Dan Brandt was living life to the fullest. A husband, father, and businessman, he had it all. There was just one major roadblock to finding peace. He dealt with anxiety and episodes of debilitating depression.

Before his diagnosis, Dan’s wife insisted that he get tested for ADHD. Firmly believing he would “ace the test,” Dan went to see a psychiatrist, who agreed he was easily distracted but saw something else under the surface. The doctor determined that Dan was actually dealing with anxiety disorder, which exhibited symptoms of distractability, or ADHD.

“The challenge was not being able to focus, not being able to stick with something, and then periods of depression. In the more anxious periods, I felt helpless to do the things I needed to do or felt that there were so many things I needed to do… Most recently, it was because I needed to take the trash can out to the curb once a week for the rest of my life. There was nothing I could do to get that done now and just be done with it, and I just felt despondent and helpless about that.” 

For the next several years, Dan struggled to work and function daily without the help of medication. 

“During that period, I was reaching out to anybody I could, trying to get help. A friend of ours mentioned that he had ADHD and had some ideas, so he came over one evening and shared a book that was helpful.”

Dan’s friend mentioned that he had used ADHD medications in the past, and while he liked the results, he struggled with the side-effects. Then, the friend switched to Hardy’s Daily Essential Nutrients, an alternative clinical therapy designed for mood and mental health backed by lots of independent research for safety and effectiveness. 

“[My friend] said that as long as he was consistent with it, Daily Essential Nutrients did the same thing for him as the medications, but without any of the side-effects.” 

With this recommendation from someone with ADHD whom Dan admired, he was willing to commit to giving the micronutrients a try. 

“I bought my first bottle of Daily Essential Nutrients, and the difference was subtle. In fact, it was most noticeable when I didn’t take it. The thoughts and the challenges, dealing with emotions, feeling overwhelmed easily was a lot more profound and pronounced [when I wasn't taking Daily Essential Nutrients].”

Dan describes what it feels like to take Daily Essential Nutrients consistently. He explains it as "a gap" that appears—or an opportunity to respond differently—in each situation so that he has a chance to consider his response or course of action. Daily Essential Nutrients allows Dan to have the presence of mind to methodically think through his choices beyond his initial instincts. 

This revelation ended up being important to Dan's whole family. When he and his wife started to see signs of anxiety in their oldest daughter, Dan used his newfound focus to jump into action. 

“I was not willing to let her just deal with this on her own.”

After having been on Daily Essential Nutrients for over a year, Dan and his daughter co-authored an illustrated children's book that explains how to deal with anxiety called "My Friends That Are Not: Rewriting Your Negative Self-Talk Script". Ultimately, Dan's experience landed him on the TEDx stage, where he spoke with his daughter about changing your thinking when dealing with anxiety. 

Dan says he loses battles from time to time but feels like he is finally "winning the war with anxiety". He wants fellow anxiety sufferers to know that they don’t have to deal with anxiety alone and that making healthy choices including the addition of Daily Essential Nutrients can be vital to getting emotions back on track. 

Dan says Daily Essential Nutrients isn't a cure-all magic pill. But, he says, "It is an important part of a healthy lifestyle that just makes it possible to keep going. Sometimes I’m just trying to go for another day and other times I feel like I’m on top of the world. But [Daily Essential Nutrients] makes it possible to keep going.”

About Hardy Nutritionals®

Hardy Nutritionals® multivitamin-mineral products are powered by our proprietary NutraTek™ mineral delivery technology, which combines each mineral with specialized organic molecules—just like nature—to optimize absorption and distribution to body cells. Our flagship supplement, Daily Essential Nutrients, is widely considered to be the most research-backed micronutrient treatment.