The Communication Architect
The Communication Architect
Creating a Healthy Ecosystem in Your Home: An Interview with Epigenetic Specialist Dr. Donald Adema
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With over 28 years of experience as an osteopathic physician in family medicine, Dr. Donald Adema is passionate about bringing the wisdom of Scripture to the multifaceted arena of modern medicine. In his work at Chula Vista Christian University, Dr. Adema has been instrumental in bridging the chasm between hope and despair, misinformation and truth, helping students reason through the lens of science and Scripture. In his family practice, he is known for teaching patients to think critically and work with -- rather than against -- God's design for the human body. Join Dr. Lisa Dunne for today's interview and discover the steps you can take to create a healthy ecosystem for your family.
If you'd like to be educated at the feet of giants like Dr. Adema, join us at CVCU! Learn more about our high school dual enrollment programs at www.cvcu.us/dualenroll. Education is formation!
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Hi, I'm Dr. Lisa Dunn, and thanks for joining me here today on the Communication Architect. Each week, we'll share content that will empower you to grow your personal leadership capacity through the development of communication competencies that build emotional health and relational resilience. We'll unpack some technical applications of intrapersonal, intrapersonal, family, and organizational communication. And we'll connect with stories of transformation that will inspire you to achieve personal and social change. Now, let's build the scaffolding you need to become a communication architect. Hello everyone and welcome to the show. I'm Dr. Lisa Dunn, a lifelong homeschooling parent, author, and president of Chula Vista Christian University, a Bible-based university that centers on mentor-driven, debt-free higher education. Education is formation. Why would we send a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, into a pagan system of education? Parents, your kids don't have to go woke or broke to earn their college degree. Join us for transformative education that's not yoked to a woke government system. Visit us at cbcu.us to see how we are taking back education for the next generation. Pastors, we can help you arm your congregation against pagan indoctrination. Just click the Start and Academy tab so we can help you launch your church-based homeschool outreach in just four weeks. For preschool to eight options, go to Academic Rescue Mission.com to find a support academy or start your own. If your eighth to twelfth grader is ready for more academic challenges, you can join us for our new community college dual enrollment program. Your high schooler can take a college course once and count it twice, both for high school and for college. You get highly affordable classes in a safe, supportive, in-person environment that you can transfer to a Christian university. Join us at Baritascc.us or start your own campus. And of course, our flagship program, Chula Vista Christian University. We're starting in 11th grade. Students can take a full load of college courses in our in-person, debt-free, faith-based model. Go to cbcu.us dual enroll to learn more. Find all of our books, blogs, and resources online at cbcu.us. That's Chula Vista Christian University. I am so excited about today's guest. He is a champion of the cause, as you'll hear a little bit about when I read his bio when I read you his bio. But uh when you hear some of the ways that he answers the question, I think you'll be impressed as a listener of his combined approach to the head and the heart. Our guest today has over 28 years of experience as an osteopathic physician in family medicine. He has a special interest in epigenetics and hospice care. He holds a doctorate of osteopathic medicine from Western University, as well as certificates and licensure through the state of California. He runs his own private practice and he is passionate about training up students in his practice and at school, who will bring the wisdom of scripture to the multifaceted arena of modern medicine. Through his teaching sessions and his textbook selections for the CVCU classroom, Dr. Adama intends to bring the academic rigor of Harvard in the context of faith-based environments like Chula Vista Christian University. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Donald Adama. Dr. Adama, thank you for being on the show today. Well, thank you. Well, let's start off. Tell us a little bit about your upbringing. What was your childhood like? When did you become a believer?
SPEAKER_00I was raised in a Dutch Calvinist family, and uh, which is very structured and not what you think it is. Calvin structured a Catholic world that didn't want to be available to its uh believers. And it he actually was the radical of his time. Now, if you mention Calvin, it's like, oh, you must be a conservative and all about sin. No, I'm all about life and all about um just living life within what God wants us to live in. And uh I I've always been a Christian, I think. I it was just ingrained in us. It it was in Christian, you know, kindergarten. I was in a class that, you know, celebrated every holiday and with flags. And in our church structure, we had catechism that started when you were six, and you graduated when you were 13, and that was the time after getting all the information, the organization, and the stories that you considered making a profession of faith. So I made my profession of faith when I was 13 in front of the whole church, and that's quite an event, but I can't remember a time when I didn't think that Jesus was a part of my life and died for my sins.
SPEAKER_01Really different from today's kiddos who are not taught the word in the public sphere and definitely not in public school. And so we have my my husband's uh his grandfather's Sunday school stamp book that showed he would get a little stamp every time he would go to Sunday school and learn about Jesus. Well, before you got started as a DO, you were a nurse, so you had this really fascinating career path. What got you started in the field of medicine?
SPEAKER_00My lady of 53 years. But prior to that, and and I am writing a book, maybe to rival one of yours, who knows? But it's called Where Have All the Scientists Gone. And my really first brush with there's got to be a better, when my best friend died at six of uh poly of hydramnios of of a waterhead. And that was a very defining moment. I was his friend. We played, I taught him how to play caroms from his his slant wheelchair. And one day I was already to play. I had beaten up a neighbor who picked on him and I lost it. I'm a little guy. So this guy was a big guy, but I hit him with a carom stick and made him bleed, and he ran to his mommy, and it was a scandal of the of the neighborhood until they realized how small Don and how big he was. So then I was a hero. But so but then uh one morning I was getting the Karen boy ready and I had a little stand, and we were out in the post-World War II world of Belfora, California, and he wasn't there, so I went back in the house and my mother was all red-eyed, and and Marky died last night, didn't we? And that was and I thought, why couldn't we do something for him? So that kind of put it in me. And then as I grew and was busy in high school and stuff like that, it just became more of like I can do more. I decided to go to college at Calvin College, of course. I'm a Calvinist in Michigan, and decided I would go into business to become, you know, independently wealthy. Well, that failed. It's one course in macroeconomics, is not me. So I came back home and worked for my dad, which is not me. And then I met this beautiful redhead walking across one of the Christian Reformed churches in a long maxi dress with a hat full of fresh flowers, and I proposed in a month.
SPEAKER_01That was I've never heard that meeting story. That's really fun.
SPEAKER_00It was cute, and she goes, you know, whoa, cowboy. And so we got married in eight months.
SPEAKER_01So wow, what a great story. Yeah. I you and I talk a lot about the importance of students understanding the sciences, and of course, we know today that the second most common reason for Gen Z's atheism is that they believe the science in the Bible contradict. Of course, we know that's not true. Um, and we know that the God who created astronomy and earth science and biology, his he's his character's evidenced in the created realm. And so, what was it that first convinced you? It sounds like you grew up thinking this way. Um, but what first what was maybe the first marker for you where you saw that positive relationship between science and Christianity?
SPEAKER_00Well, I saw a negative one first. So uh, and then and it wasn't the Christian side, it was medicine. I Marcia was a nurse before I, and uh then I went to nursing school and went right on the floor and surgery, and that was boring. And then I went to an intensive care and ER sitting, and that was me. But I kept looking and seeing that these people were not doing well with all the drugs, they were getting leukemias, they were getting side effects, and it didn't make sense that this was supposed to be the latest and greatest in medicine, and it didn't heal them, it hurt them. And that was not godly to me. And when I mentioned it to a few doctors who I thought were different than the average doctor, they were DOs that had amalgamated in California to all become MDs, which was not blessed by God, because they gave up their spiritual side to do that. So that kind of opened the door like God's here, but why are they avoiding him? And and why are they poo-pooing prayer? And why are they keep doing the same thing that hasn't helped? So that's kind of how it started.
SPEAKER_01Well, at the end of the day, we serve either God or money, right? Those are the two options, and we see certainly the medical community serving money instead of God. Um, what's the most rewarding part of your job? You have a lot of variety in what you do, but let's talk about what's your kind of day-to-day. What's the most rewarding part for you?
SPEAKER_00The most rewarding is when someone establishes because they know it didn't work. And they want out and they want to, you know, know more how the body can heal itself. Whether you're an osteopath, an alleopath, a naturopath, a Chinese doctor, a homeopathic doctor, we all learn, all of us learn the first day in school, that the body has the inherent ability to heal itself. And when you keep that in the back of your mind, you know, well, it's gotta be encouraged, it has to be fed properly. Well, in traditional medicine, uh, don't talk to me about nutrition, Don. Don't talk to me about vitamins. That's all a bunch of woo-well. I have the drug that will cure them. Well, if the body can't receive it, it's a waste of time and it hurts them slowly. Costs a lot of money, and slowly they get sicker, costs a lot of money, and slowly they get sicker. When you look to God, He just sort of guides you into how to support his creation, and the majority of them that come in are Christians because they just felt the lack of of God in their approach, or it was poo-pooed and you know, they were done. So that's that's the neatest part of the day.
SPEAKER_01I remember reading that the founding fathers, when they came to America, said that they believed that there was an antidote in the new world for every poison in the new world. And I love how you're, you know, when you think about medicine like you just described it, that God's already created the body to heal itself, that your role becomes more of a your research question, you're putting the pieces of the puzzle together makes it exciting because there's a a potential wind at a win at the end of the game that's really, really beautiful.
SPEAKER_00Well, I went to a conference on genetics, and it was at the Big Scripps Institute on, you know, by George's on the cove, pretty snappy, rich area. And uh I was definitely not recognized because I wasn't one of them, and I went with a dear friend of mine, Ellie Hahn, and we were just not part of the club, but we watched, and finally we had lunch with them all, and this big British guy was just absolutely arrogant, and he spoke and he wasn't one of the best speakers, but we sat at a table and there was nothing left, so we sat at our table, absolutely disgusted that he wasn't at the power table. And his wife, however, was charming and kind of not so proud of him. And so we made small talk, and then he finally speaking to the air and not look, I said, I don't understand all this discussion on food, I don't understand that. And and I looked at him and you know how you can feel God shove you or maybe kick you in the bottom. So I felt the footprint and I said, Can I help you with that? I I've been to London before and I love it. But you know, let's take the example of a cab. A cab is a gas cab. If you put diesel fuel in it, it coughs and sputters. Well, if you put the wrong food into a body, it farts and sputters all night long. I just thought he deserved that. His wife started roaring with laughter. And Allie drove her high heel through my top of my shoe, like, stop it. But it drove the point. We have to, God gives us the fuel, gives us the remedy, helps us clean up the debris. It's all in nature, and we ignore that. Well, if things are too far along, then yes, an antibiotic is appropriate, but you have to clean up that mess right after it, too. So it's a balancing act, but if God's in charge, rarely do you need the rescue.
SPEAKER_01Beautiful. What have been some of the biggest hurdles for you to getting where you are? Obviously, fighting a huge army of people who are thinking a different way. Um, but what are some of the kind of day-to-day hurdles for you to get to where you are?
SPEAKER_00Well, right now it's big, well, it's always been big pharma. And they go step by step through insurance companies to guide the choices that make them the most money. That's as simple as I can put it. So at the beginning, you know, I flew under the radar like many other doctors. Like, okay, that's a recommendation, but it ain't happening in my practice. Then they attach dollars to it. If you order this, we'll give you X. Then now it's punishment. If you don't order this, we take away your money. And that's what happened to me for the first time this year. We get a distribution for managing the patient well. I have very good outcomes because they're not riddled with med. But if I don't order a statin or I don't order a vaccine, they take some of my money for good behavior away.
SPEAKER_01So it starts with a recommendation, then a threat, then a well, yeah.
SPEAKER_00That's well, it's sort of like the COVID vaccine. It was recommended, and look where that went.
SPEAKER_01Recommendation, bribe, then threat. Yeah, that's that's really crazy. You have played a significant role in building a foundational vision for human biology at CVCU, which you and I have talked many times about why that course is so important. Do you have any favorite memories that have stood out to you from your time in the classroom? Of course, you just did graduation this weekend, which was amazing, uh, the presentation there. Anything that kind of stands out to you as a favorite endearing memory?
SPEAKER_00Oh, it was just it just was uh fabulous. I I chose two books, you know, The Beast, we call the one from Haven, and then the Christian biology book, which was and and you know, that was no pre-thought. God it you feel it. We've talked about it before. When God moves you, you move.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So I picked those two books out and went there and we had uh, you know, Professor White, you know, and he's so much fun. And we just presented biology as the first course, of course, it's about life.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And it just flowed. And to watch that first class, be very shy. You know, you could tell the you know the the the judge who was on the stage with me, you could tell the ones who are gonna be more interactive and the ones who are scared of their shadow, but they're there because they believe in it. We need all those personality types. Well, after two months, we were just rocking. It was so much fun. And to watch their them them light up, but to watch them realize that what they have to say is very, very important. And how they say it is very, very important. But the fact that they lost their fear of not interacting, of interacting, rather, that was the high point. When you saw them wake up and, well, I don't think that's it, or let's embellish on that. And you know, it just it just I mean that was the high to watch a student wake up and discourse.
SPEAKER_01Beautiful. Uh that's just one of the serendipitous outcomes of the Socratic model. We weren't expecting that. Yep. It's just so beautiful to watch. Who are some of the voices that inspire your thinking? Are there people that you recommend that our listeners uh check in on, physicians, leaders, authors, other than obviously the Bible? Who who's inspiring your thought right now?
SPEAKER_00Right now it is Maha. And uh you can access that. It's it's watching Trump give a directive, Vance gonna walk it around and Bobby take it. It's so inspiring. So if you get in that, I mean it's that's like I said in my graduation address, you've got a terrible war you're gonna get into, but never before has it been, have you had such backing. So I like that. I love Peter McCullough and his very evidence-based, he's still kind of growing up into does it take evidence or does it take that it worked? You know, it we evidence-based always begs the question who's evidence and more importantly, who funded it? Yeah, so yeah, so you just kind of leave that alone. And gee, I don't know, Peter, it worked. Yeah, I saw that. Let's do a study why it worked. Yeah, I'll let you know if it doesn't work. And that's the two group I am working with right now, Dr. Ben Edwards and Dan Rizzo. We all think alike, we all have equal faith and trust. And we don't need a study. We are trying to develop an app to reverse brainwash medicine. And that gives them other solutions, like, how about thinking about acupuncture, or have you looked at this supplement, or why don't we clean up their acverse with a cleanse? Or, you know, and we give them all these choices. And we also give them choices in the world of thinking or spirituality. This patient sounds like they're really a ship without its rudder. Do they have any spiritual or faith? You know, we have to say this S-word, it kind of makes me sick sometimes. But do they have a person that they can talk about their sort of spiritual loss of a rudder? Yeah, because that will help their immune system perk up more than anything.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. It's ironic that we're so we're right here on the border in Chula Vista, and across the border, many of our friends go over there and they receive exactly what you're talking about with a holistic, you know, plan of care that really is designed to partner with God's design for the body. And yet here in America, we're fighting for it. It's just ironic. You have, and a lot of people in your profession are very stressed out. And I love that you have a unique pastime for stress release. Tell us about your hobby, you know, the hobby I'm talking about. Tell us about your hobby and why is it important for people to have a hobby that's stress-relieving like that?
SPEAKER_00Well, it physically, of course, it's good for you, but I'm a fencer and you know, my own.
SPEAKER_01And he doesn't mean building fences in his spare time.
SPEAKER_00He literally means with the sword. But no, I'm I've, you know, occasionally I have to check myself on who I identify my opponent as. I can't really go into specific names, although I have. Yeah. But like today you are big pharma. Boy, do I win that one. You know, that sort of thing. But that is a good release. It's also very biblical. You know, the sword, God uses the sword, and and and when you read and get those things, he wants evil to be wiped out. So, gollies, that that is a release. I have horses riding a horse, a horse is a noble beast that God gave us to know whether we have to look like Lord Pimberley going down the road or whether we need our bottom beat because we're not collected. Hello up there, collect yourself. I don't like that. You know, and they know your moods. Have to really step away, get some physical movement, and also center and always stay close to God. I cannot imagine. I cannot imagine what we're going through right now without a direct connection to God. I would be lost.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, let's wrap up with one of your specialties, which is practical application. I know you teach all of your patients to think for themselves and to look for solutions. Paul says in 1 Corinthians that our body is the temple of the living God. What are three steps listeners can take this week to maximize their health and care for their temple?
SPEAKER_00Clean up your act first. You have to cleanse, you have to detoxify, you have to pull out, you know, years of um spiritual, mental, and physical um debris. That's a good word. And when you do that, then you rebuild. And then you look, you might get your epigenetics done. You might look at your family history. Always look at your history. By the way, every time I teach a student, it's always what's your best diagnostic tool, and it's your history. It's not a PET scan, it's not this, that. It's your history, knowing your patient to every detail. And then you can get out a plan. So you've cleaned up your act, you're gonna rebuild, but then you have a maintenance. And we've got a lot of more stuff that we're throwing into that have been recognized, like far infrared, that is so soothing. And Sloan Ketterman and Stanford are using it for cancer therapy. Frequencies, our body, our frequencies, your skin is a frequency. Balancing frequencies, supporting them, promotes and maintains what you've established. And a good supplemental program, not every new supplement under the sun, they can also bog you down, but find out which ones are good for what you have going and always evaluate. Always re-evaluate, especially as you mature. I don't particularly care for the O or the A word, but as you mature, that you re-reassess. Like I don't need that anymore, but I could use this to help with my hearing, or I could use this to keep my mental acuity a little sharper and stuff like that. Fantastic steps.
SPEAKER_01So beautiful. Thank you, Dr. Adama. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy week to be on the show today. I know our less listeners are going to be so blessed to hear this podcast. Thank you so much. Friends, education is formation. Who is teaching the children and what are they being taught? One of the amazing offshoots we see in the CVCU model is not only academic support and structure, but whole student development that comes from having mentors, from having your voice matter, just like Dr. Adama said today. Our children need relational, emotional, and spiritual fortitude to thrive. So I am calling on pastors and parents across the United States to be part of the solution. For preschool to eighth grade options, go to academicrescue mission.com. If your kids are in public school, we want to help you bring them Christian content. Fill out the contact form at veritascc.us or join us for an upcoming parent meeting. And for our full university degree programs, go to cvcu.us. That's Chula Vista Christian University. If you're new to the show or you're homeschooling for the first time, you can catch all the episodes on my Communication Architect podcast. Just scroll back. Don't forget to check out our two latest books, The Mentor Method and Outsourced Why America's Kids Need an Education Revolution. You can find all of our books, blogs, and podcasts on the homepage at cvcu.us. Again, I'm Dr. Lisa Dunn. Thanks for joining me on today's show. I'll be back next week with more tips and tools of the trade. We'll see you then. Thanks again for joining us here on the Communication Architect. If you have questions about today's episode or if there are topics you'd like to see us address, send your comments via Instagram to at Dr. Lisa Dunn or via email to contact at drlisa dunn.com. That's D R L I S A D Mini.com. And remember, strategic communication will help you build greater emotional health and relational resilience. So don't miss the next episode. I'm Dr. Lisa Dunn, and I look forward to talking with you next time right here on the Communication Architect.