She wasn't depressed. She was manic. And her doctor put her on antidepressants anyway.

Alessandra Torresani — actress (Caprica, The Big Bang Theory, American Horror Story) and NAMI ambassador — spent over a decade misdiagnosed before learning she had Bipolar I Disorder. In this episode, she joins me to unpack what that decade cost her, how she got stable, and what she wishes every patient knew before walking into a psychiatrist's office.

Alessandra brings firsthand experience managing Bipolar I Disorder, including more than three years off all psychiatric medication through pregnancy and breastfeeding. Drawing on my 11 years of clinical psychiatry before moving into regenerative medicine, we cover antidepressant-induced mania and its link to suicidal ideation, why bipolar disorder is routinely misdiagnosed as ADHD, and the symptom-tracking method that shortens the path to an accurate diagnosis. Alessandra walks through the non-pharmaceutical tools that kept her stable through pregnancy: transcendental meditation, breathwork, hypnobirthing, menstrual cycle tracking, clean nutrition, and ballet. I share emerging research on stem cell therapy for alcohol addiction, including animal studies showing up to 80% reduction in drinking behavior, along with how GLP-1 medications and NAD IV infusions are being used to reduce cravings and ease opiate withdrawal.

We also get into the overprescription of stimulants like Adderall in young children, and why ruling out lifestyle factors — sleep, nutrition, screen time — should come before a prescription pad.

And Alessandra shares why, despite being told speaking openly about her diagnosis would cost her her career, she refused to stay quiet.

We talk about:

• 00:00 Misdiagnosed with bipolar her whole life

• 03:06 The myth that bipolar equals creativity

• 04:30 Hiding a bipolar diagnosis in Hollywood

• 06:32 Early childhood anxiety and perfectionism at age 5

• 08:00 Why bipolar disorder takes 10–12 years to diagnose

• 15:39 Antidepressant-induced mania and suicidal ideation

• 17:24 Identifying bipolar I disorder in adulthood

• 19:42 Managing bipolar without medication during pregnancy

• 34:26 Tracking symptoms before starting psychiatric medication

• 38:42 Stem cell therapy reduces alcohol cravings in studies

• 40:46 GLP-1s and NAD IV therapy for addiction recovery

• 43:52 NAMI resources for postpartum depression and anxiety

🔗 Additional Resources:

✨ Follow Alessandra on Instagram: instagram.com/alessandratorresani 

✨ Follow Alessandra on TikTok: tiktok.com/@iamalessandratorresani 

✨ Subscribe to Alessandra's YouTube: youtube.com/@Iamalessandratorresani 

✨ Listen to Emotional Support Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/emotional-support-with-alessandra-torresani/id1476940278 

Visit My Clinic: 

Chara Health 🌐 chara-health.com 

📍 9568 Topanga Canyon Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 91311 

📲 Call (818) 356-8232 or email [email protected] to make an appointment or go to joykongmd.com and fill out a contact form.

✨ Learn more about how to live a long and pain-free life: joykongmd.com 

✨ Follow me on Facebook: facebook.com/stemcelldrjoy 

✨ Follow me on Instagram: instagram.com/dr_joy_kong 

—

Dr. Joy Kong is a regenerative medicine and anti-aging expert. Her podcast is part of her mission to reduce suffering and elevate happiness. Join us every week for the latest holistic health insights that will help you live a long and pain-free life.

He's not a doctor. He's not a researcher. And his path to becoming one of the most-watched voices in biohacking on YouTube didn't start in a lab or a gym.

Dylan Gemelli, known as the Wellness Revolutionary, spent years rebuilding his life before discovering that the same obsessive drive that once worked against him could be redirected into something extraordinary.

Dylan Gemelli is a self-educated biohacker with over a decade of hands-on experience in peptide therapy, SARMs research, and performance nutrition — a path he built from the ground up after serving time in prison. In this episode, he breaks down the "Glow Stack" — BPC-157, TB-500, GHK-Cu, and KPV — explaining how each compound targets tissue repair, skin regeneration, and inflammation reduction. He covers how to spot counterfeit COAs and white-labeled peptides in today's market, and why chronic stress — specifically elevated cortisol — undermines any optimization protocol you're running.

He also opens up about his complicated history with nutrition and the moment everything finally shifted.

Key Takeaways:

• 00:02:34 Who is Dylan Gemelli?
• 00:05:26 The prison sentence
• 00:07:18 The mom conversation
• 00:18:12 Discovering biohacking
• 00:25:18 Free health habits
• 00:27:14 Electrolytes and sodium-potassium
• 00:27:24 Creatine for everyone
• 00:36:00 SARMs explained
• 00:46:22 The Glow Stack
• 00:50:58 Overcoming fat fear
• 00:57:36 The vagus nerve
• 01:02:00 Mental health drives physical health

🔗 Additional Resources:

✨ Follow Dylan Gemelli on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dylangemelli/ 

✨ Follow Dylan Gemelli on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dylanchristianogemelli/ 

✨ Listen to The Dylan Gemelli Podcast: dylanjamele.com 

✨ Subscribe to Dylan's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DylanGemelliBiohacking 

✨ Follow Dylan Gemelli on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylangemelli/ 

—

Visit My Clinic: 

Chara Health 🌐 https://chara-health.com 

📍 9568 Topanga Canyon Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 91311

📲 Call (818) 356-8232 or email [email protected] to make an appointment or go to https://www.joykongmd.com and fill out a contact form.

✨ Learn more about how to live a long and pain-free life: https://joykongmd.com/ 

✨ Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stemcelldrjoy/ 

✨ Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr_joy_kong/ 

—

Dr. Joy Kong is a regenerative medicine and anti-aging expert. Her podcast is part of her mission to reduce suffering and elevate happiness. Join us every week for the latest holistic health insights that will help you live a long and pain-free life.

The rate of autism in the U.S. has gone from 1 in 100 children to 1 in 36 in just 20 years.

I was trained as a psychiatrist. I watched these kids not improve for years. Then I discovered stem cell therapy — and everything changed.

Autism involves neuroinflammation, immune dysregulation, impaired blood flow to the brain, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Stem cells are uniquely positioned to address all of them.

I walk through a 2023 review of 11 clinical studies, 437 patients, and not a single serious adverse event across all trials.

And I share three cases from my own clinic that show what is possible when you stop managing the symptoms and start addressing the biology.

If you are a parent, a caregiver, or a clinician looking for answers beyond the standard toolbox, this episode is for you.

Key Takeaways:

• 00:00 The autism epidemic
• 01:18 Why Dr. Joy left psychiatry
• 02:46 The case that changed everything
• 05:12 Root causes of autism
• 12:52 Mitochondria transfer explained
• 14:22 Case Study 1: 7-year-old girl
• 20:36 Cord cells younger than a newborn
• 22:44 What 11 clinical studies show
• 33:30 Case Study 2: 15-year-old boy
• 39:10 Native vs. expanded cells
• 45:18 Case Study 3: Autism and Crohn's disease
• 48:14 First words in parents' native language

🔗 Additional Resources:

Visit My Clinic

Chara Health 🌐 https://chara-health.com

📍 9568 Topanga Canyon Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 91311

📲 Call (818) 356-8232 or email [email protected] to make an appointment or go to https://www.joykongmd.com and fill out a contact form.

✨ Learn more about how to live a long and pain-free life: https://joykongmd.com/

✨ Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stemcelldrjoy/

✨ Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr_joy_kong/

Dr. Joy Kong is a regenerative medicine and anti-aging expert. Her podcast is part of her mission to reduce suffering and elevate happiness. Join us every week for the latest holistic health insights that will help you live a long and pain-free life.

What if the medical system wasn't designed to make you better — just to manage you?

A firefighter paramedic and a cardiologist both came to that same conclusion. And both walked away to build something better.

In this episode, I sit down with Sam Tejada — founder of Liqui Vita Wellness Centers and author of How to Win in Modern Wellness — and Dr. Christopher Davis, triple board-certified cardiologist and founder of Reveal Vitality and Longevity Institute. Together they share what they witnessed inside conventional medicine, why they left, and what they're doing instead.

We cover the real drivers of chronic disease, why most doctors are practicing 25 years behind the science, and how tools like IV therapy, peptides, mitochondrial support, and environmental toxin testing are changing lives that conventional medicine had given up on.

We also talk about an ALS patient who completely turned around in one week — and why Sam says the single most important thing you can do for your health is start measuring it.

Key Takeaways:

• 00:00 Introduction: Sam Tejada and Dr. Christopher Davis
• 04:00 90% of 911 calls and the broken system
• 07:00 How Sam discovered functional medicine
• 09:26 From interventional cardiology to integrative medicine
• 14:26 Why his colleagues called him crazy
• 18:00 How IV nutrient therapy changed everything
• 22:32 The origin story of Liqui Vita
• 28:48 Why most IV drips contain a known toxin
• 33:00 Building the American IV Association
• 38:04 NAD therapy: the debate and the side effects
• 45:52 The peptide Dr. Davis uses personally
• 46:26 ALS patient turns around in one week on SS-31
• 51:00 VO2 max: the best predictor of longevity
• 54:05 Stem cells and ejection fraction
• 01:01:50 You can't improve what you don't measure

🔗 Additional Resources:

✨ Learn more about Liqui Vita: https://www.liquivida.com/

✨ Learn more about Reveal Vitality: https://revealvitality.com

Visit My Clinic: 

Chara Health 🌐 https://chara-health.com

📍 9568 Topanga Canyon Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 91311

📲 Call (818) 356-8232 or email [email protected] to make an appointment or go to https://www.joykongmd.com and fill out a contact form.

✨ Learn more about how to live a long and pain-free life: https://joykongmd.com/

✨ Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stemcelldrjoy/

✨ Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr_joy_kong/

—

✨ Follow Sam Tejada on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sammytejada/

✨ Follow Sam Tejada on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samtejada/

✨ Follow Dr. Christopher Davis on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cjdavismd/

✨ Follow Dr. Christopher Davis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherdavismd/

—

Dr. Joy Kong is a regenerative medicine and anti-aging expert. Her podcast is part of her mission to reduce suffering and elevate happiness. Join us every week for the latest holistic health insights that will help you live a long and pain-free life.

How to build wealth with blockchain, passive income, and software nodes — without buying or trading crypto.

In this episode, serial entrepreneur and blockchain expert Billy Womack reveals the decentralized finance strategy that turned a $11,000 investment into over $50 million.

He grew up with nothing. Parents working two to three jobs combined, making $60,000 a year. He joined the Air Force at $11,000 a year. And he refused to accept that as his ceiling.

In this episode, I sit down with Billy Womack — serial entrepreneur, US Air Force veteran, and CEO of Skybound Live — who has built over $50 million in blockchain without ever buying or trading a single crypto token. Instead, he invested in software nodes: the infrastructure that powers decentralized networks and pays its owners every single day.

Billy breaks down why most people are playing the wrong game in crypto, how owning a piece of the network is fundamentally different from chasing tokens, and why he believes we are living through the biggest wealth transfer of our generation.

He also shares the story behind Skybound Live — the world's first decentralized blockchain travel company — and how everyday people can use software nodes to fund the life experiences they've always wanted.

 Key takeaways:

• 00:46 Why Dr. Joy is talking about money
• 04:07 From $11K a year to his first exit at 27
• 05:34 How Billy found Bitcoin at $220 a coin
• 10:15 How $11,000 became $12 million
• 13:00 Why you should own the network, not the token
• 17:15 The world's first decentralized travel company
• 22:30 How Parler got shut down — and what changed
• 33:53 Why patience is the #1 wealth-building tool
• 36:29 How Parler pays you for your own data
• 48:21 Teaching blockchain to break the poverty cycle

✨ To purchase nodes discussed in this episode, go to: https://skybound.live?ref=RNK155ZA

✨ Learn more about how to live a long and pain-free life: https://www.joykongmd.com

📲 Follow Dr. Joy Kong:

✨ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr_joy_kong/

✨ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stemcelldrjoy/

✨ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joy-kong-md-4b8627123

📲 Follow Billy Womack:

✨ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/billywo/

✨ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billywomack/

Dr. Joy Kong is a regenerative medicine and anti-aging expert. Her podcast is part of her mission to reduce suffering and elevate happiness. Join us every week for the latest holistic health insights that will help you live a long and pain-free life.

What if the therapy your doctor never mentioned is the one that finally moved the needle?

Laurent Goldstein had tried everything. High-dose vitamin C. Hyperbaric oxygen. Cryotherapy. IV therapy. And yet his chronic lymphocytic leukemia markers refused to budge for four years.

Then he came to Dr. Joy Kong's clinic for stem cell treatment. One week later, his white blood cell and lymphocyte counts had dropped to nearly half — the lowest since his diagnosis.

In this episode, I sit down with Laurent Goldstein, award-winning filmmaker behind Listen to the Lion — a documentary exploring the frontier of healthspan and longevity. Laurent shares the personal health breakthrough that changed his view on stem cell therapy, why Western medicine falls short on chronic disease, and what it really means to stack therapies for maximum effect.

We also explore the philosophy behind his films: why he believes most people have a lion inside them they've been taught to suppress — and how awakening that drive may be just as powerful as any protocol.

Key takeaways:

• 00:00 Wellness journey starts at 18 in France
• 03:45 How chiropractic unlocked holistic medicine
• 06:30 Why turning 70 forced urgency
• 14:30 Why stem cells beat every other modality
• 19:00 The lion metaphor — and the voice aging silences
• 23:55 Zero pain, more energy, didn't catch the cold
• 28:15 4.5 years of leukemia with no results — then this
• 31:55 Why umbilical cord cells outperform your own
• 33:25 The symphony approach to healing
• 39:28 Where to watch Listen to the Lion for free

✨ Watch Laurent's documentary for free: yoursecondfiftylife.com

✨ Learn more about how to live a long and pain-free life: https://joykongmd.com/

✨ Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stemcelldrjoy/

✨ Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr_joy_kong/

Dr. Joy Kong is a regenerative medicine and anti-aging expert. Her podcast is part of her mission to reduce suffering and elevate happiness. Join us every week for the latest holistic health insights that will help you live a long and pain-free life.

What if the body already has the intelligence it needs to repair itself?

In this conversation, Dr. Joy Kong is joined by Samantha Peters, host of the Light Up Your Life Podcast, to explore the science and promise behind stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine.

Dr. Joy shares her personal journey from growing up in China during the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution to becoming a UCLA-trained, triple board-certified physician and a leading voice in stem cell medicine. The discussion moves into the science of how stem cells work, why mesenchymal stem cells have become one of the most widely used tools in regenerative medicine, and what people often misunderstand about these therapies.

They also explore real clinical outcomes seen in practice, the role stem cells may play in aging and longevity, and a common concern people have when receiving stem cells from another source: does it change your DNA?

Dr. Joy also shares the foundational health habits that support healing and vitality before pursuing advanced treatments.

Key Takeaways: 

• 00:00 Intro: Dr. Joy’s early life growing up in China
• 03:16 Dreaming of America and the journey that brought her there
• 06:27 Does trauma actually live in the body?
• 10:07 Moving from survival mode to healing and forgiveness
• 16:10 Stem cells explained in simple terms
• 18:20 Why mesenchymal stem cells are so widely used
• 21:05 “Stem cells as intelligence therapy”
• 27:45 Real patient outcomes from stem cell therapy
• 36:33 Do stem cells change your DNA?
• 44:20 The non-negotiables for health before advanced treatments

Additional Resources:

✨ Learn more about how to live a long and pain-free life: https://joykongmd.com/  

✨ Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stemcelldrjoy/  

✨ Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr_joy_kong/ 

—

✨ Follow Samantha Peters on Instagram: @samanthalynnpeters

—

Dr. Joy Kong is a regenerative medicine and anti-aging expert. Her podcast is part of her mission to reduce suffering and elevate happiness. Join us every week for the latest holistic health insights that will help you live a long and pain-free life.

Entrepreneur burnout is far more common than most high achievers admit. You can be passionate about what you do. You can feel deeply called to your mission. You can reach impressive milestones. And still wake up drained.

In this episode, I sit down with Cary Jack, founder of The Happy Hustle, who walked away from seven-figure venture funding after realizing he was exhausted, unfulfilled, and living out of alignment.

He moved to Thailand to re-evaluate what success actually meant. He rebuilt his life around what he calls the 10 Alignments: selfless service, optimized health, unplugging digitally, loving relationships, mindful spirituality, financial abundance, personal development, passionate hobbies, impactful work, and nature connection.

Cary explains how structured digital detoxes increased his income and sharpened his creativity, how hobbies regulate the nervous system and restore energy, how intentional hobbies steady the nervous system, and why he lives by the belief that “the secret to living is giving”.

Tune in to hear his full story.

Key Takeaways: 

• 00:00 Intro: Why high performers burn out
• 03:13 Cary’s NYC burnout and walking away from success
• 05:22 What Thailand taught him about happiness
• 12:51 The first step out of burnout: Identify misalignment
• 13:42 The 10 alignments “soul mapping” assessment (Live)
• 21:59 Why hobbies are the missing piece for achievers
• 33:02 Why selfless service drives fulfillment
• 35:52 Producer vs consumer: The digital overload problem
• 37:54 Digital detox rules that boost focus and income
• 46:55 Real transformations from the happy hustle community

Additional Resources:

✨ Learn more about how to live a long and pain-free life: https://joykongmd.com/  

✨ Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stemcelldrjoy/  

✨ Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr_joy_kong/ 

—

✨ Follow Cary Jack on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caryjack/ 

—

Dr. Joy Kong is a regenerative medicine and anti-aging expert. Her podcast is part of her mission to reduce suffering and elevate happiness. Join us every week for the latest holistic health insights that will help you live a long and pain-free life.

What if biohacking and AI revealed you were aging 18 years faster than you thought? Most high performers assume they’re doing fine. You exercise. You eat well. Your labs come back “normal.” 

And yet your biology could be aging faster than your calendar.

In this episode, I sit down with Dave Pascoe, the famous biohacker who has one of the slowest measured rates of aging in the world. At the end of an intensive health retreat in India, he shares his latest discoveries and methods on how he supercharges his rejuvenation and maintains his bio-regeneration edge. 

Dave tracks close to 1,000 blood markers, has sequenced his entire genome, and uses AI to analyze his labs, wearables, and supplement protocols. 

We talk about why “normal range” may be far too low a standard and how chronic stress can accelerate aging, even when someone looks fit on the outside. We also explore how artificial intelligence can help organize massive amounts of health data in ways the human brain simply cannot. 

And we challenge a core belief in Western medicine, asking whether joint damage truly requires replacement or if the body may still have more capacity to repair than we’ve been told.

Dave talks about: 

• 00:00 Regenerative medicine can prevent unnecessary joint replacement
• 02:10 Luxury health retreats now compress months of testing into days
• 05:10 Telomeres reveal accelerated aging in “healthy” people
• 07:00 Chronic stress can age the body faster than poor fitness
• 08:45 Mindset shifts measurably reduce biological stress
• 10:40 Tracking biomarkers beats symptom-based health decisions
• 16:35 AI enables real-time health optimization across health data
• 22:30 Smarter supplement protocols balance precision and practicality

Additional Resources:

✨ Learn more about how to live a long and pain-free life: https://joykongmd.com/ 

✨ Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stemcelldrjoy/ 

✨ Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr_joy_kong/ 

—

✨ Follow Steve White on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebrae100/

✨ Connect with Steve White: https://www.brae100.com/

—

Dr. Joy Kong is a regenerative medicine and anti-aging expert. Her podcast is part of her mission to reduce suffering and elevate happiness. Join us every week for the latest holistic health insights that will help you live a long and pain-free life.

Healing is not passive.

In this episode, I speak with Steve White, founder of Brae 100, about what it actually takes to recover from serious illness, brain injury, and emotional collapse. Steve shares his personal experience with multiple concussions, cognitive decline, seizures, and depression, and how those challenges led him to build a structured, long-term approach to healing.

We discuss why quick fixes fail, why patients must actively participate in their care, and how purpose, community, and sustained effort can meaningfully change health outcomes.

In This Episode, I Discuss:

• Steve’s journey from professional football to brain injury and recovery (03:15)
• Stacking multiple therapies instead of relying on a single treatment approach (09:05)
• What Brae 100 is and why 100 days matters (12:00)
• Why healing has no plateau and no finish line (12:10)
• The role of purpose, community, and caring for others in recovery (19:10)
• Why patients must take ownership of their health (22:40)
• Living one day at a time as a strategy for emotional resilience (30:35)
• Caring for others as a catalyst for physical and emotional healing (34:50)

Additional Resources:

✨ Learn more about how to live a long and pain-free life: https://joykongmd.com/ 

✨ Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stemcelldrjoy/ 

✨ Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr_joy_kong/ 

—

✨ Follow Steve White on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebrae100/

✨ Connect with Steve White: https://www.brae100.com/

—

Dr. Joy Kong is a regenerative medicine and anti-aging expert. Her podcast is part of her mission to reduce suffering and elevate happiness. Join us every week for the latest holistic health insights that will help you live a long and pain-free life.