How To Prevent Cancer and What To Do If You've Been Diagnosed With Cancer While TTC with Katrina Foe

We’re digging into cancer prevention and having cancer while TTC.

Many of us have been touched by cancer, perhaps through a personal diagnosis or by a family member, friend, or colleague diagnosed with the disease. A cancer diagnosis can be an overwhelming experience and challenges individuals in ways that can be hard to imagine.

Conventional medicine tells us that chemotherapy, radiation and surgery are the only treatment options.

While those options may be suitable for some, there are alternatives that we can consider.

It can be incredibly confusing to know where you can start to optimize pregnancy success after or during a cancer diagnosis.

Also, you may have a family history of cancer and want to optimize preconception health (is IVF right for someone who has a higher risk of cancer?). So, where do you start?

I’m excited to welcome Katrina Foe to the podcast. Katrina became a functional practitioner after getting her breast cancer into remission, 100% naturally. She is board-certified in holistic nutrition and has been in the health field since she opened her Pilates studio at the age of 24. She also homeschooled her seven children while writing her international bestseller, Nutritional Pilates!

In this episode, you'll learn:

1. How to prevent cancer and prepare for pregnancy success (i.e. biomarkers that can detect early cancer)
2. What to do if you receive a cancer diagnosis while TTC (i.e. what tests to run, which questions to ask your doctor, how to be your own advocate)
3. Functional medicine/nutrition strategies to reverse cancer (without chemotherapy/radiation)
4. How to know when/if to utilize chemo/radiation
5. Nutrition and stress reduction strategies to improve reproductive health

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HIGHLIGHTS:

4:31 WELCOME KATRINA FOE

5:09 KATRINA’S CANCER JOURNEY

• Katrina’s breast cancer went into remission using a functional medicine approach

7:27 CANCER DIAGNOSIS WHILE ON THE FERTILITY JOURNEY

• From a food-as-medicine and functional testing perspective, there's a lot that we can do to support people who choose a standard care journey.
• Doing the functional work while you’re waiting to be able to try to conceive will support your fertility and help you optimize the baby’s health

10:02 MOLD TESTING & DETOX

• High levels of toxic mold will affect your health and the health of the baby
• We need to look at a combination of eradication protocols and supporting your detox pathways
• Don’t bother doing a mold protocol if you’re still in it.
• What to expect with mold detox
• I’ve only had one client who didn’t have toxic levels of mold.
• Mold affects different people in different ways, even with the same exposure

14:15 WHY WE NEED TO TAKE A MULTIFACTORIAL APPROACH

• Hormone imbalances, estrogen metabolism, and emotional trauma are common contributors
• People want to brush over the emotional work, but it’s critical
• The mental/emotional side is as important as kicking out gluten.

17:36 BLOOD BIOMARKERS

• The key markers are HbA1c, homocysteine, and iron (including ferritin)
• We look at genetic testing to understand the deeper implications around methylating capabilities.
• Get Pregnant Naturally | Episode 396: What The MTHFR Gene Variant Means For Your Fertility
• Katrina’s monthly monitoring markers for cancer patients: hs-CRP, sed rate, and LDH
• Inflammation markers can show you when things start to go off course

20:51 UNDERSTANDING YOUR OPTIONS AFTER A CANCER DIAGNOSIS

• The best outcomes happen when people engage and take ownership of their journey.
• You can do things 100% natural, 100% standard care, a mixture of the two simultaneously, or standard care and then functional
• We have a right to medical freedom and an informed understanding of all the implications of our choices
• A fully functional approach is best for people at the early stages, whereas more advanced cases can see benefits from calming things down first with standard care and working integratively

22:51 KATRINA’S KETO APPROACH

• Katrina recommends a ketogenic diet, both to dial in the metabolic flexibility and for the therapeutic and healing effects of the ketones
• This is a very nutrient-dense, clean keto.

24:53 SUPPORTING YOUR BODY ON TAMOXIFEN

• Being on the Tamoxifen is the woman's choice, not the doctor’s choice
• This is the perfect time to optimize your fertility and pregnancy
• Always look where your weak links are so you can get out of the cancer zone strong.
• Pros and cons of Tamoxifen

31:52 TOP THEMES OF CANCER CONTRIBUTORS

• The factors that likely contributed to Katrina’s cancer development
• Genetic testing is vital to being able to personalize your health optimization

36:17 THE IMPACT OF IVF

• When you're giving yourself exogenous hormones, you're messing with your body's natural negative feedback loop.
• If you want to get pregnant, the first step should be to address what’s causing the problem in the first place
• The dramatic impact gluten can have on your fertility
• Removing gluten can have a much bigger impact than people think.
• The fertility industry sets you up to panic.
• There are lots of factors that standard care doesn’t address that can bring big changes
• With IVF, most people go in knowing they may or may not get pregnant. But either way, you will be harming your health.
• Dr. Catherine Shanahan’s Book | Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food
• If people spent that time and money they do on weddings on preconception health instead, we’d have a much healthier society
• There are a lot of tools that can have a significant impact but we’re told they don’t matter

44:49 EMOTIONAL IMPACT OF CANCER

• Cancer is a multifactorial disease. You'll never get one thing that will fix this for everybody.
• Mindset makes a massive difference to the outcome you’re able to achieve
• The attitude towards the diagnosis is the biggest factor.
• It's been a hard journey, a struggle, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.

49:13 GETTING SUPPORT

• A cancer journey can be challenging to navigate by yourself
• Katrina Foe’s Free eBook: The Roadmap to Prevent Cancer Recurrence

50:21 FINAL THOUGHTS

• It's exciting to know that we're learning all these things and that there are other choices.

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RESOURCES:

Fab Fertile Method - https://fabfertile.com/pages/what-we-do

Connect with Katrina Foe

• Website: CancerFreedom.com
• Free eBook: The Roadmap to Prevent Cancer Recurrence

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Ultimate Guide to Getting Pregnant This Year If You Have Low AMH/High FSH

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Remember, AMH is NOT a predictor of natural pregnancy. It can't tell you about the health of your eggs or predict if you can get pregnant.

The AMH level does not need to define your chances.

So, how do we fast-track pregnancy success?

What you place on your fork every day matters.

And no, you don't need to try the latest dietary fads such as:

❌ Carnivore
❌ Keto
❌ Vegan

It's not about following generalized dietary guidelines. Because that only wastes precious time.

The most important factor is consuming the diet that is right for YOU.

I’m excited to announce that our Summer Fertility Recipe Guide is ready! Go to FertilityDietFreebie.com to grab your copy. I worked with a chef/nutritionist to prepare these summer recipes. This is a five-day challenge where you’ll learn how food impacts your body while enjoying delicious and nutrient-dense recipes all designed to enhance fertility (especially if you have low AMH and/or high FSH). The guide includes a meal plan and grocery shopping list. Start this challenge with your partner.

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Fab Prenatal includes all the essential nutrients to help support a healthy mom and growing baby throughout her pregnancy journey.

Our blend was created to assist the gap you may be lacking in your diet for extra nutrient needs in pregnancy, like Folate, other B vitamins, Choline, and more.

Use code “GPN15” for 15% off your order at FFLNaturals.com

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Join my FREE Facebook group and get my training on How To Improve Pregnancy Success With Your Own Eggs.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/451444518397946

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