Insider Look at DNA Results: Nicole Dunn

Introduction to Nicole's Health Journey 0:00

Hello again everyone. Welcome to our lecture series where we're talking to all of our incredible clientele. Some of our friends, some of the people that we're super, super close with. And we're really looking at DNA companies success stories. So how have these people from all walks of life really impacted their health and wellness for the better? And today I have the wonderful Nicole Dunn. She's a great friend. I've had the chance and opportunity to chat with her on a number of occasions. Now. I'm super, super excited to talk to her about her personal health journey.

So Nicole, thank you again for doing this. And welcome to the to the chat. Hi. Thanks for having me. You know, I do health and wellness PR, so I've been working in the industry for 15 years. We have a number of brands that are really amazing. We've covered diet with like Minor Diary, we've covered sleep with My Essentia Fitness with less Mills and Tony Horton and P90x health with Doctor Mindy Pelz, you know, functional medicine, sexual health with gains weight. So we've done a lot of stuff. I've learned a lot about health and wellness, but what I did not know was why my health was so poor.

I mean, honestly, working in health and wellness, you'd think this girl's really healthy. Not the case. I had stomach problems probably most of my life. I was popping a, the pill for the acid reflux all the time. I had bouts of stomach pain. So I thought that while I was at Dave Aspirins conference, and I got the code for the DNA testing that I thought that I would finally try to get to the bottom of some of my issues. So here I am. Yeah. That's awesome. So, obviously, you know, your health and wellness, PR executive, obviously, you know, people don't realize, yes, we're focused health and wellness.

We often ignore our own health because we're pushing ourselves to the limit.

Why She Tried DNA Testing 1:57

What was it about the DNA testing and specifically, what did you know about DNA testing where you kind of on the fence about it, where you're not sure about it, or did you feel like, obviously, because it was coming from Dave, someone you trusted, you were like, you know, this is a company that I, that I want to try out and really test and see what they give us. Well, I actually felt like DNA was interesting to me. I wanted to know more about DNA, and I had done, in vitro fertilization. And so they had tested my genetic stuff for the purposes of that.

And, that was years ago. And so I figured, you know, I'm going to really dive into the DNA because I'm interested in DNA. And I think for me, there's a couple of things that came through from the reports that really resonated with me. And, you know, you cover so many things. So it's like mood and behavior, which I would have never had thought would have been in my DNA like structure. And and so that to me, that was one point. That was interesting. Also the diet and the sleep. I really wanted to know more about that and my fitness.

As you know, you know, I've represented pretty much every brand from P90x to Pilates to Orange Fitness to whatever. And I've done all those workouts but never really found a workout that's really right for me. And when we were talking, you said, Nicole, you should be doing strength training. And since I started doing the strength training, I have felt a lot better. My stomach has felt a lot better. But I'd say, you know, in general, I was very interested in DNA and and my own DNA as a person. That's awesome.

So, you know, let's dive in. Right. Let's talk about some of the interesting things you learned. You mentioned mood and behavior. You know, mood and behavior. We always like to say like this is sort of the entry into your mind, right? When you everyone, I would say, has a pretty good intuition about how their mind works. They know that they are a certain way. Maybe they just don't know why it happens. And one of the things we've been able to do, the genetics, is kind of answer the question of the why.

So tell us a little bit about the things that you learned that maybe you were like, oh, that makes sense. Now I know why. And then maybe some things that surprised you about the DNA when it came to your motor behavior.

Mood, Behavior, and Career Insights 4:10

Yeah, I'd say the first thing was, that, predisposition to excel in reward based oriented careers. So that's anything like sales, business development, entrepreneur. And, you know, I was a former TV producer that kind of swapped over and started doing PR, and I wanted to do something meaningful to help people live happier, healthier lives. And I was doing the PR every day, and I liked it. I just didn't love, like, I mean, I love health and wellness. And so that to me was really interesting. That was the first thing that was on the report was that I was predisposition for those careers.

And once I started doing business development, I fell in love. I'm like, I love this, I love people, I love talking to people. Second thing was, I am the type of person that I need a lot of focus and but I it has to be, in short bursts. Like, I cannot sit down for like eight hours and just continue to work. So the report also mentioned that, which I was like really that. So that's strange, but it makes a lot of sense. And then the last thing was really, I don't get in a lot of arguments, but when people say things, I'm intently listening.

And one of the things is that I'm more so than the average person will think about those thoughts over and over and over again. And, it can be something really silly, like someone says something like, oh, well, you know, you wouldn't know how to be a mom. And I'm like, wait, what? And then I start thinking about, you know, because I don't have children. They they weren't meaning in a bad way. But, you know, then I start thinking about it, and then when I go to sleep, I can't sleep because I'm thinking about that thought, and I'm like, what could I have said to that person?

And so that was one of the things that I was really surprised about. And you could probably give more insight into that. Yeah. And it's so funny. You know, it's it literally comes down to how do how do we as individuals attach an emotion to a memory, an event or a task. Right. And so some of us I always give this example of, you know, we're walking down the street and you hear a dog bark. And so you turn around to face the dog and you know, things happen in your body physiologically. You're, you know, you were surprised by.

And so your fist clench and your heart rate increases and your pupils dilate and you're like, okay, am I going to fight or flight this dog? Right? I'm going to figure out what I got to do. And most people, when they realize that there's a cage in front of the dog and there's no crisis, then you're like, okay, crisis averted. They calm down and they move on with their day. But for some people, literally, because they're receptor for that kind of, you know, that fight or flight response is staying on for a long period of time because of a genetic variation.

The bind, they're noradrenaline. That's a fight or flight response transmitter. They bind to a longer period of time. And so these are the people they stay in that emotionally charged state for a little bit longer than the average person. And so that plays out in different aspects of their life. You know, they are more likely to to, you know, they're great empaths. So you're probably a friend. You empathize really well with others. But as they say, you may empathize a little too well where they're a struggle, their negativity might kind of leak over into your life and you build kind.

You know, my friend told me this, and like, you're sitting there thinking about, man, that's tough and that's impacting you. So you have this super power of being a super empath, but that can also bring you know, present its own challenges. And that leaks into things like sleep. Right. So you mentioned that, you know, for you, your sleep problem is not like everyone else. It was specifically over the fact that you ruminate or ruminate or you think about things at night and try to figure out the hypothetical ways that conversation.

But I'm also a light sleeper. So that was one of the other things that came through on the DNA report was that I can be, you know, waking up really easy and I can awake very easily. And, you know, and this is true, like last night, I, I just couldn't sleep.

Sleep Patterns and Rumination 8:07

The air conditioning is broken in our house, and all I could think about was the air conditioning is broken. I'm sweating, I'm hot. And, you know, then I wake up, and then it's hard for me to fall back asleep. So that was interesting. And then the thoughts and struggles to get back to sleep. And I think that's my biggest problem of even trying to get some deep sleep, so that I can have a productive day. You know, that's awesome. I mean, now that you've known, you know, you've learned these things, what have you start to implement right away in terms of especially on the motor behavior aspect?

How do you manage some of those tendencies? Well, you know, I have a coach, number one. So my coach has helped me to coach some of those things. You know, the little things that I don't need to worry about in my life. And the second thing would be meditation. Every day I do meditation. So twice a day, once in the morning, once in the evening, I try to do 15 minutes. I think that that's a good amount of time to really just think of nothing. I mean, of course you're thinking of things. And they come in and they go out.

My meditation teacher was, of course, Emily Fletcher, who's an amazing woman. And she said, those thoughts are just going to come in, but then you just let them go out. And, so I've done that. I've also changed my fitness routine. And that was the other, interesting aspect of the test that we kind of went over, in London. And, you know, I really feel like I have done so many workouts, but yet never found the one that really makes me, feel good. And you said to me, you need to do strength training.

And I started doing the strength training when I came back from London, and I feel fantastic. I actually missed my day yesterday because I had too much going on and I, I, I felt restless about it. I was like, oh my God, I gotta get to the, you know, and and it just didn't happen. But, I think for me, you also suggested, more mindfulness techniques, which I was implementing. But I'm now doing more of that. I'd like to incorporate breathwork because I think you said that was really important for me.

And then using asana, I really know the benefits of, like, an infrared sauna, that kind of stuff. And, and practicing intermittent fasting, which I have not done yet. I, have a consultation with my client for a session, to learn about intermittent fasting doctor Mindy Pels.

Meditation, Coaching, and Strength Training 10:25

And that's I'm definitely going to, try it. I yeah, I like food. And that's the other thing I like to snack. And you said, are you a snacker? And I said yes that's that's in your DNA too. Yeah. Yeah. And it's you know, and we'll get into a little bit of the details, but I want to really touch on one point that you made that's super important that people need to understand, and that's the value of having a coach. You know, people think, oh, do I need a coach or not? That coach that you end up bringing in.

You know, we do a lot of behavioral change coaching. We teach sort of how to implement. Having a coach is it's an accountability factor. It's like, hey, I'm accountable to someone because when people try to be accountable to themselves, they let themselves off easy. You know what I mean? You know, you really need to go and you're kind of convincing yourself. But when you when you're accountable to someone like, you know, I'm, I'm people are relying on me or I'm expecting you, I don't want to let anyone down.

And that psychologically can can be very influential in some of our decision making. So good on you for really identifying and, you know, and bringing that coaching because to your point, in your genetics, you will do better with a coach. When you have someone you're accountable to, you're more likely to be like, oh, I think I'm accountable to this person. Yeah. So that's that's wonderful. Now, you know, diet. Right. So we really love to people always want to think about why they're thinking what why.

That's the first question. They as well diets go beyond what you should eat and your nutrition profile. I don't like use the word diet because diet means is temporary. But we're trying to teach people is how do you change the way you eat as a lifestyle. This is going to be how you're going to eat for the rest of your life. So a person like you, when you're exploring intermittent fasting because of your snacking, most people, when they do intermittent fasting, they're eating once in whatever their first meal is and they eat a second meal.

But a person like you might actually end up doing 4 or 5 small meals to address the snacking component just within the eight hours that you're allowed to eat. Okay. I mean, so that way you address the snacking, but you're also being able to find that sort of 16 hour, you're putting the sleep into it as well. And obviously when you meet with, with with doctor pals and whoever, your functional medicine practitioner practitioners, those are some of the things that are influenced by genetics. Should I start in the morning with my first meal, or do I skip the evening meal?

Right. That'll come down to sort of your factors. So really, really interesting. And so I'm so proud that, you know, you're out there, you're lifting your weights and you're doing them, you know, mindfulness meditation because guess what? And you'll, you'll I'm sure you'll agree with this. It's the knowledge that you understand why I'm doing it. Yeah. That's driving the compliance. No no no, I like I know based on my genes like strength training is great for me and holy crap, I feel great. So like, you know, I mean, it's kind of that, like, reinforced, man.

Yeah. So that's wonderful. And I think to the last point would be, regarding the diet and the foods is, when I'm a snack or I'm eating good foods, I mean, I'm eating like an apple with, like, a piece of goat cheese or things like that, but, I'm I'm doing it throughout the day. Like, I've already had one snack before this call, and probably after this call, I will go and just get, you know, nibble and a nibble. So I want to explore the fasting to take me to because I think that's really going to help the stomach as well.

You mentioned, Whole Foods, you mentioned the foods that were really good for, for my genetic makeup. A lot of fiber. Broccoli, mushrooms, spinach, bananas, like things like that. I was not eating, so I am definitely eating more whole foods.

Diet, Snacking, and Food Triggers 13:59

I've eliminated all kinds of sugary snacky things. Pretzels were my favorite, like, that kind of stuff. So I think in in all in all, you have to look at sort of that food and then look at, well, what's my pain threshold right now? Like how much pain is my stomach in? It's very low with the whole Foods. If I eat the wrong food and I've done elimination diets. Doctor Bill Cole has a great elimination diet called the P, which is autoimmune protocol. And you really eliminate everything to figure out what is it that's really bothering you?

I noticed that nuts when I eliminated nuts, and I tried to reenter the nuts back in, and my stomach was like, we ain't doing that. And it's and it's. And you bring up such an important point, it's going to be different for everyone. Every one is going to know what their inflammatory trigger is. But the fact that the genetics point to a susceptibility inflammation is cause enough to be like, you know what? I need to step back and figure out in my diet, my lifestyle, my environment, what is it that's causing it for you? It's nuts.

For someone else, it might be eggs, for someone else might be dairy or gluten, right? Yeah, we know that whole foods are great, but for some people, for example, nightshades are very inflammatory. So that was a good plan. Bell peppers, tomatoes people don't do well with it. And not that it in and of itself it's a healthy vegetable. It's just not the healthy vegetable for you. So we're going to find another way to support you. And that's part of the beauty of genetics is being able to kind of get really personalized individual allies, to identify what works for you.

Because you also mentioned something, in my DNA about, pre-diabetic. Like, I could be pre-diabetic, right? So there is a tendency in your genome, for insulin resistance. And what that means is, you know, you eat something sugary, and it goes into your bloodstream. But guess what? The, the signal for the body to release insulin, that's the hormone that takes the sugar and puts into the cells. Well, that they didn't get out enough. You know, they're snoozing the alarm. Right? So alarms going off, your snoozing the alarm.

And so over time, anything that's high in sugar is high in calories, high in carbohydrates that can trigger that sort of elevated blood sugars. And over time, elevated blood sugars are a factor of type two diabetes. Now, what's important for you is based on that information. You know, when you shouldn't be eating is later at night, because that's when metabolic dysfunction is worse. You can have more available function. So we talked about your evening meal if you're going to do it is very very specific.

It's lean protein and it's those complex carbohydrates, green leafy vegetables really dealing you know removing the the sugar and the fat consumption later on. Right. So yeah, I thought that that was super interesting. And because I was like, oh no, when you said it and then but it is, you know, I'm, I am trying to eat my meals before 6:00 because I feel like it hits seven. And then you're you're in bed at 9 or 10. Your food doesn't have time to digest. And also that has an effect on me as well.

And the nightshade thing is big as well. I feel like, any time I eat any of those foods, they really hurt my stomach. And I'm struggling, you know, and sometimes I slip up. Sometimes I want a little, little something or a little macaroni and cheese, and I'm like, oh, good. You know that little bite that I had? And then the next day I'm like, oh, yeah. Yeah. And and that's again, it's important to remember we don't want to build a plan, especially for people with your profile. Like for you that diversity is important is that happiness of food is important.

If you tell someone like you that, hey, you gotta eat both chicken and broccoli for the rest of your life, like it's not going to be a sustainable diet for you. Like, you have to understand that sustainability is more important than being that rigid structure, especially if you're not a person that already thrives in rigid structures. It's going to be difficult. So again, it's about not just what you eat, but how you're eating it. When you're eating it, where you're eating, and why you're eating it.

Those are all important questions that the genetics helps answer. Yeah, Nicole, you've been wonderful so far. Thank you so much. I appreciate, you know, sort of sharing your genuine true experiences with us.

Insulin Resistance and Personalized Eating 18:18

And and what would you leave listeners here perhaps have never taken the test or considering it? What's the kind of parting words you'd want for people who are listening to this? Well, I really feel like if you want to learn about your body and your DNA and your structure and what what's going to work for you, this test is for you. I think a lot of people wonder and then they have problems. Then they go to a doctor to doctor to doctor. I would start here because then you can learn the basic genetic stuff that might be your triggers.

Right. And then you can go out and then address them, you know, with some of the DNA, data that you get back. I mean, for me, look, we've you've got all the buckets covered, you've got the mood and behaviors. You've got the diet, you got sleep, health conditions, the workouts, those are the five key essential things that every person, thinks about. And wants to do better at, wants to improve. So I would say if those five, if anything in those five categories is, is, you know, bothering you, or you need to improve upon, then you'll have the insight to be able to then go out and find a solution and really start working on implementing some of those into your, you know, daily routine.

Yeah. Wonderful. Thank you so much for your time, Nicole. I appreciate your, you're here. You're you're wealth of experience and knowledge. And for those who are listening, tune in next time. We'll be doing this with a number of people. So we look forward to sharing more success stories, more insights on the power of DNA and functional genomics. Thanks again everyone. Take care.