Boost Cancer Prevention: Gut Health & Cellular Integrity

Introduction and Credentials 0:00

Well, Dr. Monisha Bhanote This is such a such a pleasure to to interview you and kind of chat mean you. You have like four board certifications. I mean, you you it's like you can never learn enough. I mean, you just keep on learning. Well, I actually have five, but, I'm sorry. Yeah, it's it's it's the mysteries of how the human body works, and I feel like I'm pretty close to cracking the code, at least enough that I don't need another certification. But, it's more so that the human body is so fascinating.

And I feel that, so much has happened in the last 20 to 30 years and since my training, that there's so much more information. We have to really be able to provide a more holistic approach to individuals. So that's where the continuous learning comes into what else can we do and what can we do better? Yeah. No that's that. And I wanted to add to that for all the listeners. How many languages do you speak as well? so right now in my head I basically speak medical, but in general I have learned, seven languages in my lifetime.

So if I needed to go to those countries and speak them, I could.

From Internal Medicine to Pathology 1:32

But but, yeah, right now it's probably medical, but yeah. Seven languages. Yeah. So, so you would be somebody that I would consider, very, very, very smart. So, value whatever you're going to say. So. So tell me, yeah, you wanted to learn a little bit more about the human body. And I mean, obviously, I mean, you started as a medical doctor, and in fact, the, pathologist was one one of the boards, right? Yeah. So, I did medical school. I'm an MD, and, I actually started in internal medicine, which most people will know of as, you know, a general practitioner, your physician, that you go see to prescribe you a medication and then hope that you get better.

And so that's really where I started. And what I found was that as I was continuing to see patients and then see them, whether they're in the hospital and then move them into the clinic, well, nobody was getting better. I'm like, wait a minute, what have I been taught? That nobody is getting better? And, it led to patient frustration. It left me going. I'm a failure at being a doctor because I can't make these people better. But what it really was is my understanding of the system is that you get an illness, you get a drug, you get better.

Which is where I started questioning things. Right? And then I went back and said, all right, I'm going to learn more about why these diseases are developing in the first place. And that's where pathology really comes in. And pathology is essentially the study of disease through, body tissues, body fluids, basically a biopsy is taken out of your body, your, your blood analysis, whatever is taken out of your body where analyzing it to see how are these human cells changing. And that to me, I'm like, okay, with pathology.

I will never learn anything. I will be so satisfied in this field. And then I'll feel like I'm really helping people. because now they've got this diagnosis and then they know what to do. So I did that for a long time, and I still do that. and, you know, I did anatomic pathology, which is, body tissues. I did clinical pathology, which is your, body fluids. And then I did Saito pathology, which is literally looking at single cells under the microscope. And, what I can translate to you is and to the audience is that your cells are angry.

Your cells are so angry, and they need some love. And and we really do have the tools to take care of them if we understand what the body needs, instead of really just living our life thinking, all right, it's inevitable that I will get a disease or, you know, giving up before you even try. Like, I was just on a call prior to this, and, I have one patient, and, their spouse is a physician, and the spouse is like, well, can you just give him a drug? I'm like, I could, but you do understand that that's just addressing a symptom.

And his body will continue to deteriorate unless we address what's going on in the body. And he makes some certain lifestyle changes, which will be much more sustainable because all you're doing is okay. I give him a little Band-Aid here, and then four weeks later, he's going to have a new problem, and then he's going to need another Band-Aid for that. And this continues. So from pathology, after spending,

What Angry Cells Look Like 5:29

you know, over a decade and, tumor board conferences. So I would be the pathologist who would bring you the pretty purple and pink images, and we'd sit around in a room with the pathologist, the radiologist, the oncologist, the surgeon, and we go, all right, here is patient. So and so here's their diagnosis. Here's where their tumor is located. Here's a surgery we're going to do. Here's the chemo we're going to do. Oh and now we've added a radiation person. So now here we're going to zap this. And then we move on to the next patient ten minutes later.

And this would happen for years and years and years. And then I'd be like, okay, but why is that person now coming back five years later? Why do they have a tumor again? So that's where I really went. All right. There's more to it. And let me see. And that's when I you know, I studied at the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine. and I also studied in culinary medicine because I'm a foodie, I love food, but like, what food can make you really feel great in your body? And, with all those tools, I've essentially, you know, kind of taken how I look at the human body and cells in general and, taking this holistic approach to it.

So and I would love to go there and kind of understand what you know of how you address and how you can when, when a person comes. But I like to go back to the anger cells a little bit more. the cells are so angry. Yeah. So, so when you look at cells in the microscope, you know, because obviously there aren't a lot of people out there that has that opportunity. And to look at cells again and again, that look at tissue enabled and compare healthy tissue versus disease tissue and and so forth. So describe to me a little bit what, what an angry cell looked like compared to a happy cell.

Yeah absolutely. Great question. Like so okay so here's your cells. This is what I do with my patients. I've got little cell models around. And like you know, so you could imagine you have 30 like 37 trillion of these different cells. And obviously they're a lot smaller than they're microscopic in your, in your body. And, so what is happening when we're going from a happy, healthy cell to a slightly angrier, angry cell to the angriest of them all, which is what we consider a poorly differentiated carcinoma, meaning you can't identify it like what its regular cell type was.

So what is happening is we see certain microscopic changes, okay. And so we are looking at certain features under the microscope, the one being, the nucleus. So the nucleus in the cell is what holds your DNA. your DNA is what makes you who you are. And, as the cell becomes angry or damaged, let's say, through different insults within our lifestyle or our exposures and whatnot, that nucleus starts changing. It's it starts changing in size. It starts changing in, functionality. And it can't reproduce DNA properly.

And eventually it actually changes how it grows. So instead of it being this nice thing here, and then you have the other components of your cell, which might be your mitochondria that produce energy, or your, your Golgi body or these other, factors that are responsible for making proteins and neurotransmitters and all this stuff. This nucleus grows in size and it grows in the in the cell, which then crowds out the other organelles that need to function. And, it also, takes up more space that when we look at it under the microscope, we don't see as much cytoplasm, which the cytoplasm is kind of like our like if we were, human nucleus sitting in a bathtub.

Right. And you grew so big that there was no water surrounding you, you only filled the bathtub, right? So it grows out of proportion when it grows out of proportion, the way the cells replicate

Breast Cancer Subtypes and Pathology Details 10:03

and the DNA communicates also does not work properly. So and we don't necessarily need to see this just in cancer. We will see this in other diseases where, the body tissues don't do what they're supposed to do, like in the GI tract lining where, maybe the the stomach cells aren't producing the acid they're supposed to produce. or there's, certain cells that aren't producing enzymes or there's certain cells that aren't producing hormones or neurotransmitters. So this can happen at any point in anybody's life.

Right? So like I said, the angriest of them would be your poorly differentiated carcinoma. That just looks like, frankly, in my eyes, it's beautiful because like, I see these cells under the microscope and I'm like, wow, this is like I'm a very visual person. But for the body, it is not because the body can't do what it needs to do. So it's almost like, I mean, because we have an obesity issue here in the United States. So it's it's almost like we get, you know, obese nucleus and the cell and it's just crowding everybody.

So they, they become larger, they become, hyper chromatic is another word we use. So they become darker. the chromatin in, becomes abnormal and and it depends on what part of the body we are looking at, like when we consider like, breast cancer per se, like, you know, when I talk to patients, I have breast cancer, and I'm like, okay, so what kind of cancer do you have? And they're like, oh, it's it's this hormone positive. I'm like, no, but what kind of cancer do you have? And they have no idea and neither does their oncologist.

But when I tell you there's 30 different types of breast cancer, and I would want to know which one I had, because one is more aggressive than the other. Right. and we can see this microscopically. So, so 30 different kinds of breast cancer. So kind of give us an understanding because all we understand is, you know, ERP positive, Her2 positive negative or triple negative, triple positive, that's it. And I mean, so so give me kind of an understanding of how they are differentiated and being 30 different kinds.

Yeah. So people can understand because obviously, like you're saying, if I have this kind, I would assume that I would address this one a little bit different than this one. And so you can then personalize it even more. Yeah. So the, the types that you just mentioned, the ERP or positive, the ERP are negative, Her2 positive, the triple negative, the triple positive, these categories have all been created so we can have a targeted treatment to them. And that's how, and that's why you will hear that because the conversation is really between you and your oncologist.

Right. And they're like, okay, I'm going to give you this drug because this is the type of tumor you have. But what I'm saying, with what type of tumor do you actually have? And if we use breast as the example, most people, have heard the word invasive ductal carcinoma and they've heard the word invasive lobular carcinoma. But what if I told you you had an invasive ductal carcinoma, micro papillary type and micro papillary loves to go to lymph nodes. And it's very sneaky. And it travels through the bloodstream and it looks like it's you know, it just loves hanging out and lymph vascular spaces.

That to me, even though it's not the ugliest of tumors, I have seen it be more aggressive just because the way it travels through the body. then you might have an invasive, tubular carcinoma, which is it's usually this little cute little thing and it just stays where it needs to stay or you have an invasive invasive mucin S or colloid carcinoma, which there's hardly any tumor cells in there, but it produces it's mucin colloid kind of gelatinous structure. so all of these different things is what we are looking at.

And actually when we, stage cancers according to the AJK guidelines, we are required to put in what kind of cancer it is. And if you're a pathologist who has done that, hasn't given you an accurate diagnosis, they're just being lazy. so, you know, I always tell people, like, especially with breast cancers, you want a breast pathologist looking at your case because there's so many subtleties in there. about what the potential is in the future. You know, and just looking at the hormone receptor status is only one factor we're looking at.

That's incredible. So when when a patient, you know, get diagnosed they they should then push. You know the pathology is saying that I really want to know which one out of the 30 breast cancers that I have, you know so that we can be specific. Do I need to protect my lymphatic system? Do I need to? Yeah. But whatever it is that I need to do depending on the diagnosis. Right. Yeah. So, pathology friends, if you're listening. Yes, I'm giving you more work to do, but it's the right thing to do. All right.

number one for a patient, get your pathology report. I have so many people who. They get something taken out of their body, and they've never seen the blood test. They've never seen, the pathology report. And they just go back to their doctor, and the doctor's like, oh, it's fine, or. Oh, just take this. You'll be fine. And then when I'm working with them, I'm like, okay, upload it all. I want to see it all because like, I can read between the lines when, you know, we have our own pathology. So if you. So yes, I speak seven linguistic languages, but I also speak to medical languages because pathology is into Latin, which is so but so there's certain subtleties in the language that we use to understand.

And I've had a number of patients who go, oh, no, I don't have any cancer. I've never, you know, I've never. And I'm like, okay, send me, send me this. And it's like, oh, well, they they had a basal cell carcinoma removed or, you know, things that they don't think of because it was like taken out, out of mind, out of sight kind of thing. and it's really more of a clue to what is happening in your body and your angry cells.

Cell Care and Lifestyle Foundations 16:48

And, you know, I know many people are familiar with the terminology self-care and really taking care of your, your yourself, and which somehow translates into getting your nails, hair and a bubble bath, which to me I'm like, no, no, no, let's upgrade your life and go cell care, right? Because I really want you to take care of your human cells, because that is what is going to help you age and just be able to do all the things you want to do in life. Yes. So that becomes I mean, obviously you look at at the cell and you see, you know, these are angry cells.

And I mean, in your mind, you would want to go in and think, you know, well, how do I change these anger cells to happy cells? I mean, there should be a direction. So then, you know, cell care becomes. And really, really important. Yeah. So what what what does that look like? I mean, what what so so you see the anger cell and now you want to change it, you know, how do you change that. Yeah. so think of cell care as a lifestyle approach. Right. It's it's not a quick fix. So it's really looking at all the different factors in your lifestyle from, the way you move your body to how optimally you sleep, to what kind of nutrition are you putting in your body to, how are you having connections and relationships with people and, influencing your body's immune system?

Right. Because at the end of the day, each and every one of us is producing tumor cells. Okay, but why are some people having those tumor cells progressed to them? They become like a mass to, you know, becoming even metastatic. Whereas some of us, we could nip it in the butt and the tumor cell goes away and we never experience anything from it. And that all comes down to what are we doing in our lifestyle. So there's a number of factors that, you know, we can dive into each of them for sure. I think the big thing for people is to.

Start paying attention to what their body is saying to them. Because if you take a moment to slow down, listen to your body, it actually communicates with you, right? So, for example, if you eat something and, after your your lunch or dinner and you're like, gosh, I just I feel a little like my stomach's upset. I just feel like I got a headache or I feel really tired. That's that's your body talking to you. And what do we do? We tend to ignore it and move on to the next thing or the next meal. And so, yeah, because there's so many different things that you can consider.

a lot of us kind of live this as busy, busy life and, you know, guest stressors work at home, you know, and we've we've kind of learned in a certain way that we're eating. And then, lo and behold, here we are diagnosed with something. You know, we're, you know, we'd like breast cancer, colon cancer, whatever it may be. So as you're when, when you're because obviously you went in this direction for a reason. You saw these anger cells and then you show how, how do I change this. And then you've created then a plan.

What do I need to do in order to be able to shift this? So I and I would love to kind of go more into detail because obviously you have like a, you know, microscopic view as to the impact of what it is that you are doing. So with what you implemented. I'm curious, did you then look at cells kind of pre and post and see kind of did anger cells became become happier? Well, we look at it more from a functionality standpoint right. So so what what I do is think about it like, okay, if you were going to, go buy a house, the house has to be built.

Right? And you're not going to go in and hang up the curtains or put in a sofa or put in furniture or whatever until that foundation is there. Okay. So the foundation needs to be built, the walls need to be built, and then the roof needs to be put on before anything goes in. So when I look at the human body, I'm taking that approach that all right, let's see what the current status of your body is and what it needs to be built up on. And we take that from a what are your current vitamins? What are your current minerals?

What are what are the toxins that are in your body? how how many antioxidants do you have in your body? Do you have heavy metals that are influencing how your cells are communicating? how is your, gut functioning? So we're looking at, you know, all these factors in a holistic point of view and going, all right, this is what my body needs in order to make this chemical reaction happen. And I'll be honest, most people are overfed and undernourished. And what I mean by that is they might be eating, but their cells are starving.

Right. So now we've got starving cells that eventually you do. You know how it feels when you are starving and you get like that hangry, right. So now imagine your cells are starving. So what happens? You get angry cells. All right. So so we want to look at how can we supply the body with the nutrients it needs for the basic chemical reactions to work? And, you know, it comes from the food you fuel it with. you know, easiest example to think of here is, I have some friends who who don't have green thumbs.

How Lifestyle Drives Cancer Development 22:58

Right? So they buy a plant and it dies. And I'm like, well, did did you give the plant water? sometimes. Okay. Did you like, does the plant have sunlight? No, it's sitting in this dark little corner. Right. You know, so and you can visually see that. Oh did you fertilizer plant every couple months. No. Why would I do that? Right. So it's the same thing in the human body. We can't see what's going on until, we start not feeling well. but that is what's going on on this microscopic level. And it's it's very fascinating to me that, like, you know, if it's on the external side, like, you know, when it comes to, like, beauty and stuff, like, oh, I've got a wrinkle and I need to do this, and I start buying these lotions and potions and I start addressing this.

The best way to make collagen is with the nutrients and food you put in the body. Not from. I mean, yes, the outside can help for a short term, but you know, overall we are that, I guess that blossoming plant. Right? So either we can be really shriveled up inside or we can be, you know, more youthful. So, that's kind of the foundation we want to build that foundation. And that's how I look at it. and obviously, I mean, if you create, if you create a supportive structure kind of and the, the macro, you know, the lifestyle, the nutrients and all that, then the cells then start to respond to that.

And they obviously they, you know, they shift from not being so hangry. And, and you're absolutely right. I mean, if you're hungry and then all of a sudden all you're given is a soda pop, you know, and so you get this quick burst of energy and then you're even worse, you know. So it's the same, obviously with cells, you know, when you just feed them sugar. Yeah. They get little energy and then they just crash. So how how does all these things relate to like cancer development? I mean, because that that's always the the question.

So you, you understand well, these things are good for me and I should do it. And I feel better when I eat this way. But then, you know, and the end station cancer, you know, how does that, you know, relate to cancer. Yeah. So I'm going to give you two examples here. One, a general one to understand the process. And then 1st May be organ specific. So a general one is when we are thinking of the cells. Right. These little guys, our friends, you know, right here, when we are exposed most to these, factors, these cells, get exposed to something we call oxidative stress.

Okay. So most people are familiar with stress when they're thinking, oh, so stressed. but that's more of like a, a mental kind of stress where as your cells experience oxidative stress. And that might be from exposure to environmental pollutants, from bad food, pesticides, chemicals, all kinds of things. And, they form something called free radicals. And what do free radicals love to do? They love to attack our cells and damage our cells and damage the cell membrane. So now you can imagine if you've got cells that have holes in them that that the communication between the cells is not working and eventually, they become more damaged.

that oxidative stress is essentially leading to inflammation in the body. When we have inflammation in the body, we lower our immune system. And when our immune system can't detect if these are healthy cells or these are pre-cancerous cells, it doesn't know what to do. And it lets those pre-cancerous cells grow out of control, eventually leading to tumors. Right. So that's the more simplistic approach. an example I can give you is, one of the cancers that's really preventable. Right? So think about, when you eat something and you feel like, oh, I've got like, indigestion, like I've just got this, like, heartburn, like it just doesn't feel good. And what do you do?

You go pop, an acid or whatever, and then you continue on with your meal. But what is happening there on the microscopic level, is the cell that are there at the junction or the gastroesophageal junction. There are specific cells that are supposed to be there. There's such soft cells that are squamous cells, and then there's the gastric cells. And when they have this repair in acid, kind of trauma, the squamous cells go, oh my God, I can't handle this. I have to like, figure out what I can do here.

And they change into something we call meta plastic cells or specifically goblet cells. Okay. Because now goblet cells can handle that damage a little bit better. So your cells actually change from what they're supposed to be to something else. Now we continue on with our lives and we're like, well, I'm gonna have these diet sodas and I'm going to eat this black color, drink this black coffee on an empty stomach, and I don't care, you know, and we continue that damage and we continue it that then those goblet cells turn into which are metal.

Plastic can eventually turn into dysplastic dysplasia means pre-cancerous. Right now, mind you, you're going on living your life. You're like, oh, the doctor gave me a nail. I said, I'm feeling good about this. because now I've got a medication and I can still drink my black coffee and have my fast food and all this, and you're thinking, oh, everything's great. Then you're going in every six months for your endoscopy. And that dysplasia goes from low grade to high grade dysplasia, which is even more aggressive.

And it's like, okay, let's biopsy this out. Oh God. Now we found an invasive adenocarcinoma. And that's our biggest oh now we have to take your esophagus out. Wait a minute. How are you going to eat now. Right. So if you think this is not something that develops overnight,

The Gut Microbiome and Immune System 29:28

cancer does not develop overnight. It is what we are doing every day to influence. Are we helping our body or are we killing off the cells in our body? It's that simple, right? Right. Yeah, it's it's an accumulation. I mean, like like you say, you know, our daily choices. It drives us to a, I mean, produces results, you know, within maybe ten, 30 years. And so if we change, you know, before getting diagnosed, obviously would be the best thing to do. But then if we are diagnosed, then if we can then shift our direction in a way so that because we have still have more healthy cells and cancer cells, even one being diagnosed.

So we still want to kind of support them and shift the balance towards, you know, happy cells versus anger cells. And so that way the immune system, right, can start to kind of be more active and go after the anger cells more effective, effectively. 100%. So that that is definitely something I want people to know is, you know, if you have been diagnosed with cancer, first of all, cancer, 95% of it is not genetics. Okay. So let's just keep that in mind. And I know that because we do the genetics on all our cancers.

Right? So under the microscope we're taking like the cancer and we're sending it for all these studies. What it actually has is mutations that develop over time. So which is very different than, than the genetics cancers which you're kind of born with this gene. And, and you get cancer that's less than 5%. But what I want people to know is that, remember your immune system is what is going to help you fight off cancer, whether it continues to grow. or you stop it before it goes even further, or if you've already had it and you don't want any more cancer cells to to come back.

Now, most people don't know where does their immune system live. They think their immune system's in there, like, oh, in their axilla. I've got some lymph nodes here. I've got some in the groin. Well, yes, there is immune system there. But what you actually have is something we call, an immune system in your gut and it's in the gut. Gaslight. Okay, so that's a gut associated lymphoid tissue. So 70 to 80% of your immune system lives in your gut. So if you are not fueling your gut with the right ingredients, the gut goes, oh, well, she's not taking care of me.

I'm just going to throw this cancer, right? Because this is what I'm fueling that my body with. Yeah. So I would assume, you know what we're saying, 70 to 80% of your immune system is in your gut. Yeah. Which is huge. Huge. So obviously, if you're dealing with anything that is immune system related, which cancer obviously is, you know, smart would be let's work on the gut. You know, let's start healing the gut. in order to be able to make sure that my immune system is functioning optimally. And, and I know also from my understanding, there's a lot of inflammatory signaling that takes place as well.

If you eat a greasy burger. Yeah. Now you're going to be triggering inflammation. Yeah, in the gut which then will suppress the immune system activity. Yeah. So okay. Remember I said that we have 37 billion human cells. Right. So now imagine you have close to 100 trillion microbes right. So you have even more microbes and you have human cells. So if you have not made these microbes your BFFs and you want the good ones, you don't want like the bad, like the ones who go out and drink and party, you want the ones who are like, come on, relax.

I'm going to take care of everything, right? And make them your BFFs. And, the reason being, because the immune system is doing a couple of things. One, the microbes and the immune system communicate to make a barrier function. Okay. So what they do is and say, for example, in your GI tract lining, they can protect bad things from entering you. And, you know, so they make this barrier, function, which prevents pathogens from entering, which is why some people might travel somewhere or drink some water, and then all of a sudden, they've got a parasite and other people don't.

Right. so also it can influence inflammation in that lining. Right? So I like to think of your gut lining like a, a little like, soldiers lined up side by side. Right. And now imagine it's July 4th and the soldiers went out, to go see the fireworks and drank. And then the next day, they need to show up for work. Well, they're not going to be standing side by side, being able to defend the forces. And this is the best time to attack, right? Which is what happens, the other thing is when they the microbes are interacting with our immune system, they are doing immune training.

So they are training our body to go and identify this is a good cell or this is a good pathogen. Well, pathogens wouldn't be good. This is good. And this is bad essentially. Right. And this is where the confusion comes in the immune training when we develop autoimmune diseases because then it's like I don't know what to do. I'm confused. So keeping that in mind, then, the gut bacteria are also important to make something we call short chain fatty acids. And short chain fatty acids are your post.

Biotics are basically metabolites that help lower inflammation in the body, and the best way to make these metabolites is to have prebiotics and probiotics. Food right to make your post biotics. What do people do not have? Prebiotics or post or probiotic foods? And so they don't ever make the, inflammation lowering metabolites, right? So when we we are thinking from a carcinogenic or cancer producing perspective, those bacteria can also, depending on which ones you have, increase the risk of certain cancers or they can decrease the risk of certain cancers.

So that's why making sure you have the right BFS in your GI tract is of utmost importance. So what's the next thing I do after I build the foundation of the house and and we figure out what's working, we go into the kitchen, right. The heart of the home, which is your plumbing, which is your GI tract, and see what is going on there. It's everything working properly, is it not? Where can we support it? and really look at it from that aspect. So yeah. And how do you make these your BFFs?

How to Feed the Microbiome 36:38

You know that that's I mean, I was assume that relates to how you're eating and, and to, to me, that seems to be kind of because you're a foodie. You went to culinary school. So I would assume that this became kind of your next evolution, recognizing that, you know, these. Yeah, 70, 80% of immune system in your gut. Yeah. The bacteria that's in the gut. You know, I want them to be happy. How do I make them happy? Let's make good, delicious food that makes them happy. So what does that look like?

Yeah, absolutely. So the first thing I always like to start with is, is, so, grab this little one before say hello. My other buddy. look at that. You other way to help your microbiome, by the way. but, so the first thing I want you to think about, which before we even get to the food, is to think about how, when and where you are eating. Okay, most people are not mindfully eating. The best way to absorb the nutrients from your food is to really be mindful when you're eating. And starting with the process of chewing your food.

What do we do? We're eating in the car. We're on the go. We're eating at our desk. Right. So I would say take that, you know, five, ten, 15 minutes to just really be with your food and eat your food, right. That will also help you identify what you are putting in your body, because how many times have we put our hand in a bag of potato chips? And then we looked at and we're like, oh my God, I just finished an entire bag without even thinking about it, right? Because there's no mindfulness there.

So even before, you know, I give you a whole list of, oh, go add this, go at that, just start where you are with what am I actually putting in my body? And, can I mindfully eat better? And then we can, consider. All right. from a bigger standpoint, biodiversity. the best way to keep your microbiome and those BFFs healthy and happy is to eat a diverse diet. That does not mean eating the same breakfast, lunch, dinner seven days a week. 21 meals like the same for months on end. Because you're not going to have a good a diverse microbiome.

so if you are used to eating, you know, a certain thing for breakfast, see where you can switch it up to add more variety. the next thing would be the colors of the rainbow. Most people do not eat the colors of the rainbow. my challenge always is any meal that I produce. Mind you, even though I love food, I do not want to be in the kitchen all day. I mean, if I can make a meal in ten, 15 minutes and have what I need, that's perfectly good for me. but when I'm preparing the meals, I'm looking at.

All right. One. How many different vegetables and fruits or vegetables? Mostly. Can I get into this one meal? So even if I'm making a sandwich or a wrap or something like that, how can I get my ten different things in? And I promise you, I can. Then how many different colors of the rainbow Roy G. Biv can I get? And right. And it's like it becomes this little challenge in game, right where where we get away from just eating white and yellow foods, right where we really want to make sure we're getting all that variety.

So you've got mindful eating, you've got biodiversity, you've got a rainbow. Then you want to add fiber. Because what does your gut microbiome love? Fiber. So where are you going to get fiber from? From eating real food. Fruits, vegetables whole grains legumes, great sources of fiber. What are the three things that you can't find? Fiber. Well, it's going to be sugar. All right, so sugar doesn't have fiber. and what do we do? We eat sugar. sugar dairy. Right. So for all you cheese lovers out there, I used to be one of you.

I get it. and then meat. Right. So three things that don't have fiber. So when we're mostly consuming our diet around that, we are not giving the body the fiber it needs to produce fuel or food for your gut microbiome. So not only are your cells angry now, your gut microbiome is angry because it's like I'm starving because this person hasn't given me any fiber. and then you, you know, once you kind of graduate from that, you know, incorporating probiotic rich foods into your diet, which for some people, they're, they're like, I've never even had a probiotic food in their life.

You know, they're like, just give me a probiotic pill. And I'm like, we could do that. But your body is going to really enjoy it more if you eat probiotic rich foods. And if you look at the different cultures around the world, almost all cultures except the American diet standard American diet has a probiotic rich food with their meals. Right. you think of kimchi with Korean food, miso soup with, Japanese food. in, Indian food, we have yogurts, usually with our meals. So, and then you kind of have fears in the Middle East.

So if you look culturally, it's like those are the things the body is in tune with, all right? The things that the body really needs. and then ultimately we want to limit processed foods. foods that technically aren't even foods. And. yes, sold in our grocery stores, you know, that are sitting on the shelves. The boxed foods are genetically modified organisms, things with pesticides. All of that can lead to DNA damage. Right? And DNA damage eventually leads to inflammation and cancer. So. Yeah. And and I love this because it's better to have kind of instead of, you know, eat this, eat that, to have an understanding kind of what the principles are, you know, what is it that drives the healthy gut biome, which would then translate into lower inflammation, more energy, better immune system, happier cells, you know, all of those things.

you talked a little bit about kind of that mindful eating and that's, that's crucial. And I'm, I'm at fault that that as well, because I do as I it's that danger of multitasking which we have to stop doing is just not a good thing to do. So mindfulness is just so important. And I and I love you know, I mean, you know, we we hung out a little bit and get to experience a little mindfulness in a beautiful area. How important is kind of overall mindfulness.

Mindfulness, Stress, and Cancer Recovery 43:48

Because you have, you know, like meditation, you have yoga, you have all these different therapies out there that also will then put your body more at ease and make it more relaxed. Right? Yeah, yeah. So, mindfulness, is is really being present, being aware in the present time. Right. So whatever you're doing, you can be mindful for meaning if you are taking a shower, you pay attention to. Yeah, I'm, you know, you ever like, do something and then you're like, did I just do that because you weren't mindful.

Right. So mindfulness is very different than meditation because mindfulness you can do with every step of what you're doing. If you're if you're working at your desk, be mindful of that task you're working on. If you're preparing a meal, be mindful of that. When you're driving a car, are you driving the car or are you having a conversation on the phone? Are you listening? You know, and then we get to the destination and we're like, we have no idea what road we just took, right? So this is where small things of mindfulness can come into play.

And, adding practices like mindfulness or meditation, where you're actually then, taking time to focus on a deeper level, whether that's, you know, doing a meditation through a guided app or a breathing meditation or something like that, all of this can create self-awareness, right? And that will allow us to go, oh, my body's talking to me. Maybe this isn't the right thing for me to do, or maybe I should do more of this because my body likes it, right? And that can also then lower stress in the body.

So when you have lower stress in your body, your immune system is stronger. when you have lower stress in your body, you don't produce as much inflammation. Therefore, your immune system is stronger when your immune system is stronger. If you experience or have been exposed to some kind of, insult on the body, it can kill off your cancer cells, right? So, from the perspective of like even individuals who have had cancer, we have seen that these mindful practices, these meditate action or even yoga practices, because they are helping lower stress in the body.

It is improving the quality of life and outcome for cancer patients. I am trained in yoga for cancer recovery, so I've seen it. I know it works. So. So, are there I mean, I'm curious, are there specific, like studies where they study, you know, they they. Yeah, they have a group of cancer patients. They bring in these therapies and then the the impact. Yes, absolutely. There are definitely studies out there where we have seen that they will, lower, treatment related fatigue. They will lower anxiety around the cancer.

Right. Because one of the biggest things when you get a cancer diagnosis is that worry of is it going to come back. And that worry creates in itself more inflammation in the body. Right. So if you can use these tools to kind of incorporate, we have also seen that it also helps mitigate side effects of treatment. Right. So there's no reason not to try it. I mean like I always say people don't hang your hat on. One solution. Right. If if you're going you got a diagnosis. You go into the doctor, a doctor gives you the drug, you do the surgery, and then that's all you do.

You are missing out on great opportunity to help your body. Right. And that's once again that holistic approach, right. Looking at the entire body of what's going on. So to kind of tie everything together so this you feel what you're doing now has greater impact than when you were. And the internal medicine they come with a a disease. You give them a pill here. This this is a pill for the disease. and lo and behold, yeah, this is a better solution. a 100%. I mean, I think, integrative, health is the future of health really looking at the whole body and having the patient be a part of, their healing journey. Right?

They're more empowered to, participate instead of being a bystander and just going, all right, do this to my body. but I do love pathology. I mean, I love looking at your guys cells under the microscope. It is like. It is so cool. It's like artwork and, just the different things that come out, like, you know, I mean, I, I've how old,

Integrative Health and Closing Thoughts 48:48

I don't know, hundreds of thousands of colons and lung, resections and lumpectomy and mastectomies in my hand. And I'm like, oh, my God. Like, what was this person's story? What what happened to have them create this mass in their body and there is always more to it because when you actually go and look what's going on, there's such a big emotional component to how we develop disease. And I think really having tools. And this is where that mindfulness and meditation and self-awareness and, and intentionality really come into, influencing whether or not you are going to make a angry cell in your body.

Yeah, yeah. well, it's amazing work you're doing. It's incredible. It's incredible. How, what how can people learn more about you? I mean, where would they go? Yeah, absolutely. So, my website is drbhanote.com so it's basically my name and all my social media, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, is @drbhanote so I'm pretty easy to find. There's only one of me. And what I know that, any time. Yeah, they look at green, they should think of Dr. Bhanote Yes. Absolutely. Right. So yes. Just more green. eat your greens, drink your greens.

Just be green. I love it. Get some green plants for for better oxygenation. Yes. I love it I love well thank you so much Dr. Bhanote this been wonderful. There's been. Wonderful. Thank you so much. Thanks.