Take Charge of Your Cellular Health to Feel Younger & More Energized with Dr. Darshan Shah

[00:00:00] Kate: So welcome back to another great episode of Rawish with Kate Eckman. I'm really excited today because as you can see, I'm on location. I'm at a set in West Hollywood at one of my favorite places I've ever been to in my whole life. It's not a vacation or anything like that. It's a place where I go to recharge and rejuvenate and really extend and expand my life and wellbeing. And we are at Next Health in West Hollywood, and I'm joined by the founder and CEO today. Dr. Shah, thank you so much for coming on Rawish today.

[00:00:32] Darshan: Thank you so much for having me. It's such an honor to be here.

[00:00:34] Kate: Oh, I'm so happy to talk to you because one of my reasons for this show, first of all, especially the people who are on in the beginning, I call you all my favorite people who have changed my life. And I don't say that lightly because I've been through a lot of challenges in recent years. I think we all have, personal and professional for me. And I was feeling so depleted mentally, emotionally, physically.

[00:00:56] And we all know to eat right and exercise, get a coach, get a therapist, and my body was telling me it wanted something more. And so I started doing a lot of research and I stumbled upon Next Health to try out cryotherapy and red light therapy. And it's been life changing and it's only been six or seven months since I discovered you.

[00:01:18] And so I'm just so grateful that people like you exist and know how important it is to take care of our health from a cellular level. I know you're a doctor. You're a medical doctor, so it makes sense that you would be interested in creating-- I think you're the world's first longevity clinic in the world. So congratulations.

[00:01:35] Darshan: Thank you.

[00:01:37] Kate: What was the birth and process of birthing such an extraordinary business like for you?

[00:01:43] Darshan: Yeah. It's been quite a journey like all of us have. And so I actually started my career in surgery. I did surgery for over 20 years. And what happened was I was also an entrepreneur. I still am an entrepreneur, of course, but I was a surgeon. And being an entrepreneur and also a doctor operating 12, 13 hours a day, sometimes I found myself. taking care of myself last.

[00:02:10] And so I'd work 12 hours in the operating room, get out, do four or five hours of paperwork, finally get home around midnight and wake up the next morning at 4 or 5 in the morning and do it all over again. And I was stressed, so I wasn't sleeping very well anyway. I was eating a lot of garbage. And I was definitely not exercising.

[00:02:30] And so this led to me finding myself in my early 40s being 40 pounds overweight, being on multiple, multiple medications. I was on a handful of six medications for uncontrolled blood pressure, for an autoimmune disease I was developing, for metabolic syndrome, and I was just really, really sick.

[00:02:50] And 10 years ago, it was a really impactful time in my life because I had my first child 10 years ago. He's 10 years old now, but when he was born, I was probably at my sickest state ever.

[00:03:03] Kate: Oh my gosh.

[00:03:04] Darshan: Yeah, and I realized that this is definitely not the way I want to project health to my son, especially being a physician. This is not a model of health that I'm being, but also I recognize that having all these diagnoses would mean that I would potentially not even be alive long enough to see my kid maybe graduate from college or get married and have grandchildren because I was just going down the wrong path of health, which as we all know, leads to a much higher chance of mortality.

[00:03:36] And so I decided 10 years ago I needed to change my life. And so it's really hard to make those changes when you don't know what to do. And so just like many people that find themselves sick, even being a physician, I was part of that group of people that were overwhelmed with the amount of information out there. I was paralyzed by having all this information and not knowing which direction to go.

[00:04:01] Should I go with the Atkins diet or should I go vegan? Should I go to the gym and run an hour and a half of the treadmill every day, or should I go do strength training? I had no idea what to do. And so I did all the wrong things and just did not get healthy even for months afterwards.

[00:04:19] And so I decided I was going to see an expensive concierge medical physician here in Beverly Hills, and I thought, this is to solve all my problems. I'll just throw some money on it. So I did that. So excited for my appointment. Got some blood tests done and a week later came back to find out what I was going to do to get healthy.

[00:04:42] And basically all he gave me was more pills. So another pill to help with my diabetes, a new pill that had just come out, another pill to help with my high blood pressure. And then he saw that I was depressed, so he gave me some Prozac as well.

[00:04:56] Kate: Oh my gosh.

[00:04:58] Darshan: This is the way medicine is practiced.

[00:05:01] Kate: Makes me so mad.

[00:05:02] Darshan: Right? Yeah. And I didn't even realize this was wrong because I was trained the same way.

[00:05:07] Kate: It's very empty of you.

[00:05:09] Darshan: That's what I was told to do. So I was like, I'm sure he knows he's right. And so I started taking more medication. I just realized that this is not going to work. And so I decided, whenever I am faced with a problem and I don't know how to handle it, I decided to just educate myself on it.

[00:05:28] And so I went out there and I started reading a lot of books on health, and a lot of them are focused around nutrition and exercise, which is exactly what I needed to focus on. And that led me down this pathway of just wanting to learn even more. So I decided to get a formal education in nutrition, a formal education in exercise, and that led me down the path of a new field of medicine that was coming about at that moment in time, which is called functional medicine.

[00:05:53] You were shaking your head yes, because functional medicine really has been a game changer for me personally, which then I was able to take that knowledge and give it to patients, which changed their life. And for someone like yourself, you're shaking your head because functional medicine probably changed your life too.

[00:06:09] Kate: Changed my life.

[00:06:10] Darshan: Yeah. And this is, for people that are listening that don't know, it's root cause medicine. What is the reason we're sick? Why at a cellular level are we all having a much higher rate of obesity and metabolic syndrome and diabetes and Alzheimer's and heart attacks, all of this?

[00:06:26] Depression, anxiety, why is this happening? Well, there's a cellular level that this is happening, and I was able to take that knowledge and utilize it to get myself healthy at a cellular level, which led to weight loss and getting off all my medications. My autoimmune disease went away. Within eight months, I was a completely new person, and I was like, everyone needs to do this.

[00:06:47] But it is so hard 10 years ago. It's so crazy to think 10 years ago none of this stuff was readily available. You had to go to different places. Rich people had an LED bed in their home maybe. There's a cryotherapy place in La Cienega or something. And I was driving all over LA trying to do all my things.

[00:07:10] Kate: You sound like me.

[00:07:11] Darshan: And so I was like, wait a minute. How do I bring all this under one roof? And also, at that moment in time, I was helping a lot of my surgical patients avoid surgery, lose weight, get healthy, get off their medications. And a lot of them didn't even need surgery then. And I was like, this is the kind of medicine I want to be practicing.

[00:07:31] I want to stop doing surgery, and I would just want to help people get healthy. So I decided at that point in time, I'd wind down my surgical career and I would focus completely on the science of health optimization. And that led to the birth of this business. So our first office was a little 1,200 square foot office down the street here on Sunset Boulevard that was tucked away next to a pizza restaurant.

[00:07:53] Kate: We're always next to the pizza restaurant. Weight Watchers is always next to the donut shop.

[00:07:57] Darshan: Exactly. And we brought in a cryotherapy chamber. We brought in some LED and sauna and IV, and I was like, this is all the things that I want to do every day, so I'm just going to put it here in the office so I can do it too. And we started seeing patients, and from there we were the first business in LA doing this, where we would offer all these things under one roof.

[00:08:19] And I really wanted it to be a place where people could go that they felt inspired to go to. Because when you go to your doctor's office, it's like the last place you want to be. It's usually the 10th floor of a building and all the doors look the same.

[00:08:35] Kate: With your little gown naked. Yeah. Like, ugh.

[00:08:38] Darshan: Right. You open the doors, like furniture from the '80s. And so I was like, I want the anti-doctor's office. I want a place where people go because they want to be there, it inspires them to be healthy, and they want to go more than once a year. A lot of times you're done with your yearly physical and you're just like, oh, I'm glad I don't have to do that for another year.

[00:08:58] And so I was like, I want to make a place where people want to go every week and do something. And so we started with that and so the design and the function and the location was very important. And from there it just became very popular, and we started doing a lot more things and seeing more patients to where we're just totally outgrown that space, and we rapidly opened many more locations in LA and New York, and now we're opening all over the country, which is really inspiring and exciting for me.

[00:09:25] But that's the genesis and the birth, just like everything else. And we went through the pandemic too, and because we are a place where people go to, no one could come to us. And so that was a very scary moment. So there's been lots of ups and downs, but now we're in a really good place, and I'm excited to be sharing those stories.

[00:09:43] Kate: Yeah. And thank you for sharing what you did, because I think there's this notion that if you're a doctor, you're healthy. If you're married with kids, you're happy and living the dream. If you're single, you're lonely. And oh my gosh, if you are a celebrity, you have a perfect life that we all envy and we've just seen, I'm sure you have too-- we're in LA too.

[00:10:04] So I think we've all seen the curtain being pulled back, and a lot of public figures are now talking openly about their struggles and mental health struggles, which I've learned, especially after the pandemic, everyone has mental health challenges. It's not about being schizophrenic or bipolar or something like that. We all struggle.

[00:10:20] And so I just appreciate when people are honest and that it was born not just from, let me make some money or mom a doctor. It's your own health issues. And then yes, you say a place you want to come.

[00:10:32] I come here at least once a week. I'm obsessed. I look forward to it every time for everything that you said. And then I just leave here with this glow, and I feel like I am aging backwards. So everyone wants that quick fix, or even people are like, what have you done?

[00:10:46] And I'm not into plastic surgery, and nothing against people who are. Or people are like, you look so good. What's happening? I'm like, I do red light therapy. I do IV therapy. I do cryotherapy. And people look at you sometimes like you're a little nuts or how nice for you, or that's cute. Tell people why this isn't just must be nice for you or that's cute, or you're so LA. That this is the science.

[00:11:09] I'll just tell you quickly too. I was put on Lexapro when I was a TV news reporter because I was so stressed. My doctor recognized me from the news and all the crime-filled stories that I did, and he said, you're this brilliant career woman. You can't be crying at work. That I should be desensitized from watching children being murdered and things like that.

[00:11:28] And there was such a disconnect there and the notion that I should numb that out, numb out the trauma and being horrified by what I was seeing and reporting on. And I didn't like that. But again, I was like, well, he's a doctor. I'm desperate. I'm struggling. So I took Lexapro and that did not work for me. And I remember, this is TMI, but I remember the aha moment I had with Lexapro when I was on a photo shoot and the photographer was so stressed out and I was taking a pill at lunch, and he said, what is that?

[00:11:58] And I was like, oh, it's allergy medication, because I was ashamed to be on it. He said, no, really? What is it? Because we knew each other. And I said, it's anti-anxiety, anti-depression medication. And he's like, can I have one? I gave him one, and this person is a recreational drug user.

[00:12:15] He uses cocaine regularly. And he took Lexapro and he was so messed up and he said, I can't believe you take this. You are so anti-drug. I feel more high on this than cocaine. And that for me was one of the biggest wake up calls, and I immediately called my doctor to get off it. And then that's when I dove into meditation and dove into these other practices.

[00:12:36] I wish I would've known about your business then. Actually, you didn't exist then. So I just wanted to share that openly because there's no shame in any of us struggling or dealing with these challenges, and everyone does want to put you on a pill, and that's our culture. So it was counterculture, but now it is becoming more mainstream.

[00:12:55] What can you say to people who say, I don't have time for that, or that's just sounds like a luxury that I can't afford, or I'm fine taking another medication? I don't even know what else people are doing. I guess I was shopping. I was overeating. I was doing all these things I'm not ashamed to say I am not proud of, but people are really struggling and trying to cope in unhealthy ways.

[00:13:16] Darshan: Absolutely. And so I think you hit the nail on the head on medications because, look, medications have their role in our society. When you have an acute problem, when something is really going in the wrong direction, we have spent trillions of dollars in our economy to develop these chemicals to stop that problem from happening. But really what you're doing is you're just treating the symptom, the end of the core reason that you are having the problem.

[00:13:46] So in the case of Lexapro, for example, yes, it'll mask the anxiety. It'll mask all the symptoms, but really the work needs to be done to eliminate the root cause of all of those symptoms in the first place. And it's the same thing with what I discovered with my health. I was not doing the work to eliminate the root causes of why I was on all these medications in the first place.

[00:14:10] So the medications are like a bandaid, and eventually you want to be able to remove that bandaid because the skin underneath it has been fixed completely. And I think people need to understand that, that if you are on medications, most medications, that's an indication to you that you have some work to do.

[00:14:27] Whether it's in your physiology or your psychology, there's work that needs to be done to try to get on a lower dose and eventually try to get off of it. And for you, it involved a major lifestyle change as well, because, you're right. No person should be exposed to that amount of constant trauma.

[00:14:45] You can do it for a certain amount of time, and God bless the people that do it for long periods of time, but our brains were not meant to handle that level of trauma. And so I think for the people that say about some of these technologies and some of the things that we're doing, like, that's cute, well, the thing is that a lot of these things that we do are proven in science and they're beneficial.

[00:15:08] Yes, it's definitely some of those things that there's a lot of other things that you could do that will have a big impact that you should probably do first. Like for example, people should get out and walk more, get out in the sun more. They should avoid ultra processed food. They should get sleep at night. Absolutely. But you and myself and many other individuals, we've done those things and now we want to do more just because we feel so good.

[00:15:35] And so these additional modalities, like the infrared bed or the sauna or cold exposure, these are things that can help take you to the next level, which is what we're all looking for. We want to feel our absolute best that we can. And then, like you were saying earlier, actually age in reverse if possible.

[00:15:53] Actually, whether it's actually happening at a cellular level or you just feel like you are, it's the same thing. If you feel great and you look in the mirror and you see someone who's 10 years younger than the age in your driver's license, that's an awesome feeling. And so you want that for everybody. You want that for all your friends and your family, and it's possible for everybody. It really is. Unless you have some genetic health condition, etc., but still, you could still feel your absolute best.

[00:16:24] Kate: And that's why I love it too. Even from a vanity standpoint where-- I'm in my 40s now, and sometimes it's just-- I think all women do especially. Our whole lives, society is dictated that our worth is based on our appearance, and whether we like it or not, there is so much emphasis placed on what we all look like, but especially women. We're supposed to do it all and juggle it all, and you better look good doing it.

[00:16:45] Even when you're cleaning the house, we should look hot doing that too, apparently. That's what they say. So definitely having an on-camera career my whole life, I've definitely felt the effects of that. And then even sometimes in Pilates class or whatever I'm doing, I'm like, in my mind I'm 27, but my body it tells me different.

[00:17:03] I'm sure you've experienced that too. I'm not in my 20s anymore. And so instead of just putting the bandaid on it, and I love beauty products and skincare as much as the next person, but what I'm finding in doing my own research as the nerdy journalist that I will always be, it's not enough to treat even the outside.

[00:17:21] Next Health has helped me really dive into this. Even just a few years ago, I never was thinking about my cells. I had no idea what ATP is. I would love for you to tell us about that. I didn't know about what the mitochondria are doing. We'll talk about that.

[00:17:37] And so just learning about my cells and that now treating the cells. And when you treat your cells, your hair looks better. Your skin looks better. And vanity aside, I'm thinking more clearly. I'm performing at a higher level. What used to take me 10 hours, I'm doing in two hours. I'm just more joyful.

[00:17:57] You can probably feel it off of me right now maybe because I'm talking to you, and we're at Next Health, and it's just for me, I just want to shout it from the rooftops for everybody to at least try. I started listening to my body maybe because my cells and I are now in tune. My body says I don't want alcohol. Nothing against it. Maybe I'll have a drink on my birthday. When I go and I get stressed, okay, let's order the pizza. My body says, I don't want that. So what's happening? Are my cells starting to just get with the program? I'd love for you to talk about what's happening that I just feel so good.

[00:18:29] Darshan: Yeah, I think when you start understanding that basically our body is a collection of cells-- every single function in our body, there's a cell associated with it that is making that function happen, and these cells are then working together to make us the human form that we are right now.

[00:18:48] So once you realize that, that you have to keep your cells healthy, and cells are just little machines that are inside of your body, they need care too. Those little machines need care. And so you mentioned mitochondria a little bit earlier. What does every machine need? It needs adequate power to make that happen.

[00:19:05] And so mitochondria are the powerhouses of our cells that give the cells the energy that they need. So they give your skin cells the energy to turn over and make new skin and to make new collagen and to make new elastin, to keep your skin looking healthy. But there's also cells in your liver, for example, that need energy to detoxify the toxins that are absorbed through our gut.

[00:19:27] There's cells in your gut that need the energy to be able to bring nutrients into your body that your body needs. So every cell needs enough energy to be able to do the jobs that they're supposed to do. So how do you get more cellular energy? That is the root cause question.

[00:19:42] How do you give your cells more energy to do the things that they need to do? And how do you get your mitochondria to be as healthy as possible and to have as many mitochondria as possible? If you really look down at the scientific basis of what is health, that's what it is, more mitochondria that are doing their function well, so our cells are as healthy as possible.

[00:20:07] Everything in health, when you talk about it, it really boils down to that. So I'll give you an example. Let's take sleep for an example. When you get enough sleep, then your cells have enough time to make new mitochondria and to get rid of old mitochondria that are unhealthy, to make room for new mitochondria inside of the cells.

[00:20:29] If you don't have enough sleep, that process never happens. And so therefore, that's why you feel less energy the next day. So you just don't have good, healthy mitochondria because of the lack of the sleep.

[00:20:42] You mentioned ATP a little bit earlier. So ATP is made by a molecule. Your mitochondria makes ATP, which is energy basically from NAD, which is a precursor to ATP. NAD is something that as we age, our NAD levels go down as well, just naturally. And one of the reasons that happens is because we're not getting enough sleep. We're not exercising enough, and we're not getting enough nutrients in our food as well.

[00:21:11] So those are three reasons actually that that happens. So when you're creating this healthy lifestyle, all you're really doing is at the end of the day you're creating more energy for yourselves to do the function that they need to do.

[00:21:21] Kate: Yeah. What has been a success story for you when you think about this? It's been eight since you created Next Health. When you think back, what's something that comes to mind of, oh my gosh, I'm so glad I created this business?

[00:21:35] Darshan: One of the best things about this business is that you hear almost every day the stories of people that say, you changed my life or you saved my life. And so you hear those stories almost every day. We have so many of them, and I can give you so many examples.

[00:21:51] In fact, you gave me one today, which is just such an incredible story of you. And I think that, for me, it's just making everyone that I come in contact with have the potential to make that their story as well. I think that's what really gives me so much passion for what we're doing here.

[00:22:09] I have so many examples, but one of the things that we do here, which I love, is we do a full testing package. And so we're fully evaluating from a functional medicine standpoint and also from a western medicine standpoint, what's going on with your health. And through that, we've discovered things that could have potentially killed someone in the next year or two.

[00:22:29] Things like blockages in their arteries. Things like tumors that were growing that they didn't know about. Things like genetic conditions that could have led to a lifetime of maybe Alzheimer's disease, etc. And so we're finding so much early, and when you find problems inside of your biology early, you can correct them.

[00:22:47] I always say cancer's biggest enemy is being diagnosed as stage one. Stage one cancer is curable. Stage three or four, we're talking five-year survival rates. And so early is better. Prevention is better. And I would recommend that for everybody. Out of thousands of patients that we've seen, we've probably diagnosed over 100 different cancers that were treated early and taken care of, where that is a potentially life-saving intervention.

[00:23:17] We've also turned around hundreds of people's metabolic destiny. And what I mean by that is they were headed towards diabetes. They were headed towards metabolic syndrome. We caught it early enough that we were able to use interventions like continuous glucose monitors and dietary changes to turn their metabolic health completely around.

[00:23:37] And so we've also found, like I mentioned earlier, blockages in people's arteries. And so I remember one patient particularly, he was going to go for a hike up Kilimanjaro, and he decided, let me just get a full evaluation before I do this. And we found an almost 100% blockage in one of his blood vessels.

[00:23:54] Now, his main blood vessel of his heart called the LAD, and this is known as the widow maker artery because a lot of people don't know they have this blockage. They have a heart attack. And when you have a heart attack, 50% of them are fatal. And so potentially could have been fatal if he went up Kilimanjaro.

[00:24:11] So he saved his life by diagnosing this early. He canceled his Kilimanjaro trip temporarily until we can get this thing taken care of. So those are the kind of things that I love telling people about because hopefully they understand how important it is to get an early diagnostic testing done so they can save their own life potentially.

[00:24:33] Kate: Yeah, life so precious. I think many of us, both of us are two examples, we wait until there's a problem there. We're 40 pounds overweight, or we're very depressed. We're anxious. I lost two loved ones to suicide, and dealing with the aftermath of that brought up my own trauma and my own bad thoughts.

[00:24:52] And I never know when I'm going to get triggered, and I just roll with it now, so thank you. That's why I'm so passionate about prioritizing my wellbeing, all of it. It's all intertwined. And I think I get so emotional because I'm the happy person. I'm the healthy person, and I have struggled.

[00:25:12] And so I worry about the people who are walking around like zombies. And I say that with love, but they're just not even telling themselves the truth or they don't know where to go, or they just go have another drink or eat more crap or watch more movies and aren't addressing the problem. And I'm sensitive to it because we're seeing a crisis in our world.

[00:25:34] And there are solutions. I don't understand why more people aren't taking advantage of these, the testing and the treatments and the services. Can these treatments also help with our mental health?

[00:25:53] Darshan: Absolutely. There's a really incredible researcher out in Harvard. I think he's East Coast. His name is Christopher Palmer, and he says, all mental health has one root cause, which is metabolic disease. And our mind and our body is so intertwined. And so it's almost impossible to treat depression, anxiety, attention deficit, what have you, without addressing your underlying biology at the same time.

[00:26:26] It needs to be done concurrently. You need mental health intervention as well as testing and intervention on the physiologic side at the same time. And so if more psychiatrists knew this, they would not just treat the psychology, they would treat the biology at the same time by making sure they're working hand in hand with the physician that was taking care of the biology part of it.

[00:26:52] And the same is opposite. Almost every person who's sick is also having some mental health issues as well. And so you need to make sure that as you're treating someone's biology, you're also addressing what's going on up here. Because without that, you're just not functioning in sync. And so I think it's so important to do them both at the same time.

[00:27:14] Kate: I just want to be so real because I think I am so healthy that I'm able to be vulnerable and cry and not care. It's a sign of my health rather than-- and I can think of a million examples right now, people who pretend to have it all together and they're a mess. And they may have a multimillion-dollar business.

[00:27:34] A million people just came to mind that are an absolute mess. And I say that with love, and I say that because I want to help them, and I want them to start taking their health and wellbeing seriously. And that's why I have no shame in my vulnerability, because it's a sign of my health, and it's a sign that I've done the work, that I'm aware of what's going on. And I can tell because some people, they're so shut down when you meet them.

[00:27:57] Darshan: Absolutely. I know.

[00:27:58] Kate: I'm just like, you're not fooling me. If you think you're fooling yourself, fine. And I'm so intuitive too. I'm like, I see exactly what's going on there. That's why I have to say to you, it's so refreshing because you don't just look the part. You are the part. You are the health. There's so much integrity with you and your business, and I believe you, and I trust you. And then that's why I appreciate you share that story.

[00:28:20] But I think another thing that this brings up with the health conversation is fear. And I know maybe it's an interesting question to ask you, but there's a lot of fear in the world. I won't bring examples up, but wherever your mind just went, pick your poison there. And even sometimes I think just getting older or I'll see a video on TikTok or something where it's like, even younger people now are getting colon cancer. And things like that freak me out and I go and get tested.

[00:28:49] Because fear, again, is not good for our health. I can see my little mitochondria like, you're killing me with your fear and your stress, as I'm talking. But how can we combat some of the fear or concerns around, oh my gosh, there's so much to think about and take care of in terms of our health and wellbeing and so many stressors to fight against?

[00:29:09] Darshan: Yeah. This is one of the first conversations I have when I sit down with a patient, actually, because there's so much information out there, and there's things to do. People can say an endless, endless list of things to do for your health. And if you listen to all the Instagram influencers and all the podcasts, there is. There's a bazillion things to do.

[00:29:30] And so I always try to get people to focus on one of my favorite laws, which is Pareto's law, Pareto's principle, which is there's 20% of the things that you can do that will make 80% of the difference in every category of your health, whether it be diet, exercise, gut health, hormone health.

[00:29:51] There's really two or three things that you need to focus on now. And then once you get those things right, then you can move on to the endless list of other things. And I think you've intuitively done that over your journey, and now you're doing some of the other things because you've got all those other things out of the way.

[00:30:09] But I really try to get people to hone in on what are the 20% of actions you can do right now that will make a massive difference. Because number one, you need to spend most of your energy on those few actions. But number two, once you start moving the needle, you start feeling better. And it's like this self-fulfilling prophecy.

[00:30:26] It's like this flywheel where once you start feeling better, you want to do it more. And once you want to do that action more, then you got it down, and it's part of your routine and your habit. Then you can add more things on top of it. You stack habits on top of each other. So that's my answer to the fear question is-- and there's another answer to that too.

[00:30:46] I always talk about having just a mindset change. Before you undergo any type of health transformation in your biology from the neck down, you have to do it up here first. And so the first thing I talk with my patients about is, let's put the right mindset up in over here. And there's three parts to that.

[00:31:07] One part is, number one, you have to have a growth mentality. Most people live in a fixed mentality where they feel that their life is what it is and nothing's ever going to change. And they can't eat better because food's too expensive, or they can't exercise more because they have kids and they don't have time.

[00:31:26] And there's a lot of, I can't do these things. And just shifting your mindset into a growth mentality, and there's techniques to do that where everything is possible. You can be the person you want to be. I think that's step one. Step two then is to understand that you need to become an expert at forming habits and routines.

[00:31:47] Most of us have no idea that the science of habit forming has been figured out a long time ago, and it's true for every single human because that's ingrained in the base of our brain. It's so ingrained in our brain to be in a habit-forming lifestyle that our brain automatically wants to do it.

[00:32:08] Why? Because our brain wants to conserve energy. Our brain wants to make neuronal connections that make things automatic. And so smoking can become a habit, and so can eating incredible food for every meal become a habit. It is just what direction you choose to go in. And so I think that's really important. So I encourage all my patients to become expert habit formers.

[00:32:31] And lastly, there's this whole concept of personal responsibility. I feel that we have been conditioned by society, our medical system, health insurance companies, even our government, to outsource our health to the Western medical system.

[00:32:48] So no one is taught from a young age that your health is your own personal responsibility. We're taught we need to go to our doctor once a year. They will do what they need to do. You don't even know what they're doing. You can't even order your own blood tests. And once a year, you're going to be told whether you're healthy or not.

[00:33:06] And if you're not healthy, then they will tell you what medications to be put on. And really, all my patients have flipped that completely on their head. I tell them that you have to become the boss of your own biology, the CEO of your own health. You need to know what are the biomarkers that are important for your own health and how do you follow them?

[00:33:27] And directionality, like what is the right direction head in? Because the sooner you take personal responsibility for those biomarkers, the more empowered you are to make changes now versus waiting for your once a year doctor appointment. So I think those are three important mindset shifts people need to have. And once you have that in place, you can make massive changes, not just for your health. This all applies for your entire life, for everything in life, whether it's business or health or family. Having that mindset shift is super important.

[00:33:56] Kate: Yeah. And it's empowering. I want to ask you your favorite service that you offer downstairs, but this is so bad. But I even had a swim coach in college. I swim in the Big Ten and cold climates, that part of the country. So he would have us go to the tanning bed before Big Tens. Just that advantage when you're tan and especially if you're [Inaudible] like me. You look better. You feel better. You compete better. You're looking better than your opponents, whatever. And I have skin cancer. Had this big scar on my forehead. Had a tumor cut out. One here.

[00:34:25] It shows how old I am too, that I ever went to the tanning bed. But to go from the tanning bed and then now the red light bed, which is a healthy tanning bed, and you're right, I even was in a little bit of fear when I asked the question, and then, thank you for your response. And then as you were talking, I'm just seeing myself in the red light bed and I walk out of there and I'm walking taller and I'm feeling good. And then I embody a mentality of health and wealth. What is your favorite treatment to do downstairs?

[00:34:53] Darshan: They're all my favorites in different ways. But if you make me pick one, I really do love the cryotherapy chamber.

[00:35:02] Kate: You're hardcore.

[00:35:03] Darshan: Yeah. It's just a instant state change, You had mentioned earlier, and this is a great, little tidbit of conversation I had with you, was that some people think that you're feeling down in the afternoon. You're tired. You're mentally stressed from all the decisions that you've made, and all you want to do at the end of the day is go get a drink sometimes. I used to be that person.

[00:35:24] Kate: Me too.

[00:35:25] Darshan: And now I do go in the cryotherapy changer. I'm like, let's go. I'm ready to do another day. It's worth of work now. And so from being able to shift from wanting to go out and have a drink to get in the cryo chamber and you're like a whole new person, I think I love that mental shift that it creates.

[00:35:43] Kate: It is. I put on my Gwen Stefani, What Are You Waiting For? It's the exact length of the three minutes I'm in there, and I'm dancing around like a freak and I'm, woo. And your staff is laughing at me sometimes because sometimes I squeal and I woo. Because it is. It's so invigorating, and you come out of there and you feel high.

[00:36:00] You feel like-- think of the top sensations that you've experienced in life. It's that feeling or better. And again, I'm like, why is everybody not doing this? And there's some days I resist it. The red light bed is always a good time. Sometimes like, I'm not up for cryo today. But it is so invigorating.

[00:36:15] Darshan: It really, really is. Yeah. I wish I had one in my home that I could just do it every single day. I do have a cold plunge now, which I love too, but I think the cryotherapy chamber is dry, cold. It's easy to do, and it's so fun in there, like you said. It doesn't feel like torture. For me the coal plunge is torturous. I can't wait to get out of it. But yeah, anyway, that one's my favorite.

[00:36:44] Kate: Okay. Good. Do stem cells really work? Because I want to use them. They're very expensive. If I had unlimited resources, I'm sure I would use them and try them just again, to have the natural, Benjamin Button ageless beauty effect. I've never got to ask an expert about stem cells before. Anything you want to say about that? Because I'm fascinated by it but don't have a lot of knowledge.

[00:37:06] Darshan: Yeah. Stem cells are so interesting. So for those of you that don't know what stem cells are, basically they're cells that other cells can make themselves out of. So what happens is we're all born from stem cells. So embryos form. There's a few cells called pluripotential cells that turn into different types of stem cells, and those stem cells turn into every other cell in our body.

[00:37:32] So they're like the origination cells. So stem cells currently exist in our body right now because whenever we get injured or there's a part of our body that needs some healing, the stem cells in our body is what makes new cells heal those areas. And so I think what you're asking me is about exogenous stem cells.

[00:37:53] That means taking stem cells either from your body and putting them to where they're needed or taking donated stem cells. We get donated stem cells from the umbilical cord blood from babies that have been born, and then the umbilical cord is cut, and then the stem cells are removed from that cord, and so they're donated.

[00:38:15] They're not embryonic stem cells, so there's no ethical considerations there. And those are donated stem cells from the cord blood of babies. So those are the two different types of stem cells that you can use, either your own, or you can use donated stem cells. And these stem cells can be used in many different ways.

[00:38:34] The most common way to use stem cells is to put them into joints. And when you put them into joints, they elicit a healing reaction in the joint. So people with knee problems, shoulder problems, that's a really common way of utilizing stem cells. However, there's so much research being done around stem cells being used even intravenously, because they can actually hone in on where your body needs repair, and they can help repair those areas.

[00:39:00] Stem cells are even being injected into the brain for stroke victims, etc. So there's a lot of potential for stem cells to cause massive, massive good in all of medicine. However, the problem with stem cells is they're free, and so anyone can get stem cells from your own body or from donated blood from another human.

[00:39:23] And so unfortunately, when something can be sourced for free, the pharmaceutical companies hate that. And so it ruins their profit margins on the drugs that they're creating. And so the pharmaceutical companies make it very difficult for people to really find any uses for stem cells because they have a lot of influence over the FDA, and the FDA has made it very hard for people to utilize stem cells in clinical practice without being under a study or something like that.

[00:39:51] So there's a lot of politics around this. There's a lot of controversy. Obviously when something is not regulated well, there's a lot of people using it incorrectly or they're not doing it carefully, so then that generates bad news.

[00:40:07] There's a little bit of the Wild Wild West out there, so you have to be very careful about who you're choosing to administer stem cells and how they're doing it. And people really need to do their research there.

[00:40:17] Kate: Yeah. Thank you for that. That's why even the researcher in me, I know a little bit, but I've always wanted to ask that question to someone like yourself, so thank you. That was my opportunity. And then I'm excited to share that with people whether they know about it or don't.

[00:40:29] And there is always so much misinformation or people think, why is it so expensive? Or what is it? And so again, it's that reminder to educate yourself. Maybe not everyone can ask you a question. I do know you do webinars and things like that too, so people should hop on. But it's always great to ask the experts questions because there is so much misinformation out there, and I think people get so overwhelmed that they just say, forget it. Or they get caught in a bad situation. We see that a lot with a lot of medical procedures.

[00:40:56] Darshan: Absolutely. And that was like a big picture overview. So for people to understand the big picture world of stem cells, you could go so deep into the science. It is overwhelming. Even for me it's overwhelming. The science is just so overwhelming. But I do feel like humans are really good at doing things that can help humans.

[00:41:15] And so we are going to figure this out. We are going to figure out stem cells. We're going to be able to use them for the benefit of all humans. And it's coming, and I really believe it's coming during our lifetimes. And so I always preach, just stay alive long enough to take advantage of all these new technologies that are coming. And stay healthy long enough to take advantage of it. And so that's why it's so important for people to start their basic health routines today so they stay alive long enough and they stay healthy long enough. So in the next 20 years, when all these innovations come out, you can do it.

[00:41:48] Kate: I love that as you're talking because part of me, I'm just like, why wasn't this stuff around in my teens, 20s, 30s, and during my swimming career? It would've helped me so much better to have all these things, but then I say, the 20-year-olds are doing this stuff now, but they didn't get to grow up in the '80s or '90s, so I don't envy them. I graduated from college without a cell phone. And I got it right after I graduated. I moved here.

[00:42:10] I love that I didn't have a cell phone in college. If I wanted to meet up with you, I'm like, I hope I run into Dr. Shah on campus, or Friday we'll meet at cafe at 5:00. I hope you're there. People left a message on your answering machine you didn't get for days. Those are the--

[00:42:23] Darshan: You got a pager? Remember the pagers?

[00:42:25] Kate: The pagers. But those are the good old days. It was in person. I think we know our generation. I saw something online recently about Gen X, which we're both Gen X, and it said something about basically we're the generation-- it's that terminology like, F around and find out. We're the generation that's like, don't mess with us. We were left to our own devices as kids. We played outdoors all day. We didn't have devices. Don't mess with us.

[00:42:53] Darshan: I know. It's so interesting too. I think that we're the last generation that graduated high school without cell phones and instant communication and instant access to the internet. And everyone after us is going to be so interesting to see the difference. Because now there's constant stimulation. There's a digital deluge of just overabundance of information and access to information and communication. It's just so interesting to see.

[00:43:21] Kate: Yeah. This is what I'm like. See, it's good to talk, have these conversations because I am really embracing my age right now. I'm so grateful to be this age. See, I'm like, hey, help me anti-age. Help me with biohacking, but I'm embracing my age. So just two more questions. I could go on and on, but I'll let you go. What is one of your favorite health tips that you could give to someone or when you just think of this one-- I know there's so much, but this one thing is my go-to for just staying on point, mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually.

[00:43:51] Darshan: My favorite health tip is something that can apply to every aspect of your health, which is something I mentioned earlier, which is just become an expert habit former. Learn how to form habits. And there's great books on this. There's a book by James Clear called Atomic Habits. That's like a bible of this. There's also other habits forming books as well. But just pick one up, read it, and implement it, and then you will be able to affect every aspect of your health exponentially once you learn that.

[00:44:22] Kate: Okay, this is a question. I think I've worked with a lot of clients who none of them need me to help them with their jobs. And I worked with a lot of finance guys. They're all doing well, but something that came up again and again, and you're in that same boat, very successful. You don't need any help from anyone about how to have a great career, be successful. And congratulations, by the way.

[00:44:39] Darshan: I feel like I need help all the time, actually.

[00:44:42] Kate: Thank you so much for this because I'm just meeting you and you're the shiny object. And especially with my brother being a medical doctor, I know everything you all go through, and I just have so much love and respect for you guys. I love you guys so much. And I love my brother so much. He's amazing.

[00:44:59] So thank you for this because I think a lot of people, self included, and people have done this to me too, you see someone like yourself who has all the degrees and has done 10,000 surgeries or more, and you created the first longevity clinic ever in the world, and you're successful, and you've got the whole life. And I say, oh, you don't need any help. And you just said, oh, I feel-- tell me what you said. You said--

[00:45:23] Darshan: I said, I feel like I need help all the time.

[00:45:25] Kate: Say more about that.

[00:45:27] Darshan: Yeah. I think when you're doing a lot of things, you're doing a lot of things. And everybody else in the world, I get half of these things wrong. Half my actions, I get them wrong. And actually, when you're doing a lot of things, you're doing a lot of wrong things every single day.

[00:45:41] And so the more help you have, the better. You feel like you're constantly trying to recover from a wrong decision, a wrong purchase, a wrong whatever. And so I think I very much appreciate the amount of help that all my employees give me, my family, my friends. But yeah, I'm in constant need of help.

[00:46:06] Kate: Thank you for that. We all are. And I think it's liberating when we can first-- that's why this show, Wellness Through Truth and Storytelling. So first we have to tell ourselves the truth. I need help. I messed up. I made a mistake. Because that's true power. The people who say they don't need help and they have it all figured out, those are the people that scare me the most. I'm like, ooh.

[00:46:27] Because when you're healthy enough and courageous enough to just say-- that's what led me to Next Health and to you. This isn't working. I'm feeling off. I'm yelling at my dad. I'm triggered by this person. I did not nail that performance, whatever, which I'm human. But I want more for myself. And there's nothing wrong with me or to fix. It was more of just you're not caring for yourself properly.

[00:46:53] Darshan: Absolutely. And people don't give themselves a leeway to forgive themselves for mistakes and things that have happened in the past. And I always tell my patients too, like, listen, a lot of things have gone wrong for you. I totally get it. But today is the first day of the rest of your life, so let's just start brand new today. And everyone needs to hear that. Every day could be the first day of the rest of life.

[00:47:18] Kate: And now I think when I do invest in myself with money and energy and time, I think so now-- I did some dumb thing like ran into this steel pole. It's $7,000 worth of damage on the car. You pay the deductible, and your car is in the shop forever. And I'm all about be present, but it's chaotic.

[00:47:38] All the people illegally parked. Dumb, simple mistake. But yeah, I was beating myself like, I'm bad. I'm beating myself up for it, but it's just stuff happens as the saying says. And then now, because I do invest so much in my wellbeing, it's like, this stress is going against the red light you just did in your eye, the meditation.

[00:47:56] It's canceling out all the work that you're doing. So just, it happened, and maybe let's be even more present next time, or let's not park at such a treacherous area, or whatever it is. So thank you for that. And just letting ourselves off the hook. That's health.

[00:48:12] Darshan: Absolutely. And just also I think having perspective, realizing that the things that we make a big deal on a day-to-day basis are really not a big deal. There's someone in Switzerland who does not care at all that you hit a pole. And that pole might not even be there 50 years from now. It's not that big of a deal. And so I think just having some perspective day-to-day and just being really grounded in that is so important.

[00:48:39] Kate: Yeah. Thank you for all of this. I'm just curious what you want your legacy to be?

[00:48:46] Darshan: That's a great question. I feel that I've learned a lot about health, and I feel really honored and blessed that I can make such a difference in people's lives with this business, Next Health, and also with talking to them and giving them this information.

[00:49:03] I want that to continue forward. And so I'm writing a book right now, and so that's one piece of my legacy, is this book. And hopefully it'll be relevant long enough that I can help people change their own health around. And then my children are my legacy. And so I put a lot of energy and time into them, and hopefully they will grow up to be good, productive citizens of this country and give back as well.

[00:49:27] Kate: Yeah. Thank you. That's a beautiful legacy. And quickly, it's not a question because I was going to take us out, but obviously you have locations here in Southern California. I discovered you in New York City. For people who are like, well, I need to go to Next Health immediately, but I live in Ohio or I live in Sydney, can you just quickly explain a little bit about your-- because you're really expanding. And how people can get in on the action.

[00:49:50] Darshan: Absolutely. So if you go to www.next-health.com, there's a locations button, and you can see where we're going to be next. So like you said, we're in New York and LA right now, but we have locations opening all over the world. We're opening in Dubai. We're opening Australia, in Canada, and those are just the international ones right now.

[00:50:10] We're going to do more international, but in the United States we have about 30 locations opening in the next couple years. So we'll be in Nashville, and Miami, and Scottsdale and many places, not just the big cities. There might be one close to even the smaller ones.

[00:50:24] Kate: Oh, that's so wonderful. Well, thank you so much. You're one of the game changers who has changed my life, so it's such an honor to be here with you in person. And thank you so much for coming on Rawish. I just so appreciated our conversation.

[00:50:34] Darshan: Thank you so much. I'm so happy to have been here. Thank you.

[00:50:37] Kate: It's so great. Thank you. And thank you for watching and listening. Be sure to check out Next Health. And please, I'm not telling you should do it, but I invite you, and I encourage you to really make your health a priority. Your heart, your brain, your body will thank you. Thank you so much. We'll see you next time. Bye-bye.

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