Epigenetics: The Key To Precision Health Care

Welcome to the Practice Upgrade Summit 0:00

Hello, everybody. This is doctor Bob Hoffman from the Master Circle Global, and I want to welcome you to the Practice Upgrade Summit. Each interview, each conversation with each of our world class speakers. It has been nothing short of phenomenal. And today will be just like that. Today you're going to need to have paper and pen or a keyboard in front of you, because I assure you, you're going to want to take some notes. What you're about to hear has the potential to change how you practice, the results you get, how profitable you are.

So please stay focused, undivided attention, and I assure you, you will be very happy about that. Today's topic is on epigenetics, the key to precision healing. Now, some of you are very familiar with epigenetics and some may not be. Don't worry about that. This will be very practical and very helpful. Today our guest is Doctor Melissa Peterson, who is a sought after visionary female leader and transformational epigenetics success coach who is redefining the limits of what's possible in human health and human flourishing.

She's the founder of the Longevity Expert Network and executive director of a on Academy of Epigenetics, host of the limited limitless Excuse Me, the Limitless Lab podcast, and the author of The Codes of Longevity. She's a true change agent who delivers the tools and resources for anyone ready to express their highest outcomes in business, in health, and in life, so that we can each love, lead, and live life to its fullest. Melissa. Welcome on! I am so thrilled that you accepted our invitation. God, we've known each other, I don't know, 30 plus years.

And you are a dear friend and an absolute superstar. Welcome on. Thank you so much, doctor Bob. It is an honor, truly, to be back here, having the opportunity just to have a really heartfelt conversation with you and your entire entire tribe to pour in to everyone today and offer what I hope to be tremendous value. Well, and I'm sure they all get more than great value. So I started off before when I began talking about epigenetics,

What Epigenetics Really Means 2:23

that some people know what that is. Some people have a vague idea, some people aren't really sure. Yeah, but you dive deeper. What is epigenetics? Why is it so important and most important? How is it beginning to alter health care? Such great questions. So I think we start with the awareness that our genes are not our destiny. So when we think about science right. So many so many of us have been brought up through the traditional lens, which looks at the human body as a complicated versus a complex system, more like a car pieces and parts, forgetting that our very design is this integrative, dynamic bioinformatic being.

And so when the human genome was sequenced, a course, the early thought was, hey, genetics, genes equal destiny. If you have this variant, you have the snip. Then this is going to tell us who you are and what that means for you. Well, that's not really how it all played out. You know, as science began to grow with the new science of really looking at genetics. Along came the science of epi genetics. The epigenome is really about what signals the gene. It's above the gene is literally what it means in Latin.

And more specifically is this understanding of wait a minute. All our genes are our potential. They are not our destiny. Their code. And something activates this code. What is it specifically that does? And as the scientists dove deeper, what was found is, oh, it's the signals coming from above the gene. The environment around the cell. Well, now let's go macro for a moment, because too often, again, if we think through a complicated lens, then we want to get right down into root cause, right down into nitty nitty gritty, right down into the 1 or 2 things.

And again, we have to zoom out for a moment. And we have to remember that we are complex and we are literally all, connected if we really think about it. But let's zoom out for a moment and say, okay, if it's the environment around the cell that is informing the genetic expression, what's informing the environment around the cell. And again, as we go out macro, we go, well, it's the environment that we live in. And now we go out even larger. And what we understand through this new science is that it truly is every input from the world around us.

And that can be our thoughts and our behaviors and our habits, the foods we're eating, the water we're drinking, the light we are exposed to, the sleep we're getting or not right, how we're moving if we're getting adjusted. All of these inputs are signals that are what are being sent in and literally informing our very potential, the expression at the genetic level. And that truly is the science of epigenetics and kind of outer world informing inner world. That's the short version. Beautiful. So basically it's our lifestyle.

Yeah, that either turns on or turn off the switches of our genetics. I love to think of it. I like to say it is the science of lifestyle, because it absolutely is driven predominantly by lifestyle. And what's great is that no longer are we the victims of our genes. We are now masters, controllers of our own destiny. And so it really, whether we want to or not, puts us back in the driver's seat, right? It gives us free at last, right? Yes, exactly. And careful what we ask for. Right. But there's also another part to this doctor Bob.

And so lifestyle are going to be the biggest levers. The things that we can look at, we can easily see and understand through our genetic blueprint and we can take immediate action on. But there are also nuances and some of the things that expand more into kind of the wellbeing category, where we get into, you know, what are the things that evoke joy and purpose and, and meaning and connection. Those maybe get a little bit more mystical. We start to get into consciousness. We start to get into unconscious belief patterns.

Transgenerational epigenetics, a trauma that has happened in previous generations, and how that's literally been embedded in our DNA, and how it can be expressing as a stressor, like a real live physical stressor in our body today. And and what is happening is that not many practitioners especially understand, like we can we can wrap our head around diet. We can wrap your head around sleep and exercise and water. Right? But all of a sudden, when we get into things that seem to be out of our tangible touch and they get a little bit larger, like I said, and kind of that, that space that we'll just call the wellbeing and consciousness space.

Then it's kind of like, what do we do with this now? There's actually a lot we can do with it and we can keep talking about it, but it is lifestyles. Our first labor. Very good. And this is another myth, another myth buster, because most of us, when we were in school, medical school, chiropractic school, naturopathic school, whatever it might have been, we were always taught, as you started out, that our genes are our destiny. And like many medical paradigms, we've come to realize that that was false and that we are in control of our destiny.

We may have predisposition for certain illnesses or problems or expressions, but we can alter those predispositions by turning them on or turning them off through these levers of lifestyle and consciousness and awareness and intent and all these other factors that are critical. So how is the science? And it is the science of epigenetics. How is it changing health care today? So we're moving away from a time of one size fits most to what's really called kind of this. And of one we are in this moving into a time of the sovereign human, the precision we can get very precise now we no longer have to guess.

Throw spaghetti at the wall, hope something's going to fit and stick. And again, take something that's, you know, these general, kind of comparison studies and hope that they apply to us because we've all seen it in our practice. We've heard it from our clients and from our patients. Well, I've tried that diet or I've tried this or I've done that, or I've been to a chiropractor, I've tried that supplement or I've tried that modality and it didn't work for me. And so the individual thinks either a something's wrong with me or B just that thing, that thing doesn't work right.

So the reality is, is, yeah, nothing is the same for everybody. Right. And so we are now. So epigenetics is giving us a definable awareness and understanding of how to be precise in what is signaling our genetic expression.

Lifestyle, Consciousness, and Precision Health 9:01

What I love to do, you know, in the work that I do with my clients and in the work I do with training my coaches, is when we look at that genetic blueprint, while it's not genes or your destiny, it's still just information that's all it is. It's probability. Right? And so it's understanding. And this is a really key, sentiment I want to share with everybody watching and listening today that our words, the precision of the language that we choose to use, is already going to prime and seed a potential outcome.

So genetics just direct to consumer genetics can actually be a challenging tool in that it sets up the wrong aspects to the consumer. They get a report back and they think, oh, these are my genes, this is my destiny. Oh, I'm only supposed to eat, you know, protein and, low carbohydrates and minimum saturated fat, not understanding all the other nuances, for example, that could actually be at play. And so one of the things that's happening, and this is even a shift that we're seeing, like, here's the big stuff right now in health care, we are at such a time where the level of technology that is here and we are going to see whether we like it or not, rapidly coming into the marketplace over the next five years, like it's here now.

It's just going to keep becoming more and more and more like it's all here. Meaning AI is coming online. That's going to be able to out diagnose any doctor out, prescribe out, read an X-ray. You know, there's there are so many devices, there's so many aspects coming in that on one level could all make almost make it feel like we as providers are becoming obsolete. But there's good news. What will never become obsolete is the understanding of human to human connection, is understanding the power of words and the power of potential.

When you as a provider can sit with another human and you can show them their own potential, it's no longer guesswork. It's no longer why is there not going to feel defeated anymore? It's now turning the baton over to them, empowering them to partner with. And you get to be, if you choose their Sherpa of sorts, right? Supporting, helping to connect the pieces that they're not quite sure how to connect. So that this complex, this complex system that we are all a part of, not complicated, not like the car, but complex, all these different variable connection points, you become that point of understanding them as human, where they're at, where they want to be, and the elements available to immediately engage them in the way that's precise for them to enhance their health and their expression of their ability to truly thrive.

Beautiful. Well said. And I, I have to tell you, I love the term precision health care. You know, I I've always been very much focused on detail specifics. Even in the early part of my chiropractic career, I practiced up a cervical specific, I try to train my doctors to adjust really specifically. However, they adjust whatever technique they use. Sloppy doesn't produce great, predictable outcomes. Yeah. Specificity does. You know, BJ Palmer, the developer of chiropractic, one of his many famous statements was as we eliminate variables, we create constants.

And I think the work you're doing and I'm very familiar with the work you're doing, is precision is a great word for it. And I hope the people watching and listening to this can really dial in that if we know the predictable outcomes that when we pull this lever of nutrition or this level of physical activity or this level lever of restorative sleep, or this specific way to adjust the patient or whatever it may be, here's the predictable outcome. And I think that that's a very powerful thing for a provider to have, because I think part of the silent dread, Melissa, for any health care practitioner is what do I recommend for this one?

And is this really going to work? I mean, there's hardly a day goes by that I don't speak to a doctor who tells me how surprised they were that a patient got better, and I always went into every visit expecting a miracle. Okay, you get them if you don't expect them. That's right. Okay. We need to talk about this for a moment because again, our mindset like, literally I did a whole talk on this. So are we creating limitations for our clients and patients beyond what they're creating. Right. Yeah.

So I love what you said. You have to step one if you are a provider in today's landscape, you have to recognize don't keep doing what you've been doing. You're going to keep getting what you've got. And not that what you've gotten isn't great, but like it is. Technology is here and and things are coming in so quickly. Even understanding what to do with wearable technology, even understanding key biometrics that you should be looking at how many people watching truly understand what heart rate variability means and how powerful of a metric that is, and how easy it is to monitor just through a wearable device.

And and so the stuff that might feel like, oh my gosh, do I know this? I mean, people are going searching it and they're finding it. You have to be there. You have to be ready. And you have to understand. And you have to know that if you take nothing else away from today's conversation, that literally think about this embedded in our genetic code is like it's literally some call it the source, the code of source, whatever source is to you. Right? It is this ancient wisdom that has been passed down generationally, if you really think about it, the the codes of kings and queens and leaders and rulers in every variation of human exists and resides within each and every one of us.

How limitless do you think we are? The only limitations that confine us are the ones that we place upon ourselves. And for any of our practitioners, you know we need to hold the space. We need to hold the vision, and we need to hold the knowing that it's not our job to heal that person, but it is our job to know that healing is within their capacity. And more than healing. I always 100%. That's what the body was designed to do. It's designed to heal, but it's designed to do a lot more than heal.

Like we've gotten stuck on this end of the of the continue come where we think it's just getting them out of pain and out of sickness and hoping to get them back to homeostasis. There's so much more that happens after homeostasis. We have been putting the majority of our time on the problem and what happens where our attention goes, our energy flows. If we keep focusing on the problem, what are we going to get more of the problem, right? So what if instead of looking at the problem, we already know the problem is going to be solved?

Like you are all capable providers? Upgrade your mindset to truly know you are an incredibly capable provider. So instead of focusing on the problem, address it so that they feel heard and immediately shift them into what is possible. That's where we want to take it. That's that is that is truly the new paradigm of health. And what and that's precision health. It is moving into the land. That's why my podcast is Limitless Lab. The only limitations we place upon ourselves are our own, and in any moment we can break through them into new enhanced states of thriving.

Melissa, I've been saying for years when I speak to a doctor, either one on one or on stage in front of hundreds of doctors, that there are only two limitations. One is six inches between your left and right ear, and the other is the 12in between your brain and your heart. Yeah, and if you can just overcome those six by 12 limitations, life flourishes, live life, expands, relative to wearable technology

Wearables, HRV, and Patient Empowerment 17:18

because of of people like you and some of your graduates. You know, I'm wearing my Garmin watch. Nice. I have my app on my phone. And every morning, one of the first things, within ten minutes of waking up, how was my restorative sleep? Yes, was my rapid eye movement and my deep delta sleep combined at least 2.5 hours and hopefully more than I know. I had a good restful, cleansing, neurological restorative sleep. If it wasn't, I might have been in bed, my eyes might have been closed, I might have pretended I was sleep, but I didn't get restorative sleep.

Yeah, I know how many. I know how many steps I take every day. I know my heart and my resting heart rate is 51. That's fantastic. Very good. I'm very proud of that. But I know what it is. And I know what elevates it and what lowers it and what maintains it. So first, and I think I learned this from you, that over a billion people in the world are wearing wearable technology today, which is step one. And step two is knowing how to read or interpret your data, to know how to be more precise and what are the things that make you function better.

And one of the things that decreased function. So we could choose to function better and be at peak performance more often than not. And here's why. Wearable technology can become such an important teachable piece to engage our clients, our patients, to become the stewards of their own health. That one of the biggest challenges as to why we get in our own way up here for providers is that we do take on the burden, the ownership, thinking that somehow we are supposed to fix, we are supposed to heal.

We are supposed to solve. So we already take on something that's not ours to take on. And we are, you know, our our role is to be able to provide our excellent delivery system of, of health, of healing, of support to that body. Right. Reducing, removing, eliminating any kind of interference, whatever our mode of delivering that reduction in interference is so that the body can heal so that the person right can restore their health and function. But here's what happens. We think it's on us and so all of a sudden we take ownership and the client doesn't.

And so they come in, they see us, they take their supplements. They get their adjustment. They get their therapy, they go home, they go back into their environments that are not optimal. And again, they'll come a few times if they like you, they're going to come even more. But if they're not noticing, feeling, experiencing a result, and most of the times it's symptomatic so that the word is feeling. And that's subjective, right? Subjective not objective. So wearables all of a sudden bring objectivity into the game.

They now all of a sudden provide a tool that it's not just you saying and suggesting you're now putting the ownership back in their hands and you do become that guide. So step one for us is providers. We have to stop taking ownership. You are there to direct. You are there to deliver. You know your knowledge, but you're not there to fix and you're not there to tell. You're there to guide. And now all of a sudden, when you can empower them to have a tool where they can start learning and gaining feedback.

I mean, wearable technology is really a form of biofeedback, in essence, what it is, you know, because now, oh, I'm seeing and guess then it's moving them into a state of greater introspection because many people are disconnected, they are not aware of what their bodies are saying to them. They're not aware of what to do when they do feel any kind of symptoms slight, you know, mild, moderate or severe. And now and especially forget the nuances of just what does a great night's sleep actually feel like in my body because it's been so long since I've had it.

So most people are walking around in an abnormal state thinking that's normal because that's just where their bodies are at, you know? And so if we can give them a tool that first lets them know, hey, not really optimal, we we're not going to call, tell them they're abnormal, not optimal. But here's where we're going. And here are the things that we get to do. And so guess what. Every time they they leave after getting an adjustment right, or having a hyperbaric oxygen therapy session or, you know, they've they've gone and had their walk, they've done their meditation and they can see they did actually follow the instructions and they got to bed early.

So I'm going to stop with emails. I'm going to leave the television show for tomorrow, and I'm going to make my sleep a non-negotiable. And they can actually see the data, and then they can start to connect the dots and go. But actually I feel better today. I feel like and I function better today I function better, I'm more patient, I'm more tolerant, I'm happier, I'm right. And then it's like this beautiful view because all we want to do is providers is set them in the lane of positive momentum.

Right. Life is always going to knock them with all sorts. There's always going to be stressors. There's always going to be inputs into our system that are not optimal. So if we can think even through the 8020 lens man, if 80% of the time we can get them on that path of positive momentum when they get bumped by those 20%, or like they're going to be resilient, they're going to bounce back and they're going to have amazing net net positive gains. Sure. Yeah. And I think, you know what you brought up is so spot on.

And the doctors and the staff and the patients that are watching this, I just I want to dig just a little deeper and was there was still on my first question. So I got so much more to ask you. I talk a lot. So many doctors and so many healers unconsciously, unintentionally speak out of both sides of their mouth. You know, symptoms don't matter. I don't pay attention to the symptoms, but as soon as your symptoms go away, a success and it can't be that way. What I discovered after coaching thousands of doctors over decades is that the doctor doesn't manage the patient's schedule of care based on how they're functioning or dis functioning.

The patient will always manage their own schedule of care based on how they feel. And this is the number one reason for patient drop out. The number one reason why patients don't get full maximum value from the care, and the number one reason why the doctor burns out. So there is a gap between feeling better and function with better feeling better means we just got you back to neutral. You're nowhere near peak potential. And one of the things I used to say to my patients is if I help you feel better, and if you don't allow me to help you function better, I can assure you you're not going to feel better for very long.

Yeah. So feeling better is the first step on the ladder to healing. But it isn't healing yet. Yeah, it's functioning better. So that gets back to heart rate variability. If I were in charge of the healing universe and I'm certainly not, I would require every doctor to do heart rate variability in their office because that is the gold standard to evaluate the autonomic nervous system, to see if your managing stress well or stress is managing you well, to see if you are on the track moving towards sickness and disease or on the track moving towards health and healing.

So I think these are critical, critical pieces. So Doctor Melissa, besides wearable technology in this goal of precision health care, how else are there other ways doctors could leverage this new science of epigenetics to enhance their own expression of health, their team's expression of health, their family's expression of health, and their patient's expression of health? Yes, yes. So I imagine it's interesting. I was listening to one of my mentors earlier and she said this really beautifully. And so I'm going to share it here.

So what we know through epigenetics is again, information gets passed and and so epigenetics are not changes to the genetic code. It's a change in how the code expresses. And that's really important for everybody to hear 99.9% of our code is exactly the same. You and I are exactly the same. There's 1% that is different in how it expresses, and that's what makes you you and me, me and and so, what happens is in the expression, because generationally, the way the body works and the way the DNA works is saying, man, we've got to be able to inform the next generation, like to literally change the genetic code.

That's a long I mean, that's thousands and thousands of years. So the body's got to have a way to pass information from one generation to the next, right, so that we can quickly keep up. And so this is transgenerational epigenetics. And this is where you've probably heard the food that your grandmother A is impacting you, the the pregnancy that your mother went through, the stress that your father had 90 days before you conceive has impacted who you are as a person today. Now, many of us don't realize that there is a critical window 90 days before, before conception.

And so now when we really talk about what is the power that epigenetics has, let's let's think about this

Transgenerational Epigenetics and Personalized Care 26:48

all of a sudden when we become conscious about, wait a minute, there's a 90 day window and I can already my, my, my spouse and I, my partner and I, we can set ourselves up to be in the most optimized state of our own expression, of our own, you know, stress, stress, resilience and, and be as healthy and well as possible. And now we can conceive, and now we can have a healthy pregnancy, and we can bring a child in, in love, in optimal health and expression. Now this child grows and thrives, and now they grow and now they marry.

And they take the same kind of strategy. Imagine in as little as 2 to 3 generations from now how much different humanity can look when we become intentional. I mean, you know, B.J. Palmer used to talk about this like, if we can get out there and just be a Justine everybody, same kind of thing. Like, if we could do more of what is good for us, right? Imagine what the future holds. But now specifically in the here and now. So there's this generational impact and implication by looking at epigenetics, having somebody's genetic data, their lifestyle blueprint and knowing how to help to coach them and direct them on what that information means and what opportunities exist for them, immediate, short term, long term to really uplevel their own expression of thriving.

Not what you believe is their expression of thriving. Not. I mean, I'm just going to be on a soapbox for a moment. You know, people, a lot of people take nutrition very seriously, and there's a lot of people out there who, because they've had a personal experience that has transformed their own health and life around a certain diet. Now they think it's the diet for everybody because it worked for them. While there's merit in it, it not isn't the right diet for everyone, and there's a lot of people out there who would say otherwise.

Yet let's not make it about us. Let's make it about the client and their potential again. We've got to quit taking ownership. This isn't about us. This isn't an ego trip. As a provider, we are here to do no harm, to serve to our highest. Well, then, let's serve the client to their highest based on their own blueprint. Right? So now we get to give them very specific feedback that is theirs. It's not our opinion. It is not our decision. They get to be involved with it. So now what happens when all of a sudden humanity, our doctors, our our staff, our patients, our communities are becoming more engaged and more aware?

Embodying health is no longer just a concept, something we're reading about on a blog and in a latest diet pill to buy. It's a real state that can be embodied and expressed. Because if you think about it, doctor Bob, we are flooded with messaging with a narrative that we are unwell. We are flooded with a narrative that we are less than that. We need a product, a pill, a lotion or a potion to fix us, to make us better, to make us whole. And what if we could begin to leverage our own innate potential, not just kind of feeling it, but proof is in the pudding for a lot of people.

A lot of people are visual learners. They need to see it. So when I keep pretending this is the report so when they can see, when they can see their own code, when they can now be at choice. Well, I have an increased, insulin resistance risk and, Yeah, last time I got my, we went to the doctor. My agency was at a 5.6, and I sure do like those diet sodas. And I really love my cookies and man. And, you know, it's nice to have that candy bowl at work. Okay, well, but I don't want to have a heart attack.

I don't want to have diabetes. I really do want to have a lot of energy. I want to live a long time. I love my family. I just there's so many things I want to achieve. Okay, great. So now you're at choice. I'm not going to tell you to give up your cookies. I'm not going to tell you to give up your diet sodas and stop eating your candy in your candy bowl at lunch. Now you have the data and the information to make you you get to make your own decision. It's you have it. And guess what? Just because you also have that insulin, elevated risk factor, you can also ensure that it doesn't express.

And so it's not about like, oh my God, I've got this and it's going to happen and I'm screwed. No, not at all. It's just understanding again those levers. So so it's a long answer to a very short and important question. The implications of where we're at today, doctor Bob, with having the knowledge of how our bodies are informed, puts us at such conscious choice. And to the extent that we choose to engage and make those choices for ourselves. But people are going to feel better, they're going to look better, they're going to live longer, they're going to contribute more fully.

They're going to create more amazing things. They're going to be more engaged. They're going to be more loving, more compassionate. I mean, like, the potential is profound. Yes. No doubt, no doubt. And, you know, it was through you and again, some of your graduates that I got my genetic testing done. So I know what things seem to enhance my well-being and what things to try to avoid as much as possible. Between things like that and wearable technology and doing heart rate variability on myself and knowing where my stress levels are and my energy level, and how my sympathies parasympathetic balance or imbalance is you get to make decisions, make choices, decide what to eat, what to avoid, what supplements to take, what kind of exercise is best for you and your body.

So you get to make all those decisions. And I think that is just critical. And clearly the future of health care. I want to ask you what might be either a very difficult or an extremely easy question? Okay, since you're a master epi geneticist, but you're also a doctor of chiropractic. Yeah. Talk to me about the interface between specific chiropractic adjustments as an epigenetic factor improving your health. Absolutely. There are some really beautiful, research studies done on this. And so when we look at, when we so there is a direct correlation.

Right. So chiropractic adjustments are absolutely impacting positively impacting the that vagal tone that parasympathetic response. So if we even just think at the most basic level, and if we think about what happens when we are in a sympathetic dominant, well that's going to increase cortisol. It's going to impair methylation and it's going to create a pro-inflammatory state. And and it will it will negatively impact gene expression okay. A chiropractic adjustment is immediately going to change the state of that expression.

It does put us in a parasympathetic tone. And here's the thing. Here's the thing is that it creates a lot. It impacts benefit and it impacts, there's some very specific snips. And I do have some really great research on this. And I'm it's not coming right off the top of my head. The simple answer is there are there's a direct scientific correlation. But here's the next level of complication I want everybody to hear, especially for our chiropractors out there. First, know that your chiropractic adjustment is having a profound and positive impact on the human system, and especially at a genetic level.

Right. So for a window of time and so remember it's the environment around that cell. So how good is the environment. Right. So obviously a chiropractic adjustment is going to help to remove interference in a way that allows the body to function in a more optimal normalized state depending on how out of balance that body is, is going to determine how long that window, that environment around that cell stays clear. Let's just say it like that. Right. So will an adjustment. So an adjustment is absolutely going to make a difference.

But how long of a difference is it going to make. And that's where we want to then layer in. So I like to think of it as the stacking process. And it's the it's the care beyond the care. It's the visit beyond the visit. And I'll tell you, doctor Bob, I just wrapped so, you know, you and I again, thank you for allowing me to be a guest here on your summit. And so I'm wrapping my own summit, the Longevity Summit. And I interviewed more than 60 of the top leaders in health optimization and longevity, and you would not believe how you would.

Of course you would. Time and time and time again, the answers were really simple. We think all of this has to be super complex, and what all the experts agree

Chiropractic Adjustments and Gene Expression 35:48

is that people fundamentally are not doing the basics. We want these really cool, advanced strategies. We want the cool tech, we want to hack, and we want we want a pill or an injection. We want something that's all of a sudden going to extend the lifespan, extend the health span, expand our capacity. Yet it's short term at best, because what are the overall qualities of the signals? People are not doing the basics right. And so know that the adjustment matters. And then if you really want to get your people doing the basics right, the best way to empower them is when they now know it's not just you.

Tell them what they should do, like a mom or dad. You know what you should do? It's, hey, here's your code and and what is it that you really want to experience more of? Well, great. Here's your potential. Here are the very specific things that you can do more or less of the will allow you to feel that be that more consistently. So it's not like will I ever get there? Oh, you'll absolutely get there. And so now really, again, when we go back to the beginning of this conversation, and if we think of epigenetics as the science of lifestyle, we now and the and the basics, our lifestyle, what all these experts are saying, people are not sleeping.

Sleep is the first thing. People are not sleeping at all. They're not making it a priority for we're not sleeping right. We're not healing right. Let's not talk about stress. Stress is good for the system. It's designed to help us to grow. And what happens? The only way that stress is good is when there's a recovery period, right. That's recovery all about the recovery. That's you stress. And that's what the body needs. If we want to continue to evolve into new states of expression, whatever that expression is for you, greater strength, greater vitality, greater performance, greater energy, you know, whatever greater new skill sets, a new language like you've got to give the body has to have time to rest and to reset.

And so that in and of itself we're not doing so sleep right, food, proper nutrition. And again, not a fad diet. But what's proper for that person's body. And when we can really specifically dial it in, I, I you know, I always tend to trend towards a mediterranean diet with my Italian heritage. I just love it. And and so I kind of but it was by trial and error that I finally got there. I did all the fad diet stuff when I was younger. I ate all the wrong things for me and I couldn't understand why.

And I had sheer, you know, because I was such a fitness person and a dancer. Like because of my level of physical activity, I, I kind of overrode some of the negative side of the other stuff, but it finally was like, I just don't feel is good. And when I started to, when I got my own genetics and I realized like, oh my gosh, I do better with complex carbohydrates and healthy monounsaturated, why do I love drinking olive oil? Pretty much, because that's what's really good for my body. My body does really, really well with that.

Surprisingly, my body actually does better with a lower protein diet. I never would have thought that right. But I know like fats, fats are my friend and but for somebody else it's different. Somebody else needs a high protein and a low fat. And so anyway, where I'm going with it is we need to get our basics right. Genetics, epigenetics can give us that tool to take back, and be empowered and, and proactive in our own expression of health. These are just fundamentals that anyone could master. Anyone could learn.

Anyone can get better at, and when they do, their health gets better, their vitality gets better. They are thinking process gets better, their happiness level improves. You know you know you doing well Melissa, when you're sleeping well, you've got great energy and endurance. Your digestion is working the way it's supposed to. You're having regular bowel function. Your mind isn't racing 24 over seven, when you're not emotionally eating, but you're choosing to eat what you want when you're hungry and you satiate when you're full and you notice, stop.

There are certain things that your immune system is strong. You rarely, if ever, get sick. And if you do, you bounce right back. These are indica haters. You know. The intelligence of the body whispers to us, and if we listen, we make the right choices. If we ignore those whispers, the wisdom of the body starts screaming at us. So one of the whispers is knowing that these are highly functional things because of AI fundamentals. And I loved what you said about stacking, because to me that relates to chiropractic care as well.

You know, there's been 125 year argument, debate, misconception that we adjust people until they feel better and then we're done. I don't believe that. I've been getting adjusted regularly for almost 50 years. So I'm a big believer that we have ongoing stress that requires ongoing care to neutralize that stress. Yeah. And one of the things that I discovered, which I think is so important, another fundamental is this when you go to a chiropractor, having the chiropractor do less, more often is far more effective than going to the chiropractor less often and having him or her do more.

It you know, the analogy is what would be better for you going to the gym once a month for six hours or going to the gym 20 minutes a day for four days a week? Doing less, more often produces better results than doing more. Less often. Yeah. So I'm a big believer that you don't want to have a good night's sleep every once in a while. You wanna have a good night restorative sleep every night. You don't want to eat healthy when you remember you want to eat healthy every day, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Doing less. That's all it is. It's not a lot of work, but more often produces better results. 100% I, I know we're starting to run out of time. And of course, like always, you and I can continue a conversation like this for like weeks. We love it. How can the docs watching this, how can they leverage epigenetics into their practice? How could they scale it in their practice? How can they include it in their patient care to get even better, even faster, even longer lasting clinical outcomes? Super great question.

So, the fast there's a couple of ways. First and foremost, that by offering this you can begin to scale virtually. You can have now an offer, a service or a program that you can deliver in a virtual capacity. So especially in this time of Covid and who the heck knows what's happening in different practices, you want to have more than one tool in the toolbox, right, of ways that you can still work with your clients, still optimize their health, and keep them engaged in a precision strategy. And so, over at a Piron Academy, you know, we are

Scaling Epigenetics in Practice 42:58

we are one of the global leaders for one of the few programs out there that actually certifies epigenetic coaches. And we actually certify through the clinical lens, we teach complex systems, and we're going to teach all the key fundamental systems and pathways and understanding what are these lifestyle levers, what shows up on a report? What does it really mean? But we also teach the art of precision coaching behavior change. How do we use words to engage a client? Very specifically to actually get engaged with their own health and to take ownership, to follow through and engage in new behaviors, take new actions and enhance their results.

And so, you know, somebody if they wanted to come in and be one of our coaches, you go through into the academy, the moment that you're in, we start to teach you about the genetic test kits. We have an incomplete business platform where you can start to offer the test kits, the report supplements that go with it. We teach you how to create programs off of these so you can use it as kind of a one and done inside of your current practice that you've already got. Many practitioners come to us that have existing practices there.

As soon as they tell their their patients and their clients that they offer it, people want to buy it. I have I literally have countless stories of doctors that sell anywhere from 20 to 45 and 50 kits in a month, just by telling people that they've got them there. And so that's an immediate source of revenue. But then when the reports come in, you know, it's really the choice of the doctor or the clinician, the coach of how they want to leverage that change doesn't happen overnight. And we don't want to just dump information on our clients.

It's truly supporting them. The magic happens when we can implement that change over time. And when we have accountability, we know somebody is actually looking at our wearable device. Information is one thing. If we look at it, it's great that you're excited about a doctor, but some people might just be like, but the moment we know somebody else is there that we've paid, we've said, hey, I want results. I want to improve love. I want to be better, feel better, live better. Will you help me? And the doc says, yeah, now all of a sudden, like, there's just greater accountability.

They're showing up for you. They're showing up for themselves. And so it allows you to offer cash pay programs. And I will tell you, we run the gamut, our code, anywhere from a $500 price point of just kind of offering a test and a report and kind of an initial bundle all the way up to we have doctors running 12 month programs that they're literally the scale from 500 to 30 grand. And that's not an exaggeration. Different types of doctors, different types of practices, different things that go in those.

But truly, it's what do you feel comfortable with? What is your vision? We work with you to help you to understand where this can plug into your practice. And I think the most important thing right now is that it does give you virtual flexibility. And everybody needs that because we've all felt it. We felt the disruption. And while some practice has got to stay open, others didn't. Right. And so we need we need a way to continue to be engaged with our clients, to keep them engaged and proactive, so that we stay resilient and thriving and to insulate ourselves from all this disruption and change the world.

Because doing a a virtual visit with a patient, a telehealth or telemedicine call is it's got a million different names already. Yeah. This has been one of the silver linings from Covid because even though telehealth has been around a while, it exploded over the last six months and it's now become more understood, more accepted, more utilized than ever before. And certainly, you know, as a chiropractor, it's kind of hard to adjust people over, zoom or over a phone call. But you could certainly review their bloodwork.

You could do a nutritional analysis, you could have them wearing wearable technology and and interpreting the results and telling them what this means and what I would do next. There's so much that we could do. We can have patients doing pulse ox at home. We can have them using a tuning fork at home. We can look at their facial expression, their their, their complexion. There's so much you could do to evaluate and help people. Yeah. You know, we have to remember that as a chiropractor. For me, my ultimate goal was one thing optimal neurological expression and adjusting people without a doubt contributes that.

But there are other ways to accomplish it. And if we could just open our mind and open our thinking and open up to our possibilities, there's no end to the good that we can do in the world and the amount of people we can heal tremendously. Yes, yes, I'm sure you have some parting comments. I just I'm like, I love talking. Thank you so much. The last thing I want to say is, and you'll get to see people in their natural environment and how empowering it becomes. It's not them coming into your office where you do something to them.

They're now in their home, and you're guiding them in an experience that they're having in their own environment. So again, it's all about that ownership. It's about that they're engaging in a different way. So psychologically it's a different experience as well. And that starts to take all the pressure off of you to fix them. It's engaging people and that's where we're at. I think it's a beautifully exciting time. You know, the the future that is here and that is continuing to expand in front of us truly is filled with absolute, limitless possibilities.

I'm honored to be a chiropractor. I'm honored to be a transformational coach. I'm honored to help people, to really want to be their best self, you know? And we're all needed. So I think the parting words are, remember how important you are. And before you go out to serve another, you must serve yourself first. And what I mean by that, you must begin within. You must take that time to to walk the talk yourself. You've got to optimize yourself. You've got to give yourself self-care, self-love, deep sleep, good, nutrient dense, clean, healthy foods.

You know, pure filtered water, natural sunlight, go out and earth and ground and be in nature. Connect love deeply, laugh wholly, and live purposefully because then you will be able to pour in to all those that want and need all that you have, right? So show it fully so that you can serve others. And, and I'm just grateful for you, doctor Bob, and knowing all the work that you have done and continue to do, I'd love to just invite people, you know, anybody that's watching if you want to find out more.

Lots of ways that you can do that. You know, am I allowed to tell them where they can find out a little bit more, doc? Okay, great. So it's a kind of a weird spell, so stay with me. It's up here on Zoi AIP. Ion AP I r o n zoi zero 8.com. That means limitless life appear on Peacock. Com is our main site. You can find out about our academy. You can really see. You can find out about our test kits. You can find out about a lot of information. So I think that's probably the best place just to land you.

And if you guys have any questions for me directly, I'm super happy to make my email available with doctor Bob. And I love supporting my fellow peers and practitioners out there. So thank you all and beautifully done. Beautifully said. So articulate. I think for me, the the simplicity of the message over the last 50 minutes kind of breaks down to this master the fundamentals and be open to all the technology, all the research, all the change that's coming to enhance the fundamentals even further.

Yes, doctor. Melissa Peterson, you are a rock star. An absolute star, a model for us to emulate. I am so proud of you. I remember when you were a new, young practitioner trying to figure it out, and you figured it out. And again, I am so happy for you and so proud of you. Keep up your great work. Keep changing people's lives for the better forever. And thank you so much for contributing to the Practice Upgrade Summit. As I promised, this call was filled with practical gems that you could utilize to upgrade yourself and upgrade your practice and your ability to serve others.

Have a great day everybody!