able to use that, we can really, I think, unlock our true potential. We can really change our lives. Because imagine if teens were able to control their brain and they were able to, you know, deal with their anxiety, deal with their depression, deal with their stress. We could achieve so much.

[A]

Yeah, absolutely. You mentioned breath work, which I think is really powerful. How many times a day do you do breath work?

[C]

So what our mom taught us. Yeah, she used to teach us deep breathing when we weren't stressed. So that when we were stressed that we could. We already knew what to do.

[A]

Yeah, you automatically can just go right back to it, Right? Exactly. Yep. Do you guys do deep breathing?

[E]

Yeah, in the beginning, like school. At school, we, the prince, there's a announcements. We do deep breathing. The whole school does deep breathing in the.

[A]

Oh, that is amazing. Like all together school.

[E]

Yeah.

[A]

Wow, that's awesome.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Also there's different types of deep breathing. Like, you don't need to do just like, just in for like four seconds, out for eight and then in for seven. Like, you don't need to do it. Like, there's like box breathing, like tiger breathing, and you can just experiment it with it.

[A]

Yeah. Lots of different breath work, type of exercises. 4 by like 4, 7, 8 breathing you mentioned. There's box breathing. There's like tiger breathing. Actually increases your intention as well. So. So yeah, I think kids learning this early in a. I wish someone had taught me that when I was a kid, you know, like, I learned it when I was 40 years old, finally. Okay, what about loving nature? How do we do that? And why is that important?

[E]

So loving nature is important because you love nature spending. Because spending time in nature actually improves spirit, spiritual, mental, physical and social health.

[C]

Yeah.

[E]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, we were. We were put here on the earth for nature. Right. And all throughout the centuries that we've been living here on Earth. We've been in nature most of the time. Right outside either playing either. Like recently your guys's generation, like playing outside most of the time. Like, I know like someone we interviewed said that like back in like their days, like when they were grounded, they weren't allowed to go to nature. But now grounding us, we're not allowed to go on our phones, we're not allowed to be in a room. We have to go play out nature. So now we're seeing this, this like extreme shift between generations. And especially our generation is like one of the first generations to deal with this, like just inside on screens the entire time. So now we're seeing the effects of like increased stress, depression. Teens are arising because nature was always there. Like, even when we try to walk outside, you can hear everything. You can hear the birds, you can hear the, you can smell like all the amazing flowers. It's very like before stress relieving. So when we love nature, we can really get into being back into nature like our ancestors did.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And plus nature has actually been scientifically proven to increase our mood, to increase even our, you know, our increased cortisol decrease. And it also helps our body, but it helps us so much. And the thing is that as teens, like now, I know we like, oh, but I don't want to go into this. You're like, oh, that's so boring. Like, we just want to stay on our phones and do what we want to do. Yet there's so much benefits. And definitely, like Zan said, we're feeling it in our high schools. I know that like when we go outside where we are able to fully connect with, you know, even the nature that's around us, our mom likes to call it hugging trees. You know, even 30 minutes a day has been shown to have so many benefits.

[A]

Absolutely.

[C]

For anybody.

[A]

Right?

[D]

Yeah. Like just being in nature can help. Like, you can. You can still like play, have fun, and you still get those benefits from being nature. Like, you don't need to sadly walk in nature. Like, you can still do other stuff.

[A]

Yeah, you can go outside and play. Yeah, I mean, that's. You're right. Like people don't do that anymore. When I was a kid, the first thing you do when you wake up on this, you know, on a Sunday mornings, you go out and play. And now it's like kids just hop on their electronic devices. Right. On their iPads or their phones and. And they don't get out of nature as much. So it's important to bring that back, right?

[B]

Definitely.

[A]

That brings us to uniting with others. You uniting with others. What does this mean?

[D]

So uniting with others means like act like being social because now teens are being less social every like day and maybe yeah day because like we're just on our devices contacting on like social media instead of going person to person talking. And this really gets rid of the connection between each other, right?

[A]

Absolutely. And so you know a lot of what you're talking about outside of diet is really exposure to devices. Right. That seems like a common unifying theme amongst all of the different pieces of the device you have. And then T being tech limits, which is the next letter in the revolution word. And this is something I think could probably solve a lot of these problems. Right. So what is an appropriate technology limit for a teenager or a kid?

[D]

Yeah, so we like to say like maybe like no social media before 6. Before high school. Yeah, before 16 high school. So we can really like in the, we can start playing before.

[A]

And, and there's some countries that have now outlawed social media for, for teenagers. So I think Australia doesn't that. Right. Yeah.

[B]

And there's a reason because we have become engagement machines for their profits.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like dopamine is what makes us feel, it's what makes us happy. Like when someone gives us like positive attention. Oxytocin is when like what is what we want to make to bond with others. And now we, we have our phones and we can press a button and get that dopamine, oxytocin artificially 247 and I mean with drugs to increasing your dopamine randomly it's just making it worse. So you can see like a very similarities with like fake food, ultra processed foods, these artificial devices and drugs that we can all link it to. So yeah, I think spending as like less time on social media, only being on social media with a purpose.

[A]

Yeah, agreed. And then when you say tech limits like so I have a 12 year old. Okay. And so we are always discussing with him what is an appropriate amount of technology per day. What do you think in your research and from what you have spoken about is the right number of hours per day?

[C]

We would like to say like an hour. Yeah, I think that's like the, the perfect point. 45 minutes probably is better. But for kids especially and for any parents that are listening to this, we've, we found a lot of like parents complaining. Oh they go on five hours, six hours. Like I know people like at mod school, right. They're like bragging that your mods want

[D]

to say yeah, like, they're just like. When I was going in the, like, oh, yeah, last. Last night, I had, like, I. I was on the device for, like, seven hours, and I was like, what? And the other person's like, no, I was on eight. And I was like, oh, my God,

[A]

they're competing the number of hours on their device. That's terrible. It should be the opposite.

[E]

Yeah.

[A]

They should be like, I was only on for 30 minutes.

[C]

And so we want kids, especially, that are dealing with. Because we're basically addicted. That's what this is.

[A]

That's an addiction. Right.

[C]

And so a lot of kids, they can't go throughout their day if they don't get two or four hours of screen time. And so for those kids and for those parents that are struggling with that, with their kids, because it's. I know. We know it's difficult. It's challenging because these are also our peers and classmates that we see are dealing with the effects of this increased screen time. We tell them, at least try to decrease it. So then maybe the first time, if you do three hours or four hours, try doing, you know, three hours then for that month, then to two, then to one. That way that we can build those habits so that we can then build a successful future for ourselves as well.

[A]

But how did you guys do it? When you're in school and your school requires you to have, like, a laptop or use some sort of device, how do you separate screen time for school purposes versus screen time for other things?

[D]

Yeah, so, like, because we like to say, like, it's more like screen time was video game time or like, sometimes. And then more like the working at school, we like to have leg glasses, so it doesn't really affect as much. And then really, it's just we're doing that for a purpose, to learn.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

So it's different.

[A]

Got it. Got it. Go ahead. You want to say something?

[B]

Yeah, I was going to say, like. Yeah, just separating that, though, the different times. I mean, like, I have to, like, I'm. Whenever I'm working because I'm in high school now.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And especially nowadays, we spend a lot of time on the computers.

[A]

Right.

[B]

So things that you can do to, like, limit, like, the effect of it is like putting on blue light glasses.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That can, like, decrease the blue light and like, having EMF protectors. Lowering the emf, like, on yourself.

[A]

Yeah. And so blue light protection helps you get better sleep at night.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. So I'm 52 right now, but I'm still pushing all of my limits. I'M running long distances. I travel across many time zones to support my work and I just want to live my life to the fullest. Staying active as I age isn't just about willpower. It's about supporting my mitochondria, the powerhouses of my cells with the energy that they need to recharge my muscles and recharge my brain. Mitopure is a supplement that I take. It's backed by solid research showing that it can boost cellular energy, increase muscle strength and support overall healthy aging. Personally, I take Mitopure every single day. It's helped me continue my active lifestyle, whether it's a high intensity workout or keeping up with my kids. So if you are looking to support your body and want to feel younger from the inside out, my friends at Timeline are offering you a 10% discount on your first order. Go to timeline.com Dr. Shah to get started. That's timeline.com Dr. Shah, your future self will thank you. The next letter I invest in sleep. How much sleep do kids need?

[E]

8 to 10 hours?

[B]

Yeah, 8 to 10 is more for teens, I think for kids, like more.

[C]

10 to 12.

[A]

Yeah, 10 to 12 in fact. Yeah, yeah, I agree. I think it's you, you need a lot more sleep as a kid, but then, you know, you have to wake up really early for school. Right. And so how do you get enough sleep in?

[C]

So I know it's crazy, but we go, we try to go to sleep at like 9 o'.

[B]

Clock.

[C]

Yeah, 9 or 10. I don't think that's crazy for teens. Yeah, because I know teens, we have like the worst sleep schedule like imaginable. I know. I remember I was at school once and there was one of my friends, he was like, he's like, oh my God, I went to sleep so late yesterday. Like, what time did you go to sleep? It's like two o'.

[B]

Clock.

[C]

What were you doing? I was on my phone. You know, it's like, what are you doing? I don't know, just scrolling. And I was like, okay, so maybe if you didn't scroll, you went to sleep earlier, you wouldn't be as tired now.

[A]

Right?

[C]

And it's just so simple. And us teens, we need to start taking initiative and start, you know, focusing on asleep. Because if we get good sleep, we can do better in school, we can better do better in our classes in athletics, we can do better in with our memory. Because actually if you get good sleep, it improves your memory, it improves your ability to learn, and it really just improves your life. Now I can't go back to anything less than, like, eight hours at least.

[A]

Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, once again, the phone brings up another negative, which is it affects your sleep. Why? Because it's the light from the phone, but it's also just the amount of stress it causes, the amount of your scrolling and the addiction, all of it together works together to create a very poor sleep experience night after night after night. And that builds up over time. So, you know, I think with that being the common denominator, hopefully more and more parents realize that the time to get your child a phone is much later in life than they're getting it right now. Like you said in your class, you have a kid 10 years old that has phones, right?

[E]

Yeah. And, like, younger, too. Like, there's, like, first graders that have phones.

[A]

Right. So it's not a reward, it's not a great gift. It's a major experiment that you're doing with your own kid's brain and their biology. And it's an experiment that I think that there's much more chance of it failing rather than it being a positive. Would you agree with that?

[C]

Yeah.

[E]

Yeah.

[C]

And at the end of the day, what my mom said to me when I got my first phone, she said, and I still carry this to this day, she said, when you go on your phone, always go with a purpose. And so now if I'm about to get my phone to go, if I feel like going on YouTube or, you know, or do whatever, I'm always thinking, is there a purpose to this? Why am I doing this? And because of that, I'm able to fully take in charge and not let this phone control me.

[A]

Yes. And I think, you know, right now, parents are a little bit of a disadvantage because it's only been. The phone has only been around for about 20 years, and the way it is right now with the apps and the screen and all that. So it hasn't been a long time that this has been around. And obviously we know the dangers of social media now have been proven, but also the dangers of just the phone itself. I think there's a lot more research and science that needs to happen, but I would say you shouldn't wait for that to come out. I mean, it's very obvious what it does to kids. Their brains are just not meant to have these devices that exposes them to the Internet 24, 7, and never mind all the other negative qualities of it. So hopefully the real solution is to not have the phone or at least

[C]

have a balance, because obviously we're not Going to be like, extreme. We have to be realistic here. Everything is on the Internet. Everything has to do with technology. So we have to make sure we have a balance, especially for people my age, for a people above 16 and even adults.

[A]

Yeah, but isn't it unrealistic to try to expect kids to have a balance? Because I find a hard time having balance myself as an adult. Right. And so for kids with brains that are still just developing, it's a lot easier to get addicted. It's a lot easier to get addicted to those dopamine rushes. Right. All those things. And so it's hard to find a balance as a kid, isn't it?

[C]

Yeah. That's why we say for phones, try especially don't give them the kids before 16.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Because that's when our brains are still developing and that's when we need to go out and play. Like Imad said as well.

[A]

Yeah. Are a lot of your friends gamers? Yeah, yeah. I mean, there are many more kids that are gamers and not gamers anymore. And we're talking like games on the computer. Right. And so, like Roblox is massive right now. Minecraft, I think, what do you think about gaming and how that kind of takes over your brain?

[C]

So definitely kids are gaming more than like, I think almost ever before.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

The problem is that we've definitely become a lot more addicted to these games.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And we think, oh, I'm just having fun. I'm just doing this. When in reality it is destroying our brain function. It's decreasing our, you know, it's increasing stress levels in us. It's basically making it harder for us to function as proper human beings. And that's because find, you know, we game here and there, you know, at least like movies. Sometimes we'll go in like Minecraft or. Well, obviously, you know. But when it comes to the fact that you need to game or you're gaming hours upon hours, like, that's not good for anybody.

[A]

I fully, fully agree. All right, let's talk about the next letter, which is O open to gratitude and purpose. So let's. We're getting deep now. Tell us a little bit about gratitude and purpose.

[B]

So gratitude. So let's just first start with like, gratitude. So teens, like a little mentioned are like some of the most negative people ever. And especially like, I hate my life. I hate this. You know, I hate school. It's always I hate, I hate, I hate. And then we also have to bring the fact that, like, we're always surrounded by negativity. The news Social media, like, people always telling us what we're doing wrong. It's just constant negativity in us, and it can be very overwhelming. So when we're saying gratitude, we're saying, you know what? Like, stop. Stop saying I hate. Start thinking about, like, what do you love? What. What are you thankful for? Like, it could be either as, like, simple as, like, I'm thankful for my belly button. You know, like, that's what we used

[C]

to say a lot.

[B]

So, yeah, we like to say 10 things that we're grateful for every morning. And especially that was, like, what we had to tell ourselves, like. Like a long time ago. Now we are just constantly thinking, you know what? I am so thankful that we're here. I'm so thankful that we can be on your podcast.

[A]

Yeah. And you also. I think you're probably grateful because now you have a sense of purpose, too. Like, spreading this information, right?

[C]

Definitely.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. So for kids, find a sense of purpose. Find something that really, you're doing something good for the world, and you're doing something good for yourself and your family. That could be something to be really grateful for.

[B]

Yeah. And purpose is a very, very strong. And, like, purpose is like, a really strong word. Like, you're saying purpose to a bunch of teens. Now they're freaking out, right? Because they're like, I don't want to talk about my future.

[C]

So.

[B]

But I think finding. Finding your purpose just starts with being bored. And I'm saying this, and maybe if there's a team watching, they're gonna start. They're gonna, like, crash out because teens hate being bored.

[A]

Like, I crash out Mean terminology now.

[B]

Oh, that's just like, they're gonna get, like, they don't want to. They don't.

[C]

They get uncomfortable talking about.

[A]

Sorry. Yeah, yeah, no, no, don't be sorry. So I don't even, like, I don't know all the words. So. Okay, they're going to crash out because you're talking about purpose and you're saying, start by being bored.

[B]

Yeah. Okay, so teens hate being bored. Like, if. If I say, like, you know, you need to be bored, they're going to be like, yeah, but, like, how do I be bored? What do I do? You know? And that's the point. You. You're supposed to be alone with your thoughts intentionally, because the, like, all of these crazy scientific, like, experiments, or if it's not like, science, if it's like these enlightenments, they all come from being bored. Like, because when you're bored, you can truly think about who you want to become in the future and who you are now. So being bored is just a really good way to start finding your purpose. And the thing is that a lot of teens today, they're getting, they're freaking out because they're constantly on their screens. They are not finding that purpose because they are not bored.

[C]

And plus I know for like my friends I noticed because I used to also not have a phone when all my friends had a phone. And so I remember, I remember I was, we were sitting together and then they couldn't take two to three minutes of silence. They had to pick up their phone and do something. And we're all just sitting together and everyone's just on their phone instead of talking. You know, they're just scrolling and scrolling, scrolling. And that is just going to continue to destroy our brains and our lives. Because how are we ever going to find what we are meant to do if we're always pacifying ourselves and self medicating ourselves with again, technology in our phones?

[A]

Yep, exactly. Fully, fully see that happening a lot. That kids just don't spend time looking out the window anymore. Just sitting there thinking about things because there is a very easy out because it is uncomfortable sometimes to be alone with your thoughts. And so I think that that's something that you develop a comfort for as a teenager. And there's a lot of thoughts going on in a teenager's head that need some space to air themselves and have, you know, you focus on them and think about these things that are happening in your life. And the devices don't create the space for that.

[E]

Like on Wednesdays for gratitude Wednesdays at school every morning we also do gratitude journals.

[A]

Wow, your school is amazing. Is this a public school?

[E]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. That's awesome. Hopefully there's some teachers listening to this. So you do like breath work every morning and Wednesday you do gratitude journals?

[E]

Yeah, every week. Like tomorrow I'm going to do a gratitude journal and then our teacher puts down a prompt and then we have to write about what we're thankful for about that prompt.

[A]

So cool. I love. Yeah. And parents can do this. We have these gratitude journals for our kids. They're called the five minute Journal. You can get this on Amazon and they have a kid's version where there's a prompt and you could do it every night and write down every morning or night. Write down like what you're, what you're grateful for. Okay, last. This talks a lot about creating mental space which is navigate decisions with mindfulness. Talk to us about that.

[D]

So mindfulness means being fully present in the world where you're around what you know around you. Like, if you can hear the birds squeaking or you can know what's. What you're eating. And so, like, knowing what you're doing around you. Because now teens are just on their phone not knowing what they're getting surrounded by. They're just, like, mindlessly in the device.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And that's what mindfulness is. It's knowing what's happening around you, know, what's happening inside of you. Knowing, okay, what am I watching? Why am I watching this? Yeah, knowing why am I putting this in my body? Why am I doing this? Why am I doing that? Why am I taking these steps to go to this place, just being fully present in that moment. And if we're able to do that, that's where real change happens. Because then we know, okay, why am I even doing this? Like, why? And when we are able to understand the why, that's where we can really change the direction of our lives.

[A]

Yes, good point.

[B]

Yeah. So being mindfulness, you can easily be mindful. Just like I talked about being bored, being alone with your thoughts and thinking about your future, but specifically thinking about your presence, being with yourself alone and thinking about your, like, your present, like hearing, seeing, smelling, all your five senses.

[A]

So, yeah, it's so. It's so incredibly important. And so you've written this book. You have this incredible framework. How long have you been doing all this for? In your own lives? The older boys, How. When did you start this journey?

[B]

So I mentioned about the pandemic. So that was like, 2020, but it actually started way before. Like, we were, like, really young, and we were still learning about all this.

[A]

Because your mom's a functional medicine doctor, right? Oh, yeah.

[B]

But she wasn't always, so we had to also. We were also learning with her. And especially when we were dealing with our own issues, we were dealing with our own chronic issues, like mood. I had, like, severe, like, mood disorders and eczema. And, yeah, everyone else had their own issues. So we were learning together for this. And then that's why we really started to come to this, like, that we really wanted to help other kids.

[A]

Yeah, because you help. You fixed yourself, right. You fix your mood disorders, your eczema, all of this, and you're like, oh, this works, Right? I love it. Was that.

[D]

It actually does work.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Then once we figure on ourselves, we didn't want anybody else to experience themselves. So then we had a podcast. We started giving out the message to people, then wrote A book to make it easier to put all that information in one.

[A]

Amazing. Yes. And I love the book because at the end you also have like, if you do have some sort of chronic condition, do you have like, advice about, about that condition and what you can do? Right. Whether it's, you know, skin disorders or metabolic health issues. So you kind of go over that too in a very kid friendly fashion. So parents and kids can both read this book together. And there's recipes, healthy recipes for families to enjoy together.

[E]

We've been doing this for 10 years.

[A]

10 years. That's awesome. That's your whole life.

[B]

It's like his entire life.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. Since you were born, you're living it. I love it. That's amazing. I'm so grateful that you guys wrote this book. And I think a lot of kids can benefit from this message because there are relatively simple things that kids can do. Because, you know, your, your biology right now is very resilient. Like you can, you can fix your biology very quickly as a child, but it gets harder to fix as you become an adult. So, so important to have these habits and routines and thoughts in place in the very beginning. Yeah, yeah.

[C]

And that's why when we made this book, we were targeting kids and teens, but we talked to a lot of adults and they're like, wow, this is a simple health book. Like, that's what I need in my life too. Because all these other textbooks, all these other health books are so long, they're so like factual. They're like, like nobody's going to read all that. And so we wanted to do the simple, practical, easy things that anybody can do to change your life. Because as a teen, especially, because when I was seven years old, I remember, you know, dealing with multiple different things as well. And nobody ever taught me that I could be able to change and get rid of all these diseases just by simple things, like going out into nature just by simple things as getting the sleep I needed just by eating more natural foods, changing our diet. As teens, we're told, you know, you have a problem. Oh, just take this pill. Or you do this. Oh, you do that. Like take like. The problem is that we're not taught this and it could benefit and change so many people's lives if we had this information. Because, like, you met, like we went through the entire book in all the chapters, I'm pretty sure nature, sleep, you know, stress management, you know, even technology, mindfulness, gratitude, these are all basically free things to do.

[A]

Yeah, right.

[C]

And so it's not anything to do this, right?

[A]

Like you save money if you don't have to buy a phone and a lot of unbeatables and all these ultra processed foods and things, right? Yeah, it's. It's so true and it is fantastic advice and I really applaud you guys for doing this and spreading the message. Great work, you guys.

[C]

Thank you so much.

[A]

So the book is called the Teen Health Revolution. It's ready out, right? And then you have a podcast called the Holistic Kids show that anyone can listen to and have your kids listen to it. It's a great listen, right? You've interviewed some incredible guests on that show. Thank you. I was on the show too, but yeah, I think a lot of great information. Buy Kids for Kids. So thank you.

[C]

It's really our pleasure and it's really our honor to be here today. So thank you so much for inviting us.

[A]

Thank you for joining me. Congratulations, you guys. Thank you.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

That was a really fun conversation with those four kids and I got a lot of takeaways from it. So here are my top five. Number one. Teens aren't unmotivated, they're disconnected. Today's teens aren't lazy or apathetic. They're just chronically overstimulated and socially disconnected. Endless scrolling replaces real interaction, purpose and presence. Many teens are physically at school but mentally checked out, just moving through life on autopilot rather than engaging with the real world around them. Number two, Tech is only one piece of the puzzle. Mental health breaks down at the systems level. You can't fix a teen's relationship with their phone if their gut health, sleep, stress response, nutrition and social connection are already compromised. Anxiety and depression aren't isolated issues. They're signals of deeper biological and emotional imbalances. Number three. Tech limits only work when teens use technology with intention. The problem is in screens. It's mindless use. Holistic kids emphasize going on devices with a purpose, not to escape boredom or emotions. Their recommendation? Stick boundaries, often about an hour a day, paired with meaningful offline activities that actually satisfy the brain's need for challenge and connection. Number four, Gut. Health. Food and toxins directly shape teen mood and focus. What teens eat affect how they think and feel. Ultra processed food additives and constant toxic exposure from plastic dyes and even EMFs contribute to brain fog, irritability and low energy. When teens learn to read labels and understand why foods affect them, motivation will change because awareness creates autonomy. Number five, Purpose. Gratitude and boredom are missing skills, not personality traits. Teens aren't taught how to sit with their thoughts anymore. They're not taught to manage stress or even to find meaning. Learning, gratitude, mindfulness, and how to be bored without stimulation helps rebuild emotional resilience. Purpose doesn't come from social media, it comes from contribution, connecting and being present. Thank you so much for listening to the podcast today. Please remember to subscribe if you like this episode and give us a good review and share a link with your friends. It really helps to support all of our efforts. I also want to remind you that this the information shared on this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please consult with your healthcare provider or physician before making any decisions or taking any action based on what you hear today, especially if you have any underlying health conditions or on any medications. Your doctor knows your personal health situation the best and it's always important to seek their guide, guidance.