August 13, 2019
Recorded Live, welcome Dr. Elena Zinkov, Author of Crave Reset, Founder of Proactive Health, Competitive Athlete, & Voted Top Doctor by Seattle Met & 425 Magazine. Learn about the psychology and physiology behind cravings, get tips on how you can rewire you mind and feel better, discover how Dr. Elena uses her experience as a competitive athlete to improve her patient’s performance, and hear about Dr. Elena’s philosophy on medicine.
Read the transcribed version below…
00:00 Dr. Michele Burklund: Hi, everyone. I’m Dr. Michele Burklund, and today we are gonna be talking about sugar cravings, specifically with Dr. Elena here, so thank you for joining me today. I’m the chief science officer at Puriya, and this is our Living Well series where we give you the tools and foundations to live a healthy life and have different inspiring people talk about how they can help you find wellness. Today we have Dr. Elena Zinkov, author of “Crave Reset,” founder of Proactive Health, competitive athlete, and voted top doctor by both Seattle Met and 425 Magazine. Thank you for joining us today, Dr. Elena.
00:37 Dr. Elena Zinkov: Thank you so much for having me, I’m so excited.
00:41 DB: Okay. Before we get started, I will let all of our viewers get to know you a little more and read your background. Dr. Elena was introduced to sports medicine and nutrition, and how it affects performance from her background as a competitive athlete. From there, she grew up about finding the most innovative and evidence-based techniques for pain management. Now, Dr. Elena is best known for helping busy men and women regain their vibrant lifestyle after years of doctor’s appointments and testing with no results. Through her signature program, she helps clients reach their full potential through optimal health. Dr. Elena believes that, as doctors, we do more than look at lab test and numbers, we become a coach and ambassador for you, which is great. I have some questions about your background. It’s very unique because you have this competitive athlete side, and tell us how that helped you on your journey and inspired you to go to medical school and specifically the route you took to become a naturopathic doctor, too.
01:47 DZ: Yeah, absolutely. Definitely my background really inspired me to become a naturopathic physician and get into medicine. I grew up playing semi professional tennis in Florida and had a very rigorous schedule, six to nine hours of training per day. I was going to two schools, I was going to a school in Seattle and also trying to do my academics in Florida as well, so I just had a really tough schedule both physically and mentally and emotionally. And for a 16-year-old at that time, that was a lot. And especially for a young female trying to figure out my place in this world, whether I wanted to do professional tennis, whether I wanted to go full in into academics. And when I came back to Seattle, I was so burnt out, my body was beat up, but at the same time, when I was training competitively, I had access to some of the best coaches, some of the best nutritionists in the world. And what that showed me and what that taught me was that in order to perform at a certain level, whether as an athlete, or as a parent, or as an employee, we all need to perform, and we need to have the resources and the tools to help our bodies excel.
03:05 DZ: And so after I exited out of tennis and went into college and pursued bachelors in business, I realized how burnt out people were in the corporate America. And I myself found that I was working during the day and teaching yoga at night, and there was such a huge discord in the two things that I was doing that I decided to go back to school with the intention of helping people live a healthy life. And so that was really… That’s how I found myself in naturopathic medicine, because my mom was a physician, so I grew up with a family physician in the household.
03:43 DB: Oh, okay.
03:43 DZ: Yeah. But when my mom was practicing medicine, she used a lot of natural therapies, medication, and pill prescribing was not the first go-to for her. She actually used herbal medicine in her practice, she used IV therapy in treatments. And I actually originally was going to go to U-Dub School of Medicine, and it just did not resonate with me. I didn’t see… It didn’t resonate with how I grew up. I grew up seeing a naturopath, my mom was a family physician, and the women in my life who were helping me excel were practicing medicine very differently. And, of course, growing up in Seattle, we have such amazing schools, including Bastyr, one of the most famous naturopathic schools in the world for all the good reasons. And so I decided that I was going to not focus on just the symptoms and treating things with pills, but really learning how to provide comprehensive care for people, how to help people not just understand the root cause of their disease, but really become the ambassadors for their health and the major voice in their healthcare.
04:52 DB: Right. I think that’s great. And for those of you who don’t know, Dr. Elena and I actually went to medical school together and we are both from Seattle, so we’ve had the opportunity to go to Bastyr. And what I was remembering, too, during that time is how you found that balance, even at Bastyr, to go rock climbing, to do all these amazing things.
05:11 DZ: Yeah.
05:13 DB: And it’s great that you can teach people now, in your practice, how to find that balance, how to live optimally with all of those tools, and how to support it through nutrition and everything else, too. I think that’s great. Moving on, I wanna ask you about your book, too. What was your inspiration behind writing your book “Crave Reset”?
05:36 DZ: Yeah. This ties back into my background as an athlete. I was such a sugar addict and sugar junky and processed food junkie when I was growing up because, before I started to train competitively, I didn’t know how to eat. When I landed in Florida and I was training with all the professional athletes, I was like, “Oh, this is how you eat, this is how you’re supposed to fuel. This is how you’re supposed to recover.” Because nutrition was the foundation of health. If you didn’t eat well, you wouldn’t perform well. It was not rocket science.
06:07 DZ: But I had such horrible habits before going and then after I stopped playing tennis that I was addicted to sugar. And especially in college, it’s one of the biggest complaints that college students have is that when they go off to college they gain 20, 30 pounds ’cause you’re sitting a lot, you’re using up all the glycogen and glucose stores, so you’re relying on Pop-Tarts and sugary lattes, and all of these things to keep yourself going, staying up late and studying, that I realized that around, in my early 20s, I had super acne-prone skin, I felt bloated, I was depressed, and I was anxious. And I was like, “Whoa, this is not the person that I want to be.” And I started to try to find a solution to the issues that I was having.
06:57 DZ: And so at that point, again in my early 20s, I started to try on my own… This is before medical school, I tried to find what would help me cure my cravings. How could I get rid of the bloat? How can I improve my skin tone? How can I just be confident in myself? All I really wanted to do was just feel good and be happy. That was really what I was going after. And one of the things that I discovered was simply by just changing the types of carbs that I was eating, changing the types of sweeteners that I was using, focusing on incorporating healthy fats and healthy protein in my diet. At this point, I was just trying to find the light switch in a dark room. I was doing this all by myself over 15 years ago, trying to find the solution, and I discovered how amazing just with simply changing my diets. And, of course, I slipped. People frequently think that I just gave up sugar cold turkey and I was… And the rest is history. It’s like, no, I would slip. I would binge on a carrot cake. I talk about in my book that I could easily sit down and just have the whole carrot cake to myself. But it’s a process and it’s a journey, and I think in a culture where we’re trying to find a quick fix we sometimes don’t give ourselves the grace or the time to go through something.
08:22 DB: Right. And I think the hardest part, too, is it’s all around us. We have this focus, but it’s always around us, so learning to live with that. And I know you go deeper into the psychology of it, too, but it’s a process for sure for everyone.
08:37 DZ: Yeah, yeah. And so the inspiration really for “Crave Reset” was my own journey to get rid of sugar cravings. And honestly, still to this day, the principles that I talk about in “Crave Reset,” the principles that I walked myself through in my 20s, I still apply them and I live by them every single day. And I had this moment… I was actually… I think I was about seven or eight months pregnant when I was standing in my kitchen and I was about to make my little peanut butter protein balls, it was right during that craze, and I had this idea of what if we took and applied naturopathic medicine, this total body approach, and applied it to food cravings. Because I realized that it wasn’t just about nutrition, it wasn’t just about meditation, it wasn’t just about will power. It was really making sure that we address the whole person, and that was how “Crave Reset” was born.
09:40 DB: I love that. And that’s so true, it’s on so many different levels than just one or just physiology or just these so many different ones. But I’ll jump in to the next question, which is talking all about sugar. At the beginning of your book, you stated that, in the 1700s, the average American consumed around 2 kilograms of sugar a year. But today, the average American consumes around 60, which is about 132 pounds of sugar a year.
10:10 DZ: I know.
10:12 DB: What’s even more convoluted is that you talk about in your book how sugar targets the same pleasure pathways in the brain, but it’s eight times more addicting. We all know that reducing intake is so much easier said than done, so what are some techniques that you use to help rewire the brain and break those addictions? I think a lot of people would be interested in them.
10:36 DZ: Absolutely. What’s interesting is that, when I was writing the book, National Geographic had actually come out with a big research study that was talking about the addicted brain or the addicted mind. And they weren’t talking about sugar per se, but they were talking about a lot of these drugs and the impact that they had on serotonin and on dopamine. And at that time, I was doing a lot of the research on the impact that sugar had on our brain and our physiology. And it was just so fascinating to read what National Geographic had published, and then what I was working on, and for me to take the two things and put them all together, and then do some of the additional research. But I definitely have tips for people because I do see even my clients struggling with kicking the cravings to the curb. It is a big problem, but there are… I do have a few strategies for everyone.
11:31 DZ: Number one is, if you know that you’re prone to have your blood sugar fluctuate throughout the day, don’t skip meals. And this is one of the biggest things that I find in people is, unless you’re diligent about doing your intermittent fasting and doing it within a certain window. If you’re having breakfast at 8:00 and then you wait until 3:00 PM to have something, chances are that your blood sugar has already dropped. You’re gonna be more prone to making a bad decision, let’s say, or over-eating and then feeling bad about it. And so the number one tip is don’t skip meals, especially if you’re like me and you have a sensitive blood sugar issue.
12:12 DZ: I think the other… I think my tip number two would be to make sure that you’re getting plenty of protein and fat with every major meal. And the reason for that is I frequently see… I do dietary audits all day long, which was kind of maybe a little bit old school, but I think it’s really important that, as physicians, we get a glimpse of what does normal food intake look like for our patients. And a lot of times what I discover is a lot of people who tend to have more sugar or salt cravings during the day, they don’t have complete meals. They might have a salad, which they consider to be healthy, but it’s lacking protein, it’s lacking healthy fats. And so they’re not getting even enough calories during the day. And then, of course, fewer calories, what are you gonna feed your brain with, right? The first thing that you wanna go to is a chocolate bar, Theo’s chocolate based here in Seattle, to increase your blood sugar because that’s just the primal instinct. So, definitely make sure that when you’re having your major meals, focus on the protein and the fat, because, unlike sugar, protein and fat, it doesn’t have the same effect on serotonin and dopamine like sugar. That’s one of the things that I would recommend.
13:34 DZ: Something that helped me and does help my clients is when you are looking to quit sugar is have healthier carb options on board. Sometimes when people think that, “Oh, my gosh, I can’t have anything. If I’m giving up sugar, I’m giving up bread, I’m giving up alcohol, I’m giving up all of these things,” it starts to cause anxiety in people. And for someone… I have experience in working with addictions and taking people off of drugs and also medication. And so one of the things that I would recommend is, when we’re taking people off of sugar, is introducing healthier carbs. Like quinoa, buckwheat, even brown rice can be a healthier alternative, just because it will not only help to balance blood sugar, but also provide fiber and fullness. So, it is so different. Having a cup of grains, for example… I’m not a proponent of eating too many grains, but it’s a much healthier alternative. Having a cup of oatmeal in the morning is much better than skipping breakfast, finding yourself super hungry, and then reaching for a candy bar. So sometimes people go like, “Oh, no, I can’t have grains, but yet I will binge on that candy bar.” And it’s just like, what’s a healthier alternative?
15:00 DZ: The other two things that I would say is have healthy alternatives on board in terms of snacks. For me, sugar is my weakness. Even though, for about 15 years, I’ve only had maybe cake two times or three times because it’s just a no-no, it doesn’t serve a purpose for me. If I have it, it’s like having crack, I’m gone. And so I… Know yourself, know your weaknesses. Any time you could look in my bag, there’s either a protein bar, there’s either nuts and some few slices of apples, there’s nut butter packets, or I have a smoothie on the go with me or stored in my work fridge. Because I know that if I’m going past that two-hour timeframe, if I know that my day is booked with clients, booked with meetings, I gotta go pick up my son after, I’m going to slip at some point. And so I always carry something that is a healthy alternative, that will keep my blood sugar balanced, but it will also provide me with pleasure. The protein bars that I choose are not like candy bars. I like Bulletproof, I like Primal Kitchen, I like RXBARs, all those things that have healthy ingredients, healthy fats, good source of protein, and that you can feel really good about.
16:18 DZ: And lastly… I’ve got so many tips for you guys, but lastly…
16:21 DB: Which is great, it’s great.
16:23 DZ: Lastly, I would say is definitely get your hormones balanced, because… This is what I even talk about in my book. If your thyroid is off balance, if your cortisol levels are out of whack, too low or too high, you’re gonna be more prone to craving more sugar or craving more salt. And so you can do… And this is something that I experienced myself even postpartum was that I was eating right, I was exercising, I was trying to meditate. I was like, “What is going on? Why am I having such great desire for sugar? I’ve been on this road. I should know better. I talk about this stuff.” But it was the hormones. It was from sleepless nights, from juggling a busy work schedule. My thyroid tanked, my cortisol went from being super high to super low, and I had to get that back in balance. And once that’s in balance, it doesn’t become… It’s no longer an issue of will power.
17:25 DB: Right. And I think that’s so important, too, is making sure your foundation is solid before you start everything else to checking that and making sure everything is balanced, supporting your adrenal gland, supporting your thyroid, and then beginning with the second step of finding healthy ways to balance. And keeping the balance, it seems like, is incredibly important, instead of going, “I’m never gonna eat sugar again.” Planning, do some things ahead of time, making sure you have snacks, all of those things help along the journey, too.
17:57 DZ: Absolutely, you got it.
18:00 DB: I’ll ask you the next question, which is very interesting. You’ve done a lot of research on our genes and how they affect cravings. Specifically you discussed the mutation MTHFR. And a lot of people are interested in that and how it affects things in many different ways. Can you tell our viewers more about this and how that can affect our cravings as well?
18:21 DZ: Absolutely. Well, MTHFR is such a hot topic these days, thanks to our Dr. Ben Lynch, who’s done so much fabulous research on this, and I do cite him in my book. But genes, besides even MTHFR, can influence everything from how sensitive we are to sweets, to do we shy away from bitter foods, do we crave bitter foods. Some people actually will avoid eating vegetables because they taste either super bitter to them, and that’s why they shy away from them, where other people can actually have a dull sensation to sweetness and that’s why they crave more sweetness, and that is all regulated, can be partially regulated by our genes.
19:05 DZ: But most importantly, one of the reasons that MTHFR is really important is a mutation in that gene can create high levels of homocysteine, which is due to improper methylation and improper methylation pathways, which is why we recommend people with MTHFR mutation to have methylated B12, which is the methyl donor. But not to get too sciencey, but an MTHFR mutation can cause bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, and all sorts of other mood disorders including fatigue for unknown reasons or causes. And sugar is the number one go-to for people with anxiety, with depression, with bipolar, with fatigue, and it is a very primal reflex. When we don’t feel well, we’re gonna go for what’s easiest, and that’s usually sugar. And so a lot of times, when we’re working on taking people off of sugar, or when we’re working on anxiety or depression, and when there is an eating or a binge disorder in place, we definitely wanna make sure that we’re either supplementing or making sure that people have plenty of methylated B12 in their system, which can help the mood and in turn can help with the cravings as well.
20:21 DB: Right. And I think that’s a great start and great information for our viewers, too, to think about it in a different way and to think what are they predisposed to and what do they have, and especially seeing a naturopathic doctor about that. And we’ll get into your contact information a little later if more people are interested in how to really figure out about their cravings.
20:43 DZ: Yeah.
20:44 DB: You are a mother and author, and run a clinical practice, how do you find time in your life to relieve stress, eat well, exercise, and spend time with your family? ‘Cause I think this is the million dollar question, is how do you find time to do it all, ’cause most people are busy and they have this idea of the health they want, but it’s hard to actually do it. Tell us more about how you do it.
21:09 DZ: Yes. For me, exercising, eating well is like breathing fresh air. If I can’t exercise, if I can’t meal prep, if I can’t eat nutritious food, if I can’t sweat daily, you might as well just cut off my oxygen supply ’cause I’m a goner, I don’t function. And I think it’s how I was raised. So, for me, it’s a must. My husband knows this about me, but I prioritize my self-care. Everybody in my family knows that I need my time. This is like whether it’s 10 minutes, 30 minutes, or 45 minutes. I don’t have a sense of guilt. I know a lot of moms feel guilty about leaving their child with a babysitter or their spouse or whoever is in charge of their caretaker, I don’t have that guilt, because when I’m with my son, I’m with my son. And when I’m at work, I’m at work. And I also know just how important and how vital it is for me to go on a run, to eat well, to meal prep, to get my sleep. I have my finger on the pulse when it comes to those things.
22:19 DZ: And so, I think, one of the biggest messages that I have to my clients, and even to the viewers and to those listening, is that if you don’t take care of yourself, everything suffers. When you make the time… Again, just like drinking water, just like breathing clean air, when you make the time for yourself, everything else will improve, your relationships will improve, your self-confidence will improve, you will become a better parent. I have so many people who say, “Oh, I just don’t have time. I’m working, I’m a parent.” And then what do I see on the playgrounds? Parents are not even watching their kids, they’re just on their cell phones. And I’m like, “You do have time. The time that you’re spending with your kids, play with your kids. When you’re at work, don’t be on Instagram, focus on your work.” Put in an hour, then go 10, five… Put in an hour of work, and then spend 10 to 15 minutes walking the stairs up and down. It doesn’t take much.
23:19 DZ: And I think a lot of times people think that you need a fancy gym, you need a meal prep service, that it’s expensive to do all those things. You really don’t. It’s really simple. It might take a little bit of time… Just like with anything, you might need to invest a little bit of time, and you might need to go through a little bit of trial and error to find what works. You might need to hire a trainer for some time. You might need to join a gym. You might need to spend two or three weekends, figuring out your recipes, figure out the things that you like, that you don’t like. But that’s just like with anything. And I think sometimes people spend so much time focusing on other things and not their health, and then they’re wondering why don’t they feel well and why they’re not satisfied with their life.
24:02 DZ: So, for me, honestly, I’m very grateful and I’m really appreciative that I did have the background and the discipline of a competitive athlete, which is when you go to school, you get your workouts in, you compete, you take care of your body. The mindset was that you can have it all and you can do it all. It’s just how you prioritize your life and your day. And so, I’m really grateful that I was raised that way, and that I had people who showed me that that’s possible. And so I take that into my life and into my day-to-day activity. There are days when I start at 8:00 AM, and I end at 6:00 or 7:00 PM, and those are the days that I might not be able to squeeze in a workout, but that’s one day a week. If there is one day that I don’t move my body, the next day, I’m just like, I don’t feel like myself, because I’ve made it a must and I’ve made it a priority. And if you don’t have 10 minutes, you don’t have a life. So, you got to find those even 10 minutes during the day to make it about you, and don’t feel guilty or feel like you’re being selfish because you need to be sometimes.
25:08 DB: Right. And that’s so true. I think it’s prioritizing all those little things, too, and getting rid of the guilt, because everybody needs to take time for themselves ’cause everything is better that way. Your relationships, your work, everything, in the end, is better if you just take even a half an hour a day. So, I think that’s great.
25:26 DZ: Yeah. And I sometimes sound like a drill sergeant. I probably sound like my coach from the past, but it’s kinda… You kind of… You need some tough love sometimes. And tough love in a way someone to remind you that you gotta take care of yourself. What’s the point of working your 60 hours a week if you feel inadequate? What’s the point of all that? That’s not our purpose in life here.
25:52 DB: Exactly. And, yeah, sometimes we all need that push, too. A lot of us don’t have that dedication as an athlete, so it’s learning to prioritize, take away the guilt, and just start integrating those steps into our life even when it feels uncomfortable. And I think that’s…
26:09 DZ: Start small. Start small, and don’t think that you need to go full out. Honestly, one of the biggest things I learned as a parent was that five minutes is better than nothing. It doesn’t have to be an hour. It doesn’t have to be perfect. You’ll slip. But it’s just that it’s what you do every moment that counts and it’s the time that you put in. It just doesn’t have to be big. I think people think that, like, “Oh, if it’s not 60 minutes of working out, it doesn’t count.” Of course, it counts. “If it’s not a perfect meal, then it doesn’t count.” No, it does count. It’s just being kind to yourself and being able… Just meeting yourself where you’re at during that day, and what’s available to you.
26:54 DB: Exactly, exactly. I will move on to our next question, which I love to ask all of the doctors on our show. What is your personal philosophy on medicine?
27:09 DZ: Yes. I love that question. Honestly, I think that in order for us to serve our purpose in life, we need to have a healthy mind and a healthy body. And so my approach and my philosophy, everything that I do is to help people find… Not find their purpose, that’s not what I do… Is help them reach their purpose in a healthy body. And from when I help people feel better, I can help them be a better parent, a better spouse, a better friend, a better sibling, a better CEO, whatever their role is in life, but I can… If I can help them feel more energized so that they can inch closer toward their purpose, then my work is done.
28:07 DB: Excellent, excellent. I think that’s… Supporting them on their journey, which is one of the most important things… I think a doctor can do is support them through everything and meet them where they’re at.
28:21 DZ: Well, and I think that… Of course, the naturopathic philosophy is treat the whole person. But for me it’s really important to understand why does the person want to be healthy. What are they gonna do… When they feel energized, when they sleep well, when their libido is right on track, what are they gonna do with that? In the end, what’s their purpose? Why are we chasing this? So, understanding the bigger why and the bigger gains of that.
28:45 DB: And working with that, too, using that for their motivation.
28:50 DZ: Leveraging it. Leveraging it and reminding them.
29:00 DB: To better give our viewers here more information about naturopathic medicine, I’m gonna ask you what a typical appointment looks like at your clinic, let’s say somebody wants to come in and they wanna address common topics like, let’s say, weight gain, nutrition or sugar cravings. I know what we do in naturopathic medicine is very individualized, so you can’t say, “I’m gonna do this, this and this.” But can you give a bigger picture to our viewers of what they would expect, and how would you meet them where they’re at if they came to your clinic?
29:31 DZ: Yeah, of course. Well, for me, the number one thing is identifying what are the primary goals. Where do they want to see themselves in 30-60 days? That’s really important for me to identify and prioritizing their care around that. And so that’s number one. Number two is that I actually have my patients do quite a bit of homework before the first visit to maximize our time together. During the first visit, we go over any sort of workup that they’ve had in the past. I have them complete pretty much as if you were to work with a coach and the coach is asking you, “What are your life’s wildest dreams? What is it that you want to accomplish? What’s prevented you?” Etcetera, etcetera. This is what I have my patients provide me with before the first visit, so I really get to know their strengths, their weaknesses, where do they need more of my guidance so I can kind of gauge what our visits will be like. And then, during the first visit, we really try to create a roadmap for what our work together is going to be over, let’s say, four to six months, with a focus on empowerment and really giving the patient the reins in their health.
30:43 DZ: I’m usually not the first provider that people see. I work with a lot of hormones, I have the specialty practice, and I do a lot of comprehensive hormone testing. So, during the typical visit, after we identify our goals, after we go through the strengths and the weaknesses, and what’s working and what’s not, we really dive into the comprehensive testing and come up with a game plan of how or what we’re gonna do to accomplish the end results. Like I mentioned before, I do dietary audits on all of my clients, but I typically also… I wanna be able to understand what keeps them up at night. So, not only do I wanna understand what our primary goals are, I also wanna be able to understand what keeps them up at night so I can put that at ease.
32:05 DZ: Yes.
32:17 DB: And the ideas of how naturopathic medicine and meeting with doctors can be so different, and have just an entirely different approach focusing more on them, too. So, thank you for sharing.
32:29 DZ: Yeah. And the biggest thing for me is that I think, typically, I provide more accountability than a typical physician because patients have direct access to me. There’s follow-up in between appointments, so you literally will jump on a coaching call in between visits to make sure that things are working. I don’t like to wait four to six weeks to change something. We’ll get on a call in two weeks, “Hey, how’s it going? Have you tried some of the things that we talked about? Are you enjoying the supplement? Are you not? What about the dietary recommendation?” ‘Cause if I’m putting something into somebody’s plan or taking something out, I wanna make sure that they’re responding well to it. So, I do have not just, I feel like, a physician approach, but there’s really that… The coaching…
33:15 DB: The actual coach… Yes, the check in, keeping them in line.
33:20 DZ: Yeah, yeah. And I say this, because I take pride in what I do. And if somebody is not responding, it’s not on them, it’s on me. If they’re doing the work and if they’re honest about doing the work, then it’s like this is something that I take full ownership and responsibility for. And I have zero problem scheduling extra sessions, extra visits for my clients when they’re part of the program to make sure that we get them up to speed as quickly as possible. So, I really focus on efficiency and efficacy of treatments.
33:51 DB: Which is great. It’s an excellent model. Tell us how we could get a hold of you, where we can find your book, everything, so people can learn more about you and find you. ‘Cause you are based in Bellevue, Washington, and we have viewers from around the globe, so…
34:08 DZ: Perfect.
34:08 DB: Obviously everybody won’t be around there, but we can find you online. We can read your book, understand more about craving. Tell us more about that.
34:16 DZ: Yes, perfect. We actually are… Although our clinic is based in Bellevue, Washington, we do have clients from around the world. I have everybody from UK to Saudi Arabia, Australia, South Africa, Canada. We’re very fortunate and very likely to have our clients from around the world, and all over the United States, but you can learn more about our methodology and our process by going to proactivehealthnd.com. There’s a lot of information about the clinic, our programs, how we work with our clients, our approach. And I’m very active on the social media, so I try to provide people with as many tips and tricks and tools online as I can to make medicine more readily accessible. I’m frequently on the Instagram under Dr. Elena Zinkov. And then you can find me on Facebook under “proactivehealthnd”.
35:14 DB: Excellent.
35:14 DZ: Oh, and the book, can’t forget about the book. How are you guys gonna fix your cravings without the book? The book, you can actually just get on Amazon by typing in “Crave Reset.”
35:25 DB: Excellent, excellent. Well, thank you so much for all your tips, and helping educate us on looking at health in a different way. And I hope you have an amazing day. And we will let you know when this is live and everything. Thank you very much.
35:45 DZ: Thank you so much. It was such a pleasure. And I wish everybody just a wonderful day, and good luck on the journey to better health.
35:53 DB: Thank you. Thank you for everything, Dr. Elena. Take care.
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We named our interview series ‘Living Well’ based on the Ancient Greek term “Eudaimonia” translating to doing and living well. The Greek Philosopher, Aristotle uses this term in relation to balance in all areas of life. At Puriya, we believe that living well encompasses much more than health but all aspects of life.
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