125: Elevating Cancer Resilience through Holistic Approaches

Integrative health offers profound support for individuals facing cancer, addressing the holistic needs of mind and body. This episode unveils practical strategies for minimizing treatment side effects, optimizing nutrition, and restoring vitality while highlighting a personal connection through shared experiences.

• Nearly one in two people projected to face cancer by 2030
• Importance of addressing environmental toxins and lifestyle factors
• Holistic approaches to support the body during treatment
• Benefits of nutrition in reducing inflammation and promoting recovery
• Mind-body connection and emotional resilience in healing
• Detoxification strategies for post-treatment recovery
• Introducing the Cancer Support Resource page for enhanced guidance 
• Encouragement to share this information with others in need

Cancer changes everything—but support makes all the difference. At Love Energy Wellness, we've created a page for science-backed research to optimize wellness during and after cancer treatment. From root cause testing & detox to stress reduction & fasting research, explore holistic ways to enhance resilience. 💪 Visit LoveEnergyWellness.com/Cancer-Support to learn more! 

Looking for daily support for your wellness, weight-loss and longevity questions?  If you're the kind of entrepreneur that values your health as your greatest asset, naturally you’ll want to join, and invite your friends, family and colleagues to our thriving community where you’ll feel loved, supported, seen and heard! JOIN HERE!

Chapters

• 0:00 Benefits of Integrative Health for Cancer
• 10:31 Holistic Cancer Support Strategies and Resources

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:20

Nearly one in two people will face cancer in their lifetime. With toxicity, stress and nutritional deficiencies on the rise, it's no surprise, but there are ways to support the body naturally before, during and after cancer treatment, as you'll discover in this episode. This topic is deeply personal for me, and I'll share one specific instance that shaped my passion for holistic healing and resilience. In this episode, we'll explore powerful, science-backed strategies to reduce treatment side effects, optimize healing and restore energy, discover how integrative health can make a difference, and stay tuned till the end for an amazing new resource and share it with someone who needs this. Hello, I'm Jeffrey Mort. If you're like most entrepreneurs, you're busy taking care of business, yet who's taking care of you? If you're ready to take your energy and performance to the next level in your life and your business, then this podcast is for you, because today you're going to start breaking boundaries of your mind, body and business with integrative health, and when you do that, your possibilities are limitless. I'm grateful you're here. Ah, yes, always grateful for you joining me here today. I'm your host, Jeffrey Mort, your personal integrative health practitioner, and today we are exploring the benefits of integrative health for cancer support. And today we're exploring the growing cancer crisis and the benefits of integrative health for cancer support, and why we need a holistic approach.

Speaker 1: 3:05

Cancer is no longer a rare diagnosis. In fact, projections show that nearly one in two people will face cancer by the year 2030, and I know 2030 sounds like it's a lifetime away, but honestly it's. You know, we're here in uh a few months into 2025. It's only five years away, or less than five years away. We are actually closer to 2030 than uh. 2018 is is behind us. Can you? Can you imagine that? Like? That's just mind-boggling. And this staggering statistic raises the question why is cancer becoming so prevalent? Many experts point to a combination of factors Toxicity, overload from chemicals in our food, in our water, in our air. Nutritional deficiencies due to depleted soil and processed foods and diets, and chemicals in our growing process. Chronic stress and poor sleep that weaken the immune immune function and we're gonna go a little bit deeper into that in just a moment hormonal imbalances and inflammation driven by lifestyle and environmental factors.

Speaker 1: 4:15

While conventional medicine focuses on treating the disease itself, it often overlooks supporting the body as a whole, before, during and after treatment. And that's where integrative health comes in, providing a path to reduce side effects, optimize healing and restore vitality, and I know firsthand how devastating this can be, and I'll explain why this is so personal for me. I'm about to share a part of my story that you may have read in our latest From the Heart letter that's delivered every single Sunday morning right to your inbox. If you've been missing out, you can actually start getting it by signing up in today's show notes. So the story before I was even born, my mom, at just 30 years old, was diagnosed with chronic leukemia, a form of blood cancer, and this is a challenge that she faced with immense courage. She narrowly survived my birth and later underwent bone marrow transplants, thanks to her identical twin sister being a perfect donor. So she had that going for her, and for years it seemed to be in remission.

Speaker 1: 5:28

But in 1979, when I was just six years old, things got worse, and one day in August I sat at her bedside in a top Boston hospital holding her hand as she passed away, and even though I was young, I remember the pain, the exhaustion and the uncertainty her treatments brought, not only to her, but more so to my dad and three older siblings. For me it was a completely different experience. My mom mentally prepared me over six years for her transition back into the non-physical and I was to remain a pillar of support for my dad and, in a spiritual sense, I never lost contact with her. I still feel very connected to her, even today, and that's something that I can go deeper in and I will go deeper in, probably not on the podcast, but in our From the Heart letter. So if you're interested in hearing more of that story, stay tuned over there in that newsletter.

Speaker 1: 6:30

So her journey, needless to say, her journey is one of the reasons that I am so passionate about helping people support their bodies, especially women's health and family health, even through cancer. Even through cancer, not to replace medical treatment, but to enhance quality of life, reduce discomfort and empower healing the. The body has that innate ability to be able to heal. So before we dive in, you know we're we're talking about a very sensitive subject here, not just personally for people like myself, but for censorship as well. And as a quick note, I'm not providing medical advice. I'm not claiming to diagnose, treat or cure disease.

Speaker 1: 7:11

Integrative health that works alongside conventional care to support the body's natural healing processes. So always consult with your doctor before we make, before making any changes to your health routine. So you probably already know, cancer doesn't develop overnight. It's often considered the result of an overburdened and weakened immune system struggling to keep up with the daily assaults from toxins, chronic stress, poor nutrition, inflammation all of those things. And when optimized, our bodies naturally identify and eliminate abnormal cells every single day. But when the immune system is compromised, it may fail to detect or even destroy these rogue cells before they begin to multiply. And research shows that factors like gut dysbiosis, nutrient deficienciesiencies, especially vitamin D and zinc environmental toxins and chronic infections can suppress immune function, creating conditions where cancer can thrive. By focusing on immune resilience through detoxification, proper nutrition, stress reduction, foundational sleep, we can support the body's natural defense mechanisms and reduce the risk of cancer taking hold. So let's explore the benefits of integrative health for cancer support.

Speaker 1: 8:39

I want this podcast episode to be very actionable, and let me be clear on my position here that early detection and conventional treatment are critical, but there are proven ways to support the body holistically during and after cancer treatment. So here's how integrative health can help. Firstly, reducing treatment side effects. Chemotherapy, radiation and medications can cause nausea, fatigue, neuropathy, and Supporting the body can help minimize these effects. So here are some actionable steps to take. You know, hypothetically, if you're going through this Strategic intermittent fasting this is like the number one thing Before and after chemotherapy has been shown not only to reduce side effects but to actually enhance the effectiveness of treatment on cancer cells without damaging here's the important part without damaging the healthy cells.

Speaker 1: 9:39

And you know I don't want to spend too much time on this because I have a lot to cover but what happens is intermittent fasting sort of puts the healthy cells into kind of into hibernation, where the treatment then can only attack and that doesn't happen. That the hibernation part does not happen to the cancer cells. So it's called autophagy. The autophagy kind of puts those other healthy cells into the background to do some other work and the treatment is able to go after the cancer cells because they're more exposed. So next, you know, so that's kind of I wouldn't say an extreme, because it's not hard to do, it's not costing any money. You're actually doing less as intermittent fasting, right, you're just not eating for a certain duration but you're staying hydrated. I could go into that and we'll talk a little bit more about intermittent fasting in a minute.

Speaker 1: 10:32

But simply drinking ginger tea or using something like an acupressure wristband can actually help to reduce nausea naturally. So you know very, very simple organic ginger. You can make your own tea right at home. Really easy to do. Next, incorporating B vitamins and magnesium to support things like nerve health, to buffer stress and reduce neuropathy, can help with those side effects. And then one of my favorites is using infrared sauna therapy as tolerated, of course, like if somebody is very depleted and their nervous system is dysregulated. You don't want to go too high of a temperature for too long on the infrared sauna, but this can help to promote circulation, build up the heat shock, proteins and resiliency of the body and, of course, detoxification as well.

Speaker 1: 11:24

So, number two, optimizing nutrition for healing. Yeah, diet has a lot to do with it. It really does. Proper nutrition is essential for cellular repair, for detoxification and immune resilience. The right foods can reduce inflammation and provide the body with key nutrients. So focus on an anti-inflammatory diet. So foods like wild caught salmon, leafy greens or even spices such as turmeric will help with inflammation. Avoid processed sugars and refined grains. These are the things that promote inflammation. So we want to avoid those inflammatory foods. And then, of course, staying hydrated and drinking daily green smoothies with organic vegetables, with berries. We're talking about polyphenols and antioxidants, and that plant-based protein as well is very, very important to get in there, because you want a balance between your macros, which are your carbohydrates, your are your carbohydrates, your protein and your healthy fats. And you know we're not demonizing uh carbohydrates here at the breaking boundaries podcast. There's a difference between simple carbs and complex carbs, and we're talking about complex carbs are beneficial for the body in every way.

Speaker 1: 12:38

So number three, addressing the mind body connection cancer it's not just a physical uh. You know I don't like to use the word battle, but for lack of a better word right now, I'll use that, but we'll talk about that in our resource section at the end here. So it's an emotional and mental game as well. Stress, trauma, emotional resilience they all play a huge role in healing. So you can practice things like guided meditation or especially breath work for at least five minutes a day.

Speaker 1: 13:10

Try hypnosis or neuro-linguistic programming to shift the mindset towards healing. We have a great hypnosis audio library over at our private wellness practice Love Energy Wellness. Over at our private wellness practice, love Energy Wellness. If you go over there, click on the navigation tab that says Audio Shop and check out the Imagine Wellness hypnosis audio. It's maybe 10 or 15 minutes long, and use that twice a day, use it upon waking, use it before bed and you can even use it midday, and that will help you to shift that mindset into a healing mode. And then, of course, keeping a gratitude journal to maintain that emotional strength. And another suggestion is to surround yourself by people that are supportive rather than people that see the person as somebody who is sick or ill. I could go into a different tangent there, but but I'm not gonna to, I'm not gonna go down that road right now, just because of time. And so, number four detoxification support.

Speaker 1: 14:13

After intensive treatments, the body needs help eliminating toxins safely. So functional medicine focuses on liver function, on lymphatic drainage and on cellular repair. These are things that your oncologist, your primary care physician, are most likely not talking about, unless, of course, you're dealing with a holistic oncologist, which I'll talk about in just a moment. So some actionable steps Very, very simple Drinking lemon water in the morning to gently support liver detoxification.

Speaker 1: 14:44

Just make sure it's clean, filtered water or spring water. Add some fresh lemon in there, maybe a pinch of sea salt to taste. I love the Redmond brand sea salt and that's a great way to do that. Start off your day and you can even do that again in the afternoon. I actually have an alarm set on my phone for 3.30 in the afternoon that reminds me to drink my lemon water. It's you know, I'm immersed in my day by 3 30, so I need that reminder. First thing in the morning I get up, I go to the kitchen, I mix up that lemon water with sea salt. Uh, usually a little daily fruit and vegetable blend powder. Usually a little bit of uh, alkalizing vitamin c in there, and then that's my morning drink every single day.

Speaker 1: 15:23

Incorporate dry brushing and lymphatic massage to promote toxin elimination. Especially if you're going to do a sauna. Do the dry brushing or foam rolling just before you get in the sauna. That's a great way to activate that lymph. Remember, the lymphatic system in the body is one of the systems without a pump, so we need to be walking, we need to be dry brushing, we need to be foam rolling, to getting massage, lymphatic massage, to be able to activate that lymphatic system, to move that lymph to the lymph nodes and then, of course, to the liver and then processed out. And then taking a high-quality binder supplement like activated charcoal or chlorella. The one that we recommend is over on our shop page, loveandagwellnesscom. Forward slash shop and you can find the universal binder over there.

Speaker 1: 16:11

I can't link up any supplements here in the podcast, but I just told you where to find them and that helps to d uh to support detoxification pathways and then incorporating fasting, as we mentioned earlier, or a full functional medicine detox protocol into your wellness support routine. I have an entire podcast episode on the four ways of fasting. It's breaking boundaries, episode number 78. I'll link that up or you can use the search tab on our podcast page to find that. And then, last but not least, number five restoring energy and vitality. That's what we're about over at Love Energy Wellness is optimizing energy and vitality.

Speaker 1: 16:50

Cancer and its treatments can deplete the body's reserves, leaving many people with chronic fatigue. And of course you know not diagnosing anything here, but just as a term chronic fatigue and hormonal imbalances. Diagnosing anything here, but just as a term chronic fatigue and hormonal imbalances. Functional lab testing can help identify deficiencies in vitamins and in minerals and in hormones to be able to restore optimal function. So ideally I would recommend five at-home functional health tests that will tell the full story that you may be missing in the blood work and we need to know this information for what needs the most attention? And at a minimum, I would get one of those five tests, which is called the minerals and metals test, also known as the hair tissue mineral analysis test, to assess key mineral imbalances and heavy metal toxicity as well. And you may consider taking uh adrenal soothing supplements like ashwagandha or rhodiola. We actually have you can find it in the same place at our shop page a product called adrenal soothe to be able to help calm that central nervous system and get a good deep night's sleep as well. And then prioritizing quality sleep by going to bed by 9 or 10 pm the same time every night and then using blue light filtering glasses, using red light therapy, can certainly help as well to set you up for that quality sleep. And we also have an amazing sleep help protocol that you can find at loveenergywellnesscom slash sleep dash support.

Speaker 1: 18:29

And then, last but not least here, our new resource as promised, I want to introduce to you our cancer support page. This is not a public facing page. This is a page you actually have to type in the URL or click on the link in the show notes. Today I will link it up in this episode, and this is to help those navigating this journey. We've created a cancer support research page filled with holistic strategies, science-backed recommendations and resources to support healing from top researchers in the natural cancer support space. I'm not going to go through the list of all of the specialists and I don't even want to call them specialists, but top researchers in this space and people that are here to support cancer recovery naturally and again, again, not public facing but you can find it at loveenergywellnesscom. Forward slash cancer dash support is the url and share this message with anybody that you feel it could serve.

Speaker 1: 19:34

If you found this episode valuable, please share it with a loved one who might benefit. You never know who needs this information and if you want to explore how integrative health can support your unique needs, schedule your completely free complimentary consultation with me over at loveenergywellnesscom. I appreciate you. I'm so grateful to be able to offer this information to you completely free over at our cancer-support page. Hopefully you have a chance to check it out. Let me know what you think. I'd love your feedback and make sure that you subscribe to that From the Heart newsletter. You can do it on our website or here in the show notes and you'll get pro tips every single week delivered to your inbox. I appreciate you for listening. We'll see you next time. Thank you so much for joining me today.