LET’S “TALK” ABOUT

NATURAL MEDICINE!
3 EXPERT TALK TRANSCRIPTS
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Home Remedies for We’re happy that you’re taking
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Carla Atherton, MA, FDN, TNC healthier and happier life, and we
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Carla: Hello! And welcome to The
Children’s and Teen Health Summit.
I’m your host, Carla Atherton,
founder and director of the Lotus
Health Project, LotusHealthProject.
com, where we empower people
to get healthy and stay healthy in
mind, body, and spirit and on the
social, global, and environmental
levels.
For this session of the summit, I
am excited to be speaking with
Wendi Combs, RN, about natural
home remedies for common
childhood ailments. Wendi Combs
is a pediatric nurse who has worked
for over 20 years in the pediatric
hospital setting, mostly in the field
of pediatric oncology, as well as
a fellow mom. When both of her
daughters experienced health
issues at an early age, she left no
stone unturned to help them.
It was in that journey that she
discovered the effectiveness of
natural remedies as she watched
them work so effectively in her own
children. She now runs a holistic
nursing practice, Jubilee Health, to
help families who are interested in
using a more holistic approach to
caring for their child’s health issues.
Welcome to the summit, Wendi!
Wendi: Thanks! Thanks for having
me, Carla.
Home Remedies for
Everyday Illness
Carla Atherton, MA, FDN, TNC with Wendi Combes, RN
Click here to watch this interview!
The purpose of this presentation is to convey information. It is not intended to
diagnose, treat, or cure your condition or to be a substitute for advice from your
physician or other healthcare professional.
Carla: Oh, it’s so good to have
you here, Wendi. For the audience
here, Wendi and I met when I was
in the production stage of the first
Children’s and Teen Health Summit
due to our common interest in
children’s health. So we got to
chatting and knowing the work
that she does and she’s done since,
which is lots of stuff—she’s been
really, really busy—I just had to
have her. I just had
to interview her for the summit. So,
Wendi, it’s so good to have you.
Wendi: Thanks. Well, we do share
a similar passion. So anytime I can
talk about children’s health from
a holistic perspective, I will talk! So
thanks for having me!
Carla: Well, we are all ears, Wendi,
because you’ve got lots to share
with us today. So let’s dive in. So
how about first and foremost, can
you share with us your story, what
your background is and how you
got interested in children’s health?
Wendi: Yeah, it’s a pretty funny
one. I’ve been a pediatric nurse for
over 20 years. And in that mostly
in the field of pediatric oncology,
so kids with cancer. And that is
such a noble calling. It is such a
great profession. I truly thought
my career path had me being a
pediatric nurse practitioner working
with kids with cancer. That’s where I
was headed, certified in all of it and
all that stuff and loved it.
A couple of things. As a side note,
first of all I started realizing that
with our treatment for childhood
cancers, we were looking more at
the cure then we are the causes.
We were tweaking the cure as
much as we could. But we wouldn’t
look at any of the causes. So I just
started thinking, “I wonder if we
could look at the cause, maybe we
could prevent it from happening
altogether.”
But really what changed me
dramatically—that was floating
around in the back of my brain—
what changed me dramatically as
in hopefully most of the people
listening to this our parents is I
became a mom. And I had been
your typical what might be called
allopathic or Western medical
person with a career in nursing
feeling like medicine was great and
it was useful and helpful.
But my first daughter started having
some health issues. And what
happened with her, when she was
an infant, she started having blood
in her stool or blood in her poop.
And that’s when I kind of started
going, “Well, wait a minute. What’s
going on?” And everybody just kept
blowing me off: my
pediatrician, and then we went to
see the G.I. doctor. And everybody
just kind of, “Oh, she’ll get better.
She’ll grow out of it.”
That’s kind of I feel like our general
catchall: “They’ll grow out of it,”
when, in reality children, when their
bodies are demonstrating doing
something like this, either having
blood in the stool or irritability or
things like that, they are cues to
us. And if we can catch them early
enough, we can help prevent long-
term complications.
But what happened with my
daughter when she was nine months
old, I knew she wasn’t crawling. And
I thought, “Okay, that’s a red flag to
me.” But I also didn’t want to be the
helicopter parent. I didn’t want to be,
“Oh, my gosh.
She’s not crawling. I’ve got to be
on this.” But she diagnosed her
as having low muscle tone or
what some people might know as
hypotonia.
And we had a physical therapy
consult. And they put her in the
less than the 5th percentile for
her age group for milestones. And
that is when what I referred to as
the mama bear woke up. And I’m
sure a lot of people listening to
this can identify with that mama
bear because it sprang to life like
nobody’s business. And I was on a
mission to help my child because
there was something going on.
There was something wrong.
Yet again I still got the blowout from
Western or allopathic doctors going,
“She’ll be fine. She’ll grow out of it.”
Well, fast-forward several months.
She did start to walk. So it did seem
like, “Okay, she’s going to walk.
She’s going to be okay. She just
never crawled.”
But what was happening as she had
an ear infection at age 12 months.
She was starting to get more irritable.
She was starting off to sleep through
the night. She was having meltdowns
galore like you wouldn’t believe. And I
was truly at my wits end. We had had
an MRI. We had seen a neurologist.
We had seen a G.I. specialist. And
nothing was coming up.
Well, when she was 18 months
old, my sweet neighbor, who is a
practicing classical homeopath, I
went over to her doorstep it was
just crying. I was like,
“There is something wrong. And
I can’t figure it out.” And she
introduced me to homeopathy.
And this is truly changed my world
because we had an appointment
with her. And she gave my daughter
a constitutional homeopathic
remedy. And I’ll talk about that
in a minute. And I’ll talk about
homeopathy. But I am not kidding.
This was an 18-month-old. So this
wasn’t a placebo. The child didn’t
know I was giving her a little pellet
to melt in her mouth.
And within 48 hours, this child was
sleeping through the night again.
And the meltdowns were less
frequent. And she was a different
kid. And I went back over there.
And I said, “What in the world was
that?! What did you do? And what
is homeopathy?” And that is where
the door opened for me. And I
never looked back.
And I truly became a woman on a
mission. And I would consult with
my neighbor and be like, “Ansley
has a cold. What do I do?” And she
started teaching me how to use
homeopathy acutely because you
can use it in acute situations. And
then you can use it for chronic
health issues, as well.
And I’ve got to be honest. I almost
welcomed the sickness in a weird
way because I got so excited about
being able to treat things at home.
She had a sore throat? She had a
fever? Bring it on. I’ve got this. I can
treat this. So even for Christmas
that year, my husband gave me a
multi-homeopathic kit. So I have
over 150 remedies at my beck and
call to utilize at any time. And it was
amazing. I treated everything.
I was almost too confident to be
honest because I was like, “I can
do this!” We never went back to
the pediatrician. And I don’t mean
that in a bad way. I just mean we
didn’t need to. I discovered that
treating things at home was very
empowering, very empowering
to help my daughter feel better
and natural ways, in ways that I
took care of it and finding that
I didn’t have to go to over- the-
counter remedies and prescription
medications.
And she got healthier overall. And
at the same time, I learned a lot
about diet. And she did go any dairy
free and gluten-free diet for a while.
And we’re no
longer dairy-free and gluten-free.
We are what I call careful and
watchful about that, which I think
can work for some people. So
you’re talking to a girl who honestly
grew up one Velveeta shells and
cheese and Coca-Cola. So I didn’t
know any better. And when my
daughter got sick, I was like, “Oh.
We’ve got to take care of our diet.”
So that made a dramatic difference
for me.
But then what happened, I kind of
thought I had it all together. And I
started looking at her history and
realizing she was a C-section baby
and my diet was in great during
pregnancy. And I had a lot of toxic
issues that I, in a sense, had passed
on to her. So I started wising up
about that.
And we found ourselves
unexpectedly pregnant again,
which is very interesting because
at that point we had changed the
diet, change the lifestyle, changed
a lot of things. We had had trouble
conceiving our first child. But then
guess what? Now that we’re eating
more healthy using more natural
remedies, lo and behold here
comes baby number two.
And my second daughter had a few
more colicky issues. And this almost
put me in the nut house. And I can
identify with those moms out there
whose babies have colic or reflux
or irritability because I went crazy.
So that’s where I almost left no
stone unturned. I started finding
alternative practitioners in town. I
started just using everything. But
that’s what helped me dig deeper
and get to the cause of what was
going on in my second daughter
and try to understand all the causes
of this.
And I started realizing we need to
treat the cause instead of more
so the symptoms and go after
the cause. That made the huge
difference in her. My dentist is now
a thriving five-year-old and doing
great. So in that, I said, “People
need to know about this.” I was kind
of frustrated that even in all of my
training in the allopathic Western
medicine, we never addressed diet
for kids with cancer. We’re always
like, “Oh, let them eat what they’ll
eat.” It’s just very frustrating.
So in that, I started my own little
nursing practice called Jubilee
Health. And it really was to help
families who were looking for more
holistic approach like,
“Okay, my child is having chronic
ear infections. What should I do?
What should I do differently?” And
things like that. And hence that’s
where it got started for me and
justice passion to educate families
and really empower them to know
that there’s something else.
I think a lot of times we just take
what our doctor says and, “Oh,
okay. Well, they said that.” And I
think Western medical care has
its place when we’re truly ill. But I
think we can treat so many things
at home and take care of our kids
at home. Plus you know your child
the best. So that’s where it kind of
all got started for me. And I’m pretty
passionate about just letting other
families know what is out there.
Carla: Yeah, and it’s like being in the
trenches. You’re in there every day,
day in and day out. You’re the one
that knows what’s going on with
your kids.
Wendi: Yes.
Carla: So what you did was you
created an online class, “Parents’
Guide to Natural Remedies.” I’m
guessing and this is what I’m
thinking is that your passion and
what you discovered in discovering
this freedom and disability that you
yourself can actually deal with a lot
of these things at home naturally
with your kids, you wanted to share
that with people.
Wendi: Yes. People kept calling
me and asked me what to do. And
I said, “You know what? I think
I’m just going to teach a class.”
So I wasn’t quite Internet savvy.
So I found a great friend who is
a holistic coach, Roxanne King of
The Holistic Mama Blog. And we
partnered together and taught the
class lie that first. We did it live on
live online and had live attendees.
But then what we did after that
incident since we recorded it.
So now it’s like a membership
site. So you can go online at
any time and find out what
you need. But you can find it at
ParentsGuideToNaturalRemedies.
com. And really what that is is
empowering families to know how
to treat things at home peers that
your child wakes up with a fever in
the middle of the night.
And typically would go to Tylenol,
which will talk about Tylenol
and a little bit. But in your mind,
your thinking, “I wonder if there’s
something natural like and use. I
wonder if there’s something more
that doesn’t have quite the toxicity
that a lot of over-the-counter
medicines have that we can use.”
So what this class does is it breaks
it down into about 14 modules. So
there’s a module on fever. There’s
a module on ear infection. There’s
a module on the tummy bug, how
much we all hate that. There’s a
module and sore throats.
And then there’s one on first aid like
what to do when your kid gets done
by a beer you get poison ivy or if
you have a nosebleed or if you have
a head bonk.
And then there’s miscellaneous
things like urinary tract infections,
and particularly coughs and colds
because I know a lot of us struggle
with that. So it really just walks you
through what to do. So you have it
as a resource to go back to it any
time.
But in that, we really teach people
really what we categorize as kind
of the five pillars of natural health
for kids. And that’s just something
Roxanne and I came up with.
There’s probably a lot more. But we
just categorize that it would teach a
class centered around those things.
And if it’s okay, I might share those
five pillars with folks.
Carla: Yeah, let’s hear the five
pillars!
Wendi: It’s funny. In the class, we
call it the five pillars. But I realized
I probably should’ve made it six.
So I’m going to start with number
six first because I want to throw
it in there. But number six is
nutrition. And I feel like that is one
of the biggest keys, first of all, at
preventing illnesses that come our
way. Children are going to get sick.
Children are going to get exposed
to things and have little illnesses.
And when I say a lot of the things
I’m going to teach you to use will
help the illness not be so long
and complicated. It will make
it go through the body quickly
unfastened swiftly and move on.
But nutrition can be one of the
biggest things that allows your
body to see something, recognize
it, mount a response against it,
and move on. Because if you’re in
a good state of nutrition, i.e. that
you’re hydrated, you have good
nutrients on board, you will be able
to fight things off. And that makes
all these five pillars work better.
There’s so much information
about attrition online. And I don’t
want to get controversial about
being vegetarian or whether you
should do Paleo or Weston Price
or whatever. But I think you need
to find what works for your child.
But I also think the biggest thing
to preach is to use real food as
opposed to processed food. Get
the food that has non-GMOs and
different things like that.
So I think diet can play a major role.
And you do have to find where your
family is comfortable in using that.
But I would recommend whatever
diet you’re going to choose for
your family, no processed food
is probably the biggest thing you
can do. So I wanted to start with
number six that nutrition plays a big
role in a lot of this.
But as far as the five pillars go that
we try to teach people around it
how to utilize them acutely, the first
one is homeopathy. And like I said,
that is what changed me. That’s
what opened my eyes and really
was a shock to my system to go,
“Oh, my gosh. There’s something
else besides Western medicine and
antibiotics that can work just as
powerfully if not more powerfully
and effective, and especially in
children.”
And if you don’t know anything
about homeopathy, I would
encourage you to learn about it. But
I’m going to give you a two-minute
version of what homeopathy is. It
was discovered about 200 years
ago. It’s based on the premise that
like cures like. So a substance of
something can cure something that
has similar symptoms.
So let me give you an example. You
have an onion. And if you get an
onion close to your face, if you eat
it… When we’re cutting onions, what
do we have? Watery eyes and runny
nose because, for whatever reason,
that’s the response that we often
get around an onion.
Well, if you take that onion and you
dilute it, and you even dilute it more
and dilute it more and dilute it and
dilute it down and then you take
it in this diluted form, it is going
to cure what it causes. So it’s in a
sense—I try to help people get their
brain around it—like allergy shots
that a lot of allergists use because
it’s a teeny tiny amount to help
your body recognize it. But not.
But it kind of helps you kind of get
your brain around the concept of
homeopathy.
But homeopathy, what separates it
from traditional Western medicine
is that it works with the body
instead of against. It’s a signal to
the body to do something that
the body was innately designed
to do. It’s almost like a reminder:
“Hey, remember how to act this
way. Remember how to do this,”
Whereas with Western medicine,
if you think about the stuff that we
typically use, things like antibiotics
or antivirals or even fever
suppressors, there exactly what
they are. They’re suppressing.
So an antibiotic is going to suppress
a bacteria that might be growing.
But what I love about homeopathy
is it sets the body up to be able to
fight it off itself or give it a signal,
work with the body instead of
going anti-, anti-, anti-. And it really
allows the body to walk through
the natural response that it was
designed to have as opposed to
fighting off something for the body.
Now, don’t get me wrong. There’s
a place and a time for antibiotics
if you need them, and I feel like
for life-threatening. But for simple
things like ear infections, scolds,
sore throats, tummy issues. My
daughter had a little tummy ache
this morning. Guess what I pulled
out? The homeopathy. And within
30 minutes, she’s back on track
playing with her horses and moving
on. So that’s what I love about
homeopathy. It’s so gentle and safe
and effective.
Now, I will tell you the argument
that a lot of Westerner allopathic
doctors have against it is it diluted.
There’s nothing in it. And they’ll say
it doesn’t have some substance to
it. But I think that’s with the beauty
of it is because a lot of people say
it’s a placebo. Well, my 18 month
old doesn’t even know what a
placebo is at the time. And when
I gave it to her, I witnessed the
exchange before my very eyes. I
saw it happen.
So whether or not you take it as a
placebo or whether or not you’re
using it, it works. And it’s truly
effective. Now, sometimes it may
not work on the first go round and
you may have to play around with
it to find the right remedy. So it’s
more of an art than a science with
homeopathy. But it is amazing in
children. That is one of the biggest
things that we try to teach people in
the class. You can truly be prepared
for almost any illness that comes
your way with homeopathy. And it’s
so safe and effective with kids.
So in the class, we teach about what
homeopathic remedies you can use
for a sore throat or you can use for
a headache or you can use for a
tummy bug and things like that. You
could almost just use homeopathy
and be totally fine. But that is one
of our main pillars of, when I say
“natural health,” I really mean like
acute health that you could use for
children acutely.
Now, it does work for deep acting
issues, as well.
Carla: And that’s constitutional,
right?
Wendi: Yeah, that’s where the
constitutional remedy can come
into play. And that’s where you
do want to consult a certified
homeopath. There’s tons of great
ones out there. There’s Joette
Calabrese. If you don’t know who
she is, we’ll put a link to that with
this. But she is amazing. And she
does a lot of Skype appointments.
She teaches a lot of classes that you
can learn about.
But if you’re going to go deeper,
you do probably need the help of a
professional. But if you’re going to
treat things acutely at home, that’s
what we teach in the class. You will
be so empowered to know that you
helped your child over sore throat
with some lower concentrations of
the homeopathic remedies, the 60c,
12c, or 30c. Those are the things
that we recommend for parents
to use at home. Anything over
that dilution like up to 200c or 1m,
that’s when you need to consult a
practitioner.
So I love homeopathy. It truly
changed everything about me and
healthcare in my life. And I love it.
Now I own two kits and a drawer
full of homeopathic remedy.
You got an ailment? I will find
something.
Carla: Did you say you own two
kids?!
Wendi: Oh, yeah!
Carla: [Laughs]
Wendi: And more than that. My
husband doesn’t even look in my
drawer anymore because I have
two big kits. But I love that.
Carla: You have two kids. And you
own two kits.
Wendi: One for each kid, right?
And my girls even know. They’ll say,
“Hey, mom. I need a pellet. Mom
I need a pellet.” And I’ll be honest.
You’ll learn about Arnica if you take
the class. And arnica, most of you
have probably heard about it. It’s
great for injuries and sprains and
things like that.
The other day I whacked my head
pretty hard and had to sit down
for a minute. And my four-year-old
goes, “Mom, do you need some
arnica?” And it truly was a proud
moment because I was like, “My
daughter knows!”
Carla: And you probably did need it.
Wendi: I did. And I went and got
some.
Carla: I’m going to second
your whole story about using
homeopathy because I’ve taken a
couple classes. And that’s another
thing I want to ask you, too, Wendi,
is that did you take a lot of classes
in homeopathy? That’s the question
that I have. For parents listening,
it’s a really big field. It’s very, very
useful.
But like you were saying, with the
constitutional remedies, if you’re
looking to go deeper and heal
things that are bigger and may
be chronic, using homeopath is
awesome. There are like thousands
of remedies. Is that right?
Wendi: Oh, yeah. Yes, thousands.
Carla: So it is definitely a art. So did
you take any training? What did you
do to learn how to do this at home?
Wendi: Well, yes, I did some online
classes and just spending a lot of
time with my neighbor and a lot of
reading. And you’re right. And you
can train themselves to treat acute
things at home and again leave the
deeper things to the practitioners.
But now there are so many things
online, things like art classes or the
National Center for Homeopathy
teaches a Homeopathy for Moms
class. Joette Calabrese has a lot of
classes. So even just starting there
to get the basic understanding of
how homeopathy works. There’s
lots of books out there.
Dana Ullman has a great book
called Homeopathy for Infants and
Children. And it lists exactly what to
use. So a lot of it was just educating
myself.
And it’s kind of fun because in
college, I liked to learn. But now
I wish I could go back to college
because now that passion is
behind what I’m learning. And I’m
like, “Man, what could I do now?!”
And there’s ways to get certified.
There’s ways to get a certification
in homeopathy or a diploma in
homeopathy. So you can take it as
small as you want with something
like our class or as big as you want
when you can get a certification in
it, as well.
So, yeah, there are tons of classes
out there online that you can take.
Carla: Yeah, very cool. I just have
to give you an example because
this was such an awesome auntie
moment that I had. My niece was
over here. And she was quite ill
actually because we live out of
town, 40 minutes. So usually when
she stays over, she just stays a few
nights.
So she showed up not feeling
well. She had a fever. And I don’t
even have Tylenol in my house,
actually. So there wasn’t really
anything we’re going to do besides
something natural. And I have a
whole bunch of homeopathy. And
I thought trying to go down the
rabbit hole of, “Which one, which
one? What’s going to be right for
her?”
So I tried one. Eh, it wasn’t quite
right. So I hit the right remedy. And
I’ll tell you, after that whole day
she couldn’t get off the couch, that
kid sat up and went, “Auntie, I feel
better.” And her fever was gone.
I’m not joking. I just about crapped
my pants. Even I really believe in
this stuff, I saw it first hand. It just
floored me.
And in no time, she was upstairs
with my daughter. And they
were showering and singing in
the shower. I have never seen
anything like that, and I mean with
anything like prescription, over-the-
counter, anything like that. It was
phenomenal. It was like a miracle.
You just see that happen every day
with homeopathy.
Wendi: It does. And even with my
own kids, I can think of an example.
Just three or four weeks ago my
oldest came home and had a fever.
And I was like, “Oh, shoot.” And I
gave her a homeopathic remedy,
some minerals we talked about.
The next day she was back at
school, totally fine. She can whiz
through something 24 hours with
homeopathy and the right minerals
and things like that. I’m like you.
When I see it, I’m like, “Holy cow!
That stuff works good!”
Carla: And the point is that the
body works through it. It’s not that
you skip over what it’s trying to do.
It’s that you help it to work properly
so it speeds it along and doesn’t get
caught in this disease process.
Wendi: Right. Right. And that’s
what I love to help families realize
because then you don’t hop on
what I call the antibiotic train or
the stairway train or something like
that when you continually get I’m
nebulizer or steroids or antibiotics
and you keep going and going. But
it’s a great what we call pattern
interrupt. So you find yourself not
having to use that stuff.
Carla: Okay. So I want to return to
that stuff about the medications,
prescription, over-the-counter stuff
in just a second. So I don’t want to
forget to do that. So let’s move on
to the next pillar. And we’ll work
through all those pillars. And then
we’ll come back to that issue.
Wendi: Okay. That sounds good.
Okay, the next one that we
talk about is cell salts. And cell
salts are kind of like a division
of homeopathy or a branch of
homeopathy because there made
like homeopathic remedies. But
they’re in particular 12 cell salts.
And these are what we call tissue
salts or mineral salts. And the guy,
Dr. Schussler, that discovered these
200 years ago, the way he found
this is kind of bizarre and weird and
strange, I know.
But there was a body that was
cremated. So basically he took the
ashes of it. And he dissected it and
figured out what minerals and salts
were in those ashes and realize
those were the 12 most needed
salts for our cells or tissue salts for
our cells, or what are called cell
salts. So the way that he gets these
is he derives them homeopathically,
meaning he takes one.
Let’s say one, for instance, it’s
ferrum phos. It’s number four.
They’re 1 through 12 and they’re
alphabetically. And ferrum phos,
it’s iron. So we realize that the
body needed it. But instead of
giving straight up iron—because
sometimes straight up iron can be
toxic—it’s diluted down in a potency
called 6X.
So really it’s kind of like
homeopathy. But it’s diluted down
enough where it gives the body a
signal to recognize this tissue salt.
Instead of overwhelming the body
with tons and tons of iron, it’s a
simple little nudge because really
we don’t need that much iron. If
we give it a little bit, then the cells
see that iron and recognize it as a
nutrient and can act accordingly.
And the beautiful thing I love about
cell salts is you can’t overdose with
them. You really can’t. What I do is
use them to enhance homeopathy.
There’s an incredible lady out there
named Miranda Castro. If you
go through our class, we cross-
reference her website. She does a
lot of great teaching on cell salts.
There’s another guy named David
Card who wrote a great book
called Facial Diagnosis of Cell Salt
Deficiencies. It teaches you how to
look at your face and see what cell
salt you might be deficient in. And
it’s a great book. You can get it on
Amazon for like 10 bucks. And it’s
very involved. And it teaches you,
okay, so you’ve got a runny nose or
this. And it tells you exactly which
cell salt to use when and when to
change, what to do for burns, and
so many things like that.
And these cell salts are amazing.
Probably the most popular brand
that you know of is called Hyland’s.
And you’ll see that at most health
food stores. And they’re numbered
1 through 12. And kids love these
because they simply melt in their
mouth. And they have a little sweet
taste to them. They do have a hair
of lactose in them.
Carla: That’s what I was going to ask!
Wendi: Yeah. And that’s good. Well,
I’ll tell you this. If you are lactose
intolerant, honestly the amount
of lactose in here usually isn’t a
problem. But if you find you are
supersensitive and if it scares you,
there are some online that are put
in a water preparation as opposed
to lactose.
So they’re out there. They’re just not
as popular and prevalent as like the
Hyland’s. But you can find it. You
can find them online. You can find
them without the lactose. But, to
be honest, most people who have a
lactose issue don’t have a problem
with these. It’s not enough to cause
a problem. However, they’re out
there.
Carla: Okay. So are the cell salts the
same thing as homeopathy?
Wendi: Well, yes and no in a
sense that think of them more as
nutrition and targeted minerals
for the cell. But they are derived
homeopathically, meaning they’re
put in a dilution of 6X, meaning they
were diluted down. So this gets a
little bit complicated for people.
But think of the cell salts more
along the lines of nutrition, whereas
think of homeopathy more of
a remedy type thing that works
alongside the body. This cell salts
are more like nutrition for the cells
to help the cells act properly, if that
helps. But the cell salts can make a
huge difference.
If you only learn about one of them,
I would say learn about number
four, the ferrum phos. I love to
use ferrum phos for inflammation.
I use it instead of my Tylenol. So
we’re going to talk about Tylenol in
a minute. But use the ferrum phos
for inflammation, for head bonks,
for, “Hey, mom. I hit my wrist. And
it’s a little sprained and has some
inflammation.” You can use it for
coughs, colds, and runny noses. It’s
just great to have on hand for kids.
So that’s a great one to learn about
and have on hand is number four,
ferrum phos.
So the cell salts can work in
conjunction with the homeopathy.
And in our class, we explain how
to use homeopathy and cell salts
together. But cell salts are amazing.
And you really can’t overdo it. I
just want to say this real quick.
My daughter ate a whole bottle of
cell salts one day. And totally fine,
didn’t need to call poison control.
Honestly, that was one of the best
days she’s ever had. She was in
such a good mood.
Carla: But don’t give your kids a
whole bottle, though!
Wendi: Right! Don’t give your
kid a whole bottle. But they are
safe to have around and have on
hand. And if you go to my website
JubileeHealth.org, there’s actually a
video about what cell salts are and
what homeopathy is. And there’s
a video of my daughter taking the
cell salts and how to take them and
things like that. So there’s some
great education videos that I would
love for people to understand how
these work. So there’s some on
there. Okay, so that’s pillar number
two: cell salts and homeopathy.
The third one is kind of in the same
family as the cell salts, but a little
bit different. And it’s what I like
to call the minerals because our
bodies are so depleted of minerals
these days because our food and
our soil is all completely deprived
of minerals just from the way that
we’ve toiled the soil over time. It’s
lost a lot of minerals. But minerals
are so, so important to the body.
Just teeny tiny amounts of the
minerals are so important for so
many processes in the body.
And one thing that I have found
in particular is something called
marine plasma. And really the
reason I like this marine plasma…
It was discovered by a French
physiologist named Renee Quinton.
Renee Quinton discovered this
probably 100 years ago and really
realized it was almost like the elixir
of life, so to speak. It has such rich
amino acids, mineral content to it
that it could really just come in and
heal most anything.
And the reason I bring it up in one
of our five pillars for natural health
because with kids, the biggest thing
you worry about when they’re
acutely ill is dehydration. Kids can
get sick really fast and if they get
dehydrated can get in trouble. And
that’s where a lot of times kids end
up having to go to the emergency
room to get fluids to hydrate them.
So if you only learn one thing is to
keep your kid hydrated. And I don’t
recommend Gatorade. And I don’t
recommend Pedialyte. And that’s a
different story. You can go in and
learn about that in the class. But
if that’s all you have, then please
use it. The biggest thing is making
sure your kids stay hydrated while
they’re ill because if you don’t,
they will get in trouble. Their blood
pressure will go low. And they
can get septic and not be able to
profuse their organs very well. So
that’s one of the biggest things.
But this Quinton marine plasma
truly can save the day. I’ve had
kids who have used this marine
plasma. It comes almost like ocean
water. It comes in a little 10 mL or
2 teaspoon vial. And you can use it
when your child comes down with
something. And if your child doesn’t
like the taste of it—it’s a little salty—
you can mix it in a little water. Or
you can mix it in juice and just make
sure they’re having it periodically
through the day.
So for acute situations, this Marine
plasma is phenomenal. Now, this
brand I like called Quinton Marine
Plasma, we talk about it in the class.
There’s also a video on my website
about it. It’s kind of hard to find.
And just so you know, there’s a lot
of other ionic minerals out there.
But this is the brand I like. But there
are several others. But if you’re
going to look for something like a
mineral, I would look for an ionic
multi mineral supplement to keep
kids hydrated. But the ones I like
is this Quinton Marine Plasma. It’s
pretty phenomenal.
So honestly I sell a kit. I created a
kit for people to have online and
to have five files of the Quinton
Marine Plasma just to have one
hand. Now, I will tell you in my
practice, I use it for chronically ill
patients, as well. But we’re talking
about acute situations to treat kids
who are acutely ill. It is incredible
to prevent dehydration. So that’s
something I would learn about or at
least have something similar to it on
hand to have at home because it’s
a way to hydrate the cells. It’s pretty
phenomenal.
Carla: So you would use like a
Gatorade…You said not to. But
if that’s all you have, please use
it to make sure they don’t get
dehydrated. But would you use that
over water or water with a little bit
of salt in it.
Wendi: You can use water with a
bit of salt in it. You can mix a teeny
bit of honey in it. You can mix a
teeny bit of lemon in it. You can use
a coconut water, something that’s
going to rehydrate the cells. Water
in and of itself is good. But what
you’re looking for is electrolytes
to replace. And there’s different
formulas that are out there that you
can use to replenish.
Tea is phenomenal. Even just
chamomile tea and adding a teeny
bit of honey to it or a teeny bit of
salt to it that you’re rehydrating
and your child, or coconut water.
So straight up water is helpful if
that’s all you have. But really you’re
looking at electrolytes, especially if
a child has diarrhea or is throwing
up because they’re losing and lots
of those electrolytes when they’re
passing that out. So that’s the most
important thing to replace that.
So, yes, if your child will tolerate
the salt and the honey and the
lemon, there’s a couple different
concoctions, recipe drinks that you
can look up to use.
And Gatorade I don’t care for
simply because it has food dyes in
it. And they’ve recently said they’re
taking the bromide out of it. But I’m
still worried that it still has some
bromide in it. So it’s almost may
be more toxic to the body when
you’re ill. But, again, if you’ve got a
kid facing dehydration and that’s all
you’ve got, then please use it.
But there are some better choices.
And I think once you get in the
hang of this and you learn how to
be better prepared—you have this
kit on hand—then you won’t have
to worry because you have that
stuff or at least a recipe for making
something. So, yes, hydrating is very
important.
Carla: Okay. Okay, so number four?
Wendi: Okay, number four it’s
probably a funny buzz, I guess, right
now, is essential oils. And essential
oils our great in kids. And I’ll be
honest. Up until about two years
ago, I kind of stay far away from the
essential oils simply because it’s
kind of hot right now. And there’s
the two major companies, DoTERRA
and Young Living kind of bicker
back and forth a little bit about
which one is better. And there
was too much buzz about it. And
sometimes I like to shy away from
too much buzz.
But I started learning about it and
realized, “Hey is kind of cool.” And
kids can use it. But what I do is in
my perspective and in my office,
I don’t use it as a main line of
therapy. I use it more as an adjunct,
as an extra, and add on, whereas
I’m a little more in the homeopathy
and cell salts because they are so
effective in kids.
And with the essential oils, I think
they’re great. But I do want to issue
a word of caution about children
under two. Just to be careful. They
are potent. They are very, very
potent. And then the American way,
we always sometimes think, “Well,
if a little works, then a lot would
work.”
Carla: “A lot would work better!”
Wendi: Right, “It would work
better!” So that’s why I issue a
word of caution, especially with itty
bitties. Be very careful. This stuff
is potent. These essential oils are
super potent. So in the class, we
talk about zero to two. If I had to
legally say it, I would say under two
don’t use them at all. So legally I’m
going to say that.
But if you’re a parent who is
comfortable with essential oils, a
lot of people do use them in kids
under two, things like lavender or
chamomile for calming and things
like that. So they are usable for
children under two. But even over
2, there’s a lot of great things that
can go alongside the homeopathy
and the cell salts.
And kids love essential oils. You can
create little roller bottles and use
a routine at night where they rub
them on their feet. And you can
engage them. And they can be a
part of their care. I have kids who I
know the mom pulls out the kit. And
they’re like, “I need that one, that
one, and that one.” And kids usually
know which ones they need. That’s
a beautiful thing. It’s like, “Mom, I
know I need that went today.” And
you can probably trust that instinct.
So essential oils can be an amazing,
effective remedy. But I do want to
issue a word of caution. There are
a lot of them out there. But they
can go in line with that. And while
we’re even talking about essential
oils, one of the pillars that we didn’t
include that maybe could have been
included is herbal remedies.
And for whatever reason, my
direction has had me go in the
homeopathic cell salt modality with
children just because I find it so
quick, safe, gentle, and works fast.
With herbal remedies, I know you
can find the same.
And there’s plenty of people who go
the more herbal route with children
instead of the homeopathic route.
But again you do have to be a little
bit more on the cautious side with
herbals, meaning there’s some herbs
you that shouldn’t use in children
and there are some herbs that you
have to make sure you’re really
careful with the dosing in children.
So I heartily recommend herbs in
children. But in our class, we don’t
teach it simply because I have
found homeopathy and sell salt
and minerals to be so much more
effective and children. That’s not to
say they don’t work. And it’s kind of
the same with essential oils. They
do work. And they can be super
effective in children. So, again, it’s
what I have found that works better
with children that I treat. So just a
side note about the herbal stuff.
And then the fifth pillar is
probiotics. And I feel like we sort of
kind of snuck this one in there. And
probiotics could or could not be a
pillar. But I think just because our
gut health is so, so super important
and I think we can’t just talk about
this enough that children’s gut
health is very compromised. If your
child was a C-section baby, they
started out with a deficit in the
microflora and their gut. So right
then and they are, if they were
a C-section, they need to be on
probiotics.
And finding the right probiotics.
Everybody has got a different
microbiome. And there are millions
of different probiotic strains. So a lot
of times it may take working with a
practitioner. But probiotics can save
the day a lot of times. And a lot of
people ask me if they should be on
a probiotic daily. And I say maybe
and possibly yes if you’re not eating
fermented foods and things like that.
Probiotics can really be helpful.
But even in acute situations, there
are some particular probiotics that
you can just double up on the dose.
And you’ll find that that can mitigate
a lot of symptoms, as well. So the
reason I talk about probiotics here
as they can be used daily. But they
can also be used acutely.
Carla: Especially if your child has
had a course of antibiotics that wipe
out the probiotics in the gut.
Wendi: And that is so, so, so
important. If your child does end up
having to use an antibiotic for some
reason, it is imperative that you
get them on a probiotic regimen
to replenish that gut flora or else
you’re going to run into major
trouble and honestly probably end
up having to repeat the antibiotics
because the body system is not
up to its optimal health now. So
you may end up having to repeat
the antibiotic if you don’t get some
gut flora back into the gut because
that’s major, major important.
So the homeopathy, the cell salts,
the minerals, the essential oils, and
the probiotics are kind of the main
five pillars that we teach on in the
class. That’s not to say there’s not
more. And we do have a lot more.
But those are kind of the backbone
of what we teach from and that I
feel like parents could benefit from
by educating themselves about
these five pillars.
Carla: Awesome. Awesome
information, Wendi. Thank you.
So we talked about the five pillars.
We got some really juicy info
about what we can use as natural
remedies. So let’s back up and
go into a little more detail about
the specific pitfalls with over-the-
counter or prescription medicines,
like Tylenol and antihistamines and
steroid creams and antibiotics.
Wendi: Yes. So it’s funny. For
years, I’ve been not necessarily
the prescriber, but the person
who educates families on things
like antihistamines or steroids or
Tylenol and things like that. And
I never really thought that much
about it until it went on this journey
of discovering what they actually do
to the body.
And I’m going to say a general
overall, I love to keep little bodies
off big medicines. These medicines
really are and can be toxic to little
kids’ bodies.
Steroids alone, what I call hijack
the immune system. And of course
you can hijack the immune system
and halt and illness. Because in the
immune system is not going crazy
and figuring it out.
But what have you just done? You
completely hijacked the immune
system to figure something out.
So the next time it comes along, it
might need steroids again to figure
something out and you’re dumbing
the body down, I guess, basically
to be able to mount a response
against something.
Same with antibiotics. What we do is
we fight something off as opposed
to giving the body the chance to
maybe recognize it. And I think that’s
what concerns me about healthcare
practitioners is that a parent brings
their child in sick. And a practitioner
wants to help. We all want to help.
You’ve brought your sick child to
me. Of course, I want to help. So
I’m going to give you a prescription.
But a lot of times we don’t think
through the consequences of that
prescription do and what it can
mean in the long run.
So with steroids, it can hijack the
immune system. With antibiotics,
it can, what we just talked about,
hijack the gut flora, which you really
super need. But I’m going to pick on
Tylenol because I feel like it needs
to be picked on. I love to tell the
story because as a pediatric nurse,
I prided myself on, my friends who
had baby showers, guess what I
would give as a gift?
I would show up with a little basket
of pediatric Tylenol, pediatric
Motrin, and Mylicon drops. And I
just thought, “Pat myself on the back
because I just gave the best present
a mom could ever need” until several
years ago when I started doing some
research and investigating what
some of these over-the-counter and
prescription medicines can actually
do to little bodies.
So let me bring it back to Tylenol
because I’m pretty embarrassed
that that used to be my shower
gift. It’s not my shower gift
anymore, by the way. I actually give
the homeopathic kit for people
now. But I have five angsts with
Tylenol. And the first one is that it’s
suppressive in nature. And that kind
of goes along the nature of all the
things that we were talking about
with the steroids or the antibiotics.
They’re all suppressive in nature.
Our bodies were designed to
innately recognize things and move
forward, kind of like what we were
talking about with the homeopathy.
Something is going to come its way.
We hopefully should be able to
shake it off. Again, there may be a
time when it can’t and we do need
to do something.
But with Tylenol—and a lot of
people bring this in with fever—and
I’m going to kind of throw in my
fever topic right here. Fever really is
your friend and as counterintuitive
as that might feel to people,
because you look at your child in
they’re miserable. And they have a
fever. And they’re lying there. And
you want to do something.
Carla: You’re scared!
Wendi: Yeah, you’re scared of a
seizure. You’re scared that they’re
lying there lethargic. And you’re
scared. So I get that. I get that as
a parent. And I’ve given plenty of
doses of Tylenol at the hospital to
bring it down. And guess what?
Tylenol works great because it’s
suppressive. What it does is it shuts
down the body’s ability to bring on
a fever.
Well, what a fever is doing is it’s
mounting a response against a
pathogen to recognize it and fight
it off. If you give a dose of Tylenol,
you’ve shut down that response
of that fever. So the body is going,
“Oh. Oh, well. Well, never mind. I
won’t try to recognize that.” But
then you give a dose of Tylenol. And
the body goes, “Well, wait a minute.
I might try to recognize it. So I’m
going to mount another fever and
try it again.”
And honestly, a lot of times when
this happens and you get in that
cycle, it sometimes where these
febrile seizures come into play
because febrile seizures, they
typically come from when a fever
goes up too fast, not necessarily how
high it was. But if it shoots up really
fast, a lot of times is where you point
to have the fever.
So if you give a dose of Tylenol and
the body goes, “Oh, well. Wait a
minute. I’m going to try again,” it’s
probably going to shoot it up really
fast is sometimes where you might
see the febrile seizures come into
play. That’s not every time. Please
don’t hear me saying that that’s the
bottom line. But that’s one case
where that may seem to happen.
But another thing I want to point out
is that your level of your fever is not
indicative of how sick your child is.
Your child can have 102 fever and
be playing outside. But then you can
have another child with 102, 103
fevered laying on the bed. And so
what I honestly do at our house—and
I’m not recommending that everyone
has to do this—but we don’t use a
thermometer. We’ve chosen not to
have a thermometer at my house.
So I don’t panic. I feel my child.
They’re red. They’re hot. They have
a fever. I treat it homeopathically,
which is Belladonna, by the
way. And we can get to that. But
Belladonna works great for child
fevers. And do not necessarily
that you’re going to see it go down
automatically like with Tylenol. But
what you’re going to see is a lot of
the restlessness go away.
And if a child does have a fever,
they need to sleep. Let them rest.
They need to rest. Let their body do
what it needs to do. And then you’re
done. And hydrate them. And then
you’re done.
So back to the Tylenol, the thing
is it suppresses the response. So I
guess you call it dumbing it down.
It doesn’t know how to recognize
it the next time. And if you keep
dumbing down the fever, the body
doesn’t have a chance to do its
innate responsibility does with
the fever. So Tylenol, back to it,
suppressive in nature.
Number two with Tylenol is it is
super, super toxic for the liver.
And I honestly feel like Johnson &
Johnson or a lot of the companies
that make the brand—it’s also
called acetaminophen—don’t
tell this, aren’t real forthcoming
about this. But it is super toxic
to the liver. And it’s too easily
overdosed and children. I’ve seen
too many children be in pediatric
ICUs as it felt of Tylenol overdose,
where they either took the whole
bottle themselves or the parent
accidentally overdosed it.
And if you think about it, you’re
giving it every four hours to try to
bring a fever down. That liver is
taking a hit every time you’re giving
this Tylenol. In all honestly, there
are some pediatricians out there
who feel like Tylenol is going to
be off the market within 10 years,
which I hope it is.
Another thing is it depletes a
substance called glutathione.
And if you know anything about
glutathione, it is this amazing
antioxidant that our body
desperately needs to detoxify. And
if you think about it, if you’re sick,
it’s if you take away the body’s
ability to detoxify, you take away
this glutathione, you’re putting
another nail on the coffin, so to
speak. You’re not helping the body
do its own natural capabilities.
You’re taking away an antioxidant.
Then another thing that bothers
me about Tylenol is the extra
ingredients. One thing I would love
for people to learn how to do is
flip something over and read the
ingredients—on any supplement
that you buy—but especially on
over-the-counter medicines.
And let me see if I can pronounce
some of these words on the back
of Tylenol. First of all, if you can’t
pronounce it, you probably don’t
want your child having it. So let’s
see. Anhydrous citric acid. This
is Children’s Liquid Tylenol. Butyl
paraben, F, D, & C red dye # 40,
flavors, glycerin, high fructose corn
syrup, microcrystalline cellulose,
carboxymethylo sodium, propylene
glycol, purified water, sodium
benzoate, sorbitol, sucralose, and
xanthan gum.
Okay, that’s a lot of words. But
there’s a few that really worry me
here that I would not want to give
a child or anyone. And one is the
butyl parabens. And I know there’s
a lot of people out there who
might disagree with this. But the
parabens, they are finding truly
are toxic. And a lot of the studies
are coming out saying don’t use
parabens on children. They’re
endocrine disruptors, potential
cancer-causing issues. So right then
and there I’m going, “If my kid is
sick, why would I want to bring in a
paraben, another toxin for them to
tolerate?”
Then the red dye, the red dye #40.
I hope that I don’t have to explain
it. But bread food diet is toxic to
children. And there’s a lot of people
who might again disagree with me.
But sometimes if you watch kids get
red food dye, they’re going to have
a hypersensitive reaction.
What happens at birthday parties?
Kids get cake with red food dye on
it in the icing. They’re going to go
nuts. Yes, it’s combined with the
sugar. But why would you give a
kid who feel so bad something that
is going to stimulate their nervous
systems to be cattywonk and make
them go crazy? So that’s another
reason not to do it.
And then there’s high fructose corn
syrup. And as much as the corn
industry wants you to believe that
high fructose corn syrup is not
dangerous, I have to beg to differ.
It is full of so many toxic elements.
And again you’re giving it to a child
who is sick and feeling bad. It’s
another thing they’ve got to detoxify.
Well, guess what? You just took
away the glutathione. They can
detoxify.
So here’s just one example and
a side note. There are some
studies linking Tylenol to increased
instances of asthma. So that’s just
some studies that are out there.
But here’s one example of an over-
the-counter medicine that probably
80% of Americans have in their
household and use it on occasion.
And 10 years ago I would’ve said,
“Sure. Use Tylenol. That’s the most
benign medicine.” But the more
research I’ve done in the more I’ve
learned about it, it is not the most
benign medicine. And if you only
take away one thing from me today
in this podcast interview, it’s please
throw away your Tylenol. Please do
not use it.
And a lot of people say, “Well, if
I just can’t stand it and my child
has a fever and I feel like I’vee got
to break it,” I would say Motrin is
the lesser of the two evils. Motrin
is synonymous with ibuprofen.
Motrin, Ibuprofen, and Advil are all
the same names. And I would say
use that. I don’t particularly care
for that one either. But if you’re
going to use one, I would use that
one. But be cautious and slow and
use it once. If you’re panicking and
you want your child’s fever to come
down, you can do it.
But this is where I would
recommend that you take the class
because there are so many great
things you can do to work alongside
the body with a fever. And not
necessarily that I’m in angst over
bringing it down, but what I would
say is help the body be comfortable
to work through the fever. Let it do
what it needs to do.
And homeopathic Belladonna, truly,
if you only got one remedy, I would
get that because Belladonna can
help with fevers. It can help with
sore throats. It’s in a pretty amazing
remedy for kids. So if just want to
start off with one homeopathic
remedy, start out with Belladonna.
You give it to a child with a fever, I’m
going to say it’s not going to bring
the fever down like you’re used
to with Tylenol. But what it will do
is help you relax, help it probably
not be so extremely high, and help
them walk through the fever and
that the body do what it needs to
do. So if you do anything, I would
learn about Belladonna and starting
with that.
Carla: And I want to second that.
You’re reading that label out to us.
That’s what we need to do. We just
really want this to work. And we’re
worried about our kids. You’re up
in the middle of the night at the
drugstore trying to figure out what
to buy.
And just picking it up it says it’s
going to work. Everybody has used
it. But really reading those labels,
you’ll be amazed to know what’s
in them. We had a prescription
once for my daughter who became
anemic. And I read that bottle. And I
just gave it right back. I said, “I can’t
give this to her.”
So you talked about ferrum phos,
stuff like that, building the body.
Because a lot of this stuff has stuff
to make it look better, taste better,
smell better because they’re hiding
the medications. The medication
doesn’t taste good. So all these
children, things that are geared
towards children are actually
toxic because of all the additives
that they put in to make it more
appealing. But it doesn’t need to be
there. You don’t need the sugar to
reduce fever. Actually sugar is going
to make it worse, right?
Wendi: Right. So now in my shower
gifts, I don’t give Tylenol anymore. I
give a homeopathic kit and a Super
Nutrition for Babies book. That’s
way more important to me than
providing Tylenol or Motrin for the
families.
And a side note here, I would like
to say about over-the-counter and
prescription remedies, one of the
biggest things that I learned that
I saw so quickly that can change
kids’ health quickly is ear infections.
And I’ve got to be honest. I got so
passionate about this, I wrote an
e-book. It’s called Childhood Ear
Infection Epidemic.
But I get so frustrated when I meet
families whose kids are on their
fourth or fifth round of antibiotics
for continued and repeated ear
infections. And that makes my skin
crawl. I just feel like we are hurting
children.
But what has happened is ear
infections are being treated as a rite
of passage, like it’s normal part of
growth and development. And that
should not be. And they’re treating
it in the sense that three or four
rounds of antibiotics by the time
you’re 12 months old is also a rite of
passage. And to me that is a major,
major red flag.
Even the CDC is saying, “Whoa,
guys. Back off. Back off on the
antibiotics. Have a plan in mind.
Only use antibiotics if they’re truly
necessary.” And a lot of times
pediatricians, again, just want to
give the parent something because
the parents brought them in and
their child doesn’t feel well. So they
want to give them something.
But you’re just creating what I call a
train of getting on an antibiotic train
and not being able to get off once
you start treating an ear infection
with an antibiotic. An ear infection
can be treated so safely and gently
at home utilizing homeopathy. And
a lot of time they’re self-limiting.
They’re probably going to get better
on their own if you can just help
find the right tools, either probiotics
or honestly chiropractic care or
cranial osteopathy. There’s so many
great things you can do to treat ear
infections as opposed to heading
down the antibiotic route so quickly.
And I think that’s one of the biggest
things that bugs me. So please get
a copy of my book, the Childhood
Ear Infection Epidemic because I feel
like parents just don’t know that
there’s an alternative to treating
ear infections. And they get on that
train. And they’re on the fourth
or fifth round of antibiotics. And
then the pediatrician says, “Oh,
they need tubes.” You might could
have avoided that. And one of my
favorite things to do is help get
people off the train.
Now, sometimes you can do it
simple and safe and use one or
two homeopathic remedies and
chiropractic care and you move on.
But a lot of times in my practice,
I have to go a little bit deeper.
And we have to do what we call a
pattern interrupt and do something
for like 4 to 6 weeks where we
treat the gut. We use colostrum.
We might use some combination
homeopathic remedies and things
like that.
So they can be helped. And they can
be stopped. I’ve seen it over and
over and over again. So I just want
to let people know childhood ear
infections are not normal. And they
shouldn’t be. But even if they are,
please treat them at home. And is
usually self-limiting.
There’s a guy who wrote a book,
Dr. Robert Mendelsohn, How to
Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your
Doctor. And that is one of the best
reads. It’s a little outdated because
he wrote it back in the late 70s and
80s. But incredible book on how
to just trust your parental instinct
in treating your child. So I highly
recommend that book. And he has
a lot of great information in there
about your infections.
Carla: Awesome. Awesome, Wendi!
I’m so inspired. I want to go back to
class because I was taking Wendi’s
class, too, and looking at a whole
bunch of the stuff again. I want
to revisit because it’s so inspiring
and empowering for parents. I just
love it. I love what you do and I so
appreciate it.
So, Wendi, is there anything else
you’d like to share with our summit
participants about any of your
current projects? You mentioned
a few. So we can just do a little
rundown, a little recap on your
projects, some resources you might
have for people in how to find you.
Wendi: Yeah, first of all, my website
JubileeHealth.org. And on there,
I do some podcasting. What I’d
like to do is interview what I call
heroes in the wellness movement
for children. And there’s incredible
focus on there. If you go to there,
you can sign up. And every two
weeks, you’ll get a little email telling
you when a new podcast has gone
live. We just did one last week on
magnesium that how important
that is in children. I probably almost
should have listed that as the
seventh pillar.
Carla: Wendi, thank you so much.
And we so appreciate all your
information and being part of The
Children’s and Teen Health Summit.
You have a good day.
Wendi: Thanks, Carla. You, too!

Carla: You’re going to have 300

pillars!

Wendi: I know! We might have 300

pillars. But magnesium is super
helpful for children. So there’s
a podcast place where you can
go. And then there’s just a lot of
different resources on my website.
A lot of people say, “Where should I
buy this? Where can I get that?” And
I’ve tried to put that on my website
for people so that that will be there.

And then also the Parents Guide

to Natural Remedies, please take
the class. I know a lot of people are
afraid of the price. It’s $99. When
you get a lifetime access to this
website where you’re, in the middle
of the night, you’re like, “Oh, shoot.
What was it that I’m supposed to
give her a fever?” You can open it
up and look at it. And it’ll tell you.
There’s videos, as well as things
listed on the page that tells you
what to do for various ailments. So
please do that.

And my ear infection book is out

there for people to read. And then
I also take appointments. I do in-
house appointments in Atlanta.
Or I also do Skype appointment of
people are interested in doing that.
You can go to my website and set
up an appointment. So really I am
just passionate about empowering
families because I got empowered.
And I was a pediatric nurse. And
I didn’t even realize I could be
empowered. So I think I just want
people to know that there are other
things out there that are super safe
and gentle for children to be able to
utilize to help their child get well.

Dr. Cates: Today, I’m interviewing
Dr. Michael Murray, expert in
natural medicine. And we’re
talking about conventional versus
naturopathic approaches to skin
health.
Thank you for joining us today, Dr.
Murray!
Dr. Murray: Oh, it’s my pleasure!
Dr. Cates: Great! So Dr. Murray
is one of the world’s leading
authorities on natural medicine.
He has published over 30 books
featuring natural approaches
to health. For the past 30 years,
Dr. Murray has personally
collected over 60,000 articles
from the scientific literature which
provide strong evidence on the
effectiveness of diet, vitamins,
minerals, herbs, and other natural
measures in the maintenance
of health and the treatment of
disease.
Oh, wow! That’s a lot of information
that you’ve been collecting, writing
books. And you’re just a wealth of
knowledge.
So thank, you, for being here.
Dr. Murray: Oh, it’s my pleasure!
Dr. Cates: Yeah. Great. So first
off, some people think that there
are limitations to conventional
dermatologists’ approach to skin
Naturopathic Medicine
Approach to Skin
Trevor Cates, ND with Michael Murray, ND
Click here to watch this interview!
The purpose of this presentation is to convey information.
It is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure your condition or to be a substitute
for advice from your physician or other healthcare professional.
treatments. So do you agree with
that? How do you feel about that?
Dr. Murray: Yeah. Absolutely. As
we were chatting before, I think
one of the biggest shortcomings
of conventional dermatology is
the focus on treating things from
the outside in. And most common
health conditions really develop
from the inside out. So it really is a
matter of focus.
In naturopathic medicine, we focus
on the whole person. And we take
a look at those factors, which lead
to the symptoms, which may show
themselves on the skin.
Dr. Cates: Right. And so what are
some of those factors that make
a difference with naturopathic
medicine?
Dr. Murray: Well, again if we look
at some of the more common skin
conditions, we can really illustrate
the role that diet and internal
factors play. Obviously, with
eczema, many cases are due to
food allergies. They may be related
to an excessive inflammatory
response that may reflect Western
ideal intake of certain essential fatty
acids.
And then, if we look at something
like psoriasis…I love talking about
psoriasis because it’s a classic
situation where the signs of the
disease show themselves externally
on the skin. But psoriasis actually
begins in the intestinal tract.
What we know about with psoriasis
is that the gut is intricately involved.
The lining of the intestinal tract in
psoriasis is characterized as being
hyperpermeable.
And what happens then is a person
with psoriasis starts absorbing
a lot of compounds that really
shouldn’t be in the body. These
include various gut- derived
toxins, substances known as
polyamines, which are breakdown
products of protein. We’ve got
lipopolysaccharides from bacteria
and yeast.
And psoriasis develops in areas of
microtrauma. The situation is that
we typically see psoriasis develop
on the elbows, on the scalp, on the
knees, on the sacrum. These areas
suffer microtrauma to the vascular
bed. And that
acts like a magnet for these gut-
derived toxins. And when those
gut-derived toxins interface with the
dermal cells, the skin cells, it leads
to excessive replication of the skin
cell. And in psoriasis, the skin cells
start replicating 80,000 times faster
than normal. And so they start
piling up on themselves. And that
leads to the characteristic plaque of
psoriasis.
The skin is really an interesting
organ. It’s the largest organ in the
body. And it has a very high rate of
turnover. So it is severely affected
by nutrition in either a good way
or a bad way. And that’s one of
the shortcomings of conventional
dermatology is they don’t take into
consideration dietary factors, as
well as internal factors that can
lead to alterations in skin function,
structure, and appearance.
Dr. Cates: So a dermatologist, with
something like psoriasis, they’re
going to treat it topically, right?
They’re going to put something
on the skin to suppress that
proliferation?
Dr. Murray: Yeah.
Dr. Cates: And what happens with
that? Why doesn’t it work?
Dr. Murray: Well, because psoriasis
tends to be a systemic condition.
And many people with psoriasis
develop what’s called psoriatic
arthritis. And this is a very severe
inflammatory form of arthritis that’s
characterized by extreme joint
destruction.
And so many times people with
psoriasis migrate to even stronger
drugs that are either going to
poison their immune system or act
in a manner to try and suppress
that inflammatory response, but in
the process end up really worsening
the underlying pathophysiology—
the disease process—because many
of the anti-inflammatories severely
disrupt the gastrointestinal tract
lining.
So I think we’re going to see an
evolution in medicine that is going
to look at things in a little more
rational way. There’s a lot of what’s
done in conventional medicine
that when you really look at what’s
going on, it doesn’t make much
sense. And although we can see
really good symptom relief many
times with topical applications—and
that could be important for certain
Situations—we should always be
striving to determine the underlying
cause. If we focus on identifying
that underlying cause and
addressing it, then we’re going to
really see better results. And I think
that’s a better form of medicine.
Dr. Cates: Let’s talk about some of
the myths and misunderstandings
out there about natural medicine.
You’ve been doing this awhile. What
are some of the things that people
say to you that you think, “Oh my
gosh, I need to dispel that myth.”
Dr. Murray: Yeah, probably the
biggest one is when people say
there’s no scientific bases for
naturopathic approaches. It’s
hard for me to contain my chuckle
because if you really look at most
common health conditions, we
can build a stronger scientific
case on the use of diet, lifestyle
modification, attitude adjustments,
and the proper use of dietary
supplements and herbal products
in a much more scientific way than
many of the drugs that are invoked.
So I think that’s the biggest myth
that there’s no science. And I think
that naturopathic medicine is really
rooted deep in science, as well as
empirical wisdom.
Dr. Cates: Yeah. Absolutely. So let’s
talk about some of the research on
natural medicine and skin. What
are some of the things that you
found, things like hyaluronic acid.
On your website, you talk about,
“By the time most people reach
the age of 70, the hyaluronic acid
content in the body is dropped 80
percent from when they were 40.
And after 45 or so, those levels in
the skin begin to plummet.” So why
is hyaluronic acid so important and
where does it come from? Tell us a
little about that.
Dr. Murray: Okay. Our body is held
together by a connective tissue. And
the major connective tissue protein
is collagen. Collagen comes from
the Greek
word for glue. And this collagen
matrix is rich in a number of
different molecules. And one of
those key molecules is hyaluronic
acid. It acts as the nail in holding
these pillars of collagen together.
And if you look at most people, they
really start showing signs of aging
pretty quickly from 45 to 60. And
then it just keeps going kind of a
downhill process.
And a lot of the visible signs of
aging on the surface on the skin
are related to loss of hyaluronic
acid and collagen. And you’re right.
By the time a person is 70, they
will have lost about 80 percent of
that connective tissue. And that
hyaluronic acid is critical for the
health, structure, and appearance
of skin.
It’s really important for holding the
water content.
So as many people age, when they
start losing that hyaluronic acid
content, their thickness of the skin
shrinks. It gets very thin—paper
like. And it loses the ability to hold
water. So it becomes dry and easily
irritated. So if we can maintain
that connective tissue structure
underlying the skin for as long as
possible, we can really slow down
that aging process. And there’s
a lot of things that we can do
nutritionally.
Basically, all your typical antiaging
strategies are very important in
helping the body retain collagen
and other connective tissue
structures. So when we don’t
have enough of the antioxidants
in our diet, richly colored fruits
and vegetables, especially, the
connective tissue structures in the
skin become very susceptible to
free-radical damage, not just from
UV rays, sunlight, but also from
internal sources. So if we have a
combination of sun exposure with
low intake of antioxidants, we’re
going to see shrinkage of that
connective tissue from both the
outside and the inside. And that
happens a lot.
So we have to approach preserving
that collagen from both the
outside and the inside, particularly
important internally as we want to
eat a diet rich in those colorful fruits
and vegetables. We want to utilize
the good oils, monounsaturated
fats like olive oil. Olive oil also
contains special polyphenols
that have been shown to be very
helpful in preserving the skin.
And that’s maybe one reason why
we really admire all those people
in the Mediterranean with olive-
colored complexions. There is
evidence showing that these olive
polyphenols really promote a
youthful appearance. So berries,
richly-colored fruits, in general, and
green leafy vegetables, as well as
other colorful vegetables are very
important to include in the diet on a
daily basis.
And then, I mentioned the olive oil,
getting enough of those long-chain
omega- 3 fatty acids that we get
from fish and fish oil supplements
is also very important in reducing
inflammation and protecting the
health of our skin as is getting
enough of the other types of good
oil and having a tablespoon of
flaxseed oil a day is really, really
healthful.
I like flaxseed oil as a base for your
salad dressing so cook with olive
oil, use flaxseed oil as a dressing,
supplement with long-chain
omega-3 fatty acids. That’s going to
go a long way in giving your body
those really key essential fatty acids
and other fats that make the skin
look and function better. So those
are some of the key dietary factors
that I recommend.
Dr. Cates: Great. And what about
nutrients? I know with hyaluronic
acid, it’s something you can put
on the skin. It’s in a lot of skincare
products.
Dr. Murray: Oh, yeah.
Dr. Cates: But what about it
internally?
Dr. Murray: Yeah. Well, with
connective tissue structures like
hyaluronic acid and collagen,
virtually every known nutrient
seems to be involved. So again, we
want to eat a really healthy diet.
Nuts and seeds are rich in a lot of
minerals. And they’re good skin
food, as well, taking a high potency
multiple vitamin and mineral
formula makes a lot of sense.
Especially important to skin health
is zinc. So I like to see women get
at least 20 milligrams of zinc a day,
men at least 30 milligrams. So the
zinc is very important in helping
preserve that hyaluronic acid.
Hyaluronic acid supplements have
shown to be helpful in increasing
the hyaluronic acid content of the
skin. And then, I like BioSil a lot.
BioSil is a special bioavailable form
of silica that has good data behind it
showing that it increases the activity
of fibroblasts. Fibroblasts are the
skin cells that are responsible
for manufacturing collagen and
hyaluronic acid.
So what the research shows is that
supplementation with BioSil will
increase the appearance of the skin.
It will reduce fine lines and wrinkles.
It increase the water content of the
skin. And it will decrease the depth
of a small fine wrinkle. So it just
makes you look a little bit younger.
It’s a good beauty from within
supplement.
Dr. Cates: Excellent. Excellent.
Excellent. Those are all great. And
I know that sometimes people say
to me, “What supplement should I
take for my skin?” And I say, “Well,
you can start with a good multi-
vitamin” because there are so
many different nutrients that are
important for the skin. And people
say, “Should I take zinc for my skin?
Should I take?…” And they’ll mention
one nutrient. And don’t you think
that it’s important to get a number
of these nutrients and not just one?
Dr. Murray: Yeah. Nutrients work
in our body [inaudible] system. And
we need every component in that
system in order for any of those
individual nutrients to be able to do
their job. It’s like your car. You need
to have gas. You need to have the
tires. You need to have the key. The
battery has to work.
Same thing with the use of these
nutrients, we need the whole
symphony so very important to eat
well and then get some baseline
supplements. I think everybody
should be taking a high-potency
multiple vitamin and mineral
formula, a good high-quality fish oil,
extra vitamin D—2,000 to 4,000 IUs
of vitamin D each day.
And then I like to recommend some
sort of plant-based antioxidant. I
mentioned those olive polyphenols.
Flavonoid-rich extracts are a great
help to healthy skin—grapeseed
extract, pine bark extract,
pomegranate, cherries, blueberries,
ginkgo—these are some examples
of flavonoid-rich extracts. And I like
flavonoids a lot. I think they’re really
interesting plant compounds to
study. And they’re also responsible
for many of the colors in flowers
and fruits and vegetables. So our
lives are enhanced when we’re
exposed to flavonoids, both in our
environment and in our diet.
Dr. Cates: Wow! When we take
them internally, as well as looking at
them. That’s a good point.
Dr. Murray: Yeah.
Dr. Cates: Yeah. Yeah. What about
nutrients for if someone has a lot
of acne as a common skin problem
a lot of people struggle with? Are
there particular nutrients that you
think that are…I know a lot of the
things you talked about—pretty
much everything you talked about
is important to help prevent and
maybe even treat acne. If there
anything else that you think is
helpful for acne?
Dr. Murray: I came across a really
interesting article about 2 years
ago. It was a study looking at
probiotics in patients who had acne.
And in reading the study, I came
across a reference to research that
was done in the early 1900s. And I
didn’t know that one of the initial
uses of lactobacillus as a medicine
was in the treatment of acne. And
the researchers back in the early
1900s felt that the reason why
lactobacillus was helpful was that it
improved this link between the gut,
our emotions, and our skin. And it
sounds like that’s really far-fetched.
But in this recent study, they pretty
much demonstrated that probiotics
have some benefit. And it appears
to be related to that axis. There
is a connection between our gut,
our emotions, and our skin. So
it’s hard to know what comes first
sometimes, the chicken or the egg.
In the studies, they don’t whether
the probiotics are helping because
they’re influencing the gut or they’re
helping because they’re changing
the emotional state.
But the bottom line is that
probiotics are really important
for the acne sufferer for a lot of
reasons. For this reason I’m talking
about with the gut, emotions, and
skin connection, but also due to
the fact that most people with
chronic acne have gone through
multiple bouts of antibiotics. And
the antibiotics, they kill off not only
the bad bacteria, but also the good
bacteria. So it’s really important
for their overall health to really
bolster those good bacteria in their
intestinal tract so taking a good
high-potency probiotic is really
critical for the acne sufferer.
Dr. Cates: Great. And then there
are also the fermented foods that
contain probiotics and prebiotic
foods and things like that, you
recommend those, as well?
Dr. Murray: Yes.
Dr. Cates: Yeah. Absolutely. Great.
So I think that’s an excellent point
about acne and probiotics are really
important. And now, they’re starting
to be used in skincare products, too,
so we’ll see how well that works.
Anything else with acne, in
particular?
Dr. Murray: Well, we mentioned
zinc. And zinc levels are lowest
in teenage boys, which they tend
to be the ones that are most
seriously affected by acne. Zinc
is critical in the proper utilization
of testosterone. And low levels of
zinc in the skin lead to a metabolic
air in the proper utilization of
testosterone. And that increases
the production of sebum. And that
can lead to blockage of pores and
a more hospitable environment for
some of the bacteria that are linked
to acne. So yeah, zinc becomes very
important.
And studies have shown that zinc
works very well for many people
with acne, particularly those young
teenage boys with acne.
Dr. Cates: Okay. And then, zinc
could be taken alone or should it be
with any other nutrients?
Dr. Murray: I like taking a good
high-potency multiple. And
sometimes for individual nutrients
like zinc and acne, I may go
higher for a short period of time.
I mentioned earlier, for men, I like
to see around 30 milligrams. So
for the treatment of acne, I may go
up to 45 or even 60 milligrams for
a three- month period to see how
that works and then get them back
down to a more maintenance dose.
Dr. Cates: Okay. Great. And then,
some other common things are
things like dermatitis, different
types of dermatitis, eczema. Those
are other common skin conditions.
Anything, in particular, you
recommend for those?
Dr. Murray: Well, I think food
allergies are the big thing to focus
on. With a lot of inflammatory
conditions, basically anything
that ends with an -itis, we want
to reduce the allergic threshold.
And what that means is that a
lot of times inflammation is the
result of a lot of different straws
on the camel’s back. So we want to
eliminate as many as those straws
as we can.
And for many people, a food allergy
may be one of the critical straws
that are promoting inflammation
in their body. And this is really
something that often begins in
childhood. So in eczema and
asthma, these conditions are
referred to as atopic conditions.
They’re allergic conditions. We
especially want to be trying to
eliminate as many food allergies as
possible. And so I think an allergy
elimination diet is inexpensive, but
a very useful approach for eczema
and any sort of inflammatory skin
disorder.
Dr. Cates: Right. And so can you
explain to people what that is for
people that aren’t familiar with
that?
Dr. Murray: Yeah. In an allergy
elimination diet, we try to initially
restrict the food intake to those
items which are less likely to
[inaudible] in it. So this may be a
high [inaudible] protein mix, along
with some low-allergenic fruit and
vegetables. Or the classic allergy
elimination diet focuses on lamb,
rice, and apples. And these are low-
allergenic foods.
In general, I recommend that
people simply stay away from the
most common allergens for about
a 10-day period. The most common
allergens are wheat, corn, milk,
citrus, peanut, soy, and eggs. So if
you eliminate those foods…Some
people say, “Oh, my gosh, there isn’t
anything left.” Trust me, there are
foods outside of those agents. But
just eliminate those foods for a 10-
day period and see what happens
to the symptoms. If you have a child
with eczema, pretty clear if these
foods are problematic if the eczema
goes away. So again, those common
allergens—wheat, milk, corn, eggs,
peanuts, soy, and citrus—so just
give it a try. It doesn’t cost anything.
And it could be diagnostic and
therapeutic.
Dr. Cates: I know that some people
tell me they’ve tried cutting out
foods. And then when I ask them,
more specifically, they say, “Well,
I had a little bit. I had a little bit of
bread. Does that count?” What do
you tell people about that?
Dr. Murray: Yes, it does count.
We want to stay away from those
foods entirely for that full 10-day
period. And then after the 10-day
period, you can reintroduce them
one food group at a time every 3
to 4 days and see if you can really
identify what the culprit is—the
individual food type that might be
the underlying key. There are food
allergy tests. But those are more
expensive and sometimes they
don’t do as good a job as this allergy
elimination diet.
Dr. Cates: Right. Great. Another
thing that we’ve been talking
about some on the summit is
detoxification and cleansers and the
importance of detoxification—the
liver. How do you feel about that?
Dr. Murray: I think it’s really
important, especially in a condition
like psoriasis that I mentioned
earlier. In psoriasis, typically, the
intestinal tract is inflamed. The
immune system is overloaded. And
the liver is assaulted. So if we could
give some rest to that intestinal
tract, let it heal. If we can help that
immune system not have to deal
with so many absorbed toxins and
if we can give our liver a chance
to recover and function a little bit
better, it has a dramatic impact on
how a person feels.
Dr. Cates: Yeah. So what are some
of the nutrients that are particularly
important for liver detoxification?
Dr. Murray: Well, I think water.
And I like using fiber. I’m not a big
fan of a water fast. I think a juice
fast makes a lot of sense. And
then, if you’re going to do any sort
of juice fast, I like to recommend
some basic nutritional support,
taking some sort of soluble fibers—
psyllium husk, pectin. PGX is a fiber
that we’ve developed. Something
that’s going to help bind toxins is
very important.
You want to make sure you’re
supporting the liver by taking a
high-potency multiple. And I like
special liver formulas known as
lipotropic agents. And these are
typically those that contain things
like choline and methionine and
other B vitamins. You can also just
take some liver supportive herbs.
Milk thistle extract being one of the
most popular.
And lastly, I would say it’s more
important to use fasting as a kick-
start to detoxification than a way
to overcome dietary sins, meaning
that we want to take advantage
of the work that’s been done in a
cleanse and then use that to move
towards a diet that’s really going to
promote detoxification health on
an ongoing basis so eating, again,
a high-fiber diet really rich in fruits
and vegetables.
In general, the recommendation
is 5 servings of vegetables a day, 2
servings of fruit. A serving is defined
as one-half cup cooked or one cup
uncooked vegetable or fruit. Those
are good goals to try to achieve on
a daily basis. And it doesn’t sound
like it’s that hard, but only about
11 percent of people are able to
achieve that goal if we don’t count
French fries or potato chips as
vegetables.
Dr. Cates: Right. We’ve been
talking a lot about nutrients and
especially micronutrients and multi-
vitamins. There are a lot of different
supplements out there. And how
[inaudible] give people some tips on
how to find the right nutrients. The
ones that are going to actually work
that are going to be absorbed. That
are actually going to work.
Dr. Murray: Yeah. I think the most
important thing that I can tell
people is that minerals are just as
important as vitamins. Vitamins and
minerals, they work in our body as
co-enzymes. An enzyme has two
arms. One arm holds a vitamin. The
other arm holds a mineral.
So just as I gave the analogy we
need all our parts in the car to
work properly, we have to have the
right balance. And a lot of multiple
vitamin and mineral formulas out
there on the market are woefully
deficient in the mineral component.
And I don’t think that that’s going to
provide the benefits that people are
really looking for.
And that’s especially true in regards
to skin health because, as I said
earlier, the skin is rapidly turning
over and it needs a constant
supply of nutrients. And especially
important to the health of the
skin are those trace minerals so
not just zinc, but also manganese,
chromium, magnesium, copper,
selenium. These are all really critical
in the manufacturer of components
of our skin.
And so deficiency of any one of
those nutrients could lead to
impaired skin cell formation and
function. So I think a good multiple
makes a lot of sense. And, as well
as what we’ve been talking about
eating a lot of fruits and vegetables,
getting some nuts and seeds in
your diet. These are great sources
of those trace minerals.
Dr. Cates: All right. And then, the
forms of the different minerals
and vitamins, there are different
forms that these come in. Is there
anything, in particular, you could
recommend for people and what
they should be looking for in the
different forms of nutrients? For
example, zinc, there are different
forms of zinc. So what’s going to
be the better form of zinc that for
people?...
Dr. Murray: Yeah. I think the better
forms of zinc are zinc picolinate,
zinc monomethione, and zinc
citrate. The less absorbed forms
are zinc sulfate, zinc chloride, some
of the other zinc salts. But when
we look at some of these trace
minerals, especially, it’s important
to have an understanding of what
are some of the better forms
because you will get better results.
And that’s particularly true when
we were talking about using zinc as
a medicine for people with acne,
you want to use one of those better
forms of zinc versus an inexpensive
ineffective form.
Dr. Cates: Okay. And you also
talked about B vitamins and how
important those are. What about
the important forms of B vitamins
that people should for and if they’re
looking at a multi-vitamin, what
should they be looking for?
Dr. Murray: Well, I think the
key thing to be looking for with
vitamins, in general, is to make
sure that they’re providing at least
100 percent of the RDA for all of
the vitamins and, hopefully, the
minerals, as well.
As far as the individual B vitamins
go, there are some advantages to
some specific forms. For example,
that methylcobalamin is an active
form of vitamin B-12. And it’s been
shown to have some benefits over
the other forms of B-12, especially
in regards to brain function.
But there’s still a lot of factors that
we don’t know enough about as far
as nutrition and skin health. And we
may find out that some of these B
vitamins and other nutrients might
be better in one form over another,
specifically, for skin health. But
right now, it’s an unknown. We’re
just moving forward and making
recommendations based upon
what makes sense.
Dr. Cates: Right. And a lot of the
research is on different forms, too,
so sometimes that can be hard to
pin that down. So with the methyl
form of B- 12, there’s some talk
methylation and the importance
of getting methyl donors in these
nutrients. Could you talk a little
about methylation and why that’s
important?
Dr. Murray: Yeah. Disorders
in methylation can lead to
the formation of some toxic
compounds that can disrupt the
collagen structure and cause
damage to the underlying layers
of the skin. And these underlying
layers act as the foundation upon
which the skin cells grow from. So
it’s very important that we have
sufficient levels of these methyl
donors, the key ones being folic
acid, B-6 and vitamin B-12 so
sometimes more active forms of
those nutrients will help keep those
damaging compounds down a little
bit better than some of the typical
forms. But the bottom line is that
we need those nutrients. And those
nutrients play an important role
in protecting our skin from the
formation of these compounds that
can damage those underlying skin
structures.
Dr. Cates: Right. Yeah. Are there
any other nutrients that are
important for that?
Dr. Murray: Well, again,
antioxidants, in general…And
we hear that term antioxidant
a lot. And even physicians don’t
understand it, I found. There are
many types of antioxidants. And
each one acting against a specific
type of pro- oxidant or free radical.
For example, beta carotene has a
very narrow range of antioxidant
effects. Vitamin C only works on
water-soluble free radicals, vitamin
E only fat- soluble. So we need
to have the full symphony, the
full orchestra, every member in
the band in terms of antioxidant
support. So that’s why it’s so
important to focus on our diet and
then take a high-potency multiple
vitamin and mineral formula.
And then, the reason I like those
flavonoid-rich extracts is because
flavonoids, in general, have a very
broad range of antioxidant activity.
And if we look at antioxidants from
the flavonoids and skin health,
green tea extracts, fantastic. Olive
oil, polyphenols and olive extracts
fantastic for the skin, grapeseed
extract fantastic. So there’s a lot
of reasons to get more of these
flavonoids from our diet. And I do
think it’s a good idea to take some
sort of flavonoid- rich extract.
Dr. Cates: Excellent. So I know that
some people think that because
they have a family history of
eczema, atopic problems like you
mentioned, dermatitis, that they
think that their stuck with their
genes. “My dad had it or my mom
had it, my sisters. We all have this.
So I’m stuck with it.” So what do
you think about those kinds of
things. And we talk in naturopathic
medicine about genetic expression
and those sorts of things. So can
you talk a little about that?
Dr. Murray: Yeah. These allergic
conditions do have a very strong
genetic factor. But like most
genetic factors, we can influence
the expression of those genes.
So if we look at food allergies as
an underlying factor in asthma
and eczema, we can come to the
conclusion that well, yeah, if you
have a family history of having a
reaction to a food and it’s going to
cause eczema or asthma, that you
can eliminate those conditions if
you avoid the food.
I think the common sense approach
is, “Well, I should probably stay away
from those foods.” Now, sometimes
with food allergies, we could reduce
the allergenicity by improving the
digestion because when we’re
allergic to a food, we typically are
allergic to large proteins. And if we
help the body digest those proteins,
sometimes people can become
tolerant to them.
But I think if you’re coming from a
family that has a history of wheat
allergy or gluten sensitivity or
allergies to milk or any other food—
peanuts—good idea just to simply
stay away from those foods. And
gosh, nature’s provided us with an
incredible bounty of choices, a true
cornucopia. And there’s so many
foods to choose from. It’s just that
in America, especially, we get stuck
eating the same foods, many times
not very healthful choices, over and
over and over again. And I think
that our body is really designed to
eat a very varied diet.
We’re designed to really take
advantage of a wide range of
nutrients.
There’s this whole concept in
research right now looking at
food synergy. And what I mean
by that is that synergy is defined
as something that produces
an addictive affect. So 1 plus 1
doesn’t equal 2. It can equal 5 or
10 because there’s some sort of an
additive benefit. And when they’re
looking at these various foods and
various food components, that’s
exactly what they find.
So if you look at some of the
individual components of the
Mediterranean diet…I’m using
that diet is probably the best diet
for healthy skin. But if you tried
to identify just one or two things,
yeah, they may show benefit.
I’ve mentioned olive oil and olive
polyphenols. But if you look at
the totality of that traditional
Mediterranean diet, it’s full of
all sorts of great nutrients and
food components that are really
important in promoting, not only
the health of our skin, but also
our vascular system, prevention
of Alzheimer’s disease, prevention
of major forms of cancer. So what
they’re coming up with is that
it’s not just any single one. Yeah,
any single one may have some
benefit. But when you add them
all together, the benefits are far
greater than the sum of the parts.
Dr. Cates: Yeah. Absolutely. I think
one thing about the Mediterranean
diet that people have a hard time
with understanding is that we talk
about wheat being a problem.
But people in the Mediterranean,
they do eat wheat. So what do you
think about that component of the
Mediterranean diet?
Dr. Murray: Yeah. I have my own
diet pyramid. I call it the optimal
health food pyramid. And I don’t
focus a lot on grains. And if you’re
going to eat grains in bread and
pasta, that sort of thing, you do
want to make sure that they’re
whole grains. And you want to keep
portion size reasonable.
I think that—not to open up a whole
can of worms here—but I do think
that the incidence of true gluten
sensitivity is overblown. And I don’t
think wheat is all that bad if you
make sure that it’s a whole grain
and preferably organic. I think a lot
of the problems that we’re having
with a lot of our food, especially
grains, is the pesticides that are
used in the growing of those grains.
And boy, so that may be a bigger
factor in why some people feel
so much better when they avoid
wheat, than the gluten. It’s just that
they’re lightening their exposure to
Roundup and other pesticides and
herbicides.
Dr. Cates: Yeah. Absolutely. And
we have some other people talking
specifically about gluten. And so
there’ll be more about that.
One last question for you and that’s
what do you do personally for your
skin?
[Both laugh]
Dr. Murray: I’m a minimalist. I
moved down to Arizona about
7 years ago. And so I’ve been
suffering a little more sun damage
than I did when I lived in Seattle.
So since I’ve moved down here,
I have been more diligent about
using sunscreen if I’m going to be
outdoors for any length of time.
And I’ve got a whole medicine chest
of cleansers and different things
that the dermatologist gave me.
But I’m about a 3-time a month guy.
You’ve seen those things. So I tell
you, I don’t do a lot of skin care.
Dr. Cates: Well, that is certainly
a good testimony of the fact that
you do what you’re talking about
though, the healthy skin from the
inside out.
Dr. Murray: Exactly. I do a lot
from the inside out. And when I
lived in Seattle that was enough.
Of course, when I lived in Seattle
to get hydrated, I just had to go
outside and take a deep breath.
Here in the desert, just the opposite
happens. So I think some of the
basic principles of good eating
really go a long way in keeping your
skin youthful. It’s important to stay
hydrated. I think your skin is a good
barrier. But if you’re not hydrated,
then it’s going to become a tanned
hide so drink a lot of water.

Dr. Cates: Yeah. Great. Okay.

Well, thank you so much, Dr.
Murray, for your interview today.
I really appreciate your wealth of
information!

Dr. Murray: Well, great, I hope it

was helpful for people! If they want
more information, they can always
go to my website DrMurray.com.
And thanks for having me! It was a
lot of fun!

Dr. Cates: Great. And thanks

everyone for joining us today
on The Glowing Skin Summit.
Dr. Murray has shared some
great information, a lot of useful
tips on nutrients and dietary
recommendations. We’ve covered a
lot of information today.

This is a great video to have on

hand. So if you want to own this talk
or you missed some of our other
amazing presentations, just click the
banner by or below this video for
information on how to access the
entire Glowing Skin Summit. And
we’ll see you next time!

Ryan Sternagel: Welcome back
to The Anti-Cancer Revolution
everyone. I am Ryan Sternagel of
The Stern Method and The Integrative
Answers to Cancer podcast.
And in this session with have with
us Dr. Heather Paulson. Who is
a Board Certified Naturopathic
Oncologist, teacher, best-selling
author, and speaker. After
experiencing cancer with loved
ones, Dr. Paulson left her Marine
Biology Career for medical school.
Dr. Paulson works with people
undergoing cancer treatment of
radiation, surgery, chemotherapy,
and helps them integrate natural
remedies to reduce the side effects
and the risk of recurrence.
She always works with cancer
survivors allowing them to discover
their zest for life to feel like
themselves again.
Dr. Paulson is the author of the
best-selling book Cancer Proof; Seven
Natural Ways to Live Cancer Free.
Dr. Heather Paulson, how are you?
And thank you for coming on The
Anti- Cancer Revolution.
Dr. Heather Paulson: I’m awesome.
How are you doing today?
Ryan Sternagel: Doing quite well.
Doing quite well. It’s good to see
you again. We’ve bumped into each
Chemotherapy and
Natural Medicine
Ryan Sternagel with Heather Paulson, ND, FABNO
Click here to watch this interview!
The purpose of this presentation is to convey information.
It is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure your condition or to be a substitute
for advice from your physician or other healthcare professional.
other at a few different health and
cancer events, I guess you could
say. And it’s always good to see
you. And I’m really excited for this
interview in particular. Yeah. You do
a lot of work working with patients
going through conventional
treatments like we said in your bio.
And showing them the best way to
do it. Because this is an integrative
summit. We got kind of all sides of
the spectrum from alternative to
fully integrative, that sort of thing.
With that being said, really excited
to get to dive in with you on the
best way to participate in the
conventional medical system I guess
you could say. All that said, before
we dive into it, I always like to ask
people, we just read your bio, but
any gaps you want to fill-in? In terms
of your particular interest in cancer.
Why it is you do what you do?
Dr. Heather Paulson: Absolutely.
That bio is a lot of the things that
I’ve done. But not a lot of why I’ve
done these things. And just like you,
who are listening. I experienced
cancer with loved ones, and
experienced some of the gaps in
cancer care. And really wanted to
make a difference in oncology after
my dad died of colon cancer.
I was just like this cannot be the
only way for people to experience
their cancer journey. We had so
many questions about diet, and
supplements. It was really hard to
find the right information online,
even though we were Googling.
And trying to understand what is
safe and unsafe. It was really hard
to discern.
And my dad’s regular oncologist
didn’t know what to say or do
about our questions on diet and
supplements. And really, their
license is restricted in how much
they can talk about some of that
stuff.
So, that was a complication I
bumped up against in my dad’s
cancer journey. And I just wanted
to make sure that other people
didn’t have that same resistant or
experience.
So, that’s why I became a
naturopathic doctor and specialized
in naturopathic oncology. And
one of my favorite parts about
naturopathic oncology, especially
on a summit like this, is that it
shows that you don’t have choose
one or the other. Because I think
a lot times people who come into
my office or talk to me on the
phone, prior to speaking with me
they felt like they had do like either
conventional medicine or natural
therapies. But there wasn’t a way to
bring the two sides together. And
so, I am really excited to talk about
this topic today and help you guys
figure out how to weave natural
therapies in with conventional
treatments.
Ryan Sternagel: Yeah. I am glad
you brought that up that doctors,
conventional medical doctors are
restricted in a lot of cases. Even if
they wanted to talk about this stuff,
really be able to, to a very great
extent – I just interviewed a doctor
from Germany. Dr. [00:04:15] on
this event.
I asked him about the difference
between cancer care in Germany
and cancer care in America. Kind of
the biggest thing that he pointed
out was that their version of a
medical doctor over there is not
restricted to just conventional
therapy.
So, there certainly are conventional
doctors that don’t know a whole lot
about the natural stuff. But there’s
also a whole lot more integrative
regular doctors that are able to find
out about this stuff and talk about it
and not really fear for their license.
That sort of thing.
Dr. Heather Paulson: Absolutely.
Ryan Sternagel: Yeah. That being
said, let’s get into it. We’re going
to talk about kind of the best way
like you said, to participate in the
conventional medical system. I
want to spend the most time on
chemotherapy, because that’s
probably one of the worst side
effects. And probably one of the
most common things that people
experience, but also get into if we
have time, amino therapy, surgery,
and radiation. So that would
be good.
So, for chemotherapy do you want
just, I have a bunch of slides from
a presentation that you gave, we
are going kind of go through the
different classifications and groups
of chemotherapy and what to
do with each. But just from a big
picture perspective, any notes on
working with natural medicines
in combination with conventional
medicines before we dive into
the weeds?
Dr. Heather Paulson: Yeah.
Absolutely. So, the most important
thing about integrating natural
therapies into drug therapies,
like chemotherapy or any
medication, really. If you’re not
on chemotherapy, but you’re
on a hormone suppressive oral
medication like Arimidex, or you’re
taking blood pressure medication.
This information applies to all
drug nutrient interactions, drug
supplement, drug herb interactions.
So, there’s a couple of things
that we look at to make sure that
what we’re recommending is safe,
number one. Not going to interfere
with the treatment, number two.
And going to enhance treatment,
number three.
So, those are the main things that
we look at. Is it safe? Is it going to
enhance or is it going to hinder the
drug that’s being used? And there’s
a couple of things that we have
to look at in order to understand
this interaction between the
drugs, nutrients, and herbs, and
supplements. So, we look at how
the drug is metabolized. Is it
metabolized through the liver?
Or the kidneys? And then, if it’s
metabolized through the liver
through what Cytochrome PH50
system is it metabolized through?
And then, we compare that to the
supplements or herbs that we’re
recommending. And saying, okay,
milk thistle is metabolized by CYP
3A4, so is this medication. They’re
going to block each other if they
are taken at the same time. So, we
are not going to recommend these
two medications together. Or this
medication and this supplement
together.
So, that’s one aspect of looking at
how drugs are metabolized.
The other thing is how are the
drugs used within a tumor cell?
So, one of the complications is
understanding if a drug does
something within a tumor cell like
block glutathione. And sometimes
people really want to detox while
they are going through these toxic
medications and we are trying to
say, no, no, please don’t add more
glutathione right now. Because this
drug actually works by blocking
that within the cell and that’s what’s
causing cell death. So, we’re not
going add that particular nutrient.
So, that’s just one example of
looking at how it’s working within
a cell and within a cancer cell,
and making sure that we’re not
accidently preventing it from doing
it’s job of killing off tumor cells.
And then, we look at the side effect
profile. To see what systems are
typically impacted by this drug or
medication. Is it the kidneys? Is
it the heart? We are going to go
through some of this information
when we talk about the different
drug agents. It could be the nerves.
And do we know certain nutrients
that can help support or reverse
those particular side effects.
So, we’ll talk about when we go
through certain drug classes in the
chemotherapies, we’ll talk about
some of the minerals that get
depleted by particular treatments
and how to replete those. And build
those back up to reduce side effects.
And then, we look at just the
underlying mechanism of action of
that drug and see if there are herbs
and supplements that can enhance
that action. So, if we know that a
particular drug works by inhibiting
DNA replication. Like let’s say, 5-FU
inhibits DNA replication. And we
want to make sure that we are also
inhibiting DNA replication with
natural therapies. So, we’ll focus on
things that do that, and then we’ll
avoid things like folate, which helps
repair DNA. So, we’re looking at all
of these different aspects of how
the drug is used, how it works in
the body, how it works in the cancer
cell, and how natural therapies can
enhance their use.
Ryan Sternagel: Beautiful. Well, I
am excited to get as much of that
information out of your brain into
hands as we can. Let’s dive into it.
So, the first kind of classification,
I guess you could say, of different
chemotherapy drugs is alkylating
agents. Do you want to let everyone
know what those are and how you
go about working with them?
Dr. Heather Paulson: Yeah. So,
alkylating agents they are part of
a group of drugs that break down
DNA strains. And inhibit DNA
replication. So, that means that
one of the things that cancer cells
are really good at are dividing and
growing, and that’s what makes
them abnormal. Is that they have a
hard time stopping growing. And so,
we use alkylating agents as a way
to inhibit that DNA replication and
inhibit cancer cell replication.
And there’s a couple that you
would probably would recognize,
or most people would recognize.
Like Cyclophosphamide is one of
the most popular alkylating agents
used in lymphomas, breast cancer,
lung cancer. It’s really used across
many tumor types. Ifosamide is
used sometimes in younger adult
or childhood cancers. Those are
of this big list of alkylating agents.
Those are the two that I think are
most commonly seen and used.
Cyclophosphamide being the most
commonly used one.
Ryan Sternagel: Yeah. I believe
my son got cyclophosphamide for
blastoma.
Dr. Heather Paulson: That
would make sense. So, the
alkylating agents can have tumor
resistance. So, this is one of the
agents that I was mentioning that
gets tumor resistance when you
use glutathione. Or you overly
build-up glutathione within the
cells. So, we don’t want to use
glutathione promoting agents when
somebody is on like Cytoxan or
cyclophosphamide. An alkylating
agent.
So, that’s one of the concerns to
watch out for. And things that
build-up glutathione are things
like N-acetylcysteine or NAC. Can
build-up glutathione. And then
taking glutathione itself would be
something that could inhibit the
alkylating agents.
Even on off-chemo weeks I
don’t really recommend taking
glutathione or any glutathione
products with this particular drug.
Ryan Sternagel: Oh, and that’s
before we get too deep down the
rabbit hole.
There’s a question I wanted to ask.
When we say avoid with chemo
or even take with chemo, like if
someone, you started to answer
there – but if someone is on like a
every two week infusion schedule
or something like. Are you only
avoiding it that day of the infusion,
and then doing it the other 13 days?
Or kind what’s the general rule of
thumb there?
Dr. Heather Paulson: That’s
such a great question. It depends
on a couple of different things.
The answer for that question
depends on is what is the drug
metabolization half-life? So, how
long does this drug stay in your
body? Some of these agents stay
in the body and are active for 12
hours and some are active and stay
in the body for several days. So, we
don’t want to inhibit anything that is
still having an activity in tumor cells
or within the body.
So, that’s why a lot of times if
you’re working with a naturopathic
oncologist or somebody who’s
recommending supplements during
chemo, they might say, oh take this
on your off-chemo weeks or stop
this 72 hours prior to chemotherapy
so that it’s completely out of
your system before the drug is
introduced into your system.
So, it depends. But something like
glutathione in an alkylating agent, I
would say just avoid it throughout
the therapy. Because we don’t want
to build-up things that might inhibit
the tumor degradation.
I’m trying to walk between super
nerdy words for you guys and
translating it into language if you’re
not a physician, or you’re a parent
watching this. I know that you guys
have dug deep into the research for
your loved ones, but sorry if I use
too big of words.
Ryan Sternagel: You’re doing a
good job of straddling the line.
Dr. Heather Paulson: Okay.
Thanks. I generally try to stay away
from things that would inhibit
drugs, I just try to stay away from
them altogether during chemo. Or
during that particular drug use.
Because it’s get complicated, right?
I have been in the past been part
of practices and had a practiced in
a way where we would give these
complicated charts of what to do on
off-chemo weeks. And what to do
on-chemo weeks. And what to stop
72 hours, and 48 hours.
And I supported my husband while
he was going through his cancer
treatment, and there’s a lot going
on. I am privy to all of the things
that you’re juggling as a caregiver,
a cancer survivor, going through
these treatments.
Like to have a chart on your fridge
of what to start and stop 48 hours,
72 hours, two weeks, is just too
much. There’s a lot of other stress
in like showing up to all of the
appointments, and juggling the
food, and the diet.
So, personally if it needs to be on an
off-chemo week, I’ll only go into that
strategy if someone really, really,
really needs that particular nutrient
or they are having a side effect
that’s not being addressed by my
normal heavy hitters.
Ryan Sternagel: Fair enough. Glad
we got into it. I threw you off-track
there, was there anything else on
alkylating agents? I kind of forget
where you were.
Dr. Heather Paulson: Nope, that’s
pretty much it. I mean the main side
effects with alkylating agents is that
they can impact the kidneys. So,
you want to make sure that you’re
supporting the kidneys. Using
things like acetylcarnitine, can be
really helpful. And there are some
things that have potentially been
studied for the efficacy of alkylating
agents. Things like Vitamin A, but
that’s kind of a dangerous one to
start on your own. So, I wouldn’t
recommend starting that without
with some advice from a clinician.
And there are some things that
we’ll over cover of time and all of
these that help reduce the toxicity
to the bone marrow. So, toxicity to
the bone marrow is represented by
low white blood cell counts, low red
blood cell counts, low platelets. And
there are some things that can be
helpful for that. Things astragalus,
and ginseng, ashwagandha, those
things can be helpful.
And rewinding to the glutathione
issue, one of the natural products
that can increase glutathione
is curcumin. And it’s one of the
reasons why curcumin so fantastic,
it has so many beneficial actions
in our body. But we don’t combine
curcumin with alkylating agents.
Ryan Sternagel: Very good. And
the next thing on the list I see also
caution incorporating curcumin
would be a Cytoxan.
Dr. Heather Paulson: Yeah. So,
Cytoxan is the main alkylating agent
that we come across, Cytoxan or
cyclophosphamide.
Ryan Sternagel: Oh, okay. I was
going to say, that’s not group that’s
an actual drug.
Dr. Heather Paulson: Yeah. It
gets confusing, right? I am excited
to share this information with
you guys, and if you are at home
frantically taking notes on this, just
know this the level of information
I give to physicians when I’m
lecturing at physician conferences.
So, if you’re keeping up with this I
applaud with you, you’re doing a
really awesome job.
Ryan Sternagel: Like I’ve been
telling everyone, that’s the level of
detail we’re looking for here on the
event. Glad to have it.
Platinum compounds, that would
be the next actual classification of
drugs.
Dr. Heather Paulson: Yeah, so
platinum compounds are using
the heavy metal platinum to
disrupt DNA replication. And it’s an
interesting way to heavy metals.
We know that heavy metals when
we’re exposed to them, from our
environment they cause damage
to our nerves, and to our cells, and
to our DNA. And we’re intentionally
introducing a heavy metal to cause
this DNA replication interruption. So,
that is the main thing we look at with
platinum compounds. But it’s also
why platinum compounds can have
lingering long- term side effects.
Because as a heavy metal it can
deposit in our tissues, in our bones,
in our muscles cells, and our fat
cells. And can hang around for quite
a long time compared to other
chemotherapeutics.
Ryan Sternagel: Very good. And
improving the effectiveness,
mitigating, protecting from toxicity.
That sort of thing.
Dr. Heather Paulson: Yeah.
Absolutely. So, in terms of long-
term. So, if you’re listening to this
and you were on a platinum drug
before, like oxaliplatin, cisplatin,
carboplatin, I would encourage you
to have a heavy metal test done.
A urine toxic metal test done. To
see what your platinum content in
your system is currently. And see if
that is something that needs to be
chelated out of your system.
This can be what is laying down in
the nerves, and disrupting nerve
function, and causing neuropathy.
So, it’s really important to take a
look at that.
But during treatment we’re mostly
looking at, again, protecting
the kidneys, because the heavy
metals, the large sized of the metal
molecules can put holes in the
kidneys.
I’m going to use an analogy that I
had to use when I was in medical
school to understand all of these
different functions of the organs.
But I think of the kidneys, they have
a certain part of them that I think
of them as the coffee filter. And the
coffee filter, when it’s intact it does
really good at keeping the coffee
grounds up in the basket and not
getting little grounds the coffee
water. But if you have holes in that
filter, then you start getting coffee
grounds into your coffee pot. And
nobody likes coffee grounds in their
coffee, right?
So, that is gross. And we want to
prevent that as much as possible.
So, there are some things that we
can to do help make sure that the
filters in the kidneys don’t get holes
in them when the big sized particles
of platinum are going through the
kidneys and potentially – not this
dramatically, but just for the sake
of this analogy, ripping holes in the
filters. It’s not that dramatic. But
that’s how I have to think about
biochemistry and physiology in this
kind of way. I have to paint pictures
in my head.
So, hopefully that helps you guys
understand why it’s really important
to protect the kidneys when you’re
on a platinum compound.
And we use things like alpha-
lipoic acid to protect the kidneys.
Acetylcarnitine to the protect the
kidneys. And those things also
protect the nerves from nerve
damage.
So, those would be some things
that I would start out with if you
are on a platinum containing drug.
And it’s really important to look at
how to increase effectiveness as
well. And in this case curcumin is a
good thing, right? On another drug
curcumin is not such a good thing.
So, that’s where things get
complicated particularly if you’re
on a drug combination. If you’re on
Adriamycin and Cytoxan. Curcumin
might be good for one, and not for
the other. So, you just have to try to
juggle all of these drugs together at
the same time and how to interplay
with them.
But there’s some other things
that have been shown to improve
efficacy in combination with
Cisplatin. IV Vitamin C had an
improved efficacy rate for women
with ovarian cancer. They had
better longer term survival. Better
CA125 levels. So, I do like to use IV
Vitamin C in combination with the
platinum therapies.
And l-theanine which is an extract
from green tea. An amino acid
that’s commonly found in green tea.
That’s something that’s been shown
to increase efficacy as well.
Ryan Sternagel: Very good. Yeah.
And I forget if you, I just realized,
I don’t know if we mentioned the
specific names, they all sound like
platinum. Cisplatin, carboplatin,
oxaliplatin, yeah.
Dr. Heather Paulson: Yeah. You
can pick those out of the crowd
pretty easily.
Ryan Sternagel: And then, I forget,
did you talk about reducing toxicity
during treatment?
Dr. Heather Paulson: Yeah. So,
ways to reduce toxicity, again, is to
protect those organ systems that
get impacted. So, protecting the
kidney is of paramount importance
in this particular drug class. And
I mentioned alpha- lipoic acid
for this. And l-carnitine might be
helpful for this.
Some other things to help reduce
drug toxicity that will probably will
come up in several different drug
types is melatonin. Melatonin in the
research studies has been shown
to improve white blood cell count,
and to reduce the overall side effect
profiles of chemotherapeutics. Of
multiple drug classes.
So, melatonin might be something
worth looking at if you’re having
some bone marrow suppression.
Those would be the main things I
would focus on.
Ryan Sternagel: Good, good.
Anti-tumor antibiotics. I recognize
doxorubicin most prominently in
there.
Dr. Heather Paulson: Yeah. So,
doxorubicin is the most commonly
used anti- tumor antibiotic.
Epirubicin is some adult tumors.
Doxil is used in advanced stage
disease, especially if doxorubicin
has been shown to be effective in
the past for that particular patient.
They might move onto Doxil. And
then Bleomycin is commonly used
young adult and childhood cancers
as well.
So, that are some of the anti-tumor
antibiotics. And they also bind with
the DNA and inhibit DNA replication
and RNA replication. They’re really
good for slow growing tumors.
That’s one of the reasons why these
anti-tumor antibiotics are used.
Ryan Sternagel: A slight rabbit
trail, but I just had Doug Kauffman
on, talking about the fungal link
between cancer and that sort of
thing. I don’t know. I don’t know. Do
you think that’s a possible reason
why something like an anti-tumor
antibiotic would be effective in
some cancers?
Dr. Heather Paulson: That a
question worth hypothesizing in a
research study. I would be curious
about that. Because anything
regarding influencing the immune
system, influencing potentially other
co-infections that are happening. Or
infections that led to DNA damage
that then caused a tumor.
Those are really worthwhile
investigations, I think.
Right now, we don’t really know too
much about that. And the research
is pretty limited, and we would just
be guessing. If I said, “Oh, yeah, that
would probably be part of that.”
And as you stated in my bio I
started off as a marine biologist. I
started off writing and publishing
research, and that’s where my brain
still lies. So, I’m like, “Oh, that’s a
good question. Let’s ask it and see
what the results are.”
So, I don’t know.
Ryan Sternagel: Don’t want to
throw you too off course.
Dr. Heather Paulson: Yeah. It’s an
awesome question.
Ryan Sternagel: But anyhow,
maybe you want to talk about
some of the toxicity inside and side
effects people experience with the
anti-tumor antibiotics?
Dr. Heather Paulson: Absolutely.
So, the main side effect that should
be focused on is cardio myopathy
or the enlarging of the heart that
can happen with these anti-tumor
antibiotics. Like Adriamycin and
Doxil. And this is why if you’re sent
for an ultrasound of your heart, then
you are being put on a drug that has
a risk factor for increasing your heart
or changing heart function.
So, when you’re sent for that make
sure you are doing things that can
help and protect your heart during
treatment. That could be as simple
as exercising. That’s been shown
to prevent heart muscle damage
during chemotherapy.
And it could be also adding things
like CoQ10. And again acetyl
carnitine. That’s one of my favorite
amino acids to use during chemo.
Because in addition to reducing
the side effects, and protecting the
heart, and the kidneys, it also helps
us make energy in ATP. And in our
cells and our mitochondria.
So, if fatigue is something that
somebody is plagued with during
and after chemotherapy it can really
help reverse that. So, I’m probably
going to mention l-carnitine a lot.
And that’s why, because it works on
multiple systems.
But you want to protect that
heart ad make sure you are doing
everything you can to protect the
heart muscle.
Ryan Sternagel: Good deal. How
about increasing efficacy?
Dr. Heather Paulson: To make it
work better or increase efficacy,
things that have been looked at are
l-theanine, again that extract from
green tea. It can come in a capsule
form as well if you don’t like the
taste of green tea. And then things
like corsitin[00:28:27].
The complication with
corsitin[00:28:30] is that it’s
been shown to block other
chemotherapies. And usually
Doxorubicin and these anti-
tumor antibiotics are not used
by themselves. So, it becomes a
question of corsitin’s[00:28:44] good
for this, but is it good for this other
thing?
So, just checking across multiple
drugs. You want to make sure
you’re doing that. Or you’re
working with somebody who can
do that for you. Because as you
can see this gets complicated. And
I’m trying to keep it simple. But
it’s like putting together a puzzle,
or maybe like dominos, there’s all
these little things you’ve got to set
up correctly in order to have the
effect that you want.
Ryan Sternagel: Yeah. Again, glad
to have you with us today. A lot of
folks will be interested in reaching
out to you. Have you do the
thinking for them.
Dr. Heather Paulson: Yeah. That’s
why I went to school. Because I
tried to do this on my dad before
I went to school and before I did
residency, and it was not that easy.
Ryan Sternagel: Oh yeah. No, I
was digging into pub-med with my
son, just trying to cross reference
everything with the particular drugs
I was finding. In addition to working
with a naturopathic oncologists. I
was also trying to throw the kitchen
sink at it.
Dr. Heather Paulson: Exactly. You
were motivated. And we all are,
we’re motivated to do whatever we
can to help these therapies work
the best that they can. If we’re going
to go through chemo, let’s make it
as effective as possible for as long
as possible.
Ryan Sternagel: Anti-metabolites.
Dr. Heather Paulson: Yeah.
So, anti-metabolites, the most
common anti- metabolites are 5-FU.
That’s used across all age groups.
Gemcitabine is pretty common
anti-metabolite. And Xeloda or
Capecitabine is also a common
anti- metabolite. And these anti-
metabolites are used again to
inhibit DNA production. But this
mostly by inhibiting a enzyme helps
lengthen DNA chains.
So, it’s different than the other
agents we’ve talked about so far,
actually interrupt the DNA zipping
and unzipping. This one inhibits the
lengthening of the DNA strains.
Ryan Sternagel: Good deal. I also
wanted to throw in Methotrexate. I
hear that a lot too.
Dr. Heather Paulson: Oh, yeah,
Methotrexate, absolutely.
Ryan Sternagel: So, what are the
notable side effects on these guys?
Dr. Heather Paulson: The main
side effects are mucositis. So,
that’s the mouth sores or drying
of the mouth. And Palmer-Plantar
Erythodysthesia or PPE. Also known
as hand-foot syndrome. When you
get that peeling, that redness on
your hands and your feet. That can
be painful.
And then sometimes that
represents itself as a less traumatic
kind of cracking in the fingertips
or cracking across the folds of the
fingers. So, that would still fall into
that PPE hand-foot classification.
In my practice because the same
nutrients that work for the full
redness work for that.
And then the other thing it can be
the myelosuppression. The low
white blood cell count, red blood cell
count. So, keeping an eye on that.
Another thing I’ve see that is not
commonly talked about are cracks
in the sides of the lips. And that
usually goes with that PPE, the
hand-foot syndrome as well. And
has to do with a B6 deficiency.
So, if you’re on these kinds of
medications, and having this hand-
foot syndrome, or cracks on the
sides of your mouth, you can talk
to your healthcare team about
adding some Vitamin B6. The
studies look at anywhere between
100 and 200 milligrams a day of B6
for preventing and reversing these
particular side effects.
Ryan Sternagel: Good to know
it. How about in general reducing
toxicity and anything on increasing
effectiveness?
Dr. Heather Paulson: Yeah. So,
some things that can reduce
toxicity and increase effectiveness
is l-glutamine. Now, l-glutamine
is a hot button amino acid in the
cancer world. So, I know that
there’s some concerns if you guys
have been doing your research.
You’ve probably come across
some information that l-glutamine
can increase tumor growth. But
l-glutamine is a conditional essential
amino acid. We need l-glutamine in
our bodies in order to have proper
tissue growth.
And when we’re deficient in it we
start having some issues with our
mucosal cells. So, our mucosal cells
that cover all the way from our
cheek, down our throat, through
the stomach lining, all the way to
the anus, those are all mucosal
cells. And that’s why some of these
drugs can cause the mouth sores,
the diarrhea. I think of our mucosal
cells as brick wall. Another one of
my hardcore analogies here. But I
think mucosal cells as a brick wall
and l-glutamine as the mortar in
that brick wall. Because l-glutamine
helps with the tight junctions
between the different mucosal cells.
And when we have a brick wall that
has the mortar degrading between
the different bricks, then that brick
wall starts falling apart. There’s
more holes in it to allow fluids
to move across the membranes.
Which then increases diarrhea.
Or falling apart is why it creates
ulcerations in the mouth, and in the
throat, and esophagus.
So, I use l-glutamine during
chemotherapy with my patients.
And then we stop it as soon as they
don’t need it anymore. So, that
is something I would encourage
people to look into.
And then, that is one of the
main things that reduces the
toxicity as well. It can help reduce
the neuropathy. And it can
help with that Palmer-Planter
Erythrodysthesia. So, it’s a very
important amino acid in this
particular drug class.
Ryan Sternagel: Yeah. Most if not
all of the naturopathic oncologist
that I look up to, I always hear
them talking about l-glutamine
with chemo. And it’s one of those
things where yeah, you wouldn’t be
supplementing with it just because.
But just for the limited amount
of time that you need it during
chemotherapy. I don’t know.
I know it’s a hot button issue,
but it seems like at least during
chemotherapy it seems like a
pretty good consensus from
what I understand anyway.
Topoisomerase inhibitors, I asked
you how to pronounce the before.
Dr. Heather Paulson: You know in
full transparency, when I was in my
residency as part of a cancer team
in a hospital I would stand in my
office with the door closed before
like big physician meetings. And like
practice saying the drug names, and
the different diagnoses. Because
you can read them in your head,
and do it just fine. And then once
you’re asking your tongue to make
the words, it’s completely different.
It’s like I can read a menu in French,
but speak to a French waiter, that’s
a whole different thing. So, same
with all of these words too.
Ryan Sternagel: I do recognize
Etoposide and Irinotecan.
Dr. Heather Paulson: Etoposide
and Irinotecan are very commonly
used. Especially in things like
colon cancer, and lung cancer. So,
those are drugs that we commonly
come across, and they are used by
inhibiting, again, an enzyme that
helps with cell cycle growth and it
makes cells stay in a latent phase.
Where they’re not continuing to
grow forward.
So, like I said, cancer cells are really
good about continuing to grow, and
they just like through the cell cycle
growth phase over and over and
over again.
And this helps block that.
Ryan Sternagel: Good deal. What
are the primary side effects we’re
looking at?
Dr. Heather Paulson: Primary
side effects, especially with the
Irinotecan is diarrhea. So, that’s
something to look at. Also, nausea
and vomiting, and occasionally
neuropathy. But most people
tolerate the Topoisomerase
inhibitors pretty well. Not as bad as
some of the other drugs.
Ryan Sternagel: I see something in
here in your notes about activated
charcoal with preventing diarrhea.
Dr. Heather Paulson: Yeah. So,
in this particular drug, so there
are other drugs that I would not
recommend activated charcoal
with. Like the platinum agents,
we want that platinum agent to
circulate through the system and
activated charcoal might bind to
and remove that.
But with Irinotecan in particular,
there has been shown in research
studies that activated charcoal can
be taken to bind to – the side affect
is the diarrhea. But it’s a component
that the liver breaks down of the
Irinotecan that doesn’t do anything
positive for the body. It doesn’t do
anything against the cancer cells. It’s
just a metabolism byproduct and
that byproduct is what’s causing the
diarrhea and irritating the bowels.
So, in this case because as a drug
metabolite byproduct that’s not
helping the drug work better, we
can bind to this metabolite using
activated charcoal, and move it
out. And it doesn’t have the same
negative side effect of creating
diarrhea.
Ryan Sternagel: Good to know. I
imagine do a bit on reducing toxicity
and all of that as well.
Dr. Heather Paulson: Yeah. In
general, activated charcoal can
reduce toxicity, but it’s just one
of things. Is the toxic side effect
something that we want and need.
Like with the platinum and we
are going to bind to something
that we need to be circulating in
the body. Or is going to bind to
something that we don’t want, and
we don’t need. In this case, and it be
something that’s helpful.
And that’s the hard juncture that
we always cross when it comes to
dentification and chemotherapy is a
common question I get, “Can I start
detoxing yet?” It’s like no, not yet.
We are intentionally toxifying your
body to kill off certain cell types. So,
I know it’s always tempting to start
detoxing during chemo. But I just
encourage people to hold off on
that.
Ryan Sternagel: Microtubule
inhibitors.
Dr. Heather Paulson: Yes. So,
microtubule inhibitors are things
like Taxol and Taxotere. Would be
the most common ones that you
would see in adult cancers. And
Vincristine being one of the most
common ones in childhood cancers.
Ryan Sternagel: Yeah. A lot of
Vincristine in my world.
Dr. Heather Paulson: Yeah. You’re
very familiar with that one. So,
these are kind of cool. This drug
class in particular. Because they are
all derived from plant products. So,
the Taxol and Taxotere are derived
from a pine product. Vincristine,
Vinblastine are derived from
periwinkle. And so, this is one of
those cases where sometimes we
use herbs synergistically.
And one of the things that’s unique
about herbal therapies is that we’re
really looking at using the plants as
a whole plant compound. Where a
drug therapy looks at using like one
particular chemical from that plant.
But what we found over time is
that other chemicals that are in
the plant, the holistic version of
the whole plant actually has some
usage to it. Those other chemicals
do somethings that are helpful. It
makes it less strong, so if we really
want that like one action of killing
cancer cells it’s a good idea to use
the drug and maybe not just the
plant extract.
But when we combine the two we
find there’s some synergy there.
Ryan Sternagel: Good deal. I was
just scrolling through to the next
one. Have you already covered
reducing toxicity on that one?
Dr. Heather Paulson: To reduce
toxicity things we look at are
protecting the nerves with
l-glutamine. Protecting the GI tract
with o-glutamine. That’s usually
where I start with this particular
drug class. And then, maybe adding
things like B6 afterwards.
Ryan Sternagel: And on the
increasing effectiveness side?
Dr. Heather Paulson: On the
increasing effectiveness is really
looking at Vitamin C. And this is one
of the areas where we might use IV
Vitamin C.
Ryan Sternagel: Good deal. I
believe the last classification.
Dr. Heather Paulson: You guys,
we’ve almost made it.
Ryan Sternagel: Monoclonal
antibodies.
Dr. Heather Paulson: Yeah.
Rituxan is a common monoclonal
antibody. Rituximab, Herceptin is a
common monoclonal antibody. And
this is where we start getting into
amino therapies.
And so, these target agents are used
to shift, change, enhance a part of
the immune response. And these
antibodies in particular are trying to
trigger particular immune responses
that will block tumor growth.
So, there’s things that have been
looked at with Rituxan in particular.
Mushrooms have been studied
alongside Rituxan in monk studies and
have been shown to maybe increase
efficacy of that particular drug.
So, beta-glucans might be
something good to incorporate into
the amino therapy drug class.
And then, some other things
that we’ve used are things like
Echinacea, sometimes that can help
improve and enhance the immune
system reaction.
There are some things that have
been studied with Herceptin to
make Herceptin more effective.
Like olive oil. Which is super easy
for us to incorporate into our diet.
That might make Herceptin more
effective.
And the side effects with Herceptin
in particular tends to be damaging
to the heart. So, CoQ10 has been
studied to reduce Herceptin
damage. And Rituxan tends to have
some side effects that have to do
with the bone marrow. But we
kind of want it to impact the bone
marrow because Rituxan is used for
marrow-based tumors. So, there’s
a lot that we do to overly enhance
the bone marrow. But just want to
protect from long-term damage.
Ryan Sternagel: Good deal. That’s
been a wealth of information on the
chemotherapy front. I do want to
make sure, I know you pulled-up a
little bit on the latest and greatest
on working naturally with amino
therapy. It’s not quite well-defined,
obviously, as you know when
you folks have been working with
chemotherapy for decades.
But what is there on amino therapy
that you can share?
Dr. Heather Paulson: There’s some
really interesting things going on in
amino therapy research world. And
actually, my favorite part about it is
that it’s super simple.
When it comes to natural therapies.
Some of the things that have
been studied for enhancing the
effectiveness of amino therapies
across different drug classes of
different classes of amino therapies
is fiber. So, a high fiber diet, just
eating a high fiber diet shifted the
efficacy and outcome in humans
who were on amino therapeutics.
And I love that. Because fiber is also
being studied for reducing risk of
recurrence in breast cancer, colon
cancer, prostate cancer, pancreatic
cancer. Fiber is like one of my new
favorite things to talk about.
I sound like a Metamucil
commercial or something. Like fiber
is really interesting, in the way fiber
is stimulating the immune system
and stimulating the right flora in
our bodies. So, the right bacteria
in our gut and actually throughout
other parts of our body as well.
And also, fiber is a unsung hero
of beta-glucans. So, beta-glucans,
when you hear that, most people
think about mushrooms. But
mushrooms are a fungus, and as
you talked about in your fungus
and cancer interview – we might not
want to be enhancing fungal activity
in the body. And sometimes some
people are sensitive to things like
beta-glucans from mushrooms, or
kombucha. Because of the fungal
activity.
And getting beta-glucans from
fiber, from oatmeal, or from
bolg[00:45:57], or barely, things like
that. Might be better for somebody
who tends to be more fungal.
Ryan Sternagel: Good deal.
Anything else there, or should we
jump over to surgery and radiation?
Dr. Heather Paulson: The other
things that are being looked at for
amino therapies are things like
probiotics and that goes along
with that gut microbiota activity.
And how most of our immune
system is in the gut. So, that’s
been interesting to watch some of
that data play out. But it’s not as
convincing as the fiber at this time.
And then, they are starting to look
at anti-inflammatories. Like aspirin,
and Cox-2 inhibitors for enhancing
the effectiveness of amino
therapies. They are starting to look
at that in humans as well.
And that’s really compelling
information. I’m looking for some
bigger trials on that. But we use
that kind of information as a
naturopathic oncologist, to say,
“Okay, what are my natural Cox-2
inhibitors?” I have ginger, I have
curcumin, I have rosemary. So, let’s
maybe add these natural therapies
to enhance the amino therapies.
Ryan Sternagel: [00:47:12] one of
my favorite supplements. Cox-2
inhibitor.
Dr. Heather Paulson: Yep. I’m
taking that right now.
Ryan Sternagel: Love it. How about
radiation? What do you have folks
doing there?
Dr. Heather Paulson: So, with
radiation the most important thing
is to understand the area that is
being radiated and protecting the
organ systems around that area.
So, if we’re talking about breast
radiation, we’re talking about
protecting the heart and the lungs
with things like hawthorn. Which is
a berry that protects the heart.
There are some studies looking
at l-carnitine for heart protection
during radiation therapy. And
protecting the lungs. Curcumin has
been shown to potentially protect
the lungs during radiation.
Now there are some concern
with, I’m going to like air quote
“antioxidants,” during radiation.
Because radiation is inherently
an oxidative therapy. And it’s
trying to create oxidation to
then cause cancer cell death. So,
sometimes radiation oncologists
will be concerned about you taking
high levels of antioxidants. Like
Vitamin C, CoQ10, even l-carnitine,
sometimes they get concerned
about. But that being said, you can
still eat antioxidant rich diet.
Full of berries, leafy greens,
smoothies, things like that to get
the real benefits of the antioxidants
without inhibiting the efficacy of the
treatment.
If you’re getting radiation to the
gut, then you want to protect the
gut as much as possible. And that’s
where l-glutamine would come in.
If you’re getting radiation to the
prostate or anywhere in the pelvis
that might impact the bladder, and
lower bowels. So, again l-glutamine
is really helpful for that.
And then, simple things that you
probably have used in other ways.
Like cranberry juice helps reduce
bladder irritation when you’re
getting radiation to the pelvis.
And if you’re getting radiation
to the head, neck area, that’s a
whole other can of worms. And
I really encourage you to work
with a naturopathic oncologist in
your area. A speech therapist. An
occupational therapist. Get all of
the people on board, because it can
really impact your salivary glands.
But salivary glands have been
shown to really be saved and
enhanced by acupuncture. So, we
use a lot of acupuncture in this
office for head and neck cancer.
And that’s one thing that you could
probably use safely while you’re
building your team.
Ryan Sternagel: Yeah. I hadn’t
heard that about acupuncture
protecting salivary. It’s all very good.
It does a lot I know that.
Dr. Heather Paulson: It does. Yeah.
Love acupuncture.
Ryan Sternagel: Good deal. And
well we’re running out of time but
we might as well throw in surgery.
Not even the trifecta, whatever you
call four things.
Dr. Heather Paulson: Yeah. So, the
most important thing with surgery
is looking at wound healing and
making sure that you’re going to
wound heal well.
So, we look at ways to enhance
wound healing by improving
collagen production, number one.
And then, reducing risk of infection,
number two.
So, things that enhance collagen
production are things like the
marrow broths. Which are rich in
collagen peptides. You can use the
collagen powders as well.
But also, there’s some nutrients that
help with collagen production. Like
Zinc, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, so that’s
one aspect of wound healing.
And then, there’s some amino
acids that are needed in order to
create new tissue while your wound
healing. So, new muscle cells, skin
cells, fat cells, so amino acid blend
is usually great for that. But things
like l-lysine have been specially
studied for wound healing.
And then, reducing risk of infection.
L-glutamine has been looked at
for improving wound healing as
well as reducing risk of infection.
That’s really, really easy thing to
incorporate.
And then, one of my favorite things
to use pre and post-surgery has
nothing to do with supplements or
herbs. But it’s a guided meditation.
And it’s been done in research
studies used in research studies
and human clinical trials.
It’s called Successful Surgery and it’s
done by Belleruth Naparstek And
that’s the particular one that’s been
used in the research studies. And
they found that people who listen
to this guided meditation before
and after their surgery, they had
improved wound healing time,
reduced risk of infection.
One of the really cool things that
came out of that study is that
they needed less anesthesia. And
anesthesia usually causes the side
effect, the nausea, the drowsiness,
having a hard time kind of coming
back and feeling okay after surgery.
So, you don’t even have to take
anything. You don’t have to
negotiate with your surgeon about
what supplements you can and
can’t take. Just pop in your ear buds
and listen to a guided meditation.
Ryan Sternagel: I love it. Best of
both worlds there, for sure. And
I can’t resist asking you, where
do you stand on biopsies for the
potential to spread cancer stems,
tumor stem cells, that sort of thing?
Or circulating tumor cells? And if
you come down, and it does have
a potential side, what if anything
do you do help people prepare for
that?
Dr. Heather Paulson: Absolutely.
The good thing about biopsies, is it
gives us information. And without
some of the information that we get
from biopsies we often can’t move
forward with the correct treatment
plan. So, that’s one of the key
components of why biopsies are
still recommended and why I would
still encourage some of my patients
to get biopsies. Because I don’t
like to guess, as we already talked
about. I want to know exactly what’s
going and what we’re dealing with.
So, there is that potential increased
risk of spread, or tracking, or
disruption of tumor cells. There
may be an increase in circulating
tumor cells. So, there are things
that we recommend generally
before surgery and before biopsies
to reduce that impact of circulating
tumor cells or spreading of the
tumor cells.
So, one thing that’s been
researched for that is modified
citrus pectin. And that is a fiber
from the white part of oranges
and citrus. That has been shown
to block glectin-3 receptors and
potentially reduce the ability for
tumor cells to move throughout
the body.
The other thing we want to do is
make sure we are setting up the
extra cellular matrix to be nice
and strong, so that the enzymes of
circulating tumor cells can’t break
through it and set up shop in a new
place.
And I think that’s one of the areas
that IV Vitamin C can really come
into play. As well as some other
nutrients like artemisia. Has been
studied for reducing that capacity to
implant in new places.
And then, things like exercise are
really important. When we talk
about circulating tumor cells one of
the cool studies that I’ve read and
that I’m really excited to see how
this plays out into bigger studies
– is they’re looking at the effect of
exercise on circulating tumor cells.
And they’re finding that when you
exercise it forces the cells through
the blood vessels at a certain rate,
and the faster you make your cells
go through the blood vessels. Or as
I like to think of it blowing bubbles
through a straw, the faster you blow
bubbles in that straw, the more that
the air is coming in contact with the
edges of that straw. Which means
that the tumor cells are getting
broken up.
And they are showing that it
reduces circulating tumor cells, and
it has an effect for up to 48 hours.
They’re still circulating tumor cells
dying off after exercise.
It’s going to be hard to exercise
right after surgery, but you could
exercise before and after a biopsy.
You could exercise before surgery.
And then, as soon as your ready
to start doing exercise, exercise as
soon as possible.
Ryan Sternagel: Love it. Love it.
Dr. Heather Paulson, I’m going
to give you a chance to back up
from the geek-ing out a little bit
and ask you the question that I’ve
asked pretty much everyone on
this event. And that is, do you want
to spend literally just one to two
minutes kind of rapid fire bullet
point succession, what have you?
Just talking about ways that you live
your life in a way that you believe
that would not result in a cancer
diagnosis?
Dr. Heather Paulson: Yeah. So,
I wrote my cancer proof book on
this premise of what could we do to
cancer proof our lives. And it truly is
how I live.
Because I have familial type of
colon cancer, that’s what my dad
died of. So, I am in the same boat as
everyone listening. Saying how can I
reduce my risk of cancer?
And we were joking before we got
started. I have serval beverages. I
have a green juice, I have coffee,
because coffee in colon cancer
has been shown to reduce risk of
colon cancer or risk of recurrence.
And the green juice to help cleanse
and help purify, and give me lots of
minerals and nutrients.
So, I look at cancer proofing your life
through several different factors.
One is diet, one is exercise. Which
we got to talk about with circulating
tumor cells. Meditation, and having
meaning in your life has been
shown to reduce risk of disease, and
particularly cancer, and enhance
immune function. When you give
gratitude and you have these other
practices in your life.
And then, looking at detoxification.
And how we are inundated by
chemicals and reducing those
chemicals that influence my day
to day life as much as possible. So,
using natural skin care products,
and stainless mugs, and things
like that to reduce environmental
toxins.
And knowing what your risk factors
are. Looking at the bloodwork.
Making sure your Vitamin D is
adequate. Making sure that your
inflammation is down. That your
risk factors that actually trigger and
turn on tumor growth are reduced.
Those are the things that I think are
most important in cancer proofing
your life.
Ryan Sternagel: That is a good
way to wrap it up. Dr. Heather
Paulson, I’m really glad we got you
on. Do you want to let everyone
know where to follow- up with you,
where to find all things Dr. Paulson?
Anything in particular about your
work you’d like to point them to?
Dr. Heather Paulson: Absolutely.
You can follow me social media
platforms if there’s a social media
platform, most likely I’m on it. But
I’m mostly engaged with people
on Instagram and Facebook as Dr.
Heather Paulson. And then, through
this we’ll have some information
about my website and some things
that you guys can download to get
some actionable components of
those five things that I just listed.
Which I call Living a Great Life in
order to implement some cancer
proofing in your own life. And then
my books is available on Amazon
and we have a special community
who enjoy and read the book.
So, I can’t wait to connect with you
and support you and you’re family
in cancer proofing your life.
Ryan Sternagel: All great stuff. That
was Dr. Heather Paulson everyone.
I am Ryan Sternagel of The Stern
Method and The Integrative Answers
to Cancer podcast. And we will see
you on the next one.
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