Discover the Quantum Biology of Gut Health

Introduction to Quantum Biology and Healing 0:00

Welcome back. We're continuing our conversation on reversing Crohn's and colitis and really many different root cause driven chronic digestive conditions. And that's exactly what I'm going to unpack today with my next guest. Dr. Catherine Clinton is a licensed naturopathy. And really I think of her as an activist who is sharing all the cutting edge data on quantum terrain theory, quantum biology, and what that means to you and how understanding this paradigm of health and healing is not just about learning all the cool science and being a nerd, but actually creating a shortcut to your own health and healing and helping you take back control of your vitality and your recovery yourself.

So I'm so excited to introduce you to her. Welcome to my dear friend and colleague, Dr. Catherine Clinton. Hi, honey. Hello, Sinclair. Thank you so much for having me on today. I am always excited about the work you're doing and the information you're putting out there, so I'm honored to be here today. Yay! Okay, so let's jump right into the heart of it. I know that you have a personal, you know, story that goes along with this exploration that we're doing today. What is your own healing journey with ulcerative colitis?

Yeah, absolutely. So I was in my second year of National Catholic Medical School. It was long hours. it was just a lot of stress. It was that proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Right. And I was diagnosed with positive colitis, an autoimmune condition that affects the GI tract. Right. And it was really, severe. And I was in a great place to sort of put the pieces back together and go from debilitated, like, couldn't see patients, couldn't go to class to sort of that functioning, normal, productive member of society.

But I was still not well, and so many of us can kind of relate to. Right. You can function, but certainly not, the picture of health by any means. And that's when I started looking at quantum biology and how these invisible forces really guide life, guide our biology. And when we acknowledge them and start tending to them, we can really achieve a much deeper sense of vitality, a greater, awareness of our own health and how to tend to it. Oh yeah, I totally agree with you. Somebody who suffered with severe chronic digestive conditions myself, your world really shrinks down to the shape of your symptoms, doesn't it?

Personal Ulcerative Colitis Recovery Story 2:53

It's hard to understand if you haven't walked this path. And I'm so grateful that you were surrounded by support and you could do this deep dive for yourself. So what really moved the needle for you back in the day versus how you would approach it differently? Understanding quantum biology today I know it's complicated question, but I would I there's so few people I can talk to about this. I just really want to get your thoughts on that. Yeah, absolutely. So I think, you know, I had all I had wonderful support.

So I had, all kinds of botanicals and physical interventions, which were wonderful, but they weren't always placed in the right order. Right. I remember my boyfriend now has been finding me sort of curled up in a ball saying, why are you doing this sort of cleanse, you know, and and it was because that was the only way we knew how to do it, right? It was just everything all at once. And what really opened my eyes to sort of the energetic, the energetics of light, of sound, of coherence, our own thoughts.

I was, was sort of pushed into it. Right. So the physician that I was doing rotations under, she was actually my physician, Sasha Ambrose, incredible doctor. And she pushed me to look at psycho neuro immunology. And that's just a big word for how our thoughts and emotions impact our biology. And of course, they have a huge impact. And I was like, yes, I see it with that patient. Definitely with that patient. But I really didn't want to look at that and how it affected my own health. Right. That was sort of like let's, let's not maybe there's another herb or another acupuncture treatment or something else that we could do.

But she was absolutely right. A lot of my emotional reactions and, and just internal terrain, right. Like that subconscious train of thought that we have going in the background that we often don't even realize has such a huge impact on our health. And at the time, I was studying mitochondrial health and I came across an article from Picard, Martin Picard, and he was looking at how our thoughts and emotions impact our mitochondria. And I was like, oh my goodness, this is this is so profound and so powerful.

And so I started working with heart coherence exercises, qigong, all sorts of different things. and at the same time, I was really looking at the early quantum biology research out of UC Berkeley showing that coherence and how things in living systems and work together as one as a whole, and that I was just sold. I was like, okay, this is something we weren't taught in school. This is something that is foundational, and I need to explore more. And I haven't stopped. It's absolutely fascinating. Once you start to realize our cells communicate with electromagnetic frequency, with sound, the water inside of us is critical to all this communication.

There's this whole thing happening on a frequency level that is really underappreciated in a doctor's office. Right? There's research about it, but in a doctor's office and and to the patients out there, it's really, under under utilized, for sure. I totally agree. I can't wait for the day age where practitioners get to spend more time on psycho neuro immunology than, even nutrition, although we could certainly do with some bulking up of nutrition in our academic careers. So what is the, you've thrown out a couple of tantalizing concepts.

Let's back up for a second and define what is quantum biology and what does that mean in relationship to these other words. You throw in that like frequency and cellular communication. Yeah, absolutely. So quantum biology is just looking at these invisible forces that guide light, right.

Defining Quantum Biology and Cellular Communication 7:24

Guides life such as light, light, sound, electricity, magnetism. And what we see is that in living systems, this is all happening in a bath of water. Right. sort of like the fish that doesn't know that it's in a sea of water. So to our bodies. Right. We're 70% water, but molecularly, because the water molecules so small, if you lined up all the molecules in the body, almost 99% of our body is water. And so there's this beautiful dance happening between the water within us and these vibratory languages of frequency, whether that's light and color or sound, whether that's the frequency of our thoughts.

we can talk about the bio field. I mean, there's so many different things happening in this quantum scale, right? This nano sized biology, really small, within the mitochondria and how that's sending out signals and acting as a receiver for information or fashion, this body wide sort of quantum size communication. Right. We have these nano tubules of collagen. I mean it goes on and on. But it's really looking at the smallest pieces of our body and how they seem to respond to frequency information and how that gives rise to what we see on a lab report or symptoms in a doctor's office.

Right. It gives rise to this chemical, mechanical model that we learned in school because we know we're trillions and trillions of cells, and each one of these cells is completing hundreds of thousands of tasks each second. Some researchers estimate it in the millions. Right. And math matically that's impossible with our chemical mechanical model of the key and receptor bumping around random collisions until you find that receptor and unlock and biological action happens. Right. What we're seeing is that there's this layer underneath that that seems to be guiding that, and it isn't random.

It is mathematically feasible. When you start to look at quantum biology and these really small pieces and how they're working together. So it's a really fascinating emerging field. Yeah. I really appreciate the way you just broke that down. Or we're it's actually mathematically impossible for our old medical model to be true. things just bump around in their little chemical messengers. The slow nervous system, the endocrine signal errors. Like, that's. It's not actually, it doesn't account for the complexity and the speed at which our body is updating in real time, maintaining itself, repairing, but also responding to our environment, right.

And to these conditions. So this is so cool. So what for somebody who is unwell right now with, say something a chronic condition like Crohn's or colitis that we've been told there's an autoimmune component. I'll put that in quotes for the duration of this interview, that there are root causes, that there's a nutrition element, that there's a stress element. How do we sort through that, all that information from a frequency perspective? Absolutely. That's such a great question. And I'm so glad that you put quotation marks around it.

Right. Because if we looked up autoimmune, we would see the definition. Is your body attacking itself. Right. And right. Then right there in that definition is a propulsion into sickness. Right? Thinking that our body is attacking it ourselves, thinking that our body isn't safe, that our body isn't wise. That's the, wonderful first step to take into feeling sick and being sick. Right? And so when I talk about autoimmune conditions and I was diagnosed with two of them, Hashimoto thyroiditis as well, the issue is your body responding to danger signals and it's responding appropriately.

And when we can remove those dangerous signals, then those symptoms start to recede. Right. And that was certainly the case in my, healing. And I've seen it in patients as well. I know you have as well. It's just an intelligent body respond in to these dangerous signals. So how do we identify them? We see, you know, we sort of take tally of is it an environmental stress like toxins mold. Is it, a feeling of lack of safety or belonging in our communities, in our bodies, in our family, our workplace is it, a nutritional lifestyle?

Right. Circadian. Our relationship with light and the frequency of light guides our cells.

Autoimmune Conditions, Light, and Circadian Rhythm 13:03

So our cells have clock genes in them, circadian genes. And the light that hits our eyes and our skin, that, light goes right into the retina, goes through the optic nerve into our suprachiasmatic nucleus in the center of the brain. That's our master clock. So the light through our eyes tells our body, here's what time it is. So if it's morning, if it's noontime, we need to be up and going. Our metab ism needs to be high. Our cortisol, which helps with so many different things inflammation, blood sugar, regulation that needs to be high.

A big burst in the morning. Right. And that light information as it enters the brain, it is spread throughout the body to all of the cells. they call them peripheral clocks, right? Because all of our cells, almost all of our cells have these circadian clock, these circadian genes. And if we aren't living in alignment with, rising and setting of the sun, right. The biggest stimulus that we've had as humans living on this planet, if we aren't in alignment with that, our body starts to send signals that are inappropriate.

Right? We have high cortisol at night, which is leading to, all kinds of issues with our adrenal glands, with our metabolism, with melatonin and the ability for us to get a restful sleep, for our cells to repair, for our body to get rid of damaged and cancerous or dysfunctional cells, for, all of these things to take place. The initiator for that is the light in our environment, and our body is fine tuned to that being the natural light, the rhythm of the sun. And so that's one example of of frequency information, right, is, is light and how our biology can look completely different if we're getting a little bit of sun in the morning, if we're getting a little bit of sun throughout the day and lowering the lights when the sun goes down and like this light, I have behind me a salt lamp, which is, a really glowing orange light.

It doesn't block that release of pineal melatonin. It still allows for that release of melatonin and allows a cortisol to lower. It allows left into dark in the brain all of these different functions to happen, which basically give us a balanced immune system, decreased inflammation, a metabolism that works right, all of neurotransmitters that make us feel calm and content, all of these things, they're triggered, they're guidance is being led by the light in our environment. And so many of us live in a 24 seven artificial light environment where we're not getting that natural light, where we're having bright LED lights after the sun goes down, creating this confusion biologically in the body.

Yeah, that's that's a great overview of what is actually happening to the body. When are we have been in unintentionally disrupting ourselves and disrupting our body's own rhythms for self repair and communication and healing? So it makes sense that, you know, even something as resilient as our digestive tract, which is, you know, arguably one of the most resilient systems in the body. And not that there's really any separation within the body. But, you know that your digestive lining is actually rebuilding itself every three days.

So how come we're persisting with things as, you know, upsetting as ulcerative colitis. So if we're building ourselves constantly, but we're actually also interrupting ourselves constantly, aren't we? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And I think a lot of people think, okay, was talking about the light in our eyes and data, but we also have light within the body, right? Like our gut microbiome is communicating with light. Our GI cells are in this dance with the microbiome where they're getting that cue that we talked about light through the eyes into that, skin in our brain that goes peripherally, tells our gut, okay, here's what time it is.

And then the microbiome further tells them that they say, okay. Yeah. What do you say it is? Oh yep. Yep. That is what time it is. And if there's a mismatch there that leads to inflammation in the gut. Right. And it's just so fascinating. I mean when you start to look at what's happening with those gut microbiome, microbes, what you see is what we know to be true is true, right? Like fiber, polyphenols, all of these things short changed fatty acids, those are so important for our microbiome, for the cells that line our GI tract, for the little mitochondria that are in those cells, but also there is this frequency information happening there where they're communicating the sound.

Sound has, a big impact on the diversity and population of the gut microbiome. I mean, who would have thought? Of course, nutrition has to play into that, right? We know that. But there's all this frequency language happening there as well. This intimate conversation happening between the gut microbiome and the mitochondria. I mean, it's just to me, it's endlessly fascinating. I agree. It's it's really interesting. So on a practical level, how can, our understanding of light, all of this emerging data from recent decades, how can we apply that to healing chronic digestive conditions?

What would you recommend for somebody at home? Yeah, absolutely. I know I've tossed out a lot of sort of sciencey things here, because I'm a nerd and I think it's so that you. You guys have to follow Doctor Catherine on Instagram because it's the nerdiest and also most uplifting account that I follow. It's just wonderful. Thank you. Yeah, I, I am a total nerd, but we don't have to get bogged down in the science of it. It's really simple, right? We are humans. We're living on this planet in the solar system, and it's a solar system because we travel around the sun, right?

It is our biggest stimulus. And so to help our digestive function, if we can get out and get morning sun within an hour to the sun rising,

Practical Light Habits for Gut Health 20:38

that helps normalize our neurotransmitters and our mood. That helps normalize our hormones, that helps balance our inflammation. it tells our the circadian rhythm and reset in the gut lining all of those things by getting ten, 15 minutes outside, maybe, you know, drinking your morning tea or something outside. Just it's not a long time. We don't have to live in a cave on the mountain away from technology. Right? This is I'm talking 10 or 15 minutes in the morning and then balancing that modern life right here I am inside with a bright white light in front of my face.

and I balance that with going outside and getting natural light throughout the day. I make sure that I taking a couple calls or interviews outside. I try to eat my lunch outside because that has a huge impact on my digestive function. Right? My. Yeah, my my cells say, oh look, it's noon. The sun's right there. You're supposed to be raring through some food and we'll use that food, for all these different things and we'll help you digest it. Right. Versus indoors where your body's like, I don't think maybe you should be even eating now, right?

I don't even know what time it is. So 10 to 15 minutes in the morning, getting outside for a break throughout the day to get natural light and then lowering that light at night. And some of us, you know, I live in the Pacific Northwest. It gets dark here sometimes in the winter, around 430 or 5, and we're not bumping into each other in the dark all evening. I lower the lights with salt lamps. I, you know, we like to sit and snuggle and watch movies some nights. So we're wearing blue light blocking glasses.

There are ways to lower the blue light on your screens, and technology, there's all kinds of ways to do that. We become really smart with our with our tech. And so it doesn't have to be this overhaul. It kind of looks like an hour or so of changing the lifestyle, right? 10 to 15 minutes, maybe a half an hour or more. More is always better, right? I don't want to discourage you from that. But if you're thinking, oh, this is a big, huge overhaul, it absolutely doesn't have to be. It's just aligning with the sun, getting those lights lowered at night so our melatonin can be released, that antioxidant.

So we can rest so we can repair so we can scavenge up all those cells that need to be, recycled and thrown in the trash. Right. Totally. Yes. That's perfect. I appreciate you saying this in such practical terms for folks, too, because you're right, it doesn't mean you can't watch movies at night. Like we haven't had a TV the entire time. Michael and I have been together like I hadn't had a TV for years before that. And when I would go to somebody else's house now, or I'm traveling and I'm exposed to a TV, it's like really upsetting to my brain and my body because it's so bright.

I miss parents TV. I call them blink. You blink blinking, flashy flashing, because it's just like an assault on the senses, you know, in the dark. And then, you know, and it's like Oregon in the winter, and you're not supposed to be like, attacked. That. But that doesn't mean that you can't watch movies. You can use red light glasses like you were talking about. You don't need a TV to do it either. You know, we watch movies on, you know, a laptop that we use a projector screen, and we have f.lux or flex, which is a free program you can download onto your computers so that your screen is in sync with your zip code for the time of year you're in, and the light range that you should be experiencing, it's this is really doable, guys.

That's free. And you know this, it will be translated onto the projector. So it's just a much more calming experience. And you still get to have that enjoyment. We're not talking about not enjoying your life. We're talking about getting back to enjoying your life in the rhythm that your body wants right? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And the impact that it has is so powerful. I think we underestimate that. And we can say, okay, this lady's sharing this stuff and okay. Yeah. Light light. Like try it for a week.

The impact is so profound I cannot tell you how many people within a week are feeling better, are sleeping better, their mood is improved. And this is free. This is free stuff. Right. And and it was hard to implement with my family. Right. I have two kids and, I used to not want any blue lights on at night. Right. I used to kind of be. And now I've like everybody has their blue light blocking glasses for when we watch shows or TV. but it was, transition for sure, right? My, one of my kids, is a teenager, and he was like, mom, other families don't live like this.

I just got back from a sleepover.

Gut Support: Fiber, Polyphenols, and DHA 26:18

And what are you having us do? And it's like, I, I get it, it is I it is different for sure, but it is such a powerful thing that doesn't take money. That doesn't take a lot of time. It's just a little tinkering with how we set our lives up right? Yeah. And it's a choice. Yeah. It's a it's a way to honor the body. And, you know, do we want to override and ignore the body or do we want to actually honor it and, and use that information to get back to who we really are. Right. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

So tell me more about your favorite gut support. Let's wrap there. Unless you want to sneak in any other myth busting in the time we have left. Well, I think let's go with gut support because, it's I think it's fascinating as well. Right. And even on a frequency level. So let's talk about, my three favorite. Right. So polyphenols fiber to create short chain fatty acids, which is kind of a 2 in 1. And DHEA. so what's happening here when we eat fiber, in the diet, then that fiber is not digested by our body.

Right? And it goes into the colon, the large intestine, and our microbiome there turns it into short chain fatty acids. And these short chain fatty acids go into our mitochondria. They are direct fuel for them as well as a protective mechanism. Right. They actually protect them, the mitochondria and kind of help with those uncoupling proteins and say, you know, it's okay. Let's let's chill out a little bit. Let's increase your longevity or maybe even make more of you, to create optimal health. Right.

And our mitochondria are so important to our gut health. our mitochondria are those little bean shaped things that we learned about in school that create ATP, our energy source. And when we don't make enough ATP, then wherever that mitochondria is, we're talking about the cells in the GI tract, right. If they're not making enough ATP, they're then those cells aren't as healthy as they can be. They're not functioning as they should. And so this butyrate or short chain fatty acids go in and directly impact the health of the mitochondria.

Right now let's add a little bit of color to our diet when we're eating starches right. Resistant starches fiber that go in and create these short chain fatty acids. If we add some color in there in our diet areas, all kinds of things, right? If there's color from a plant source, then that is a, phytochemical that has a polyphenol content, right? Those polyphenols can go in. And again, they impact the mitochondria. And what we see with polyphenols and what we see with DHA, a, which is an a mega three fatty acid, we see that they help with inflammation, right.

In this chemical model. And it's incredible the impact they have. What we don't hear about is that they have three pi electrons that are able to get excited, and they are able to create an energetic frequency in and of themselves. Right? So not only are they impacting a benefit on a chemical mechanical model, but they also have this capacity to get excited to, store and emit light information throughout the body. So it's this really, incredible deep dive to understanding that the things that we think are helping on a chemical level are.

But there's also this frequency language helping at the same time. It's just fascinating to start putting the pieces together there. And love that. Yeah, that's a great point. There's anything you want to wrap with before we let folks know how to find you today. In this house. I'm just, really excited for people to understand this language of frequency. And maybe the biggest piece is being gentle with ourselves, right? And and being loving to ourselves. And the impact of that has might be greater than everything that I talked about today.

And so maybe that's where someone listening today might want to start being gentle with yourself, being loved towards

Self-Compassion and Where to Find Dr. Clinton 31:29

yourself can be an incredibly powerful way to impact our digestive health. And these chronic issues that so many of us suffer from. That's a great way to end. And every training in our courses with exactly that thought of be so gentle with yourself, you know this is sacred ground that you're on right now, this healing process. It can't be done by anybody else. It's an inside job and you're getting outside guidance. But it's still an inside job. So let's be really, really tender and gentle and graceful with ourselves.

Give yourself grace for those ups and downs, because that that frequency of grace is good. That's the shortcut, right? Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And thank you so much for both the the scientific overview today and also the emphasis on practical tips. Where can people find you? They can find me at drcatherineclinton.com That's my website. drcatherineclinton.com I have a lot of free information and resources there. you can find me on social media, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, same handle. dr.catherineclinton and I love to share this information.

So come find me.