381 | Getting to the Root Cause of Cellular Health & Chronic Illness with Dr. John Kim

[00:00:05] Welcome to the Optimal Body Podcast. I'm Dr. Jen.

[00:00:08] And I'm Dr. Dom. And we are doctors of physical therapy, bringing you the body tips and physical therapy pearls of wisdom to help you begin to understand your body, relieve your pains and restrictions, and answer your questions.

[00:00:19] Along with expert guests, our goal of the Optimal Body Podcast is really to help you discover what optimal means within your own body. Let's dive in.

[00:00:28] Now, real quick, if you're listening and you've missed it, we have a posture challenge happening right now.

[00:00:35] Now, improving your posture, I know, can be something that seems easy and simple, but we're really going to dive all the way from what's happening around our structure in our neurological system, all the way down to our feet and how that's impacted through movement and dynamics of our body because posture is not static.

[00:00:55] It is not structuring your body to sit like a soldier because that can actually make problems a little worse, which you'll learn in the posture course.

[00:01:03] But it is about developing the resources within your body to understand how to feel more balanced within your own system.

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[00:02:17] For our interview today, we have Dr. John Kim, who is a highly regarded functional medicine pharmacist and leading voice in health, wellness and preventative medicine.

[00:02:25] Graduating with high honors from the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers University, Dr. Kim's academic journey propelled him to pursue advanced training in functional medicine through the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, earning him the distinguished designation of full fellow in anti-aging and regenerative functional medicine.

[00:02:44] Driven by a personal health journey, which his personal health journey is absolutely crazy.

[00:02:49] What he went through, you're going to want to hear it.

[00:02:51] Dr. Kim is dedicated to uncovering the root causes of chronic illness.

[00:02:56] Today, he helps clients navigate their health journey via his virtual tele-wellness practice, Dr. Kim Wellness, providing holistic solutions in cellular health, hormone dysfunction, immune dysfunction and gut health.

[00:03:09] As an influential figure in functional medicine, Dr. Kim passionately lectures nationally and internationally, empowering individuals with cutting-edge health information.

[00:03:19] He is a staunch advocate for medical freedom, championing individuals' rights to make informed decisions about their healthcare.

[00:03:26] We cover so much in this interview.

[00:03:28] I can't wait for you to hear it.

[00:03:30] Dr. John, thanks so much for being with us today.

[00:03:33] We're really excited to talk through your story, the story that you had coming from the field of pharmacology.

[00:03:39] You had a major health incident in your life that really made you kind of switch paths.

[00:03:45] So we're excited to dig into your expertise a bit.

[00:03:48] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:03:48] Thanks so much for this opportunity, Dr. Jenna, Dr. Dom.

[00:03:51] I mean, it is a great opportunity here.

[00:03:53] And one thing that I really like to do is really empower people out there to be their own best doctor.

[00:03:59] And that's where the basic aspect of wellness and really empowering themselves to be healthy and happy as well.

[00:04:07] So thank you so much.

[00:04:09] Yeah, thank you.

[00:04:10] That's perfect information that we want to dive into today.

[00:04:13] Now, I do want to start with your story because I think it is quite impactful to hear what you experience at just 33.

[00:04:23] And, you know, kind of what happened from that experience.

[00:04:26] Taking a quick pause from the episode and with this talk about cellular health, I think it's important that we talk about hydration.

[00:04:33] Not just hydration by drinking water, but by making sure we're replenishing the electrolytes that we're naturally losing every day throughout the day without even knowing it.

[00:04:43] That's the sodium, magnesium, and potassium that are absolutely vital for so many cellular processes.

[00:04:48] They can help with things like brain fog, fatigue, headaches, sleep, bowel movements, and so much more.

[00:04:55] And that's why Jen and I have been drinking Element on a consistent basis because it provides all of these things in a science-backed manner.

[00:05:04] And it tastes incredible.

[00:05:05] It keeps me coming back to my water bottle throughout the day and making sure I'm staying hydrated and getting in my electrolytes without any of the added sugar or junk that you might find in other sports mix drinks.

[00:05:16] So if you want to support the podcast and get a free sample pack of Element with every order, go down to the link in the show notes.

[00:05:23] It's just drinkelement.com backslash optimal.

[00:05:26] That's drinkelement spelled out L-M-N-T dot com backslash optimal.

[00:05:32] Get yourself some Element and start winning the hydration battle today.

[00:05:36] All right, let's get back into the episode.

[00:05:38] So my name is Dr. John Kim.

[00:05:40] I'm a functional medicine pharmacist.

[00:05:42] So it's kind of odd that a pharmacist end up having to go into mobile integrated practice.

[00:05:47] But after I graduated from pharmacy school with a doctor of pharmacy back in 2006, during my rotation, I soon realized that the entire medical system was broken.

[00:05:58] Working in the emergency room as an ER pharmacist, I soon realized that we were not really treating patients to be their own health advocate except for just optimizing medication and just get them out the door.

[00:06:11] And then there was this one incident.

[00:06:14] I had one client, one patient having to come into the ER every single week with an uncontrollable high blood pressure.

[00:06:22] So at that point in time, back in 2005, the JNC-7 guideline came out.

[00:06:28] And the number one thing that we were taught was to doing lifestyle changes and talking about weight loss and other lifestyle matters.

[00:06:36] Unfortunately, that was never discussed except for just optimizing the medication.

[00:06:40] So the patient was already on three, four high blood pressure medication.

[00:06:44] And that was the thing.

[00:06:45] We just increased dose and then just get the patient out.

[00:06:48] And I soon realized that there has to be something more than this.

[00:06:51] And as a result, I dived into more of an integrated practice model where lifestyle matters and nutraceuticals.

[00:06:59] And I was very blessed to even look at this is because of the fact that I grew up in South Korea.

[00:07:06] My aunt was an acupuncturist as well as a pharmacist.

[00:07:09] And so the health side of it, in a holistic sense of that, that's already embedded into my culture and as is my life, literally.

[00:07:19] And so that really gave me the footholding to really open up many doors.

[00:07:24] And then around after I graduated from pharmacy school, I did a fellowship in anti-aging functional medicine.

[00:07:31] That's how I dived into integrating both pharmacy and as well as integrative medicine, which was great and all.

[00:07:41] Unfortunately, although I knew a lot of stuff back in, I kind of fastened forward at this point in time.

[00:07:46] But 2015, I had a major heart attack.

[00:07:50] I had an 85% blockage in my lower interior descending artery, aka the Widowmaker.

[00:07:56] It just came out of nowhere.

[00:07:57] I was just coming back for my friend's wedding.

[00:08:01] And four days later, I thought I was having a heartburn.

[00:08:04] Unfortunately, that was a heart attack already having to do with angina to begin with.

[00:08:10] I completely ignored those symptoms because, again, I didn't think I was at risk.

[00:08:15] I don't think anybody would.

[00:08:17] And as well as the fact that I didn't have any classical heart attack symptoms either.

[00:08:22] And when I was in the ER, they were completely surprised that I was even there.

[00:08:27] My troponin level was less than one to begin with.

[00:08:30] So even the cardiologist completely ignored what I was going through except for trying to get me out of the hospital.

[00:08:36] You know, a common story in terms of what the ER doctors try to do.

[00:08:40] And when they did the echocardiogram, they found out that my lower ventricle was not pumping correctly.

[00:08:47] As a result, I was put in the cath lab and I had to be catheterized.

[00:08:52] So I had to be the youngest patient actually at the local hospital to get a stent put in.

[00:08:59] So that basically became a humbling moment for me trying to figure out what the root cause of this heart attack was because I thought I was having a healthy life knowing what I did and helping a lot of people.

[00:09:13] Well, that wasn't the case.

[00:09:15] And God would definitely end up having to humble me at that moment.

[00:09:22] Well, and like you said, I think anybody in your case, because correct me if I'm wrong, you had already kind of transitioned into the space of integrative medicine and had been practicing in that space for a little while at this point, correct?

[00:09:32] Absolutely.

[00:09:32] For at least about, you know, good nine years at this point, you know, doing my own research and then working with a lot of patients and doctors.

[00:09:40] But never alone thought that I was going to be my own patient.

[00:09:44] Right.

[00:09:45] So that was a surprising moment for me.

[00:09:48] So what was the mindset coming out of that like or, you know, next steps?

[00:09:52] Because, of course, in the emergency room and the conventional doctors are probably trying to recommend medications and recommend other things to get on.

[00:10:01] Were there those recommendations for medication?

[00:10:04] And then on the other side of things, how did you approach, okay, where do I need to focus on my health now?

[00:10:09] I think I was in a complete distress at that point in time to even think about anything else except for just getting my life back in order and trying to figure out what is my next step.

[00:10:20] So I came back home, just sat in front of my couch and staring at a wall, figuring out what is the overall cause of this issue.

[00:10:29] But lucky enough, I had great colleagues who actually really asking the right question.

[00:10:35] And all these related to potential biotoxins such as Lyme disease, right, or could be a mold toxicity.

[00:10:42] I think a lot of people are getting familiar what mold toxicity is.

[00:10:46] But that was a question that we were asking, and rightfully so, after two months of additional bloat work and testing, the root cause was an undiagnosed Bartonella infection, which is called a cast-fetch fever, and severe mold toxicity leading into a cardiac presentation that I was dealing with.

[00:11:07] So a lot of people out there, even dealing with high cholesterol or even cardiac issues, they may have some type of predisposed issue of some type of tick-borne-related illness that they may not even aware of, or could be environmental toxin-related issues leading into a chronic illness.

[00:11:26] And that's the type of thing that I see continuously nowadays.

[00:11:30] Even after going through four years of COVID, now there's much more greater problem in terms of post-COVID issues where people are now dealing with these post-viral issues.

[00:11:43] And when you talk about biotoxin issues like that, viruses, fungus, bacteria, including parasites, could be a big role in terms of causing these chronic illness.

[00:11:56] And unfortunately for me, it came up to become a cardiac presentation.

[00:12:00] And when you had that in the hospital, did they recommend that you, like, did they leave you and say, okay, here's some medications that we recommend you go on?

[00:12:09] Or did they have any recommendations as to why that might have happened and what you should do?

[00:12:15] Nothing at all, except for just saying that it might be just family genes and just bad history.

[00:12:23] And then on top of the fact that when I was getting discharged from the hospital, they actually over-medicated me.

[00:12:29] And so three weeks later, I actually had a syncope middle of the night.

[00:12:34] And I was brought back into the hospital just to be monitored for 24 hours.

[00:12:39] So I know all about, even as a pharmacist, I know all about patients being over-medicated.

[00:12:44] And that's the one number one experience I experienced for myself that, you know what, over-medication without the intervention of lifestyle changes and looking at the root cause of the issue of the disease state does not fix the problem.

[00:12:58] So I still am trying to wrap my head around functional medicine pharmacist.

[00:13:03] I feel like that in itself is an ironic statement because the way that in the School of Pharmacology and the way pharmacists are trained is very much so, here's what the physiology is doing.

[00:13:16] Here's the medicine or the medical application that can help get those numbers back in order and out you go.

[00:13:22] So where do you think that your education almost strategically places you in the way of having a good understanding on the functional medicine side of things?

[00:13:34] Absolutely.

[00:13:35] Pharmacists are known to be problem solvers.

[00:13:38] We actually look at cases very differently in looking at how certain mechanisms, certain pathophysiology, as well as how certain doses forms of certain drugs or even herbals for that matter.

[00:13:50] I mean, if you think about alchemy, that's what modern-day pharmacy literally is.

[00:13:57] But even back in the day, in the medieval times, talk about alchemy, it's all about herbals and potions and such that the pharmacists or the alchemists end up having to come involved in solving different issues.

[00:14:11] Right?

[00:14:12] Right?

[00:14:13] So in terms of how the modern-day pharmacy is these days, it's more clinically driven in terms of looking at not just about the medicine itself, about drugs, but also about how do we end up having to integrate into the entire model of health.

[00:14:29] So looking at working with doctors and nurses and even physician assistants and integrating this.

[00:14:35] Now, how does integrative medicine or even functional medicine come into play is the fact that because of the fact that we have a very well-known knowledge of how certain drugs work, and especially with the entirety of the body,

[00:14:49] we're able to think outside the box in terms of treating patients and helping patients differently in looking at the root cause of the issue.

[00:14:56] And so some of the drug compounds we actually make in such as low-dose naltrexone, that could be one thing that could be very helpful for autoimmune disease, and we've been using that for patients dealing with post-COVID these days.

[00:15:09] But another thing that comes into play is thinking outside the box to help patients dealing with these type of biotoxin issues, especially Lyme and mold and such.

[00:15:19] So we have better ways to understand that much greater than any healthcare professionals out there, to be my humble opinion, because we are working with some of the complex patients in terms of where I work right now.

[00:15:34] Yeah.

[00:15:34] I also think, and this is my opinion, that Alchemist is a way cooler name than Pharmacist.

[00:15:41] I wish I could change my name to an Alchemist, but I can't.

[00:15:47] Okay, so now we've talked a little bit about your journey and what you did to really kind of discover what the root cause was.

[00:15:53] But for someone else feeling like they're suffering from underlying issues, they're going to the doctor, there's no explanation, there's nothing to really be known for a lot of these things.

[00:16:04] What is the testing that you recommend that people can really take to understand some of these biomarkers that could be showing up, whether it is Lyme, whether it is mold?

[00:16:15] Like, are there specific testing that you recommend that people look into?

[00:16:19] Generally, I recommend people to do an annual blood test.

[00:16:23] You know, if you could do it two to three times a year, great.

[00:16:25] If not once a year is fine, but that should at least give you a general picture of your health, especially when you have a high cholesterol level, right?

[00:16:34] Hapolipidemia.

[00:16:34] That shows a lot of information about what's going on.

[00:16:38] And number one thing is inflammation.

[00:16:40] When you have an onset of inflammation, especially cellular inflammation, what happens is that the level of lipids cholesterol-wise end up having to increase further to prevent further damages with the cells.

[00:16:52] So, one thing that I always look at is the lipid level, looking at the entire CBC, and as well as the immune markers.

[00:17:00] If there's certain outliers in terms of increased levels of white blood cells, and then patients chronically saying that they're fatigued or having other symptoms of that matter.

[00:17:10] And one thing that I'm seeing a lot of these days is allergies, especially mast cell activation, right?

[00:17:17] And also, in lieu of that, you have a nervous system being heavily dysregulated as well because of the chronic illness that they're going through.

[00:17:25] So, running just a functional lab alone, just looking at a simple blood test, could tell you a lot about their health.

[00:17:33] Another thing that I recommend patients to do is getting a full thyroid panel as well.

[00:17:37] Not just look at the TSH, but looking at pre-T4 and T3, looking at how their reverse T3 is functioning.

[00:17:44] Maybe they actually have high levels of thyroid antibodies.

[00:17:48] That could also mean that they may have underlying issue of immune imbalance already happening that could lead into additional autoimmune response later on.

[00:17:58] So, especially for women, they end up having to have further issue dealing with Hashimoto's, then leading into lupus, or in a severe scenario, it could be rheumatoid arthritis, or even colitis and GI issues that we commonly see in my clinical practice.

[00:18:13] So, we have to just really look at the general picture of the health and general lab work will give you a lot of story to really dive into.

[00:18:23] I think that's great.

[00:18:23] And I think, again, as much as people can be proactive and do these annual tests or do these tests, especially if they feel like symptoms are coming up, is amazing.

[00:18:31] It makes me think about and go back to one of your main complaints about the system, and the system is broken.

[00:18:38] And we could talk for hours alone just about all the different aspects of the system that might need to change.

[00:18:45] I'm just wondering for people who are listening who say, okay, having an annual blood test and getting these panels sounds great.

[00:18:54] I don't have the financial ability to do that.

[00:18:57] And again, in a lot of ways, this is where we have systematic failures where when people are trying to be proactive about their health, trying to understand their health better, it can become very cost prohibitive for people.

[00:19:09] Not sure if you have any thoughts on that.

[00:19:11] I know I'm asking you to solve a major systemic issue in a few minutes, but what are your thoughts on that?

[00:19:17] Actually, that's the number one thing that I end up having to teach my clients to work on their foundation of health.

[00:19:23] And what that looks like is things that they could control easily without costing them a lot of money.

[00:19:27] Number one thing is they need to really factor in healthy eating lifestyle, right?

[00:19:32] And I do advocate for eating organic fruits and vegetables, right?

[00:19:37] Even getting grass-fed beef for that matter.

[00:19:39] But sometimes the budget doesn't work out.

[00:19:41] So you probably want to look at more whole food-based diet.

[00:19:44] Anything that you end up having to read a label or processed and having a long-lane chain of chemicals in there, that's not the right thing for you.

[00:19:53] So you have to really look at, try to figure out how do we eat a whole food-based diet?

[00:19:58] How do we end up having to get the most cleanest protein possible without utilizing anything like processed meat, like hot dogs and salami or any other cold cuts?

[00:20:07] And then now after that is really factor in looking at getting rid of any inflammatory oils as well.

[00:20:16] If you look at the general population of the United States, especially any of the developed nations,

[00:20:20] we utilize these industrial seed oils, like canola oil, for instance, which is impacting our overall cellular health and health in general.

[00:20:29] Because these type of oils, it's not even oils.

[00:20:32] Actually, I call them the poison for our cells because these type of oils are already damaged to begin with

[00:20:39] and causing negative issue on our cells and end up having to be incorporated into our cellular function,

[00:20:45] which can lead into additional disease states when you end up having to factor in over the accumulation of stuff getting involved.

[00:20:54] So getting rid of seed oils, getting healthier fat intake, especially if you're going to do anything,

[00:21:00] I recommend people to cook with butter, cook with ghee butter potentially,

[00:21:06] if you could actually have a source to getting that.

[00:21:08] But that healthier fat, especially tallow, especially animal fat, tends to be a lot more stable for people to cook a healthier meal

[00:21:16] compared to incorporating those inflammatory seed oils that a lot of restaurants end up having to use.

[00:21:24] So those are two things I could recommend doing.

[00:21:26] And third is how to regulate your nervous system.

[00:21:29] People are so reactive to their environment, so utilization of right forms of breath work, right?

[00:21:36] Doing nasal breathing is one thing that you could do absolutely for free, right?

[00:21:40] Reguling your nervous system by doing breath work.

[00:21:43] Getting the right amount of sleep, right?

[00:21:45] I recommend patients to get seven to eight hours sleep.

[00:21:47] If they're not getting quality sleep, that could be a potential issue dealing with other root cause issues, right?

[00:21:53] So that's something that we have to really dive in.

[00:21:55] But if you could generally control how long you could sleep, that's the best way to do so.

[00:22:01] And then the next part I would also recommend is getting clean water.

[00:22:05] You should not be drinking tap water, right?

[00:22:08] If you could purchase a good water filtration system, you could actually factor in terms of spending as little as a good one that filters up fluoride and all the chemicals.

[00:22:20] It could be ranging around like $50 to $75.

[00:22:22] But if you think about the usage out of it versus buying a plastic bottle of water, it costs a lot cheaper and is better for the environment anyway.

[00:22:32] So that's something that I recommend doing.

[00:22:34] Also, spiritual health is so important because obviously not just about regulating, but in terms of how you are, who you are, it's really important based on your spiritual health as well.

[00:22:45] So any form of prayer, any form of religion or spirituality they end up going to practice, I recommend patients to do that at the same time.

[00:22:55] And lastly is about the community, how you connect with people, right?

[00:22:59] That level of connection with people between spouses, people that you love, that level of oxytocin getting released.

[00:23:07] That could also heal your body as well.

[00:23:09] So it didn't really cost you that much or even nothing for that matter.

[00:23:13] But we end up having to just resort to looking at just a pill to fix the solution, fix the problem, excuse me, and trying to gain the solution.

[00:23:22] Whereas everything that's in front of you is already given to you.

[00:23:25] It's just that we're so busy into our life that we forget to look at what's in front of us.

[00:23:31] So that's something that I always end up having to encourage.

[00:23:34] And then if you're dealing with some of the chronic illnesses, I always recommend in terms of looking at the cellular health.

[00:23:40] So, you know, getting the healthy amounts of fat and we could go into what type of fat that is and then further down to getting into the chronic illness state that patients might be dealing with.

[00:23:51] I like the kind of next level of what I'm seeing from you in what the true alchemist or pharmacist should be focused on.

[00:23:58] Because you just gave solutions there, many of which didn't have anything to do with anything we put into our body from community and spirituality and breathwork.

[00:24:07] I guess breathwork, we're putting air into the body, all of which have physiologic endpoints and all of which have physiologic change within the body.

[00:24:15] And I think it's a shame that we don't look at these things more so as things that we can prescribe to people to get the desired physiologic change.

[00:24:24] And I just think that's so cool the way that your pharmacy knowledge and knowledge of alchemy is coming into your functional medicine practice with real human beings.

[00:24:36] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:24:37] And then what happens a lot of times as well is that the chronic levels of stress that we get involved, even just to dealing with their chronic illnesses and everyday stresses or getting inundated with toxins.

[00:24:49] I mean, if you think about United States, even though it's a developed nation, we're just filled with toxins all around in our environment.

[00:24:57] Those end up having to impact our overall self-function and how that comes into our chronic illness and how it develops.

[00:25:05] So clean eating is number one thing.

[00:25:07] But the second thing is how do we avoid those toxin exposures?

[00:25:11] One thing.

[00:25:12] And the second thing is I talked about spirituality and breathwork.

[00:25:16] How do we regulate our nervous system correctly to be in a more of a controlled state to be able to react to the environment better?

[00:25:24] Because the chronic stress leads into inflammatory process.

[00:25:28] And there's a whole term that I ended up having to lecture throughout the United States that I also lecture internationally about is the cell danger response.

[00:25:37] How our cells end up with a sense of irregularity that leads into it.

[00:25:43] But the unfortunate thing is that our body already has this innate response to deal with stress.

[00:25:49] Unfortunately, chronic stress and chronic issues of illnesses leading into a irregularity of the body, which is basically illness and sickness that we're all going through.

[00:25:59] Mm-hmm.

[00:26:01] So there are a lot of detox programs out there.

[00:26:04] And I know you talk about, you know, cellular detox.

[00:26:08] Does that do a lot of these like detox teas or detox programs all play a role in what you're talking about when you talk about cellular detox?

[00:26:17] Or how is it different when we're really talking down to the cell level?

[00:26:21] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:26:22] You know, the crazy part and the funny part I always talk about is this, that beginning of the year, everybody jumps into some kind of cleanse and some kind of detox.

[00:26:31] Because why?

[00:26:31] Because it's a new year, fresh newness in terms of what my body's holding on to.

[00:26:38] I want to get rid of all the toxins, including people, right?

[00:26:42] And then really getting the health needs of it.

[00:26:44] But what if I told you that this, that in terms of the juice cleanse era and all these different things that they're selling as a detox, especially seven-day detox, does not make sense.

[00:26:55] Because of the fact that in terms of the symptoms you're dealing with, it's just a sign of a bigger issue dealing with the body.

[00:27:02] And then in terms of talking about toxins, the level of accumulation you had, you know, 20, 30 years of accumulation of toxins in the body, you cannot just get rid of that within seven-day fast cleanse or any type of juice cleanse for that matter.

[00:27:18] Because one thing that happens with these type of environmental toxins, especially heavy metals or even mold toxins and petrochemicals, those end up having to embed into the DNA.

[00:27:32] And that end up having to change the function of the DNA itself, which is an epigenetic change.

[00:27:37] So if people are not aware of what epigenetic change is, epigenetic is how a certain environment and certain exposures of things in your life end up having to change the expression of how your DNA end up having to work.

[00:27:54] DNA is just a roadmap of who we are, but how it expresses all based on the environment, about what's actually being exposed to, and as well as the things that we end up having to eat on a daily basis and also our stress response as well.

[00:28:12] So one thing that I wound up having to teach my client is this, that it's not the simple juice cleanse.

[00:28:18] You want to do more of a working with the cellular function to doing cellular detox, which is more of a permanent fix, as well as to reversing some of these DNA damages, which is called a DNA adducts.

[00:28:30] So these are toxins getting embedded to the DNA, and you're allowing proper mechanisms and proper modality, which we'll go into more deeper, to allowing these different toxins to be taken away from the DNA so the DNA can actually heal itself.

[00:28:46] And so what does that look like long-term?

[00:28:48] Is that specific supplements that people are taking?

[00:28:51] Is that coming through the change of the environment and the change of what we're eating to actually detox at that cellular level?

[00:28:58] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:28:59] So when you talk about cellular level, we have to talk about what cell in itself.

[00:29:05] So cell itself is an overall barrier that actually is a form of lipids.

[00:29:11] And unfortunately, if you want to simply put it, is that when you're getting exposed to different toxins, especially heavy metals or chemicals like petrochemicals we talked about before, including mold toxins, the cell membrane end up having to be damaged.

[00:29:25] This actually is going to cause additional levels of issues where it can lead into mitochondrial dysfunction.

[00:29:34] So the cells are not able to produce energy correctly, as well as there's a misshaping and absolutely decreasing levels of lipids actually happening in the cells.

[00:29:45] And so there's a level of deficiency that goes on as well.

[00:29:48] So you're not able to actively function very well to take care of the damages in the cells and handle that.

[00:29:56] And when you talk about how these different toxins getting embedded into cells and as well as DNA not able to function correctly, how do we get to relieving that type of burden?

[00:30:07] Well, use of different modalities like phospholipids or people are not aware of phospholipids are what is comprised of what's supporting the cell membrane outside of it.

[00:30:22] And by causing additional damages from the toxin exposure, you're being deficient in that as well as causing additional damage in the cell itself.

[00:30:32] By allowing proper intake of essential fatty acids like phospholipids, those can actually help to fix the cell membrane to allow proper function of the cells.

[00:30:46] So this way you have a permanent fix instead of actually causing additional ways and just looking at cyclic issues of trying to fix a problem and not getting the permanent fix you're looking for.

[00:30:58] So what kind of protocol do you usually put people on in order to start kind of this cellular detox protocol?

[00:31:07] That's a very important factor that people end up having to ask, where do I start?

[00:31:11] Well, first thing it is, healthy eating is one thing that I recommend doing.

[00:31:15] So eating the right amount of fat as well as a protein intake.

[00:31:18] So anyone out there that are more of a vegan background and not eating a lot of protein, that could also impact the level of essential fats that they're able to have.

[00:31:29] Because essential fatty acids, you cannot produce.

[00:31:31] You have to get it from food in itself or at least a supplementation of that.

[00:31:35] So that's the number one thing that we have to provide.

[00:31:37] Second thing is by providing the essential fats, those are phospholipids.

[00:31:43] So I do recommend BodyBio's PC, that is a phosphocholine, which is comprising of the outer cell membrane.

[00:31:50] But also it's a phosphocomplex, so it contains additional levels of phospholipids to create a better balance in producing the structural support that you need.

[00:32:02] And that actually helps to provide that.

[00:32:05] The second method I also recommend doing is healthy amounts of omega-6 and omega-3, especially the linoleic acid and alpha-linoleic.

[00:32:12] It actually provides an internal structure for the cell membrane to function well.

[00:32:17] And once the cell membrane is fixed and once it's able to be a lot more pliable and it's able to communicate better, that's when you're able to allow proper toxins to be getting out of the cells instead of actually being embedded into it.

[00:32:33] And here's a reason why.

[00:32:34] We end up having to think that toxins end up having to float in our blood, which is true.

[00:32:39] But I mentioned before how toxins getting embedded into the actual cells and the cell membrane, to allow the easing of that, you need proper fat intake to reverse the course.

[00:32:51] And one of the things that I didn't talk about before is sodium butyrate.

[00:32:56] That's the essential fatty acid.

[00:32:58] That's a short-chain fatty acid that our colon bacteria end up having to produce.

[00:33:02] That's so powerful in terms of allowing these chaperone.

[00:33:08] So basically, it helps to ease that toxins away from the cell and allowing proper formation of the cell membrane by utilizing the phospholipids and especially the essential fatty acids like omega-3, omega-6, and help to allow proper formation of cells.

[00:33:27] So actually, the cell is able to fix on its own, right?

[00:33:30] As long as you put the right tools into the picture, the cell is going to function well on its own and able to allow a proper function to detox as well as to help deal with some of the chronic illnesses they're dealing with.

[00:33:46] For instance, I'll give you an example.

[00:33:48] Phospholipids are able to help move bile correctly in our pancreas as well as to allowing proper mechanism and allowing our microbiome to function better as well.

[00:34:03] In many cases, we're giving phospholipids as a supplement to reversing course dealing with SIBO.

[00:34:09] So that's a small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.

[00:34:11] So people out there dealing with chronic bowel issues, number one thing that I should start taking is phospholipids, especially from body bile, and as well as adding in sodium butyrate, which is a butyric acid or short-chain fatty acid you need to allow proper DNA changes and healing that you need within the gut lining and allowing proper detox to occur.

[00:34:35] Because that's going to promote a permanent fix you're looking for instead of just taking supplements randomly and then just wondering why you're not getting to the overall fixing that you're looking for.

[00:34:45] I mean, I think that's a great breakdown of being able to visualize, okay, what can I add in within my environment now to start creating some changes?

[00:34:55] Can you just give examples of like omega-3, omega-6 so people can, you know, kind of visualize, okay, what is it that I should be adding into my diet?

[00:35:03] And what does that kind of look at look like throughout the day?

[00:35:07] Like, is there, you know, a certain breakfast and lunch and dinner that you kind of recommend?

[00:35:13] And how does this kind of support an overall the body?

[00:35:17] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:35:17] I think a lot of people have misunderstanding of omega-6 and omega-3.

[00:35:21] Even for me, when I was in pharmacy school, we end up having to learn that omega-3 was the best thing that you could end up having to take.

[00:35:29] And omega-6 is essentially not needed except for it's going to cause more inflammation.

[00:35:34] But as more and more end up having to be not the case, you know, you essentially need both omega-6 and omega-3.

[00:35:42] Those are essential for differentiation of our cell types and functions.

[00:35:46] Now, omega-6 fatty acid, like arachnidinic acid, actually plays a critical role into our cell membrane function I mentioned before.

[00:35:55] Now, where do we get this particular thing?

[00:35:57] It's basically you need dietary sources of linoleic, which is omega-6, from the seeds, right?

[00:36:04] Like pumpkin seed, for instance, right?

[00:36:06] Black cumin seed is another one.

[00:36:08] Egg yolk and organ meat.

[00:36:10] So, for people that are deficient in the essential fatty acid, I sometimes recommend them to actually eat beef liver or take the beef liver as a supplementation.

[00:36:23] They do sell desiccated beef liver capsules.

[00:36:27] So, that's something that I could recommend doing.

[00:36:28] Now, for omega-3 purposes, we know that DHA, which is a particular breakdown of the omega-3 of the ethylinoleic, that actually helps to support both the brain and the eye health and making up a significant portion of how lipid content actually happens.

[00:36:48] And DHA also, namely omega-3, helps to support the neuronal membrane integrity and cognitive function.

[00:36:56] So, the best way to get that is through a phosphatid-bound fish oil.

[00:37:02] You might be wondering, what is that?

[00:37:03] I mean, there's fish oils out there.

[00:37:05] I mean, you could go to Costco and get fish oil.

[00:37:07] What if I told you that getting regular fish oil in a supermarket is completely degraded, it's actually bad for you?

[00:37:14] And so, there's a whole dark side of fish oil where taking high dose of fish oil can actually cause negative issues like causing immunosuppression and potential impact on a glucose homeostasis, for that matter, including mitochondrial function.

[00:37:30] So, what I recommend people to do is you could buy caviar, right?

[00:37:36] That is a whole food-bound or at least a phosphatid-bound fish oil they're going to get that's more bioavailable and less susceptible for oxidation and damages that occurs a lot more in a triglyceride form of fish oil that you end up having to buy in a supermarket, for instance, or even health food store.

[00:37:55] So, there's a whole thing called super-resolvent mediators or SPMs that are special carriers to allow proper transportation of these essential, especially fish oil.

[00:38:09] So, that's what we recommend doing, eating a whole food fish, at least wild-caught fish like salmon, for instance, or caviar.

[00:38:17] Or you could buy certain supplements that actually contains SPM bound as a fish oil and you don't have to take that much to get the benefit they're looking for compared to any other fish oil in the market there.

[00:38:31] That's fascinating.

[00:38:32] And again, I think that the beautiful thing and sometimes the frustrating thing for people is you're giving the long-term fix and solution.

[00:38:41] It's not a quick fix, which, like I said, can be the frustrating part for people, but it's essentially setting your body up to do what it's built and designed to do.

[00:38:51] And that is to heal and to construct all these cellular components in our body the way that it was designed and the way that it was designed to function.

[00:39:01] And I think that that's so important for people to continue to hear is there isn't the quick one-week fix when we've been exposed to decades of toxins.

[00:39:09] And that's kind of what I want to focus on now is the toxin exposure.

[00:39:14] And you brought up how in our country we deal with such a high amount of toxins in our environment every day from the mattresses we sleep on, the sheets that we use, the air that we breathe to some degree, and the mold that might exist in our homes.

[00:39:31] I know that if you test 100 homes in America these days, I think people would be shocked at the number of homes that are infested or have mold contamination to some degree.

[00:39:45] So with knowing all of that, how do you go about consulting people in removing some of these toxins from their environment when they are so permeated into every aspect of living?

[00:39:59] So just as you mentioned about mold, I mean, let's just focus on that, for instance, because even just the symptoms of mold can be very cloudy, right?

[00:40:09] We end up having to think that it's all sinus issues and then having to have some kind of dealing with allergies.

[00:40:15] But that's not the case at all.

[00:40:17] Some of the common issue that comes up, let's just take four females out there.

[00:40:22] Maybe they might be dealing with chronic urinary tract infection.

[00:40:25] If you're not able to get rid of the actual chronic UTI, that might be an exposure to toxic mold like ocrotoxin, for instance.

[00:40:35] And then for certain people, they may actually have something called postural orthostatic tachycardia or POTS, where they're constantly having to feel like they're going to be fainting or having low blood pressure when they're changing their position of the body, as well as that can lead into people having brain fog.

[00:40:53] That's the number one thing that people have to complain when they start working with me.

[00:40:56] It's like, Dr. John, I have such a brain fog that everyday things that I'm thinking of doing is impossible for me.

[00:41:03] I can't help to doing certain tasks for that matter.

[00:41:07] So that's the things that I end up having to look at is the uncommon symptoms that the clients actually end up having to complain about and really dive into their overall history.

[00:41:18] So the first thing that I actually ask is, how was their childhood environment?

[00:41:23] For me, I grew up in a very moldy house.

[00:41:25] I didn't know that until I'm looking back.

[00:41:28] I'm like, oh, that's what it was.

[00:41:30] That's probably the cause in terms of what my heart issue was.

[00:41:33] Right.

[00:41:34] And then as was looking at any type of traumatic experience we might be dealing with, I've had clients where they were thrown off the horses because they were question riders.

[00:41:43] And because of that impact dealing with neuroinflammation and gut to brain access causing a leaky gut, that causes more of a risk factor for these mold toxins to come in.

[00:41:56] So the question is, which came first?

[00:41:59] Was it the mold issue creating those issues in terms of the neuroinflammation and leaky gut?

[00:42:04] Or is this leaky gut and neuroinflammation having to have a more risk factor for mold toxins to come in?

[00:42:10] Right.

[00:42:11] So asking the right questions is the number one thing that I actually ask.

[00:42:14] Following that is, how is your bowel movement?

[00:42:17] How are you able to tolerate food if you're actually constantly having food sensitivity issues?

[00:42:22] And namely, I've had clients where they cannot even eat simple red meat.

[00:42:28] That's a problem.

[00:42:29] Or maybe they're dealing with some kind of mast cell activation.

[00:42:32] Mass activation is just aspect of a histamine response gone wrong, but there's another level of nervous system being dysregulated.

[00:42:41] So asking those questions to really dictate what type of last that we need to look at.

[00:42:47] So we mentioned about functional blood work.

[00:42:50] Another thing that I actually like to look at is looking at red blood cell fatty acid analysis to see any type of deficiency that goes on.

[00:42:57] So we mentioned about omega-6 and omega-3.

[00:43:00] I look at those, but also on other level of layers of issues that might be showing that there's a misshaping of the cell membrane.

[00:43:08] And this is critical for us to supplement correctly in using things like the body bowel PC and use of balanced oil and even adding in caviar or any type of wild-caught fish, seafood for that matter,

[00:43:23] or any other supplementation correctly to reversing some of the cell membrane damage that occurs from the toxin exposure.

[00:43:31] And then once we get these type of things outlined and getting the foundational aspect being done,

[00:43:37] the next step is to ordering the urine mycotoxin testing to see what type of mold toxin getting exposed to in that person's body.

[00:43:48] And depending on the toxin exposure that we've seen and different toxins, different mold toxins, for instance,

[00:43:54] if it's a black mold toxin like stachybotrys, which is end up having to release something called triclethesins,

[00:44:01] that causes DNA damages that also is impacting on the liver.

[00:44:06] It also decreased glutathione.

[00:44:09] Depending on what we find, the treatment modality also changes as well.

[00:44:13] That's why it becomes a very complex matter that a lot of late people are not able to find a solution they're looking for.

[00:44:20] And this is the reason why doing the step-by-step approach to MHC really describing right now is essential for people to get better

[00:44:29] because it's not a marathon you're there running.

[00:44:32] It's not a race you're there running, excuse me.

[00:44:34] It's a marathon after really helping to show them the right pathway to allow them to unravel the damage that they have within the cells and within the body

[00:44:46] and promote a healthy healing response to occur.

[00:44:50] And is there a place that we can get to that we create permanent cellular health?

[00:44:56] Or is it something which, I mean, I would assume it's something we're always working on just like for our movement.

[00:45:02] And we, you know, we're physical therapists.

[00:45:04] We talk about the body.

[00:45:04] It's not something you're just like you do for a week and you're good.

[00:45:07] Like you, you do it for life.

[00:45:09] You, you're going to continue to have to address, you know, these things for life.

[00:45:13] And so is that the same for cellular health?

[00:45:15] Are there always protocols that we're going to kind of have to be following, you know, to maintain our cellular health?

[00:45:21] Absolutely.

[00:45:21] So one thing, especially for me after going through a heart attack and my doctor put me on this lipid medicine,

[00:45:29] which is basically utilizing phospholipids and essential fatty acids to reverse the cellular issues that I was dealing with back in 2015.

[00:45:39] Once we actually have a good setting of our cellular health after treatment, one thing that I recognize, especially with my clients,

[00:45:47] is that they, as long as they're able to maintain a healthier lifestyle, especially avoiding toxin exposures and doing maintenance work,

[00:45:55] and as well as eating healthy and allowing that body to heal correctly on a daily basis.

[00:46:02] And especially on a daily basis is the most important part.

[00:46:06] And so even in taking phospholipids from body body, for instance, I take on a daily basis, I call that as essential nutrients, not a supplement.

[00:46:15] Right.

[00:46:15] So that that's a key thing in terms of supporting the cellular health.

[00:46:20] So that's a key thing in terms of how to handle the cellular health, and you're able to have a better baseline.

[00:46:29] To, you know, to give you one example is like for me, back in 2014, I was supposed to actually have a bunionectomy, actually.

[00:46:38] But my physical therapist ended up having to really look at the root cause of the issue and really help to build up a strong foundation in terms of my movement and the stability that I was looking for.

[00:46:52] So if you talk about stability and movement, it builds resilience.

[00:46:55] It's the same aspect of how your cellular function is as well.

[00:46:58] As long as you have a cellular stability and providing that essential needs of the proper fatty acids for, you could withstand a lot of the impact from the outside environment to handle that better.

[00:47:12] And that's all depending on the person's lifestyle and how they live and how they care themselves every day as well.

[00:47:18] And especially I talk about cellular health.

[00:47:20] I talk about spiritual health and that whole nervous system dysregulation being controlled well enough as well.

[00:47:28] Because cellular health, especially, I don't know if you know Dr. Bruce Lipton, he talks a lot about how our cellular function dictate our future and everything else that goes on.

[00:47:38] That's the thing.

[00:47:39] The key thing about it is that we are made of trillions of cells.

[00:47:45] The essential health and how we end up thriving in this environment is the cellular function and health in itself.

[00:47:51] So that's the reason why I like to support that first before I end up having to do anything else.

[00:47:56] You bring up Dr. Bruce Lipton.

[00:47:58] I know I've read one of his, I think one of his foundational or most well-known books.

[00:48:03] And it was, yeah, eye-opening to me.

[00:48:05] And it's funny that you bring him up because I remember reading one of his books and thinking, oh, this all makes sense.

[00:48:12] And I just really appreciate you being here and kind of laying out this holistic, well-rounded approach to creating resilience within our body.

[00:48:23] Like Jen said, that's exactly what we try to do with movement.

[00:48:28] We're working with slightly different systems, but they all overlap.

[00:48:31] And they are all a part of creating resilience in our body so that we can take and we can handle some of the exposures that we just may not be able to avoid in our environment.

[00:48:41] Or some of the pleasures that we might want to indulge in that could be toxic to the system.

[00:48:47] But we have built up a resilient system that is able to handle that.

[00:48:53] So, Dr. John, I appreciate you being here and sharing all of your wisdom, all of your knowledge.

[00:48:58] I know that we're going to have information and links down in the show notes of this episode where people can find you.

[00:49:04] But why don't you let us know where people can find you, find out how to work with you, or even find some of the supplements that you mentioned from Body Bio?

[00:49:12] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:49:13] So, you can find me on Instagram.

[00:49:16] I'm very active there.

[00:49:17] My Instagram handle is dr.john.pharmd.

[00:49:20] It's P-H-A-R-M-D.

[00:49:22] I also have a website, drkimwellness.com.

[00:49:26] You could book a call.

[00:49:27] But for Dr. Jen and Dr. Dom's listeners, I actually have a special promo for a heavily discounted 60-minute call for people who have not found any solution into their chronic illness.

[00:49:40] I am providing really good ways to work with me as a discovery call, but also really doing a full evaluation type.

[00:49:48] So, within the link, all the information will be there.

[00:49:51] Usually, it's very heavily discounted, but that's promo.

[00:49:55] But another thing is anything that related to the lipid medicine and the substantial fatty acids and supplements I talked about with Body Bio, within that particular page, all the information will be there.

[00:50:07] I also talk about cell danger response.

[00:50:10] I kind of dive into it, but I've written a very easy-to-read article.

[00:50:14] So, you get more information about how to reverse the course of the illness you're dealing with.

[00:50:19] So, hopefully that helps, and I appreciate you inviting me on this platform to share my story and to help others.

[00:50:25] Amazing.

[00:50:26] We'll definitely have that linked up.

[00:50:27] I would highly recommend checking it out, and I appreciate you giving such a generous promo so that people can get help within their bodies that don't feel like they've had it.

[00:50:37] So, thank you.

[00:50:38] Thank you so much.

[00:50:40] Such a fascinating episode with Dr. Kim.

[00:50:43] I feel like I had a lot more questions as well that I wanted to ask.

[00:50:46] So, definitely go learn more from him, either from his Instagram, or we're going to have that special promo link down in the show notes where you can get access to him to get on a call or to get some of those supplements.

[00:50:58] So, we're going to have that link down in the show notes.

[00:51:00] If you heard something that you feel like can support someone that maybe is going through a current struggle of their own, please pass this episode along.

[00:51:08] We really need your help in order to get these information out into the hands of other people.

[00:51:13] So, I hope to see you back on another episode of the Optimal Body Podcast.