The Metabolic Guide to AVOID and REVERSE Disease in Midlife with Dr. Nasha Winters
I was gifted Dr. Nasha’s book, The Metabolic Approach to Cancer (which isn’t just for people who have cancer — it’s relevant for ALL of us) and I could NOT put it down. It was the best book, I read it like 5 times, and I have changed so much in my life as a result. I was SO excited that I could do a deeper dive on Midlife Conversations with her to share with you! Spoiler alert: she has a different view on hormones than what we may be used to hearing here! 🙂
“The only cure for cancer, is actual prevention.”
What If I Already Have a Cancer Diagnosis?
You are far more powerful than you are lead to believe. You have a much bigger hand in the outcomes than you’ve been lead to believe. There is no reason why a stage 4 person cannot LIVE WELL with cancer for a very long time, and die of something different. Dr. Nasha was told she was going to die short of 20 years old — she is now in her 50’s in better health than she was in her teens, 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s. There are options outside of standard care that you can do. Know that you have options that may not be offered to you in the traditional medical avenues. If you’re thick in the traditional treatment routes, you can still absolutely utilize and benefit greatly from the information shared in this episode. There is room at the table for the best of what standard and alternative care has to offer. You have the ability to know what YOU need at any given time. Trust that and look elsewhere if needed.
What Creates Cancer and Causes Cancer to Grow?
Reminder: information changes constantly, and even since writing this book, the information and research available to us has doubled — but the information in the book remains supported with data. We have been taught since 1914 that cancer is a genetic disorder, a somatic mutation theory. In the 1920s a scientist recognized that there was actually a change in mitochondria and that cancer cells had deranged metabolism, and it was at that level we created changes in our DNA that would turn into cancer. The metabolic theory of cancer held steady and strong until the 1950s and 1960s. At this time, everyone reverted to the DNA theory…and away we went. However, we have since come to the realization that cancer IS much much more than a genetic disorder. So…what makes this shift from a non-cancering to a cancering process? There are about 10 major drivers:
- Epigenetics. This is what has been handed down to you from previous generations. These are not set in stone. You can overcome these genes. 90-95% of all chronic illnesses (including cancer) are epigenetically driven — which means we have the ability to change their course. It’s important to consider your metabolic health.
- Metabolic health. Without medical intervention…what are we feeding ourselves? Good blood pressure? Good blood sugar? Body fat composition? Conditioned athletically? Waist to hip ratio? Lipid profile? 93.7% of the population is struggling with one or more of these. less than 6% of us in the US are considered metabolically healthy.
- Toxins. How toxic are you?
- Microbiome
- Immune System
- Inflammation
- Angiogenesis. New blood vessel growth to tumors and profusion.
- Hormone Modulation
- Stress Response and Circadian Rhythm
- Mental/Emotional component
None of these happen in a vacuum, and there is usually a blind spot or two, or ten, in which these things can spiral and feed off each other. The book has a quiz about these and might shine light onto which of the ten you might be struggling with.
More About Metabolic Health in Regard to Keto and Being in Ketosis
We should all be born in ketosis. We naturally (historically) go into ketosis due to scarcity of natural resources. Up until the 1850’s, the western world were low carb. We were eating seasonally, locally, and working really hard for those carbs. We ate that way until we hit the industrial food revolution where we introduced different foods like flour and sugar. This created a lot of the metabolic diseases. What we are taught is healthy, doesn’t really translate to metabolic health.
You can’t know how well you’re doing unless you test. If you’re metabolically healthy, at 13 hours of fasting, you should see some trace ketones on a ketone pee test. If not, test yourself and wait and see how long of a fast you need to do to get to this trace ketone levels. M.D. Anderson released a study showing that women who had breast cancer, who fasted 13 hours a day (changing nothing else) had a 70% less recurrence rate than those who don’t.
What About Keto Effects on Your Lipid Profile?
Over the years the standard numbers for lipid profile markers have changed drastically. Mic drop: once you get UNDER 175 for cholesterol, you are at risk for ALL mortality. Wow! Who knew?! It’s actually more scary to have low cholesterol than high! However, ideal numbers to consider are HDL should be over 70 and triglyceride under 90.
SO, What About Hormones?
Our symptoms are hormone imbalances and we are wired in particular ways in which we metabolize hormones. The problem in taking hormones lyes in how our bodies respond to them due to external factors like stress for example. Dr. Nasha shares with us that bio-identical hormones are NOT natural — they are just engineered to mimic your body’s hormones so well that they are called bio-identical. But they are still synthetic. In fact, they bully the receptor cell way more than our natural hormones. And when we fill up our “hormone garage” with the synthetics, our bodies can actually stop making the thyroid hormone. This, in turn, affects your adrenals…and it’s a never ending cycle. The longer a woman is exposed to estrogen, the higher risk for cancer overall she becomes. The biggest problem is that those who prescribe the hormones…are NOT oncology experts…and in fact, there is enough evidence available today that if someone ends up with cancer, due to prescribed hormones, the patient has grounds to sue! Wow! THIS is why it’s so important to learn how YOUR body is and how it works…
This and SO much more on the podcast!
About Dr. Nasha Winters
Dr. Nasha Winters, ND, FABNO has been on a personal journey with cancer for the last 30+ years. Her quest to save her own life has transformed into a mission to support others on a similar journey. Dr. Nasha travels the world to explore integrative cancer clinics, vet cancer protocols for research projects, speak at conferences, and meet with colleagues to help them apply metabolic approaches with their patients.
In this episode, you will learn:
- What do you want people navigating cancer to know now?
- If you are in the thick of cancer treatment what you can still apply today
- What creates cancer growth?
- Why cancer is not just a genetic disorder
- Why mitochondria is a bigger issues
- What makes the metabolic shift happens?
- What are the ten drivers?
- Why keto eating is important
- Why we all die of metabolic diseases
- 93.7% of people struggle with metabolic issues
- Bio identical mimic hormones so well that they are called natural but they are not and they could affect thyroid and adrenal
- Why many women have hot flashes could be a histamine reaction
- Why we need to be cautious with mammograms
