#Clockedin with Jordan Edwards

#172 - Health is Wealth #4 - Harnessing Your DNA to Personalize Your Path to Wellness

March 19, 2024 Jordan Edwards Season 4 Episode 172
#Clockedin with Jordan Edwards
#172 - Health is Wealth #4 - Harnessing Your DNA to Personalize Your Path to Wellness
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Unlock the mysteries of your health with healthcare expert Sang Kim, our guest who bridges the gap between Eastern traditions and Western scientific rigor. This episode is a treasure trove as we explore the earth's healing energy through grounding, dissect the acute prowess and chronic pitfalls of Western medicine, and offer actionable insights for navigating your health journey. Sang's wealth of experience shines as we unravel the complexities of chronic diseases and the lifestyle factors that feed them, offering a fresh perspective on how to understand and nurture our bodies for optimal well-being.

Dive into the genetic blueprint of your health with me, as I share my personal revelation of a predisposition towards inadequate rest and the subsequent adjustments to my fitness regimen. Together, we decode the different DNA tests available, discussing how they can craft a health strategy as unique as your genome. This conversation is a wake-up call against the one-size-fits-all approach to diet, supplements, and the misguided path of hormone replacement therapy. Listen as we illuminate why DNA-based insights are the keystones of personal health management, empowering you to make informed decisions for a healthier life.

Wrapping up, we tackle the essential roles of vitamin D and B vitamins in our well-being, emphasizing the synergy that exists between nutrients and how it affects everything from mood to heart health. Additionally, we delve into DNA PGX testing's groundbreaking role in personalizing medication regimens, especially for mental health challenges. This episode invites you to embrace a new level of self-awareness and self-care, as we discuss how DNA testing is not just about better health choices—it's a journey towards self-discovery and profound appreciation for the unique individual you are.

To Learn More about the DNA Test:
Website: https://www.thednacompany.com 
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Speaker 1:

Hey, what's going on, guys? We got a special guest here today. We have Sang Kim for episode four of Health is Wealth. In the past few episodes we've been diving into morning routines why we should get to know our bodies and all of these different attributes of health where we're just completely missing the ball living in our day-to-day lives. So we have Sang here, who sold his company. He's been in the healthcare field for many years and he's been very experienced in this episode four. So we're gonna dive into the difference between Eastern and Western medicine. What does that even mean? So, sang, how are you doing today?

Speaker 2:

No, I'm doing great. I just happened to be in Miami today working down here enjoying the 23 degrees Celsius temperature. It's nice to feel grounded, just taking your shoes off and just getting rid of those extra electrons in your body. And, yeah, just getting energized over this winter time. And, yeah, the sunlight is fantastic here. So, thank you, thank you for having me.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. And Sang, you brought up an interesting point. We'll get into the Eastern Western medicine, but you just brought up grounding. What does that even mean? And is that kind of Fufu Like where you have your feet on the ground? What does that actually do?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you know what? There's actually been a number of clinical studies with grounding and it's this idea of we build up electric charge in our bodies and we need to get rid of them. So if you look at a house, a house has a grounding wire so that if there's some extra electricity in the house, there is an avenue to get rid of those electrons and get them into the ground and not into the human body and your plants and animals and et cetera. So we're just like us humans are like an antenna for the earth and we do absorb a lot of these electrons. And when we ground and walk around on the ground without your bare feet, in your bare feet, right, we do release this energy that's built up in our bodies. That can affect all your major systems. It can increase anxiety. You just feel better when you ground. So when you think about it, right, you go on vacation. Right, you get your shoes off, you go to the beach, you're in the water, you're grounding your body with the earth and you feel much more relaxed.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Right. So you can do this on purpose by just you don't take your shoes off and get outside, or you can buy a grounding mat. So if you're at your desk right, you plug in a grounding mat and you can go buy them on Amazon and release the extra electrons and energy in your body and get it out.

Speaker 1:

Fascinating. Fascinating, because a lot of the stuff that we've been talking about over the last four episodes are literally free exercises we can do to just increase our health and wealth. Because the main point of this for the audience to know is I'm very interested in health. I want people to know about what the real information about health is. And saying is incredible shape. He's in his mid 50s and it's just, why not learn from what he's taught. So saying let's dive into what is, we'll start off with Western medicine and then we'll start off, then we'll dive into Eastern, because I've always heard there's two different things what even is Western medicine and how do people think about that?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, I think about Western medicine as in you know, we've done a great job in dealing with acute issues. So you know, even 50 years ago, right, you know, one would have a heart attack and we had the you know, western medicine. I had to get really good at solving for the heart attack All the things that we need to the surgery, the medications and dealing with these acute issues. That happened. And now we're really good at solving for heart attacks, right, I don't know what the numbers are up to, but majority of people that have heart attacks so let's say it's 80%. Whatever that number is, it's a big number. People survive heart attacks, right, and we're getting really good at that. You know, fixing bones. We're really good at dealing with these acute issues that happen.

Speaker 2:

But people are living longer, so people aren't dying as fast with these acute illnesses. And now I mean, the system has been set up for acute medicine for decades and decades but it has been slow to deal with chronic illness. We're living longer in certain areas, certain areas not so much, but generally longer than 50 years ago, yeah, right, so let's say it was in the 50s or 80s, 60s. Now we're in the early 80s here in North America, so it is much longer from that perspective, right, but the system isn't geared towards dealing with chronic illnesses. So inflammation, there's lots of things that we're dealing with type II diabetes, so these chronic illnesses that can be managed and the system isn't geared for that.

Speaker 1:

And what would be considered a chronic illness. I know you just gave some examples, but like are these man-made? What does chronic? Like? What do you mean by that?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, so you think about, like let's talk about type II diabetes, right? Okay, so it's a sugar issue, right? We're not talking about type I, where your body does not produce insulin. We're talking about type II, which is a lifestyle illness disease. Okay, that can get managed through proper diet and exercise, and it causes a massive amount of inflammation in the body and also it stresses many different systems and it's a massive chronic issue.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

You know the numbers are quite high, that they're quite. You know you could say over 60% of Americans are considered overweight or obese, yeah, and likely dealing with type II diabetes, and are on lots of medications for it, yeah, and other medications they just bring down or numb that feeling that you're having right.

Speaker 2:

Yes, yes, so not necessarily dealing with the root cause of type 2 diabetes. Essentially, for most people, the root cause is too much sugar, too much refined carbohydrates, too much refined products. So that's really elevated sugar levels and with high amounts of sugar, right, and then you got all these other symptoms that occur, of course, from there, but that brings up a really interesting thing.

Speaker 1:

So that's Western medicine in the nutshell, where it solves for the problem at hand but doesn't look for the root of it.

Speaker 2:

Correct. And you know, I mean Western medicine is absolutely necessary. I mean, the average time spent at a primary care physician or family doctor in the US is, you know, right around eight to 10 minutes. Wow, so they don't have time to solve the root cause. Yeah, so you know they will be, you know, likely recommending a prescription of some sort? Yeah, right, and it does deal with the symptom, you know. But there are side effects to that too, right, there are side effects to most pharmaceutical drugs as well. So, yeah, I think it's a good idea to look, let's look for the root cause of some of these issues. And today, yeah, I wanted to highlight, I've taken a DNA test. Yeah, that highlights my suboptimal genes or pathways to look at, and it's fascinating because through supplementation you can't address these in a more precise way. Shoot, and the thing you wrote about some root cause.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely so. Root causes would be more of Eastern medicine, right.

Speaker 2:

Correct, Correct. Defining the root cause is really this idea of functional medicine, integrative medicine, naturopathic medicine. So this whole category of looking at your environment, looking at your lifestyle, looking at your nutrition and now adding into the data is your personal DNA profile to help you to accelerate and find the root cause of some of your symptoms that you're dealing with, Because people, let's say you're on medication for 20, 30 years on antidepressants. Is there a way to potentially eliminate or reduce them Absolutely Using your DNA?

Speaker 1:

we can supplement, For example, B9 in the form of methylfolate can really help with anxiety and depression and things like that, and that's just fascinating because we all have a lot of limiting beliefs and we usually like to go to. I mean, I know for me growing up it was always if I go to the doctor and the doctor says I'm good, then I'm good. But sometimes you hear these stories where people are not good and their doctor says there's nothing wrong with them. So these DNA tests are kind of the starting point of an understanding of who am I really.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, and let's talk about DNA in general, right? I mean, most of us will have optimal genes in certain areas and suboptimal genes and then genes that are really on the poor side. Yeah, so if you look at it from that perspective and if you're under a lot of stress, you can turn on these suboptimal genes and they get expressed, and then, when they get expressed, a different type of symptom will show up, because suboptimal genes are getting turned on, and this is a process called epigenetics.

Speaker 1:

Okay, zoom, is that where people like lash out, like get upset, angry, all of those emotions, or we're talking about something completely different?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I'm just, I'm talking about.

Speaker 1:

Like what would happen if a suboptimal gene came to be. What do you mean by that?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah. So I'll give you an example, right, okay, so I've got. A perfect example is I've got the Rest and Recovery profile, the genes that affect Rest and Recovery. For me they're the worst kind. So they're poor oh really, you got like normal, right, suboptimal, and then poor oh wow, so I'm on the poor side. So I've got to be very conscious, like when I do a hard workout. So I'm in my fifties. It's better if I have a full day of recovery than going hard two days in a row, because my body does not recover quickly with really challenging, hard workouts or when I'm really stressed and you wrestled at a very high level.

Speaker 1:

Did you ever realize this?

Speaker 2:

No, no, this is all new to me, right? You know it's interesting, right? The more information you have now. Now you can be very strategic on the way you train as well with the DNA information in yourself.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. What else does? What's the specific test that you took and what does it cover? Because I know whenever I bring up DNA tests to people, they're like 23andMe or which is a little bit different than what this one covers.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think.

Speaker 1:

If someone's looking for a test, what do they even look for that it should cover?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think you definitely want to look at why. What's the purpose of this DNA test? What are you trying to get out of it? Yeah, for example, you take an ancestry right. The purpose of that right is to connect your lineage and your family tree. Yeah, so there's a specific purpose for that. And 23andMe initially they started out looking at your ethnic origin right, figuring that out, and they've added a few more, a number of other modules from their DNA tests. Right Now, the DNA company, the company that I'm associated with. What's magical about what they're doing? What we're doing, is that they're looking at six major systems, and these systems are in the area of the area of mood and behavior, hormone fitness and body type, diet and nutrition, immunity, sleep and cardiovascular pathways. So these are like six major systems that can really help to develop your health blueprints. So now you have these six major systems and you got great information about that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And what do you do with that information? Well, if you are dealing with a number of different symptoms, a certified practitioner that understands how to use this test can actually map out a strategy, a blueprint on how to deal with the symptoms that you're dealing with and target the areas that we need to target. So it's like, okay, what does your body need that it's not getting? Yeah, and there's specific supplements in the most bioavailable way, and it's actually very complex getting the right amounts of the right type of vitamins in the right timing. And this DNA test will help you with that information and working with a clinician to map that out. Okay, who?

Speaker 1:

are that reading?

Speaker 2:

What not to eat or ingest into the body, right. And then you're learning that with making sure that you're in the right environment yeah, in the right diet and lifestyle, right? So you got four liters of data now to help you solve for the root cause of why your body is doing certain things, like maybe you don't sleep well? Yeah, we can map out a sleep protocol based on your genetics and then start ruling out all the variables that are affecting your sleep. Wow, and it just becomes more precise, because now we're not guessing right.

Speaker 1:

Yes, and that's kind of where I think about the everyday vitamin, where people sit there and they're like, yeah, I'm just going to take this everyday vitamin and I'm like, is that right for you, is that wrong for you? I don't know.

Speaker 2:

Like exactly, and you think about it, right, they take a multivitamin and first of all, like a lot of these multivitamins, the ingredients.

Speaker 2:

You know it's not the best ingredients, right, and quite often let's say the B12, the B12, they're probably using cyanocobalamin. It's derived from cyanide. The cyanide is toxic to the body, so a lot of these multivitamins are using cyanocobalamin instead of a methylated version, right, like methylcobalamin or denosylcobalamin, which are better for the body, healthier and more biotransferable to the body, right. So you know you got to be careful, right, and maybe you're wasting your money because now you're taking this multi and you don't need a lot of these other parts. So what we're advocating is is you're different than me. That multivitamin has to be more specific to you and your genetics and your symptoms, and we can target right. And actually we have the ability now, with a couple of our programs, to make a customized vitamin for you based on your gender, your weight. So it's customly compounded, which is a game changer. There's not that many companies that I'm aware of that are doing that based on the genetics.

Speaker 1:

Well, it's this idea that most people don't even know what's right and wrong, what they need or they don't need, and, like what I'm hearing from a lot of people is they're like yeah, I'm starting to hop on TRT and I'm like you're 25. Why are we taking testosterone, Like, and I'm like, just lift more, Like there's natural ways of doing these things, but most of us don't even really know ourselves. So what do you think most like? The main purpose of the DNA test is what do you uncover?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, like I think you know. So it's different levels. I mean, I've talked to probably, let's say, 50, 60 people and I've done their DNA tests sort of overview with them, like our free consult, and it's an interesting process. So we've got people that have a lot of health issues and lots of symptoms showing up and I'll go through their DNA tests and it all makes sense to me because it's all connected to their suboptimal genes, really, yeah. So let's say, you know, I had a case where they weren't sleeping well and they were dealing with a lot of hormonal issues, right, like a woman, right, the cardiovascular pathways were suboptimal and their hormone genes, like they're more prone to estrogen toxicity.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

Right, and this woman is in sleeping well, and it's quite obvious because hormones affect sleep quite a bit. So making sure the hormones are in the right zone for the right person can really change someone's sleep, like literally overnight. By looking at you know, potentially maybe they are a good candidate for bio-denical hormone replacement therapy, maybe they're a good candidate for some other supplementation.

Speaker 1:

Interesting.

Speaker 2:

Right. And then there's a whole sleep protocol of supplements as well that can really help and like, for example, you know, getting the right amount of magnesium bisglycinate before dead can help out quite a bit, and getting the right amount, let's say it could be 200 to 400 milligrams, depending on what the clinician feels like the patient needs these tweaks, but knowing their DNA can really help us to map out a protocol that is going to help solve for these root causes and these symptoms that are showing up.

Speaker 1:

Most people are living with this and don't even realize.

Speaker 2:

Correct. I'll give you a really interesting example of my profile, something that affects everybody. We talk about vitamin D, and how important vitamin D is. Well, you think about it. Vitamin D is so important that it's the only vitamin that is created by the human body. The only one, oh, wow.

Speaker 2:

That's how important it is, every single cell has a receptor for vitamin D. That's important. You got to get this figured out Because if you don't have that figured out, I mean it could affect your sleep, it could affect your heart, it could affect your hormones. There are just so many different pathways. That is an essential pathway to figure out. It's so nuanced. You could have a practitioner say, okay, you need to take vitamin D, that's great, here's your amount. You can be doing that for years and then your vitamin D levels don't go up at all.

Speaker 1:

Really.

Speaker 2:

You think, okay, why is that? Well, you might have a suboptimal gene for zinc, and zinc is connected to the vitamin D pathway and it helps to make it sticky and bind together. Oh wow so, and then magnesium. If you're really low in magnesium, like most of the population, and now magnesium is involved in 300, 400 different processes in the body like it's a lot right, it's not one or two it's hundreds.

Speaker 2:

So my vitamin D protocol is vitamin D and K2, and K2 helps to make sure that the calcium is going to the bones and teeth as opposed to my arteries and clogging up my arteries.

Speaker 1:

Oh, wow.

Speaker 2:

Right. And then I've got magnesium. That helps with the whole vitamin D process. And then I have zinc, so I've got a zinc spray. So my vitamin D strategy is four components to it for it to work optimally. Wow, right. Well, I didn't know that without the DNA test, because my DNA, my D3 numbers, have always been very low. Every time I test it, you know like every, let's say, every six months it's like why is it so low? I can't figure this out. Well, now I have my information and my D3 numbers are rising and going. You know that they're in a good place now because I figured out through with the DNA test and talking with clinicians that I need a different strategy. It's just not taking vitamin D, yeah.

Speaker 2:

It's specific to me.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's not always that simple. What's the difference in your way of feeling Like, do you feel different?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you know it's interesting, right? You know I've been optimizing my health for a long time. Yeah, like seriously, probably the last decade. Okay, so you deal with all the low-hating fruit first, right.

Speaker 1:

What would the low-hanging fruit be?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's where you get a lot of the big jump, like just eating properly, right Okay. Exercising, et cetera, okay, well, you know, get you these big jumps. Now it's this fine tuning.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Right, sometimes I feel like so amazing and the other times it's just millimeters, but I know physiologically I'm feeling better because these my numbers are improving.

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

You see what I'm saying. So you got to continue this process because it's complex, it's not that easy and, unfortunately, most doctors you know I would say clinicians that aren't using a DNA test can't be that precise, because we're all different.

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

Right. So yeah, you should take vitamin D. Yeah, that's great. Okay, and here's the amounts. Right and just okay. Can we someone's knocking on my door, can I? Oh, you're good. Yeah, one sec.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so, sam, you were mentioning about the DNA test, low-hanging fruit, the things that made you really feel better, and what were some of those things.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so fairly recently, I mean, I've got a suboptimal gene for dopamine, like the porous gene, and serotonin is suboptimal. So those are two areas right. And dopamine is connected to ADHD tendencies. Oh, really, yes, absolutely, because somebody with a little dopamine they're, you know, you think about it are seeking risky activities. So which makes sense. I'm into rock climbing, you know. I have no problems, you know, doing risky activities to get that dopamine hit right. So you got to be really mindful of that. But the one area of serotonin what's really helped me recently is making sure that I'm taking the right type of B12 and B9 to help with anxiety and depression.

Speaker 1:

So this area is huge.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I've been feeling much better with a decent dose of B9. And my genes really like I mean the methylated folate, which is a really important version for the body to receive, and yeah, it's. Yeah, this is a huge thing Because, you know, working with a clinician and getting the right amounts can really help you with anxiety and depression. This whole area and getting your body in the right zone.

Speaker 1:

Is this different than the people who get anxiety medicine and depression medicine, the now specific gene focus? Is there a difference?

Speaker 2:

Yes, absolutely. I mean, we have a DNA PGX test. So basically, we look at your genes and we'll look at the medications that you're currently on and, as well, figure out what medications will work better for you based on your genetics. Oh, wow, yeah, and this is a game changer, and we have lots of clinicians using this right now to figure out the most optimal prescription drugs to use.

Speaker 1:

So this is going out around the country kind of.

Speaker 2:

Yes, yes, it's getting more and more popular as people are awakened to the fact that you know they want to get off of certain medications. They've been on medications for a while and their symptoms really haven't changed. Yeah Right, so it's like okay, why am I on all these meds and I've got all these other side effects, so what else can I do? Yeah Right, well, let's look at a different way, let's solve for this from a different perspective, using one of the most innovative technologies that we've seen is through DNA testing and the grouping of genes that affects certain pathways.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and is this when you say it's for everyone or anyone, is it a one-time thing or a multi-time? How does that work?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean, what's the great thing about taking the DNA 360 test is that you do it once and you got it for your life. Wow, this is who you are, and now you've got the blueprint, you've got your health roadmap right in front of you, yeah, and we're able to recommend the supplements that you should be on. That's specific for you.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And figure out if you do have symptoms and illnesses. Let's get down to it. Yeah, let's figure out that you actually your hormone profile is very, very suboptimal. So maybe right now you do need some hormone replacement therapy. You know, yeah, maybe you do need to take a lot more magnesium because of these symptoms that you have. Right, I've got to take a lot of magnesium because I've got all of these resting injuries. My muscles are always tight and achy, yeah, and quite often you've got to experiment. So I'm taking magnesium dysglycinating for sleep, but also magnesium chloride for my muscle relaxation and, oh my God, it works. Right, because I've got better information with my DNA test to map out a potential solution for these symptoms.

Speaker 1:

And it's who you really are and it's not so when saying they're going like this looks like somebody else. Let me try this out.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah and yeah, I mean it's really interesting because I'm really sensitive to mold, pesticides and toxins, right, yeah. So for a year Did you know that before.

Speaker 2:

I sensed that through a functional medicine doctor I was working with, I was getting these low migraine headaches and I thought, okay, this is weird. So it got me on an elimination diet and I removed coffee. The headaches went away and then I drank coffee on day 31. So I removed coffee for 30 days. Day 31, I had coffee, instant headache. Wow, and my wife was saying at the time yeah, what, that's BS, what are you talking about? Right? Well, I kind of knew this, but I have proof. I've got the work genes for dealing with molds and toxins. And there's mold in coffee. Most coffee has mold because of the way coffee is processed. Wow, drying process and it gets wet. It dries out, it gets wet and that's this back and forth of wet and dryness creates an environment for mold to proliferate.

Speaker 1:

Interesting.

Speaker 2:

And that's just what, and it made so many details. Yeah, yeah. So now I'm not feeling, you know, sort of like judging myself. Oh yeah, you know, you're just on this thing, you know you don't feel bad about being like different.

Speaker 1:

You're not different.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you're not different. Right.

Speaker 1:

You open up the book to really understand where you're at.

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, I mean, I mean it's funny because you know I had certain friends that would make fun of me because I don't drink coffee. Well, actually it's poisoning me, you know. Or saying how come you don't drink a lot? Well, genetically I do not detoxify alcohol and transport it and break it down. Well, so it's toxic in my body, so I don't have the enzymes to break down alcohol, so I flush red and I get drunk fast and you know, yeah, my friends would make fun of me. But the reality is is this is my genetics, you know, this is who I am, so I don't drink a lot because I create a lot of inflammation every time I drink.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and you. So there's a lot of symptoms out there for everybody knowing along the way, but you just might not have the understanding, and these tests can help with that understanding.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and there's a real deep sense of knowing yourself. You know, maybe you sort of know it, but after doing the DNA test you it's almost like you can love yourself for who you are and not justify it. You know, it's kind of a weird thing, right? It's like this is who I am and I got to treat my body, my mind, my soul with grace and beauty and respect it. Don't punish it with throwing all this crap and in inflaming it, causing stress to the body. Why are you not helping your body to be the best version of itself?

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. I love that Right Saying. Where can people learn more about you? I'm going to put it all in the show notes.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely I'm. Yeah, I'm on Instagram, you know, saying Kim official. I'm on Tik Tok and certainly, if anyone is interested in the DNA tests, you know I have a discount code saying yeah, yes, and, and I will personally go over your DNA tests with you and go through the initial consult and give you a sense of what's possible for you. Absolutely An amazing journey, right? This is, this is all about you, who you are.

Speaker 1:

It's a journey of learning, saying I appreciate you. This is episode four, of health as well, and I'm looking forward to the next one.

Speaker 2:

It's awesome.

Exploring Eastern and Western Medicine
DNA Testing for Personalized Health Solutions
Vitamin D and Personal Health Importance
Personalized Medicine and DNA Testing
Understanding Yourself Through DNA Testing