Podcast: Regenerative Epigenetics & Dietary Changes

by Dr Alex Jimenez | Diets, Functional Medicine, Health, Natural Health, Nutrition, Video, Wellness

[embedyt] www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5joK7TqIok%5B/embedyt%5D

PODCAST: Dr. Alex Jimenez and Kenna Vaughn introduce Sonja Schoonenberg to discuss epigenetics and nutrition. Our diet can affect our gene expression. Therefore, eating unhealthy foods can ultimately increase our predisposition to develop a variety of health issues, such as diabetes, stroke, and cardiovascular disease. Sonja Schoonenbert describes the benefits of fasting and how the Regenerate program can help provide people with similar benefits to fasting in order to promote overall health and wellness. The purpose of the following podcast is to emphasize the connection between dietary changes and gene expression as well as focus on natural regenerative treatment protocols. – Podcast Insight

[00:06:16] We’re all excited today. We’ve got an unbelievable guest to discuss some really great technologies that are out there, as you guys know. [00:06:41][24.8]

[00:06:41] El Paso is my home and Kenna’s. And for all our patients, we try to bring in different technologies out there that are informative, that help us with our health design. Today, we got a very, very special guest, Sonja Schoonenberg. Who comes to us from a good distance and is gonna be discussing today regenerative or regenerate in its theories and its ideas behind an amazingly complete package of health products that assist us to have more personalized medicine. Personalized wellness is the new mantra of many of the health providers. We understand that health care is not a process that can just be, you know, one size fits all. This particular company that I’m very much proud to be part of is really interesting in its design because it takes all the way from what our philosophy, as you guys know, is from the kitchen to the genes, vice versa, and specifically formulates a treatment, not a treatment protocol, but a regimen that is focused on making all the best protocols that assist an individual based on their particular genetics. And then what it does, it follows through with a good dietary adaptive process that finds holes and vulnerabilities in our metabolic processes that can assist us. So what I’d like to do is I’d like to introduce her and Kenna is here, she’s my super-duper health coach. And so as we go through this process, like you guys, you’ll see the number pop up every so often. Give us a call so we can talk about this particular wellness solution. Sonja, tell us a little bit about the product because we’re a little excited to hear from you. [00:08:51][129.1]

[00:08:53] I am happy to. I’m so excited to be here, so thank you for inviting me today and I am really excited about how the evolution of health care is changing. So I thought I’d kind of dive into my background a little bit and why I’m excited to be here because I think that’ll help to bring it all full circle. So I am a registered dietitian, nutritionist, and certified diabetes educator by trade. And I’ve also been involved not only in the pharmaceutical, but the nutraceutical experience. And I’m now the V.P. of product experience for regenerate. And what really led me down this road of personalized wellness, personalized nutrition, personalized medicine, was looking at the individual and realizing that there were so many differences between people and results they would get from different programs, myself included. And I’ll share my story a little bit further in this journey. But what I saw was a huge gap in outcomes for patients. And so when I learned more and more about epigenetics and customized wellness, customized nutrition, it really resonated with me. And I saw this as a solution to really fill many of the gaps that patients were seeing today. So that’s a little bit about my background and how I got here. What I’d like to do is take you all through a journey of regenerate. We have a very, very simple system that is something that I think you’ll find is very, very unique and different than everything out there. So it all starts with what we refer to as our epigenetic biomarker profile test. So without getting too complicated, really what this is, is an at-home test kit. That is a first-morning void urine sample that allows us to really look upstream within the body to see metabolically what is happening epigenetically, how our genes are behaving so that we can make some realistic changes in terms of a lifestyle plan. So the epigenetic biomarker profile test, when it’s done at home. Once that occurs and the sample is set off, sent off to the lab, we actually create for each individual an approximately 19-page custom nutrition report. And here’s what the test is looking at. And as a result, the report that comes reflects these different things. And these are very, very key areas as it relates to health, wellness, and nutrition. So we look at B vitamins and methylation co-factor. [00:11:33][159.5]

[00:11:34] And when you read anything these days, you hear all about methylation and people that are poor methylators. And, you know, there’s all kinds of buzz around that word methylation, although most people don’t fully understand what it means. So we expose what’s going on and really look at that area as something that if we can correct those nutritional imbalances, a person can really have optimal health. We also look at cellular energy assessment or the health of the mitochondria. So the little cellular powerhouses that give us energy, we look at muscle assessment and gut assessment. This is a big one, of course, as we know that much of our immune system in many of the things that we experience health-wise are somewhat related to what’s going on in our gut. And I know we had this conversation the other day. Yes. It’s so important to look at what’s going on inside of the gut. We look at amino acids and inflammation and oxidative stress. So these are what I refer to as kind of the launching pad of things that we can expose. Peek behind the curtain and see what’s happening with this individual and then be able to formulate some solutions based on that. So I know when we were talking the other day, you got really excited when you saw how much information that this test actually provided. [00:12:56][82.1]

[00:12:57] I got to tell you, one of the things that as you delve in this and you become really into it, typically we have a lot of mothers, wives that really do a lot of research and you get peace meals somewhere down the road. It becomes absolutely frustrating because you try to figure out the full whole process yourself. [00:13:19][22.0]

[00:13:19] What I was very amazed about Regenerate was that it really puts the whole thing together in the sense of from understanding the deep, real, real benefits of the genome all the way to the packaging of nutraceuticals and nutrition all into one, but really can explain that whole process. So when I saw it, I was excited. Kenna and I were going like, this is really failing a monster void because of the lack of organized information that’s out there. So when we see this in the visual. We knew about the mitochondria. I understood about the mitochondria back in the 80s. I knew that it was a powerhouse, but we didn’t realize that it was so connected to so many pathologies. We knew that the gut had a lot to do with many issues. Now we know that the gut is one of the very first places we look for diseases and disorders. And in the world of functional medicine, this is what we talk about. And putting this together to make sense for our patients was really complex. This is awesome because it allows us to simplify the dynamics and really make it really consumable and effective for our patients. [00:14:29][70.4]

[00:14:30] So, yeah, we were very excited. And that you hit on something that was so key. We knew about these things years ago. But now, regardless of where you turn around and look, this information is everywhere. Yet there’s so much confusion around what to do with the information. So we try to really make it simple. But really, the whole premise behind doing that test is to give an individual what we refer to as a nutrition prescription or a road map to the nutrition prescription for what we refer to as our Optim8, whole food plant-based organic nutrition. So I want to stop here for a moment and just talk a little bit about what this is and what this is not? There are so many supplements out there and there are a lot of good ones. But most of them are made in a laboratory from some form of a synthetic ingredient. There are combinations and, of course, singular nutrients. There are all types of things out there. But when we get back to the roots of who we are on the inside and what our medical care as it relates to nutrition should come from, that’s food. Unfortunately, our food supply, we know today is a real problem. It’s malnourished when we have malnourished food. We have malnourished humans. And what I loved most about this particular product is it’s a bioactive superfood. So it’s not truly a supplement. If you think about it as the perfect food for every individual. [00:15:59][89.3]

[00:16:01] Sonja, if I may. Because that’s a really good point. What does bioactive in? It’s used a lot and versus non-bioactive. What does it mean when you hear that word bioactive, what does that represent? [00:16:15][14.0]

[00:16:17] So in this case, we’re talking about live active superfoods. So foods that are truly foods, essentially everything in that green powder. Comes from food that goes from goes through very minimal processing and let me explain what that looks like. We have a partnership with a cooperative farm in central Florida called Grow More Farms. They’re based in Indian town, Florida. [00:16:43][26.4]

[00:17:03] But these soil conditions in Florida are really optimal for growing year-round. And what’s interesting about the farm that we have a partnership with more farms is that they were soil farmers before they got into formulating nutraceutical products. And what they’ve really done is they’ve crafted the healthiest soil conditions for each and every plant. Which means that if you have healthy soil and then you grow, let’s say, asparagus or cucumbers or tomatoes, whatever it is that you’re growing, if it’s grown in optimal conditions and optimal soil, you have much healthier food. And so the only processing the Optim8 custom superfood goes through is the plants are grown to their peak ripeness picked at their peak ripeness. They go through a dehydration process at a very low temperature and then they’re ground into a fine powder, which then becomes the basis for our custom superfood. Now, this food is actually if you think about going back to the task we were just talking about, that test gives us essentially what’s off-balance with an individual’s nutritional health. So anything that is rated on a score of fair or poor would be things that that individual really has some imbalances in. And so what we want to do, based on the findings of that report, is to formulate this custom nutrition with foods. And there’s the key foods that are high in those nutrients that an individual needs. So instead of a supplement pack containing a bunch of supplements that, you know, meet the individual’s needs, these are actually foods that are high concentrations of the nutrients that an individual needs. So it’s a really simple thing you can use every single day. You can put it just in a shaker cup. I actually have it right here in a shaker cup, blend it up, and drink it in water. You can mash it an avocado, put it in a protein shake, and you only have to take it once a day. So as a dietitian, that was music to my ears that I didn’t have to remind people to take things 20 times a day or at like me, at one point I was taking 30 different supplements. What’s your outlook on that? [00:19:22][139.5]

[00:19:23] My outlook on that is, first of all, let’s go with two points, one you’re in Florida and we live out here in El Paso and El Paso has got great chiles. We got great different foods in this area. But if you’ve ever gone to Florida and just using the example of an avocado. OK. The avocados from Florida, I am not kidding you. These things are like this big. Right. The ones where we are we’ve got these really itty bitty ones that are really dense. Now, avocado is a superfood. [00:19:51][27.9]

[00:19:52] But my point being is that the soil in Florida is so optimal in terms of what it provides from the earth. So I can see why the first of all, the farm would be there. And if these guys and these specialists that work on soils actually understand that that is an amazing thing to bring the product out as well as the byproduct, which is the vegetable or the food. The second point is that the missing of the components and being able to get the foods bio actively active inside of humans when we are actually showing deficiency, that is huge. And from my point of view is we’re full of a lot of different nutraceuticals. And when you go to a place like GNC or a vitamin X store, you know, you have a wall of stuff. You can’t be taking everything and you don’t know where the hole is. Right. So that’s where personalized medicine is taking a spin. You don’t have to spend a hundred dollars on stuff that you may not even need or some people say, you know, expensive urine. But what we have to do is we have to find the holes in our particular diet and not only in our particular diet but in our genetic predispositions, too. So putting that together is huge. So when you ask me, I’m there with you. I totally get it. And that’s why I’m excited about this product. So I hope I’ve answered your question. [00:21:22][89.6]

[00:21:22] I’m just gonna hop in and say that I love that you guys know the farm that you work with so well, because, you know, as you said, there’s so much information out there and you try to eat healthily and you try to eat organic, but at the end of the day, you’re still not really sure what that farm is doing, what that farm is feeding their animals. And so the fact that you’re actually partnered with the farm, you know what they’re getting. And you know that this food is made from really good quality ingredients that are going to actually help your body’s system. That’s something that really excites me more. [00:21:57][34.5]

[00:21:59] And I actually just did a Facebook live on this very topic yesterday. And that is the fact that even when we have healthy food, to your point, A, we don’t always know where it comes from and even if it’s organic. Unfortunately, our food as we know it today compared to 50, 60 years ago, is much less nutritious. Did you know that broccoli contains 50 percent less calcium than it did in 1963? Wow. So we have issues with the soil. So when you can partner with a farm that has really perfected healthy soil, that is so very key to creating healthy food, which becomes our healthy superfood, which creates healthy humans. And so it really is true that you are what you eat, of course. So we’re putting the healthy stuff in. Of course, we’re gonna have the optimal health in people. What I also love about this is what it’s not and what it is. It is USDA organic. So, of course, very important. It is gluten-free, soy-free, non-GMO, and 100 percent plant-based. So when it comes to all of the things that people are typically seeing intolerances and allergies to and some of those common things that people are worried about, you can be rest assured that it’s free from all of those things as well, because there’s a lot of bad stuff out there. [00:23:23][84.2]

[00:23:24] Mm-hmm. [00:23:24][0.0]

[00:23:26] I notice that it says gluten-free. I love that, non-GMO and vegan-friendly, tell me a little bit about the vegan-friendly component. [00:23:34][7.4]

[00:23:35] Sure, it’s 100 percent plant-based, meaning that every single ingredient in the Optim8 custom superfood is made from some form of a plant. So there is nothing that is a derivative of animal anything. And the biggest concentration. And after seeing many different blends, I’ve had four different blends myself, because it is something that you want to retest every now and then every three to six months or so, because as humans, of course, our lives change and the environment changes the seasons. All of these different things change. So, therefore, our genetic expression changes. And so we want to make sure that because our health is a little like a moving target, we want to make sure that we’re addressing the right things. But we can do that through plants. And so when we have a blend, I can guarantee you. And I’ve seen a lot of them that it will be green because that’s typically what most people are missing, is some form of green. But then also, of course, any other plants that fit within the nutritional parameters of what an individual needs. So mine, for example, I’ll read you what’s in mind. I’ve got my formula right here. This is my most recent formula. It’s made from spinach, mushrooms, broccoli, asparagus, carrots, oats, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, echinacea, and potentilla are good too because I have an immune boost that’s added to it because you can add not only a flavor boost but also an immunity boost. And given the world we’re living in right now. Anything I can do to boost my life with some additional immune support? Medicinal herbs are a wonderful way of doing that. And you’d never know they were in here because they’re actually added to the blends. So depending, of course, on what a person’s nutritional requirements are, that will address what’s in the nutrition. [00:25:36][120.3]

[00:25:37] The other thing I should share, which I think is very, very relevant, is the fact that. Not only does it fit into all these guidelines here, but we use what’s in season. So your blends will look different in the even from month to month. It’s based on a rotation of foods and what’s in season, because we know in-season foods are the most nutritious foods. So I thought you’d find that interesting as well. [00:25:59][22.4]

[00:26:00] You know what? Totally a great question. I had that question yesterday and someone was talking. One of my patients was speaking to me. What’s the difference between, you know, she eats plantains right. And particularly plantains is a food that is eaten out here in El Paso and then all Latino America in different formats. But she noticed that the green ones did not cause her discomfort. But when they started turning yellow, she had nothing but digestive issues with that. And the reason is obviously the fermentation process. Right. So as each staging of the nutrient, such as a plantain or an avocado goes through its stages, it becomes, it goes through an arc of the most kind of important, I guess, nutrient providing moments, I guess, is a good thing. And the fact that you had mentioned that, that you look for the optimal points of nutrition, for the growth and picking the fruit or the vegetable, that is huge. [00:27:07][67.1]

[00:27:08] Yeah, definitely so. And along with that, of course, comes a lot of different health benefits. So let’s kind of switch gears a little bit and talk about why this is having such an impact on people’s health. So really, the whole benefit of Optim8 custom nutrition, again, is to individualize the formula, because we know that one size fits all nutrition doesn’t fit anybody. And we also know that there are a lot of people who are spending money on supplements that they don’t know what they need or they’re buying things that somebody else is taking, or they read an article that they said, you know, was good for this particular health condition. But the reality is they’re buying a lot of different things and they may be missing the things that they actually need. So the whole goal and premise behind this is to get the body back into what we refer to as nutritional homeostasis, to get the body back into balance, to improve energy levels, to support the immune system. We talked about gut health being so important. So the gut microbiome to improve energy so that if a person is an athlete, they have better athletic performance. A big one. I’ve noticed personally is the improvements in mental clarity and less brain fog. I know that’s a big one that people struggle with and a lot of that brain fog. And there are many different things that can, of course, play into that picture. But a lot of that is you start to give the body the right building blocks of nutrition. A lot of that begins to resolve itself. [00:28:41][93.5]

[00:28:42] Sonja I’d like to add in that mental clarity. It’s such a hit or miss. When you take supplements and trying to get that moment when you have a good product and it actually helps you hit that sweet spot of mental clarity, you notice it right away. Your brain is focused, your I.Q. almost soars, your ability to pay attention. Totally changes and you sit there in all. How quickly that you can understand things. And it’s almost like we thirst for that kind of level of awareness and clarity. So I’m totally with you on that mental clarity. That mental clarity is one of those ways that people kind of actually feel the effects of a product. And I think we all strive to have the greatest mental clarity. So kudos to that. [00:29:29][46.8]

[00:29:30] I think when you talk to people and patients everywhere, you know, a lot of times I can’t even tell you how many conversations I have every week where people report to me that one of the biggest things they struggle with is two o’clock in the afternoon. It’s like their brain is in a fog, literally. And so, therefore, they’re reaching for the caffeine or another coffee or an energy shot or something just to make it from two to five until they can go home for the day. And so if we can provide them with that sustained energy throughout the day, of course, that’s optimal because that means you don’t need to rush for all those different stimulants just to keep your body going throughout the day. So huge, huge benefits. And, you know, I think. [00:30:12][42.0]

[00:30:28] Yes. Well, I think that the next thing we’re going to talk about, you’re really going to light up when we talk about weight management, but really from this perspective, as it relates to nutritional balance, when an individual is nutritionally out of balance. They’re grabbing foods maybe craving foods like high carbohydrate foods, perhaps. You know, I always say people are either starchy or sweet. They either want the potato chips, the bread, the pasta, or they can’t get enough sugar. Of course, we know all of those things are high carbohydrate foods. Well, those eating too much of those, of course, causes a whole host of things, from insulin resistance to diabetes, obesity, heart problems. I mean, you name it, the list goes on. But a lot of that stuff stems from a nutritional deficiency. So if we can correct the nutritional deficiency. We can stop a lot of those behaviors because a person all of a sudden doesn’t have those cravings. Therefore, they’re not eating all of the high carb foods. Therefore, they’re not gaining weight and having all kinds of problems. So it’s more from the perspective of fixing the underlying problem. Yes. That we can help and facilitate weight loss. [00:31:47][78.1]

[00:31:47] Sonja I gotta tell you, there’s sometimes when you just nothing fulfills your hunger. And in that process, you eat the whole house. And you’re like, what is it? And once you have it, let’s say you need potassium, for example, and you’re just eating everything. And all of a sudden the last thing you eat is a banana. So to speak. And then you’re all. Feel good. But your belly is about as huge as it can get. Right. So it’s kind of one of those things with as we search for the missing mineral element co-factor vitamin, it’d be nice if we had a cheat sheet. [00:32:19][32.1]

[00:32:38] Yes. Because now we are able to look inside the cells. Look inside the DNA. Look at genetic expression. All these things that 20 years ago were only concepts. And, you know, I remember when I was in school, the way that I was taught to figure out what somebody was malnourished in was a few lab results, of course, but also sitting down and taking an archaic version of what we called a food recall. [00:33:06][27.7]

[00:33:07] And I was always thinking to myself, if I really had a snapshot of what was going on with this person rather than trying, rather than them trying to recall what they ate yesterday. And was that white bread or wheat bread or did I put mustard or mayonnaise? I mean, you know, trusting that somebody actually remembered what they eat. And then, you know, really feeling a void of do I have the correct information? So I think to have the ability to test an individual in a non-threatening way. I mean, this is a simple at-home test kit that takes all of five minutes to do and it gives 19 pages of information that when I was practicing full time as a dietitian, I would have loved to have for every single patient. I can’t tell you how much value this provides. [00:34:02][54.5]

[00:34:02] I deal with a lot of athletes. And in that sense, the athletes would love this information. But more importantly, I also deal with a lot of moms who have little Billy who’s an athlete too, little Saras. Is this also something that we can do for the children as well in order to see their, I guess, areas that we can supplement them properly? [00:34:24][21.1]

[00:34:25] Great question. So it is approved for children over the age of seven. So between the ages of seven and twelve, they would be able to have a half of a scoop per day of the custom nutrition. So, of course, they go through the tests just like anybody else. Half a scoop a day. Once they’re twelve and older, they can have a full serving. So definitely a good idea to start them young, especially if they’re athletic. Because we want to, of course, give these kiddos the optimal ability to thrive in their sports. The advantage. Because we know they’re not eating it. Right. [00:35:01][36.4]

[00:35:17] Yeah. So it really does make a difference. So while we have really perfected sort of that roadmap of looking at what’s wrong with an individual or what’s out of balance, what’s wrong is probably not the right word, but what’s out of balance, because I believe that really the whole goal is to get us back into balance again. We have a solution, of course, to put that body back into the optimal state of nutritional homeostasis. We also have the ability here at Regenerate to address another really big problem. We touched on weight loss just a moment ago, but I want to just touch base on some things that are really creating another huge problem here, and that’s toxicity and the air we breathe, the food we eat. We’ve talked a little bit about that, but the things that we’re exposed to, environmental chemicals and skincare products and hair care products, all these different things that are surrounding us. And we’re a world of convenience. So if it’s cheaper, faster, easier, fewer steps, whatever you want to call it, we want it. If it smells better, right? If it’s nice, fruity fragrance, even though it’s an artificial fragrance, we want those things. Unfortunately, our bodies have become burdened with toxins. And so one of the things that I think is equally as important is getting that body into what I refer to as a partially fasted state. So one of the things that we do is we take the concept of fasting and make it easier for people. So if you’ve ever worked with people or perhaps yourself. Well, let me ask you the question. Have you ever tried to do a water fast? [00:37:03][106.2]

[00:37:04] I have. I have. And you know what I’ve got to tell you. I was a competitive bodybuilder when I was a teenager and I was good at it and I was good. And I was up there and I competed and I felt good. And what I had was very much control of myself. But this was when I was in my teens. I tried doing a fast, a water fast. I literally could not deal with the emotional up and down of that water fast. It was literally mental schizophrenia. And at that point, I didn’t have responsibilities. I didn’t have a job. I was a student. I was a kid. I was in high school. I didn’t have those. I didn’t have a family, so to speak, in the sense where I had my parents. But I didn’t have all the responsibilities I have right now, trying to do a water fast is literally I guess you go into a Pandora’s box of life. It’s like Jumanji every few minutes. And the experience is like, you don’t know what you’re one moment you’re happy, one moment you’re sad. One moment. It really is a dynamic. And what you realize when you go into these water fasts or deep level fast, where you let’s say you’re not having the right nutrients, you realize how out of control your mind can be scattered and how your body doesn’t enjoy it. Literally, Joy goes out the door. Right. So in essence, if you know, when you asked me that question. Oh, yeah, I know that me that goes into a water fast isn’t a pleasant me. So, no, I don’t do it very well. [00:38:36][91.6]

[00:38:37] Well, here’s my experience with it. I attempted it. And much like you, I used to compete in fitness shows as well. And, you know, there were all kinds of crazy things that you had to do to get ready for the stage, so to speak. But since then, I’ve tried all kinds of cleanses and detoxes. And this one found me. And the reason that it found me, I’ll share a little bit about my story and my experience with this fast before we get into talking about it. But really, this is a fast that essentially is created to give you the health benefits of a five-day water fast without starving for five days and drinking only water. Because we know as health care providers if you do the research on fasting, there’s a ton of benefits. Unfortunately, most people can’t. They’re not strong enough mentally and physically perhaps to do that and to make it through five days. I think I made it through a day, but also to have somebody who has blood sugar or blood pressure issues, it can create some challenging times, of course, to go through that five days. But nonetheless, we know that there are huge, huge benefits. And so what we’ve done is we’ve created a program that gives the same health benefits of that five-day water fast without starving. So it really is the ultimate in terms of cleansing and detoxifying and getting rid of some of those toxins and things that I just talked about on a deeper level. So I myself have done this fast nine times. And I will tell you that three years ago, I was in a really bad place, even though I’m a very healthy person. I’ve been in fitness my whole life. I’m a cross fit athlete. I’m a dietitian. I know how to eat. Three years ago, I was diagnosed with the Epstein Barr virus, and it really resonated at first as Mono, which, of course, most people get in high school. But nonetheless, it felt like the worst flu I ever had. What came after the acute phase was very life-altering for me. I developed a lot of symptoms of chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, exhaustion. I couldn’t walk more than four or five blocks without having to sit down and just I mean, I was done for the day. And as a result of not being able to exercise, I sat on the couch for two years because I was so lethargic and exhausted and I gained twenty-five pounds. Well, that not only is physically horrible, but it was of course depressing and gave me a lot of reasons to feel icky about myself. So when Regenerate came into my world, I immediately saw the vision of what this could do for other people based on the testing that we just talked about. But really, this one here was a big one for me. The regenerative fast, the regenerative fast was exactly what my body needed to turn on the lights again. And I believe that everybody is toxic. We all struggle with different symptoms, but some level of fatigue. Whether you have chronic fatigue, that’s another story. But most people suffer from some form of fatigue. And one of the biggest benefits of fasting is to essentially remove not only the toxic junk but to remove the brain fog, improve the mental clarity, and really essentially jump-start the body again. And so we’ve made it very, very simple. And after nine times of doing this, and I do it almost every month, it actually ends up being probably every other month. But I have now lost thirty-eight pounds. My energy is back. I’m back into fitness again. And it was like I was never sick. And I did that, starting with this very fast that you see here before you. It’s very different than a lot of things that are out there because it’s actually an eating plan. So we’re fasting and eating at the same time. So are you familiar with that concept? [00:42:31][234.3]

[00:42:37] OK. So it’s starting to kind of gain some traction because we know that as we talked about, water fasting is hard, but we know there are benefits. So how can we look for something that creates those benefits without starving? So this regenerative fast is a five-day plan. As you can see here, there is a lot of different soups and some teas and what we refer to as a fast start beverage. So you pick any five-day window during the month that you’d like to do. And of course, you want to keep busy and, you know, find a time that works for your schedule and you can really go on with life as normal. In other words, don’t do it while you’re on vacation. But you start your day with what we refer to as our fast start beverage, which is a combination of whole coffee, fruits, and M.C.T. So it’s a very unique morning beverage that really what I see from it is that it gives the person the feeling of having something in the morning. And then it also really crushes the hunger pains and the cravings. [00:43:43][66.2]

[00:43:44] When you say the MCT, you’re speaking of medium-chain triglycerides, right? Yes. Got you. That makes you calm. It makes you have some energy. The good energy, by the way. [00:43:54][9.1]

[00:43:54] Yes. So if you’re into the Keto world at all, MCT is probably one of the most one of the things that you talk most about or hear most about. But yes, medium-chain triglycerides, one of the things that they do is they accelerate the fat burning process. But they’re also really key for making the body believe that there’s actual fuel. Of course. So you feel full. So when you’re doing the fast, you don’t want to be hungry constantly. You want to trick the body into believing that you’re actually full. So the day starts with the morning beverage, the fast start beverage. And then we pick any eight-hour window that a person chooses. So let’s take 12 to eight, for example. So during that 12 to eight timeframe, I’m going to consume two soups. And these soups are really hearty, organic plant-based. Again, they’re all vegan friendly, made on that same farm as the farm we talked about earlier with the custom nutrition. They’re actually hand prepared by a five-star chef. Now, it’s not food from the Ritz Carlton, but for a fast, the soups are delicious and you can jazz them up a little bit. There’s an insert that comes in the box that actually gives you a lot of different ideas for how to jazz up your soup. So if you want to add some cauliflower rice or some chopped up peppers, whatever you’d like to do to jazz it up, salsa. I know. Down there in Texas. Lotta salsa. Yeah. Yes. We do have lost perhaps all of those things because, hey, that helps you burn fat. Let’s get more hot in there so that we can turn our fat. That’s how I look at it. And then so during that eight-hour window, you’re consuming two soups per day and you can see there are different flavors. Also, two teas. One is an energizing tea that you have in the afternoon. It’s made of medicinal herbs that help to really give the body a boost of energy because, again, remember, we’re fasting. We still need energy. And then this sleepy time or calming tea gives you, honestly, the best night’s sleep you’ll ever have. So they’re herbs that are put together to help calm the body. And then the part that I love most about this is. Again, we don’t want to feel restricted when we’re fasting or cleansing or detoxing the body. We would have some flexibility and still feel like we can eat and enjoy food. And so there is the ability to have two snacks during the day, during that same eight-hour window that consists of a fat serving, a fruit serving, and a vegetable serving. And the best part is you get to choose what those are within the guidelines that we give you. So you don’t feel restricted. And I think, you know, I know that you’ve worked with patients when. [00:46:38][163.8]

[00:46:40] You find that you restrict them too much. The compliance goes out the window. They don’t last in whatever it is that they’re doing, so because we give them such great flexibility. Yet guidelines to follow that compliance is really, really high. And the results are absolutely amazing. [00:46:56][16.6]

[00:46:57] Yeah, I totally get it. Going through a diet and not knowing what to eat is really confusing. A water fast is just a simple water fast. It’s probably inappropriate for most other than just a very short window of time. But this has five days off of supplementation that kind of I guess what as I understand this correctly, it’s like the same as that water fast. Yet you have the physiological benefits of a water fast, but you also have the supplementation that keeps your body healthy. But the benefits of burning the toxins and burning and kind of regenerating the body back to where it should be are achieved as well. And yeah, my patients would not like the water feel of it, and I don’t think anyone does. But if we have some sort of methods, I bet you those soups taste real good during the process, especially with hot sauce on top. [00:47:55][58.0]

[00:47:56] That’s my favorite. And, you know, there we talked a little bit about flexibility and, you know, snacks and giving people things to choose from. And we really have seen enhance compliance because of that. We even give you recipes to follow. So we take it a step further. And then, of course, we encourage you to drink a lot of water because remember, a lot of what we’re doing here is flushing those toxins out of the body. When you fast you really for the first couple of days, you’re burning stored carbohydrates by about day three. And it’s a little different for everybody. You switch more into that fat burning more you get into that nutritional ketosis and turn up the heat in terms of burning fat, which is what everybody’s looking for. But we also, toward the end of that fast, we get into a state of something that’s more challenging to reach and that’s a state of autophagy or auto eating of old health, unhealthy cells to make way for the good. So a simple analogy that I like to use with patients is if you remember the game of Pacman. Where Pacman is, you know, he’s eating monsters as he goes across the screen and swallowing the fruits and the little dots and all the things on the screen. So think of autophagy as a process of getting rid of old stuff or eating those monsters to make way for new healthy cells. And of course, along with that comes more energy, better sleep, weight loss, fewer problems with blood sugar and cholesterol and all those different things. [00:49:33][96.8]

[00:49:33] Let me ask you, you mentioned autophagy. At what stage typically does the research show in this process? Does it begin? Is it on the fourth and fifth day? [00:49:43][10.4]

[00:49:44] Typically, you know, I think it’s a little different for everybody. But I would say, you know, day three, four or five generally fast that only go for one or two days generally, aren’t long enough to get you there. I mean, you can reach minimal levels of autophagy just by intermittent fasting and doing, you know, exercise. I mean, there are all kinds of things that help to kind of kickstart that process. But when we’re talking about the really deep benefits of it, generally something that goes longer than three days, which is why I always tell people, day four and five don’t quit before that, because they let me go back there. [00:50:20][36.7]

[00:50:20] Go back there. Tell me what happens to your mind on day three-four, because you’ve gone through this nine times. Right. So what do you go through so we can kind of understand? And when this green monster of hunger rages or just the mental-emotional experience go through. How do you work through that? And what do you experience? [00:50:39][18.2]

[00:50:40] Sure. And you know what? I was I’ll set the table by saying this, that everybody is different in their experience. But I would say that most people, of course, mindset is the key for everything. So this is no different in preparing your body to get ready for this fast. But I would say that there is usually one day and it’s different for everybody. That is the most challenging part for me. Oftentimes it’s day one or two because I’m used to eating my normal foods and I’m withdrawing from carbohydrates. Now I eat a pretty low carb diet to begin with. Not a no-carb or a Keto diet, but a lower carb, healthy carb diet. So I get into ketosis pretty easily. But once I hit day three, a lot of the hunger pains and the sort of lack of energy. And again, this is different for everybody. But for me by day three, I feel amazing. Oh, someone turned on the lights all of a sudden because they’ve gotten into that state of ketosis and it really ketosis when you’re burning ketones as fuel. A lot of people will say that they have better energy than when they’re eating more carbs, because even though carbs might give you a push to get into the gym and have a great workout, if they’re the wrong type of carbs, you’re going to hit the wall and feel exhausted. [00:52:05][85.0]

[00:52:05] I’ve got to tell you, something else happens. Many and one of my patients and I know that this is not a promotion for what happens here. However, this does happen with my patients. They start feeling their joints relieved, their aches and pains go away. It’s amazing how when we start cleaning our diet, the body through autophagy, through its cleansing process, through its dynamic cleanse. When you take out the bad and the body processes it through, through the intestines, but through the urine, and it just eventually cleans itself out, the body runs extremely efficient and those aches and sleep. You know what’s crazy about it? When we do these things, you would think that, oh my God, I need my cornflakes or my thing at night or whatever. And, you know, it’s no, I don’t actually sleep like a king when I go through these kinds of dynamic diets. And one of the things is, is that it’s a surprise. The mental clarity, it’s a surprise the joint freedom, it’s a surprise the ability to sleep that returns, which means that this is how it’s kind of supposed to be. We weren’t people that always had food, you know, as nomads, as we traveled through whatever kind of world we had back in two thousand years ago. So you can see that it’s all I see right there reduces inflammation. I see it right there. I just saw it there. I’m reading, you know, the benefits, you know. And see, the thing about it is, is that when when you go through that, you think that it’s this is just a diet that is just too sometimes you will lose weight. Of course, however. But the benefits are amazing. So, yeah, I’m with it. [00:53:51][106.2]

[00:53:53] Yeah. Really. And I think when somebody goes through this and again, I’ll go back to my story in the Epstein Barr. I wasn’t sure what to expect the first time I went through this fast. All I knew was I felt crummy. And this was another thing I was going to try after not only having at one point thirty supplements a day, I had every possible treatment modality under the sun IV’s in my arm that were nutritional cocktails, sauna therapies, all kinds of different things. And all of it helped a little bit. But I think at the end of the day, the thing that helped me the most, at least to kind of kick start better health was going through this fast. And now looking as I look back and I learn more and more about fasting, all of these things that you see here has benefits on the screen. And I won’t read every single one of them. But these are all things that I was suffering with. I had poor immune health. I, of course, mentioned that I had gained weight because I wasn’t active. Most of that weight was around my midsection. I had a lot of brain fog. I didn’t know. I mean, I would do crazy things like put full glasses of water in the cabinet. And I would look around and think, did I just do that? I mean, these are things that we do unknowingly. But I know there’s a lot of people out there that can relate to these types of things. And they’re not things that are really there’s nothing wrong other than the fact that your body is overburdened with toxins. Your body is overburdened with just stuff. Yes. Stress. All these different daily things that make living difficult. So when you take the time to do a five day fast, all of these things just automatically turn themselves around. It’s like flipping a light switch. People often tell me and I notice this myself. People often tell me that one of the first things they notice after completing their fast is that on day six. They get up and they’re like they just spring out of bed. The lights are brighter. Their mind is clear. They’re ready to take on the day. It’s like all of the crummy things that they experienced five days before they started the fast are gone. [00:56:05][132.9]

[00:56:07] Sonia, let me ask you something I noticed that we were discussing on the sixth day that return. Is there a reason? What is the I guess the logic behind the five days versus, let’s say, a six or seven day or eight-day fast? What’s the logic there? [00:56:20][13.4]

[00:56:21] So there, of course, a lot of different ways to cleanse and detoxify. And they’re all different stages and types of things that we can do. But for this type of plan. Really, most of the benefits are seen on day four and day five. When they look beyond day five, there really isn’t a huge benefit to keep going further than that. And we also want to be careful that we don’t start to lose muscle mass. That’s a big part of it. So we’re safe and even my bodybuilders my cross fit. Gym owner actually made it through this fast just fine. And is the throwing around heavyweight? And when I told him he was going to eat only soup for five days, he said, Sonja, I can’t do this. And I said, yes, you can. He made it through just fine. And one of the first things that came up was, am I going to start losing muscle mass? And I said, not within a five-day window. You’re not you’re actually going to. One of the benefits of doing this type of fast is actually to, of course, facilitate better hormonal balance. And part of that is a natural and that’s the key natural improvements in human growth hormone, which, of course, we know does a lot of things. And so when it comes to maintaining muscle mass, you want to make sure that you stay within that five day period and not go into a more lengthy fast. Makes perfect sense. Thank you. You’re welcome. So we’ve seen, you know, just to kind of wrap up this whole fasting discussion, we’ve seen a ton of benefits and this is just kind of a sample here. And we’ve talked about a lot of these benefits. But I thought I’d just share some of the things that we’ve seen over the last 15 months since we launched our company. Weight Loss. We’ve talked about less brain fog, better mental clarity, better sleep, better skin. So for us ladies, that’s a very important one. Men too ladies especially know crusty ladies. Yes, it is inches lost around the waist. And of course, we know that’s where the danger zone is. Right. [00:58:23][122.3]

[00:58:23] When we have all of that body fat metabolic syndrome is the one of the measurements is waist circumference. Yes. [00:58:29][5.4]

[00:58:30] … [01:03:06][43.4]

[01:03:07] Sonia, what we have seen on when people fast the triglycerides change, the LDLs change, and we have noticed in our office the HDLs also to change. So there is a magnificent reaction and a result as of when you allow the body to cleanse itself out. You know, we are in a, you know, a mining town. We El Paso, a lot of people don’t know. But we were smelting town for copper, many, many of the early miners. They had a rich diet. And in fats and carbohydrates, you know, during those periods of time, these guys got pretty large. And what we learned is that the fat holds many toxins. Right. So when we are able to diminish body fat. We sometimes spread those toxins and they become free. Going through these periodic fasting protocols allows our body to cleanse those things and methodically allows us to maintain health. Because when you’ve got someone that is really got a BMI of 40 or forty-five and they decide to lose weight when their body starts breaking down these fats in an aggressive way later on, that they don’t have those kinds of diets, they become toxic. So they need periodic cleansing processes to help us. And that’s what I’ve seen in my practice. So it really is very important to have the right nutrients in your body as you go through any type of diet. So this is awesome. [01:04:43][96.7]

[01:04:45] Yeah, I think you hit on something very key there. And that is I mean, first of all, we talked earlier. We’re all toxic. The air we breathe, the food we eat, there are toxins ever. We cannot get away from them. And yes, there are lots of things that we can do on a daily basis. But I look at this as a little like cleaning house at least four times a year that you can do all these great things on a daily basis to reduce your toxic load. But everybody needs a deep, clean at least once a quarter, and it’s a safe and effective to do every single month, which a lot of our people, especially if their goal is to lose weight or if they have diabetes. I mean, my father is a type 2 diabetic. We dropped his morning fasting blood sugar by 100 points. So there is very high. [01:05:31][45.8]

[01:05:56] Yeah. And, you know, I think the moral of this story is this. When you cleanse and detoxify, you clean out the bad, you make way for the good. And so when you make way for the good and you now have the right good to put in your body, in addition to, of course, all the healthy things we want people to do on a regular basis, you get the body back into a state of optimal health. And when that happens, we have happier, healthier people. [01:06:28][32.8]

[01:06:36] You know, let me ask you certain questions, you know because I’m really excited and I want my patients to know that we provide this service. But how do they get involved with the Regenerate process? [01:06:47][10.6]

[01:06:48] Very simple. Just to contact you with their health care provider. And of course, let you know what their goals are. And of course, everybody’s goals are different, but it all starts with really figuring out what those goals are and then picking a program that works best for them. Now, the majority of people will go through the entire program. And what that looks like is going through that epigenetic biomarker profile test initially. That’s what I refer to as getting the blueprint. So getting the information once. You have that, of course, your custom nutrition will be formulated. And that’s an ongoing thing. So that’s something you continue to use. And I’ve had most people tell me that their need for supplements, additional supplements, has gone way down. And the world is much more simple. So they love that. And so they continue to stay on that formula. Now, it is recommended that they retest every three to six months because our nutritional needs do change. So they will continue to stay then on that formula. And then at least once a quarter, you want to do a fast. So depending on what their goals are as you work with them, you can help them get set up with any of those things. And if the goal is to lose weight, of course, definitely in that first early stages, you want to include a fast as well. So whenever a person’s goals are, you have a solution to help them with that? [01:08:13][84.7]

[01:08:14] Well, I got to tell you, in our office, when we first see a person or any individual that wants a change in life, one of the things that we do, we run a physical medicine practice here in El Paso. And one of the components of it is painful joints, inflammatory issues. What we do is we further assess the patient and we do a very detailed questionnaire and a functional medicine way in that questionnaire. We ask many components of all the different systems of the body. Once we do that, Kenna and myself, we go over the physical presentation through the. And actually the questionnaires that are very, very complex with the metabolic neurotransmitter assessments. And what we do is once we figure out exactly where an individual is, then we order the or the Regenerate protocols along with any lab tests that we need to do. And what we do is we pair these things and we put information together. Once we do that, we can sit down with the individual and go over the goals because it’s really important to understand what the desires of the individual are, whether it’s sport-related, whether it’s being just feeling better. And those dynamics. So Kenna as my coach, we run in there and we basically wrap around the patient and we figure out what it is that the desire is. And we can basically find out through those questionnaires and through these lab assessments and these genetic profile assessment tests. What is the best diet? So this is a really good compliment to what we do in the practice. And a good, as you indicated, a good beginning to the detoxification process, because of any ongoing process, because it’s not just it’s just not one point. It’s to find out where the holes are. What we’ve learned in the last I’d say decade is that it’s a lot of lip service to kind of look at someone and say, OK, this is what you need. No, we actually have to go in there and physiologically look at these markers to be able to see whether the changes or the metabolic processes remain that have issues or deficiencies. What we’ve learned about epigenetics is that it changes, it alters, and we have the ability to see these processes. So I’m totally for this. And if anyone of my patients want me to kind of elaborate on this, I am, you know me, I love teaching. So when I’m with them, I don’t. That’s why they keep on yelling at me because all I do is sit in the room and talk. So because people want to learn. People won’t understand. People want to take control of their health. So this is a great opportunity for our team here in El Paso to be able to assist our patients. Because the truth we said, and this is something that’s Sonja, you don’t know. El Paso was considered the heaviest, you know, town in the country. At one point, we have probably had the worst nutrition around. That’s not the way it is now. We have a lot of healthy people. The desire there was no such thing as the Internet. Nineteen ninety. It wasn’t there was a prodigy. It was something that made sounds on the phone and people didn’t have this information. So now as my patients percolate and they read and they understand, they have these questions and they in the end as well as I wanted to allude to it initially, is the confusion that this thing gives because there’s so much information all over the place. This package is so that it becomes very easy for someone or their loved ones to be able to kind of take control of their health and prolong life like it should be. And in that sense, that make sense? [01:11:43][209.3]

[01:11:44] Absolutely. I think that’s great. And I like your approach and how you’re working with patients and, you know, teaching them to be well. Because, much of, unfortunately, health care is reactive medicine. Yes. Well, I think we have common ground here is that we want to keep these people well and we’re giving them solutions to stay healthy instead of treating disease. [01:12:06][22.4]

[01:12:07] I know that, you know, you should never say something negative, but I got it. As I’m older, I learned to not shut up. And here’s where I don’t shut up. When you find a doctor, that is is your new doctor. They need to be understanding. And they need to sit down and talk to you. And if they don’t want to talk to you, get rid of them, OK? If they don’t want to go over your lab findings, if they don’t want to understand how nutrition factors into your whole health process. Well, maybe it’s time to find a new doctor or do as some of my older patients say. Sit down here, sonny, and explain it to me, OK? Because it’s very important because today’s medicine is one that personalized medicine means personalized and personalized medicine requires a unique approach to every single individual. So in that sense, what I love to bring into El Paso and I got to tell you, we have amazing providers in El Paso, but sometimes you run into an old guard that says, no, not. I don’t have time for that. Nope, nope, nope, nope. You do have time for that. There’s plenty of doctors out there and plenty of great dietitians, great nutritionists, great physical therapists, chiropractors, people that are out there, medical doctors that are physiologists, internists, family practice doctors, all these kind of people that specialize with their love for care need to sit down and talk about the food because ultimately it creates a lot of confusion and we’re lost and we don’t know with a lot of information. Well, where do we start? And we’re going to have to grab them by the hand and show them that it starts from the kitchen to their genes and from their genes to the kitchen. And here is where the question comes up. Well, what are you talking about? That’s where Regenerate begins, the process of dismantling the information and allowing you almost a sharpshooter approach to an individualized issue. So I hope that made sense. And I know that I can go off for a long time. But what I want my patients to know here in El Paso is that the guard has changed. Personalized medicine is here to stay. How we become aware of these informations. Sciences are to sit down with your doctor and. Yeah. Grab by the ear and say, no, no, no, no, no. You know, sit down and go with the list of questions. And if the doctor is willing to sit down and go over your lab results, the line by line, explain him or to have a team in my situation, sometimes I may be with a patient, but that’s why I have my coach at my side to be able to elaborate so that as I, you know, jump in, jump out, because sometimes, you know, the information is needed right away. And if I’m not there and I’m with a patient, we have a team on our side to make sure that that information is really with you immediately. So I hope that makes sense. And the world of new medicine is coming. New health care, new wellness, understanding, and the grips of this is not going to change for a long time. I don’t think it’s ever gonna change once we know about personalized medicine. Oh, my goodness. I’ve got to tell you, once you have a personalized doctor that spends time with you, you will never go back to open your mouth. And here’s a pill and a piece of paper and out the door, you go. Thank you. We are surrounded by highly educated patients, and the more they know, the better it is for them and for their future. You know, ontogeny. So my early zoology teacher told me an old saying it was ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, indicating that basically we are today what we will represent tomorrow and we are today what was represented yesterday. So what that is basically a neat way of saying epigenetics rules and whether we like it or not, what we do, what we eat as parents, as doctors, we need to know that it influences not only our future children but our future population. So it’s very important that we start taking control of the DNA for the epigenetic response from the education that we’ve learned about in the genome and take it to the next level to the nutrition and make it personalized. So I appreciate so much, Sonja, your time. Kenna and I are here in El Paso ready to help all my patients and we’re sometimes we feel like a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest if you can imagine that. So we’re out there and we’re gonna stop and we won’t stop till we drop, so to speak. Anything else guys? [01:16:38][270.3]

[01:16:39] Well, thank you so much for having me today. I look forward to working with you. And by doing so, of course, helping your patients in our path. Oh, yeah. So much for having me today. [01:16:49][10.6]

[01:16:50] Thank you, Sonja. Thank you, Kenna. And we’ll be back because we could talk for a long time. I know we can. So I want you to know that I don’t speak for everyone, but I do speak for a lot of people in El Paso, specifically El Paso, Texas because there’s a couple of El Pasos in the United States that we appreciate this knowledge. And thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule. And thank you kind of as well for taking your time to kind of go over and sharing this information. So I look forward to helping you guys and I. Appreciate everything you guys do. So thank you so much. Guys. [01:17:24][34.5]

[01:17:27] Bye bye. [01:17:27][0.0]

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