Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Dr. Gundry Podcast, the weekly podcast, where Dr. G gives you the tools you need to boost your health and live your healthiest life.
Dr. Gundry (00:14):
My next book in the best-selling Plant Paradox series is coming in March, and you can pre-order it now at harperwave.com/energy. Energy Paradox is my fresh take at one of the top health issues plaguing Americans, fatigue. It outlines my revolutionary plan for revitalizing mental and physical stamina. You’ll feel better in no time. Learn more at harperwave.com/energy.
Dr. Gundry (00:45):
Welcome to the Dr. Gundry Podcast. So can you imagine having someone who was always in your corner, focused on helping you look and feel as amazing as possible? Well, my guest today has made a career of doing just that. In just a moment, I’ll speak with certified nutritionist, classically trained chef, and Reiki master, Serena Poon.
Dr. Gundry (01:11):
Serena, who has worked with the likes of Kerry Washington, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Sean P. Diddy Combs, takes a holistic mind, body, soul approach to healthy living. And she isn’t afraid to go outside the box. As a matter of fact, her work includes Reiki and functional and spiritual nutrition. And it’s fascinating to say the least. On this episode of the Dr. Gundry Podcast, Serena will tell us all about these practices and share ways you can achieve optimal health. Serena, it’s nice to see you again. A few weeks ago, I was a special guest on your Instagram channel, and now here we are with you on mine.
Serena Poon (01:56):
Yes. Hi. Hi doctor. Thank you so much for having me.
Dr. Gundry (02:00):
Well, it’s great to have you on the podcast today.
Serena Poon (02:03):
Yeah. We always have such a fun time chatting. I love it.
Dr. Gundry (02:06):
So you work in a very hybrid space of food, nutrition, energy healing. So what sort of people seek you out and what are their health needs?
Serena Poon (02:19):
That’s a great question, since I cover a lot of ground. I would say, primarily, my client base has very much been people who are looking to optimize their health, obviously, but also heal. I’m probably very much like you. I have people who come to me with different disorders or if they want to prepare for surgery, pre-op, post-op, different ways to really prepare their body for maximum healing.
Serena Poon (02:50):
And then there are people that, as I said, just really want to maximize and optimize their health. But as my practice grew and evolved to include the energy work, to include the Reiki, I also have a lot of clients who just want that aspect of my practice, just want that Reiki, and there are some, actually most of them now, they really like the combination of my method of Culinary Alchemy. And that’s where we’re using intuitive energy. We’re using Reiki as well as the nutrition of food to do that optimization and to do that healing.
Dr. Gundry (03:26):
All right. I want to take you back to that. So you said Culinary Alchemy. What the heck is Culinary Alchemy and why is it important for healthy living?
Serena Poon (03:37):
Yes. Well, Culinary Alchemy is my method of really combining integrative and functional nutrition with healing and intuitive energy. And I do that primarily through Reiki. So essentially we’re really working with the whole body, with the physical body or physiological body, your mental, emotional body, and what I call your energetic body, which some people may also call spiritual body.
Serena Poon (04:05):
So we’re balancing your physiological and your spiritual bodies through the energetics of nutrition. We sort of use food as one of the vehicles for that, along with, of course, mindfulness energetic practices. So there’s a lot on the balance in helping your chakra system.
Dr. Gundry (04:25):
Got you. So you take a very holistic approach to wellness, obviously.
Serena Poon (04:30):
Yeah.
Dr. Gundry (04:32):
All right. Take me on the spectrum. Where does food fit in? Where does Reiki fit in? Where does spirituality fit in? You got to have it all, right? It sounds like you got to have it all.
Serena Poon (04:50):
Yeah. That’s a great question. And I think my practice has evolved from where I started. I started my journey as a chef because I really wanted to understand food as medicine and really use the culinary arts to cultivate that as a medicine for the physical body. And throughout my journey, through some of my own health challenges, I realized that there was a level of mindfulness of self care that wasn’t included in just the tangibles of movement, exercise and food.
Serena Poon (05:26):
And I came to understand, I believe in energy obviously, that there’s a vibration that connects us universally and that there’s a vibration in energy when it comes to food. And as I mentioned, I believe in the energy centers, the chakra system, that aligns with our organ systems, and I realized that it works very cohesively. The balance of your organ system also aligns with the balance of your energy center there.
Serena Poon (05:56):
So when I work with a client, as you said, we go across the spectrum. We start with doing labs so that we can see what’s going on inside of your physical body. Where do you have deficiencies, inflammation? What your intolerances are. Just what is going on in your physical body? And then I do a fairly extensive intake form, which actually tells me, from like a Chinese medicine perspective and an Ayurvedic perspective, what your body constitution is.
Serena Poon (06:28):
And then I do what I call an energy intake, which is that Reiki. And I do a read of your chakra system to see where the imbalances are within your energy centers. And then we create a protocol, a program using foods and of course, because it is about very holistic, I include other modalities. So there’s food, there’s different modalities, mindfulness, to really heal you or optimize you. And we build a system from there. So that’s sort of how everything is included.
Dr. Gundry (07:06):
Now, is this done prior to COVID in person or have you done it remotely?
Serena Poon (07:14):
Oh yeah. If a client is able to meet in person, obviously pre COVID, we always did because that’s a really great way for me to read a person’s energy and to kind of give a read about who they are. I’m a people person. I very much like that rapport and that connection with someone. But after that, we usually just talk on the phone or over Zoom and we do catch up calls remotely.
Serena Poon (07:45):
And over COVID, it’s just been something that’s been a great resource to so many people because we can definitely still do that work. I can still order your labs, I can still read your labs, process the intake. And then we can still do the energy work because with Reiki, there’s something called distal Reiki, and it’s where I can work and read and send energy from a distance.
Serena Poon (08:10):
But we do the process as if that person is in the room with me. So if we were to do a Reiki session, Dr. Gundry, I would have you create space and time where you are going to lay for 30 minutes or 60 minutes to receive. And so it would be very much the same, I’m just not actually in the same room with you. But the process other than that is very much the same, and it’s very effective.
Dr. Gundry (08:35):
All right. I’m going to stop you there because some of our listeners are going, “Now, wait a minute. You’re claiming that you can read my energy remotely and that you can send me energy signals remotely.” So is that voodoo? Is that pseudo science, or is there evidence that this in fact can happen?
Serena Poon (09:01):
Well, I think that there’s some growing evidence between say quantum physics and energy and spirituality. And we’re seeing a lot more of that. Do I have like a hard reference that I can give you with the study? I should probably have one in my back pocket. I don’t at the time. But yes, some of it, of course, is how open you are. And we talk about how we all know that energy is really made up of everything, that frequency that connects all of us.
Serena Poon (09:34):
And I think that anyone that’s ever practiced some degree of meditation can feel that. When you’re in a moment that you’re going to receive, you do feel that. We talk about good vibes, bad vibes. You can be sitting next to somebody at a restaurant and feel a vibration from them. That we’ve all experienced. And so it works very much like that. It’s just that in a close proximity, you think that it’s somewhat tangible, but it’s still not.
Serena Poon (10:06):
And so from a place of distance, the same can be done, as long as it’s about intention. So when I’m working with people and we’re working with food and we’re working with energy and we’re working with healing, a lot of it does come from that connection with intention. And I can walk us through an exercise later, if you’d like, to kind of give people an example of what that feels like.
Dr. Gundry (10:28):
Okay. Yeah. That’d be great. In fact, there’s a number of integrative physicians who have actually written books about having everyone reading that book have a remote sending out energy simultaneously and receiving energy. I mean, there are accomplished physicians that actually more than just believe this, have actually written papers about the fact that…
Serena Poon (11:03):
Absolutely. Yeah. One man is Dan Siegel. He’s a physician and he’s a scientist. He’s written all kinds of books. I mean, there’s a lot of doctors and research scientists that have made that connection and have put it on paper. So yes, absolutely.
Dr. Gundry (11:28):
Just to bring up again, so is the same sort of thing, let’s use a different example, having a prayer group or sending prayers for support to somebody in the hospital who is going through a tough time, is that the same sort of thing you’re talking about?
Serena Poon (11:48):
Yes, it is. Absolutely. I say that it’s very much the same. So whether it’s prayer or you’re doing Reiki, or you’re doing product healing, or you’re doing beta, whatever it is, I mean, at the end of the day, it’s having intention and sending out a vibration of healing. So people ask me, what is Reiki? Reiki is the Japanese modality of using that universal energy and channeling it into one direction or another.
Serena Poon (12:21):
But in my opinion, there’s a lot of ways to do it. There’s different names, very much like religion, right? I mean, everyone has their own religion, but at the end of the day, what are we all doing? We’re all doing the same thing. So prayer very much. So if you’re going to Reiki your food before you have it, it’s sort of like when you say grace. It’s same thing. It’s very, very similar.
Dr. Gundry (12:45):
So if I’m in the kitchen and somebody walks in and saying, “I’m reiking my food,” that doesn’t mean I’m stirring it around necessarily, right?
Serena Poon (12:57):
No, not exactly. But you could do a little thing and you can be reiking your food.
Dr. Gundry (13:02):
Got you. And as you know, I’m a plant predator, and plants actually do have feelings. They actually have memory, and this is actually been proven. So I think even my devout vegan friends and patients, we harm plants by eating them. And we actually have to be thankful that we’re allowed to eat them.
Serena Poon (13:34):
Absolutely. And plants have their vibration. Everything has that vibration. So I agree with you a hundred percent. There’s a way that people can really connect to what I’m saying, where if you do a gratitude practice for example. And what I tell clients, what I tell my community is it’s not just, oh, I’m grateful for my home and I’m grateful for my dog and I’m grateful for my family.
Serena Poon (14:05):
It’s more think about something that you are so grateful for you get almost a visceral feeling. You think about that person or that place or whatever it is and it evokes in you a feeling that you can feel almost physically. It’s that feeling and that’s the connection, that energetic connection. That’s what you will be channeling into say the food that you eat and in turn your body receives it back.
Serena Poon (14:34):
So we can walk through it a little bit later, but that’s what I mean when I’m talking about energy that your listeners can use the next moment they’re in the kitchen as they’re preparing their matcha or their veggies or their dinner, whatever it is. It’s evoking that feeling within yourself and then putting it back into the food.
Dr. Gundry (14:58):
Okay. Well, I wasn’t going to talk about this, but I think this is a perfectly great time. As you know, this COVID crisis has disrupted everyone’s life in more ways than one. And a lot of people no longer are employed. And I’ve talked with other guests. So this is some of the most stressful times probably that anyone’s been through, maybe the most stressful time that anybody’s been through. And if you don’t have a job, you don’t know if you’re going to pay the rent. You got two kids at home that are driving you crazy. Tell me how to practice gratefulness when everything’s falling apart. Got some thoughts?
Serena Poon (15:50):
Oh, absolutely. That’s a great question, Dr. Gundry, and I’m so glad you asked, because it’s simpler than people think. When we’re in this place of fight and flight, when we’re stressed out like that, when the world seems like it’s falling apart, it’s because we’re focused on that which we don’t have. We’re focused on the lost. We’re focused on what we cannot control. And that’s the focus.
Serena Poon (16:22):
So if that’s our focus, we’re sending energy towards what we don’t have, towards that loss, that is going to continue channeling that inflammation energetically and physically within our body. So you just simply do the opposite. You focus on what you do have. You’ve got two kids. They’re driving you nuts, but it’s better than not having them.
Serena Poon (16:47):
You’ve lost your job, but you have skills and you’re healthy. I mean, I had COVID. So you’re listening out there and you didn’t have COVID, that is the first thing that should be on your gratitude list, is that I’m safe and I’m healthy and I’m in a home and we can figure it out. I mean, that may sound like, okay, that’s just being a little bit too positive, but look around.
Serena Poon (17:14):
Because if you look around you, you will see so many things that you actually have and the things that you have control of. And so you might not have control of the stock market, you might not have control of what’s going on in the time of vaccines or no vaccines, or whatever’s going on in the news, but you have control of what you do with your body.
Serena Poon (17:36):
So you have control of movement. You have control of your breath. You have control of the food that you put in. You have control of how much you hydrate your body. And it doesn’t have to be expensive things. Just keeping yourself hydrated puts your body at an optimal immune level.And as Dr. Gundry knows, just staying hydrated is so key to your immune system. And that’s something that all of us can do. So I would say focus on those things. Tone it down to the basics and then start from there.
Dr. Gundry (18:08):
All right. Great advice. I’m glad we talked about that. What many people think are crazy things that you do, and I’m going to get you to talk about, another potential crazy thing, and you work with crystals, right?
Serena Poon (18:29):
I do. [inaudible 00:18:31] There’s a bunch behind me.
Dr. Gundry (18:35):
I know. So for the uninitiated, tell me about crystals, crystal work, the energy in crystals. And again, talk to me like I’ve never heard of such a crazy thing. How can a crystal help? How’s that?
Serena Poon (18:58):
So let’s think about the things that are connected to the earth that have healing attributes for us. There’s a healing energy to it. For some people, the ocean is very healing. The sounds of the wave going into the ocean. Of course there’s [inaudible 00:19:17]. But just being in the ocean can be healing. Having your feet grounded into the earth, walking in the grass, these are things that connect you and ground you to mother earth because there’s a vibration with earth.
Serena Poon (19:32):
Crystals come from the earth. So just like the foods that come from the earth, all these root vegetables and just everything, there’s a vibration. So it’s kind of not that different than other things, other objects that we identify that can be healing for us. So we may not ingest a crystal, but there is an energetic vibration that comes with the crystals.
Serena Poon (19:59):
And a lot of it is also, of course, your belief system, right? So there are crystals that are believed to hold an energy that can help with calming, that can help with soothing, that can help with anxiety. To a degree, you have to be open to that. But you also have to be open when you go to a doctor and think that this doctor is going to be able to help you with your skin problem or your heart problem.
Serena Poon (20:25):
You’re open to receive the information. I don’t see it that different when it comes to crystals. I mean, there needs to be maybe more scientific evidence because that’s a tangible that a lot of people believe. But when you pray or when you go to church or when you do your own ceremonies, those things aren’t necessarily tangibles. It’s a belief. And that belief in and of itself has a tremendous healing power to it.
Serena Poon (20:50):
So I work with crystals when I do Reiki. I work with crystals even with the foods. I mean, I wear them because I believe that they channel an energy. Yaaay! Do you have yours? I love it. But of course that is because you believe that this tiger eye helps me channel an energy of passion or abundance. And so it all kind of comes back down to the mind and your belief system. But that is an energy that you want to continue to circulate within your energetic body and your physical body. So that’s kind of a very basic response to crystals, but I hope that makes sense.
Dr. Gundry (21:31):
Yeah. So back in the old days I had a pet rock. So maybe that pet rock was very useful for me to have. And it’s interesting. My father actually used to carry around a smooth stone, a flat stone in his pocket every day in work. And he said he’d reach into his pocket and he’d rub this stone whenever there was anything stressful going on. And he said it was a great way to take my mind off of whatever was bothering me at work. And yeah, he always had this rock, a little tiny rock. So there you go.
Serena Poon (22:17):
Yeah. I love that. I mean, a lot of it is belief and intention, right? We make associations in so many different ways. If you’re feeling like you need a little bit of comfort, some people may reach for… And I’m just going to use a desert as an example. It’s not the best example. But let’s say that Apple pie, it soothes you, it comforts you, even the smell of it if you don’t eat it because it reminds you of your mom or your grandma or your childhood. But you can have that same association of comfort with these crystals because that’s what you’re told or they’re known to represent.
Dr. Gundry (22:53):
Perfect. All right. Now, recently you posted about lymphatic massage. So number one, tell me about the benefits. And number two, can people do this at home?
Serena Poon (23:07):
Oh, absolutely. I mean, lymphatic massage is such a great way to kind of help detox your body. I mean, for those of you that don’t know, lymphatic drainage, it’s just a really gentle massage of the lymphatic system that’s designed to help detoxify, move your lymphatic flow. So your lymphatic system is made up of organs and tissues that kind of act like a deep cleaner for your body.
Serena Poon (23:37):
And so that fluid holds a lot of white blood cells that flow through. And you want to get rid of those toxins and waste and byproducts that collect in different parts of your body. So you can either do lymphatic at home by using dry brushing. And that’s so simple. You can get a dry brush at just about any pharmacy or drugstore. They cost a few dollars. You can get them online, if you’re being COVID safe and you’re not going anywhere.
Serena Poon (24:04):
And all you do is just lightly brush your limbs up towards your heart, and from your arms you bring it down towards your heart because that helps the circulation flow. So the benefits of that, obviously it includes the movement of toxins out of your body. It helps with water loss. For people who say have lymphedema, which is holding too much water, it removes that. It can help with your skin. It can help with your digestion.
Serena Poon (24:37):
I mean, anytime that you can remove toxins from your body, it’s beneficial for your entire system. So those are some things. And it’s something that I recommend for people who let’s say you just had surgery or something like that. Anytime you’re kind of holding that weight, it’s a great way to just move the lymph system, move the fluids out, move the toxins out.
Dr. Gundry (25:03):
Do you ever have anybody get themselves a rebounder at home?
Serena Poon (25:06):
Oh yeah. I have one right here.
Dr. Gundry (25:07):
There you go.
Serena Poon (25:08):
I love that. That’s another great way to move the lymphatic system. And it’s so low impact. Anyone that has joint issues, I suggest get a rebounder, because you just move around. And it’s a great thing to do first thing in the morning. If you can [inaudible 00:25:26] for 5 to 10 minutes, if you can jump on that rebounder for 10 or 15 minutes, it’s a great way to wake up your body and allow your body to flush out everything that had happened the night before as your body was resetting and cleansing itself.
Dr. Gundry (25:41):
Yeah. They’re actually remarkably inexpensive. And people always say, “Well, I’m going to fall off of it,” but a ton of them come with a little handle that you can hold on to if you’re really worried.
Serena Poon (25:56):
Oh yeah. Those are great. And they’re a lot of fun. You can do at-home workouts on them too.
Dr. Gundry (26:03):
Oh yeah. So funny… What do millions of Americans and three former US presidents have in common? Well, they all agree that Boll & Branch sheets are the most comfortable, pure organic cotton sheets on earth. Boll & Branch cotton is rain-fed and pesticide-free and carries the highest organic certification. That’s why they are so soft. It’s also the only sheet company that’s Fair Trade Certified.
Dr. Gundry (26:35):
Did you know that? You see, they work with family-owned mills all over the world to expertly weave every set of Boll & Branch sheets with the highest level of craftsmanship. It’s quality you can feel the moment you open the box. I love my Boll & Branch sheets because they are so soft and I sleep on them. And since they sell direct to you, Boll & Branch sheets start at just $160. Their thousand dollar quality for a fraction of the price.
Dr. Gundry (27:09):
And if you price quality sheets, you know what I’m talking about. Plus you can sleep on them for a month risk-free. And right now you will get $50 off any sheet set at bollandbranch.com with promo code GUNDRY, spelled B-O-L-L and branch.com, promo code GUNDRY for $50 off. Bollandbranch.com, promo code, GUNDRY. Now, restrictions may apply, see bollandbranch.com for details.
Dr. Gundry (27:46):
My friend and patient, Tony Robbins, has a rebounder right before he goes up the stairs to the stage. And it’s so fun being backstage with him. And before he goes out, before every part of his show, he’s on the rebounder. And he’s getting his energy going on the rebounder. Yeah. So it’s a great trick.
Serena Poon (28:09):
It is. I mean, every day, that’s one of the first things I do just for a little bit of movement. And it’s a great little hack too for not just energy, but your overall health.
Dr. Gundry (28:26):
Obviously not everybody can come see you or see you remotely or hire a professional like yourself. And I always like to give folks things that they can do at home like, for instance, dry brushing. What are other things that starting tomorrow that people can do at home to do some of the things you’d like us to do?
Serena Poon (28:52):
Okay. That’s a great question. So we have talked about water and hydration, right? So that’s something that I would say most people are dehydrated. So one of the first things that people can do is drink and drink more water. I give clients a pretty high number as their goal, which is close to one ounce per pound that they weigh, as long as they have no kidney issues and they’re not deficient in electrolytes. It’s a goal.
Serena Poon (29:19):
If you can get halfway there or three quarters of the way there, that would be great. But what we talked about earlier with the gratitude practice in the morning, but connecting physically with that feeling of something that you’re grateful for, and then taking that to your food or your water, or your coffee, or your tea, immediately, and sending that energy and just having that intention that you want to connect and send that energy that you felt earlier into that meal or as you’re preparing. And that’s sort of the best way.
Serena Poon (29:53):
So when you’re preparing that food, to have that feeling kind of infuse and go into it, that would be another tip. Again, we had talked about energy centers and the chakras. And the chakras align, of course, with physical organ systems. So if you want to try and create balance, and you’re obviously following the Gundry diet, then you choose foods that kind of across the spectrum of the rainbow, so that you’re targeting every single energy center.
Serena Poon (30:27):
You’re staying with Gundry friendly foods, and you make sure that your meals throughout the day cover the spectrum of the rainbow. And that would be something that… And a lot of people don’t really realize they don’t eat enough of different color foods. Because you’re getting different phytonutrients, you’re getting different micronutrients from different foods and different levels of fiber and fat.
Serena Poon (30:53):
And so that’s something that’s really important. Because most people I find have their two or three go-tos and that’s what stick to every single day. And a variety in your diet is so important clearly for your gut health, as well as your brain health, but it’s also good for your chakra health.
Dr. Gundry (31:11):
All right. Years ago, actually, with my first book, Dr. Gundry’s Diet Evolution, we found that the average person, the average American has only five go-to meals that they eat on a rotating basis. And that’s all they do. And yeah. In a way, that’s what you get and fix, but in a way it’s so different than the way our ancestors would have eaten thousands of years ago.
Dr. Gundry (31:51):
In fact, modern hunters and gatherers eat and interact with about 200 different plants on a rotating basis. And even my devout organic eaters, when I say, “Excuse me, how many different organic plants did you eat last year?” And they’ll go, “Oh, 30.” And I’ll go, “Good for you, but…”
Serena Poon (32:20):
Absolutely. And when we had talked about my practice of culinary alchemy, one of the things that I do want to remind people of, and I have a chart that I use for our clients and some people in my community, and it’s where you want to eat in alignment of those chakras. Because as you’re eating in alignment for those chakras, which is why you want to eat the rainbow, you’re also eating in alignment for your mental, emotional health, as well as your physiological body.
Serena Poon (32:59):
So it’s just important to try and target every one of those to kind of keep things in balance. And it’s important to check in with yourself. That’s something that you might need to work with me a little bit on. But you can check in with yourself. Let’s say you’re feeling ungrounded because of all the stress of what’s going on in the world. If that’s the case, then you want to reach for grounding foods.
Serena Poon (33:21):
You want to reach for foods that come from the earth. You want to reach for foods to kind of help balance out that energy center and help kind of bring you back into a parasympathetic system so that you can digest properly and that you can tone down the overall inflammation in your system. So those are things to think about.
Dr. Gundry (33:43):
Now you’re going to have me ask another question. How do you check in with yourself in a time like this? Give us a hand. I mean, do I call myself on the phone or visit me on Zoom? I mean, give us a hand on how do you check in with yourself? Because I think you’re right. I think most people don’t really check in with themselves. They react.
Serena Poon (34:11):
Yeah. A hundred percent, you’re reacting. So it kind of boils down again, back to the basics. It’s just taking a moment and taking a breath and connecting to where you really are. Try to feel yourself, feel your body, like this is my body, these are my legs. Feel yourself. And sometimes it helps to sit. I would say try to have your feet on the floor so that you can connect with feeling the floor beneath your feet.
Serena Poon (34:47):
And I think that that’s the first thing you do, is to get yourself in a place where you have presence of where you’re at. And our body tells us things all the time. Our body talks to us, which is what people forget. By the time you’re thirsty, your body is screaming at you that you’re super dehydrated. When there’s pain, your body’s telling you there’s a problem here, but it’s kind of screaming.
Serena Poon (35:10):
Before we get to that point, the body talks to us and tells us when there’s a little tick. There’s something that’s not quite right. So when you’re checking in with yourself, sit there and take a breath. Get grounded. What feels? What feels off? Is it in your head? Is it in your heart? Is it in your stomach? And you’ll feel it. You just have to take that moment.
Serena Poon (35:31):
Now, if it’s in your stomach, are you hungry? Is it something that’s upsetting? And you just kind of think for a second, is this something that’s physical or is this something that’s in my mind? Or is this something that’s in my heart? And I say that because I’m talking about emotions, right? So check in. And then once you start doing that, once you have that presence and you start to try and break down, what is it that I’m feeling? Where is it coming from? Your mind has already shifted.
Serena Poon (36:00):
Your attention and your focus has already shifted. And it’ll allow you to kind of come up with a solution. So either you’re hungry, you’re not, your stomach hurts. You realize your stomach hurts because you got bad news. So you can go address that. I don’t know if that’s helpful, but I think that presence is one of the key things.
Dr. Gundry (36:22):
That reminds me, years ago I was doing mission work in Zimbabwe, operating on children in Zimbabwe. And in the hospital in Zimbabwe, there was a big sign, and it caught my attention because I saw it every day. The big sign says, “Sometimes I sits and thinks and other times I just sits.” And actually, as you were saying that, I was saying that’s exactly what Serena is saying to do. Sometimes you want to sit and think, but other times just the sitting, just the quiet, you’ll find out a lot of things, right?
Serena Poon (37:08):
Oh yeah. You learn. And as you said, Dr. Gundry, most of the times we’re reacting. So this gives you an opportunity to just be and then act. And then usually when you do that, you can make a decision from clarity if you are going to have a thought and a decision after that because you’re not in this hyper sympathetic state.
Dr. Gundry (37:36):
Got you. Okay. So are there any new exciting advances in intuitive healing modalities that you’re excited about, new tools you’re learning about? What’s the next step?
Serena Poon (37:50):
I’ve actually been playing with his device that’s really cool. And I just got a hyperbaric oxygen chamber for my home. It’s not new. It’s medallia. It has been around for a long time, but I find to be very beneficial. And I’ve been using this little device.
Dr. Gundry (38:13):
Tell us what it is because a lot of people are just listening to this.
Serena Poon (38:17):
Oh yeah. Sorry about that. Yes. It’s called a Healy, but it’s a microcurrent device. So it’s kind of, it’s working with frequencies and your resonance. And there have been a lot of other devices out there like it, where it’s using something tangible to read the electromagnetic frequency in your body and to balance out or clear blockages. So there’s a lot of doctors that use this.
Serena Poon (38:45):
It’s think about like the right from a long, long time ago. It’s same kind of ideology, but fast forward to where we are now. And this is a wearable device that, again, I said, I’ve been playing with. It’s called the Healy. And what it does, it’s been FDA approved for pain, but what’s interesting is that I’ve used it for energy. I’ve used it to help align and balance out and see someone’s energy centers.
Serena Poon (39:15):
I’ve also used it for pain. So it’s a really interesting sort of fascinating device. You might want to play with mine. I mean, the next time you’re in LA, you can come play with mine. But it’s very, very cool.
Dr. Gundry (39:31):
And it’s very small. What you held up is, what? Three inches by three? Two inches by two inches, maybe.
Serena Poon (39:38):
It’s a two by two, for the people that are listening, and it’s a wearable device. And what you do is you can either wear it on yourself. You can wear it with wristlets. There’s electrodes as well, depending. And what’s very cool about it is that it reads. You do an analysis. It sort of reads your resonance, the frequency that you’re in, in this moment. And then it makes suggestions of where there are energetic blockages.
Serena Poon (40:13):
And then if you run that program, which is kind of brilliant the way they’ve done it. So in the past, doctors, physicians, researchers that have used frequencies, they have to sort of manually set the frequency for the patient. They’ll run it at 639 Hertz for two minutes, and then they shift it to 39 and it’s a whole process. This device precepts.
Serena Poon (40:35):
So let’s say you have pain in your back or you have joint pain or you have whatever it is, there’s a preset program and you just wear the wristlets for however long it says, and you run this program and it actually does alleviate pain. It has cleared… We all had Zoom fatigue for a moment there, right? And your eyes can get tired. There’s a setting where you can run it. And after about 20, 25 minutes, that fogginess with your eyes clears and your eyes are no longer tired. So something I haven’t talked about that you might be the first, actually, doctor. The first time I’ve really shared that because…
Dr. Gundry (41:16):
Well, good. Breaking news, folks.
Serena Poon (41:20):
I mean, the device has recently been introduced to the US a couple months ago, but I just like to really dive in and understand and play with a modality and the science behind it before I really start to introduce it. But I’ve seen a lot of success with this. So from the energetic side, there’s not as much science to back that up tangibly.
Serena Poon (41:44):
From the physical side, it’s an FDA approved device. So there’s obviously a lot of data for that aspect of the device, of the machine. But it’s pretty cool. And I think it’s something that for people who don’t have access to practitioners on a regular basis, something that would be very useful for them.
Dr. Gundry (42:05):
And it is not a prescription. You can get it on the internet.
Serena Poon (42:08):
Yeah. You can get it online. I mean, I can send you a link to it, if you’d like, when you share this podcast. Actually, I’ll do that. And then people can go there and they’ll see. And there’s different devices. I use one that’s for a practitioner, where I can read someone’s resonance with it. And when I combine that with Reiki, when I combine that with my intuitive read, it’s so accurate that…
Serena Poon (42:41):
I mean, it even kind of surprises me still. I ran it on someone just last night. It was fascinating. She had complained of shoulder pain in her arm. It was excruciating. So I said, okay, let’s run this program. And before we even run, I already knew just from doing an energy, what the percentage was that I should have her set up. We ran the program. It pointed out pain. There’s 120 programs.
Serena Poon (43:12):
It pulled pain, it pulled joint, and it showed me on the app exactly where to put the electrodes, which was exactly where she told me. And then as we ran the program, we kind of moved it up and down and she told me her comfort level. And we landed at exactly the percentage that I knew it would be from the energy read. So again, like culinary alchemy, where I’m combining food and energy and the nutrition into a protocol to help heal someone, I’ve found that this device is kind of fascinatingly… It’s just exciting that I can add it in. And we saw immediately the results. She wasn’t completely free of pain, but she said it reduced it by at least 40%. And we ran it for 50 minutes. So, yeah. Pretty cool.
Dr. Gundry (44:06):
All right. Well, I’m glad I asked that question. So, Serena, it’s been great seeing you again and having you on the podcast. Now, you have a lifestyle brand and a new TV show. Is that right?
Serena Poon (44:19):
Yes. Yes, I do. I have a Serena Live TV. It’s also podcast.
Dr. Gundry (44:24):
Very cool. So where do people find you?
Serena Poon (44:28):
So they can find me on Instagram at Chef Serena Poon, S-E-R-E-N-A P-O-O-N. On my website, serenaloves.com. And you’ll find everything there. You’ll find links to all the other social platforms and YouTube and the podcast, which is Serena Live. You guys will find all of that. And we have a wellness line called Just Add Water, and you’ll find that there as well. And that’s another really exciting project that we work on. My sister and I, we’re partners. And that’s like a super nutrient dense super food. So different things that we offer just to help people heal and optimize.
Dr. Gundry (45:14):
So sleep is a huge issue, probably, particularly now. Do you have any advice? I mean, do people need to change their mattress? Do they need to wear blue blockers? Where do you see you fitting in on sleep?
Serena Poon (45:33):
I’d say that if you can get one of those glasses, those blue blockers glasses, and you’re using that at least the hour or two before bedtime, that’s very helpful. But I’ve also found different herbs. And this is a big part of my practice is using natural, organic, either supplements or herbs to help balance and soothe your body. And there’s definitely different herbs that are helpful for that.
Serena Poon (45:57):
So we’re familiar with caramel tea, but there’s also passion flower, and you can drink it as a tea or you can take it as a supplement if you need to. Those are great things to do before bed to kind of help relax your system. I also recommend magnesium, and I recommend magnesium glycinate, something that I do as well, just to kind of help ease and relax.
Serena Poon (46:25):
A lot of people are deficient in magnesium. So that’s also helpful in that sense. When it comes to your mattress, I mean, yes, of course. I’m not the expert on mattresses. But having a good mattress is obviously very important. but I would say if you can do that gratitude practice you do in the morning, if you can do it before bed, it helps to ease your mind. And your focus is on things that relax you, make you happy, calm you.
Serena Poon (46:54):
And you want those thoughts to be the thoughts that you have as you go into sleep and rest. So those are really helpful. And there’s a few other herbs as well. But passion flower and magnesium glycinate are my go-to if you’re going to do teaser supplements. And a little bit of a breathing always helps as well. The 444. That can really help.
Dr. Gundry (47:21):
Yeah. Actually, I like lavender essential oil as well.
Serena Poon (47:23):
Oh yeah. Essential oils are fantastic. That’s great. Some you just rub it.
Dr. Gundry (47:28):
Yeah, you just rub it. The other thing that I’ve found very interesting is there’s an amino acid called glycine, and glycine actually lowers body temperature. And so I have a lot of my really troublemaking sleep deprived people try taking a thousand milligrams of glycine about an hour before they go to bed. It’s just a tablet and it drops their temperature. And there’s actually very well controlled clinical trials that it really aid sleep. So all great tricks. Okay. Great.
Serena Poon (48:05):
And the Himalayan salt lamp. I would say that as well.
Dr. Gundry (48:10):
Exactly. And I think you’ve got one behind there. She’s got a bunch of crystals behind her.
Serena Poon (48:14):
They’re definitely good crystals for sleep. We have a pop light. That’s not behind me, but a pop light is great for sleep as well. And so is halo light. So they’re great crystals for sleep.
Dr. Gundry (48:26):
All right. Great pieces of advice. And thank you again. And I’m sure we’ll be Instagraming or something together.
Serena Poon (48:36):
Thank you so much, Dr. Gundry. It was a lot of fun. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.
Dr. Gundry (48:38):
All right. Take care.
Serena Poon (48:44):
Thanks so much, Dr. Gundry. I loved it.
Dr. Gundry (48:45):
My pleasure. That was great information. Thanks. Okay. It’s time for our audience question.
Speaker 4 (48:53):
Support for this podcast comes from Pluto TV. Ready to get away from it all? Free yourself with Pluto TV. Stream hundreds of channels and thousands of movies and shows all for free. Yeah, free. No contracts, no subscriptions, no fees. Imagine 24/7 channels of Narcos, CSI, Star Trek, Survivor, and everything else from hit movies to binge-worthy TV shows, the latest news, live sports, comedy, and more. What are you waiting for? Download the free Pluto TV app for Android or iPhone and start watching now. Pluto TV, drop in, watch free.
Dr. Gundry (49:31):
Live health and wellness, or it could be live health and wellness on Instagram as. if you are going to have dessert like ice cream or cookies, is there a best time of day to cheat? Well, first of all, I hope you’re not having ice cream and cookies, unless they’re one of my recipes from the various books. As you know, we’ve got some great avocado-based ice creams, which I think are fantastic.
Dr. Gundry (50:00):
And we got so many great cookie recipes, using almond flour and coconut flour and the alternative flowers. That you can have these decadent treats, but actually improve your gut health, feed your gut bugs without destroying things. But the interesting thing about these sweet treats, you’re better off having them earlier in the day rather than later in the day. And that’s not usually when we have these. So if you had an alternative between having them after lunch and having them after dinner, try to get them in earlier during the day.
Dr. Gundry (50:41):
Actually, I’m going to give you a bunch of tricks in my upcoming new book, The Energy Paradox, on how to pull this off, how to cheat without killing yourself and your energy. Great question. All right. It’s time for the review of the week, following my recent episode with the fitness podcaster Ben Greenfield. Dragon Fly on YouTube wrote, “This was so interesting. I’ve also worked in sleep medicine, but the information here was more than I learned on my journey.”
Dr. Gundry (51:16):
Well, okay. Thank you very much. Well, we’re trying on the Dr. Gundry Podcast to introduce you to lots of different areas of health, like in today’s podcast, for instance. So keep the cards and letters coming in. And if you want to hear something, I’m happy to find out what we can for you and get them on the show. So that’s it for today. We’ll see you next week on the Dr. Gundry Podcast.
Dr. Gundry (51:45):
Disclaimer: On the Dr. Gundry Podcast, we provide a venue for discussion, and the views expressed by my guests do not necessarily reflect my own. Thanks for joining me on this episode of the Dr. Gundry Podcast. Before you go, I just wanted to remind you that you can find the show on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. And if you want to watch each episode of the Dr. Gundry podcast, you can always find me on YouTube at youtube.com/drgundry. Because I’m Dr. Gundry, and I’m always looking out for you.
