Epigenetics - Can you REALLY turn back your DNA clock? Expert Simone Kvalheim is in the house!

 Our genes control most of our lives – from the way we look, to the way we act, to the way our bodies respond to disease.   LifePharm, Incorporated is a company committed to improving health and longevity at a cellular level through their study of the science of “Epigenetics”.  Today we’re visiting with Neuro Regenerative Coach, Simone Kvalheim, to learn more about this fascinating science!

To contact Simone, visit www.x-celleratedhealth.com

Together, we'll build Healthy Cells, and a Healthy You!

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Janet Walker  00:05

Our genes control most of our lives. From the way we look to the way we act to the way our bodies respond to disease, LifePharm Incorporated, our sponsor is a company committed to improving health and longevity at a cellular level. Their study of the science of epigenetics and how we can affect a change to our DNA for the better is making headlines. Recently, LifePharm experts were interviewed for PBS’s Innovations in Medicine  on the topic of epigenetics. Today, one of those experts is here to tell us all about this fascinating topic. 

 My name is Janet Walker, and I'm the host of the Healthy Cells Healthy You Podcast. For 16 years, I've been a writer and producer for the award-winning national PBS Health Information Programs, American Health journal and Innovations in Medicine. We've interviewed 1000s of doctors, scientists and researchers on every topic related to health and medicine. Healthy cells healthy you is brought to you by LifePharm Incorporated, a company whose innovative cellular repair products are backed by extensive science, research and clinical studies. 

Welcome listeners, I'm so happy to have Simone Kvalheim visiting with me today. Simone is an expert in age reversal and cognitive restoration. She's a frequent conference guest speaker on anti-aging topics, including Alzheimer's recovery and cellular repair. Simone has authored the publication's your DNA Is Not Your Destiny, and Phototherapy. And she was recently interviewed for PBS’s Innovations in Medicine on the topic of epigenetics, which we're going to be speaking with her about today. Welcome, Simone. And thank you for joining us. So first let’s talk a little bit about your experience and how you came to be an expert in the area of cellular and Gene DNA repair.

Simone Kvalheim  02:11

I've always been interested in health, my health, my family's health, and like a lot of women out there, we juggle many hats, business, family, life health. And it was only when my health got seriously compromised, that I really decided to take a look at what is really happening. And the reason why I connect that to when I did first year medicine is because again, back in the day when I did first year medicine, what we learned in biology, then a lot of that is no longer relevant. You know, when we look back, we were told that the brain only has a finite number of brain cells. While we know today that we can regrow a brain that we are a regenerative organism. So it was because of this time that's happened. My health having deteriorated me having to find answers for myself, and not necessarily wanting to go to an allopathic process that I discovered and invested in myself in research in epigenetics.

 Janet Walker  03:14

This is such a fascinating field of study. Can you explain epigenetics to our listeners?

 Simone Kvalheim  03:20

Epigenetics is a very new science. It's a science that now validates what we have known for maybe 30,40, 50 years. And that is that our genetic code is set. But how our genes react to our behavior, or how our behavior and our environment affects our genes? Is that new science? And why do we have to have a scientific name for it? Like epigenetics is because so many people think unless something is scientifically based, it has no value. And some things that we look back, for instance, light therapy, right? When we look back at that people would think well, that's woowoo. But now we have a name for it. We have a scientific name photobiomodulation. And so that gives its credence, we've known for a long time, that the effect is outside of what happens in tonally to our body that actually affects who we are. And that is epigenetics.

 Janet Walker  04:20

So what are some of the factors that affect our genes?

 Simone Kvalheim  04:24

Factors that affect genes are essentially obviously your mother's and father's genetic makeup. That's the first place, right? The stem cell activation. That happens because you've mother and your father have come together had fun and you've got a sperm and ovum, and boom, now we've got something being created something magical. So it's that piece, and then what happens to us as we just regrow affects our genes. Our genes are a blueprint for who we are, but they really only make up about 10% of who we are in the long term. And so it's a very exciting time right now, to be able to see what actually makes up genes. What affects genes, food affect genes. Food affects mitochondria, mitochondria, the little furnaces within ourselves that are affected by our genes. So it's not just one thing. It's a whole group of things that affect our genes. And make sure that we grow, keep them activated, and don't break off and deteriorate.

 Janet Walker  05:32

Can cells regenerate? And if so, how

 Simone Kvalheim  05:35

can cells regenerate? That is such an exciting question. It's such a pivotal thing to what we know now about the body. And that is, we are regenerating organisms. And so, you know, when I look back at when I first medicine, we were told certain things. And now that is no longer true, we know that we can regenerate cells. If we look at the mitochondria, which are the little furnaces within all of our cells, if we keep them healthy, the cells are healthy. And so you know, I always say, God endowed us with this most amazing piece of architecture gave us stewardship of it. And all we have to do is make sure that we do the right things. And one of them is give the body the right information in the form of food and nutrients and being in an environment that lets those cells grow and regenerate.

 Janet Walker  06:32

So then, what conditions can be helped through cellular repair to help those cells grow and regenerate?

 Simone Kvalheim  06:39

Well, you know, helping the body through cellular repair is such an important piece for people to understand today, that we are now in a position as human beings to take back our wellness. If we take back our wellness, we take back the ability to repair our bodies, and ourselves. And some of the things that we can do is look at the food that we eat. But more importantly, it's looking at the food we eat, what that eat food, some of us, they might be eating meat. And for some of us, we think meat is okay in small amounts. But we need to know what that meat or that cow has eaten. Because that plays a very important part in what we then absorb from that food. So food is a big thing with regards to keeping ourselves alive. Another important thing that a lot of people never focus on, they just think it's just maybe woowoo is actually what we think, what we think and what we believe, can actually affect ourselves. You know, there's a lot of science out there now to support that. If you think you have cancer, you can generate and develop cancer. And on the other side of that, if you don't have if you do have cancer, just thinking that you don't have cancer, living in the possibility of being able to grow a new body, in in love and joy, you can affect your cells. So it's not just the regular, you know, medication or supplements. There's a whole lot of things that affect the sales growth and regeneration.

 Janet Walker  08:21

Now your job title is neuro regenerative coach. So tell us, what is neuro regeneration?

 Simone Kvalheim  08:29

Neural regeneration is a name given to the actual recreation and real development of neurons using stem cells. So it's very exciting because now it means we can regrow our brain. You know, we as I always tell people, when I did first year medicine, we were told we had a finite number of brain cells. And if you went out partying, and you killed off some of those brain cells low behold you when you you're 3040 50, and God forbid you even have a brain when you're 70. We now know that one of the quickest regeneration pieces of the brain is the hippocampus is the first that gets to degenerate. But now with modern science, and epigenetics, we know that we can regrow a brain and that's what neuro regeneration is, is getting new neurons, getting new synapses taking a brain from when it was almost dormant, to being able to come alive. And as you can tell I'm excited about that.

 Janet Walker  09:32

That is really exciting. It just opens up a world of hope. So what exactly does a neuro regenerative coach do?

 Simone Kvalheim  09:41

And your regenerative coach is someone like myself, where we look at the brain, the heart and the gut, and understand that we're a whole piece. So we're holistic. If we look at the brain as the command center, we need to make sure Whether it's working at optimal condition. And so as a neuro regenerative coach, my job is to work with people to see where they are, with regards to their cognition, delve a bit deeper, do what we call an epigenetic search, like a detective, find out what's happening with their guts, what's happening with their heart, what's happening with their lungs, what medication are they on? What are they doing for recreation? What water are they drinking? And it's taking that and getting a whole picture, and then saying, You know what, this is what we do to go forward. And so I that's what I do as a regenerative coach in the area of neurogenesis.

 Janet Walker  10:41

I know you work a lot with Alzheimer's patients, can epigenetics or cellular repair help in Alzheimer's recovery?

 Simone Kvalheim  10:50

You know, epigenetics plays such a big part in the reversal, and the recovery of Alzheimer's. You know, for so long, we've believed that if someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer's, that they should go home, get their papers in order that their family know, suck it up, take some medication, and basically understand that you're going to lose your mind. That couldn't be further from the truth. Today, through science through epigenetics, I personally encourage people to go and get tested, because people in the past would say, you know, I want to be tested because there's nothing you can do. But if you can be tested, and I do testing, if you go and be tested, we can actually see where you're at with regards to your level of cognition. And then through a protocol, we can actually step by step, bring your cognition back. And on top of that, reverse your age, at a biological level. And so the it's very, very exciting that we can do this. And the reason why I get excited about it is because as a woman, wearing many hats, sometimes you hear women say, you know, I'm having a senior moment, when someone says they're having a senior moment, that's a time for us to stop and say, That's nothing to be laughed at. If you're thinking you're having a senior moment, let's take a look and see what's contributing to that. Because now we know we can reverse that, and give you your life back. So you know, Alzheimer's, as you can tell, I'm very passionate about the recovery of it. Because no longer do people have to be put in a box from another box, taking medication, ending up drooling, and not knowing who they are, where they are, and who their loved ones are, we can now reverse that.

Janet Walker  12:47

Wow, that is an incredible idea. I know firsthand what it's like to have a loved one living with dementia and Alzheimer's. And if there's help for those conditions, that's just an amazing thing, not only for the patient, but for the families as well. Perhaps in the future, we can have you come back and really delve into your work with Alzheimer's patients. But now I'd like to ask you a few other questions about cellular repair and functional medicine. We've heard a lot about functional medicine, can you give us an idea of what functional medicine is?

 Simone Kvalheim  13:28

Functional Medicine is very exciting in the area of medicine, because it's looking at optimal health. You know, over time, we just have got used to looking at normal. Nobody wants to be normal, we want to have optimal health. And optimal health is achieved through so many modalities that are encompassing natural remedies. And understanding the body as a whole. And not in pieces, not just your heart or your lungs or your liver. It's looking at the body as a whole.

 Janet Walker  14:01

Now, when you and I were talking earlier, we had a conversation about Whole Foods, and the role that Whole Foods play in cellular repair. One thing that LifePharm incorporated our sponsor is well known for is creating products that are that are using whole food ingredients. And I know they think that's very important. And I'd like to hear your take on whole foods and why they're so important.

 Simone Kvalheim  14:29

Whole Foods play a big part in cellular repair, because it takes the total nutritional value in that food to repair the cell. For instance, when you eat garlic, you should eat garlic cloves, all the garlic cloves in a house of garlic as opposed to one clove because you don't know if the hot if the one clove has all the nutritional value that's in a house. So when you eat a clove of a house of garlic, cut it in half and then you get the nutritional value from that whole house of garlic.

 Janet Walker  15:04

That's interesting. I've never heard that before. Let me ask you a question about gut health. We had Dr. Felicia Stoler here a couple of months ago, and she talked about how important gut health was. Is it possible to improve gut health by repairing our cells?

 Simone Kvalheim  15:25

Repairing cells is very important when it comes to gut health. You know, I'm a neurogenesis coach. And we look at the health of the heart, the lungs, the brain, in the gut, because we believe a lot of chronic disease actually starts in the gut and we're not able to metabolize our food. And if we have what is called a leaky gut, bacteria, and undigested food gets into our bloodstream travels in our bloodstream around the body as toxins. And if they're not eradicated by our immune system, they end up in the brain. So the gut is key to our health.

 Janet Walker  16:06

And then what about cellular repair and weight management?

 Simone Kvalheim  16:10

You know, repairing cells is important for weight maintenance. There's no question about that, because a lot of our weight, or our excessive weight is due to poor nutrition. It's due to anxiety, due to stress, all of that affects cells. And so if your cells are damaged, and you're not getting rid of broken cells to through autophagy, your health is compromised.

 Janet Walker  16:38

And it seems like repairing your cells or preserving your cells would be something that would happen at a younger age in your life. But what about older people? Can older people repair and regenerate their cells? Or is it really limited more toward people who are younger and more in the prime of their life?

 Simone Kvalheim  17:01

The question of whether cellular repair is just for young people, and it diminishes as you get older. Part of that is true. However, there is science now, and there's nutritional supplements that can actually help our body regenerate no matter what age we are. But the big key is, we need to be able to get rid of the dead broken cells, that's called autophagy. When you get rid of those broken cells, then new cells can grow. But as we age, sometimes through our lack of understanding or our diet, we don't get rid of those old cells, and they just accumulate. And that becomes chronic part of chronic disease. And so then aging is all about cells dying. So when it comes to aging, and the fact that if we keep our bodies healthy, we can regenerate cells no matter what age we are.

 Janet Walker  18:00

Oh, that's wonderful. Now let's get back to gut health. Talk a little bit about supplementation, hormone balance, start with a supplement. Is it important to take a high quality supplement for your gut?

 Simone Kvalheim  18:15

It’s very important to take a high quality supplement, with a simple reason that supplements can come from anywhere. When you look at a high quality, it's normally because somebody or the scientists have researched the ingredients and where those ingredients come from, where they're grown, how they're harvested, and more importantly, how they affect the body. And are they bioavailable? There's lots of supplements on the market that are not necessarily bioavailable, and there's that term, you're literally just putting your money down the toilet. So good quality supplements is key. 

 Janet Walker  18:50

So we talked about epigenetics and cellular regeneration. What about hormone balance? I know that a big part of gut health and an overall good health has to do with hormone balance.

 Simone Kvalheim  19:06

Stem cell regeneration is key to hormone balance. For the simple reason as humans, we shouldn't have to look outside of the body for hormones. We create them within the body. We just need the right messaging. And stem cells are the key to regeneration of cells and chemicals that can create hormones. So yes, stem cells are key. 

 Janet Walker  19:33

Is there a connection between hormone balance and weight management?

 Simone Kvalheim  19:36

Hormone balance and weight management? There is a direct correlation. Most people think it's only in women, but it is in men too. There is a direct correlation there on the overall health of the body. You know hormones are not in isolation. So we need that whole body to be at optimum levels. And so stem cells the be able to keep the body regenerating at a high level means that our hormones are going to be operating at a high level.

Janet Walker  20:08

On our last episode Dr. Samina amid was visiting with me she's on the Scientific Advisory Board for LifePharm. And she's an expert in weight loss plateaus. I'd like to ask you a little bit about that as well. What would you say contributes to a weight loss plateau?

 Simone Kvalheim  20:27

What contributes to weight loss plateau is simply that the body is out of balance, and we get so used to living in that normal, it becomes a normal that we don't stop and say, What am I doing? What is my environment? What am I eating? Am I stressed, and look at how that affects our hormones. And when we see how that affects our hormones, it affects our weight. And then if we look at that, at a deeper level, looking at our gut, we're able to identify certain things that need to be changed, just minor shifts that will get kick us off the plateau. One of the most important keys to optimal health is the gut. We believe everything starts in the gut. And you know, when we say we have a gut feeling, it's because there's an imbalance there. When we have an imbalance in our gut, the common one that we know about is leaky gut. When we have a leaky gut, that's when we need to stop and look at cellular repair within the gut. When we look at hormone imbalance, we always look at the gut. When we look at a weight plateau, we always look at the gut, because we know that there's our microbiome in our gut. And when that's not operating at an optimal level. We have weight plateaus, or we have brain fog. We have heart conditions, we have Alzheimer's. It all starts in the gut.

 Janet Walker  21:55

Thank you so much for being here today, Simone. Listeners if you'd like to get in touch with neuro regenerative coach Simone Kvalheim, please visit the Facebook page of the healthy cells healthy you podcast for contact information.  I’m your host, Janet Walker. Thanks so much for listening. You can find us on Apple podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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