Beating 1% Odds: Dr. Pete Sulack’s Cancer Journey

Opening on trust and doctor-patient empowerment 0:00

Who do you trust? And kind of approaching your own journey with your family and figuring out where you have peace. And when, if you feel yoked by a certain decision that someone's telling you to do, I would just be still or take a step back. That's my approach. I believe that God leads us besides the waters where there's rest for us. And if you don't have rest with a decision you're making, simply be still or take a step back. And I don't believe any doctor should tell you what to do. Doctors are supposed to be teachers.

They're supposed to educate. They're supposed to empower you. They're supposed to be the ones that are going in figuring out the information and presenting it to you and giving you a choice to say, okay, that sounds good to me. That's not. The job is not to say do this or do that, or basically you're going to die. The job is, hey, we have enough people speaking into our life. For me too, it's hard enough to serve myself and my family and make sure they're taken care of, let alone for some doctor to tell me what I should do or how stupid I might be.

That's just not what a doctor is supposed to be for. A doctor is to empower, to educate, to inspire, to provide you. And then when you make a decision to go where you have peace at, then go there and fight for you from that position. That's how I've always approached it. Never told someone do this or do that. My thing is, Here's the information. Here's the education. Here's what the research and the science says. So go find peace for you and your family. And then once you have that peace, then I will come there and I will fight for you from that position.

This is Doctor Talks. Real talk from real doctors on the issues that matter to you most. Well, welcome to Vitality Made Simple. This is the podcast that equips you to feel better, look better, and to enjoy better relationships. You know, life is all about relationships. It's relationships that bring us the joy that makes life worth living. And it is with joy that I welcome Dr. Pete Sulak. Welcome. Thank you very much. It's an honor to be with you, Debbie. Well, it's an honor for us to have you. I've been following you on Instagram and am just so impressed with not only your medical knowledge, but also your faith and how that has impacted not only your health, but that of your patients.

And I think that's something we forget so often in the functional medicine, integrative medicine world. So tell our listeners what you've been through in the last eight months. You know, I was diagnosed on November 25th with a grade four diffuse astrocytoma brain cancer. The 25th, they told me at a 1% chance to still be alive in eight months. And tomorrow, at the time of this recording, tomorrow is the eight month anniversary of them basically saying I didn't have a chance to be alive. But I honestly feel better than I've ever felt before.

I've been very, very strategic in how I've approached cancer.

Introducing Dr. Pete Sulak and his cancer diagnosis 2:50

And I'm just so grateful for the grace of God. I feel like the mercies and the kindness of God have truly kissed my life. Well, tell us how you felt. I mean, you're a family man. You're a doctor. You were living life to the fullest. So how did all this transpire and what were your first emotional reactions? Yeah, you know, looking back, hindsight's always 2020. So looking back, probably 18 months before my diagnosis, I do a lot of virtual crusades around the world, evangelistic crusades. I work with patients in clinical practice for the last 20 years and I started.

feeling it coming on, but I would basically feel like my mind would freeze and I couldn't speak for about three to five seconds. It didn't, it wasn't a long time, but it felt like an eternity and I could feel it coming on. And then as we got a little bit closer, I had two weddings in about six months for two, my boys got married and two weeks after the second, um, just wedding. I started really dropping things, running into things. I couldn't throw a baseball straight. I have two boys that play baseball and I would try to throw it to them and I literally go sideways.

Um, and I was really losing my ability to our team. My wife was finishing most of my sentences, which she does already, but it was even a little bit more than typical. And so I met with my family, our four boys and their daughter-in-laws the Sunday before on November 24th. And, um, we just basically said, you know, Something's going on. I'm going to take a step back and you all just take take a step forward with our different business entities and ministries and they were clueless that they didn't have any idea and And then the next morning Monday the 25th I shared with my staff who didn't know at all and our associate doctors and they just said what?

because I been so good at covering it up. Um, and so I shared them that I didn't know if I had a mini stroke or not, but then my brother convinced me to go to the emergency room that day because it was the week of Thanksgiving and didn't know if, you know, and so went to the emergency room late that morning on the 25th and, um, the neurosurgeon after eight hours CT scan MRI came in and said, Dr. P you have a glioblastoma. Um, which they thought at the time, and they said, you have a terminal brain cancer and you have about 12 to 18 months to live.

Now it's since been reported that I have a grade four diffuse astrocytoma. Um, MD Anderson's neurosurgeon said I had a 1% chance to be alive still in eight months. And on December 11th, I had a seven hour brain surgery, removed a tennis ball sized tumor from my brain. And, um, and honestly, I think it was the greatest gift that I've ever received other than my salvation and my family, because I really feel like the Lord punked the devil with my life and opened up, uh, just launched a whole prayer army.

And also just opened up an incredible door to just inspire and give people hope in the cancer community, which I would have never had authority to do in the first place. Even though I was seeing cancer patients with our functional medicine practice. Just once you've gone through the fire and, and God showed up in the midst of the fire, the conviction is so much more. And so there's an authority that I have, uh, that I, just with the information that God's given me and downloaded to me, which hopefully can be used to empower this generation of cancer patients.

No, it's evident on your Instagram. I think every person listening should go to your Instagram and even just look at the post of the size of your tumor. It's crazy that surgery that eradicate that. I mean, It's interesting too because the midline is this move so far over off the midline and I worked with someone because every day I work with people from all over the world and I had a gentleman recently that had a tumor the size of a grape, an astrocytoma the size of a grape, and he's paralyzed on this whole side of his body and he can't talk.

And so I feel very fortunate. I feel like God's hand has been in the midst of it.

Symptoms, surgery, and finding purpose in the diagnosis 7:10

But those that are going through that valley right now, my encouragement is just know this, that God is a God that makes a way where there seems to be another way and just be encouraged that your life is completely significant in the eyes of God. And so I think so often we lose that perspective that you know, why me? But I feel like God is an ever-present help in a time of need. Well, and I think it was obvious from your Instagram, you have such a strong eternal perspective, you know, you can't lose.

I mean, what happens? And so, Dr. Pete, you were obviously doing a lot of health strategies before your diagnosis. How did your daily life change after that? You know, it honestly became a job for me. So when I was diagnosed and kind of figure out the course of action that I wanted to take, it became my job. And so for months and months and months, even now, even between consults, like I work from home, but I still have a routine of coffee enemas and rebounding and PMF and infrared saunas. And, you know, there's the things, because for me, I remember Jordan Rubin is a friend of mine and he's kind of walked with me with Dr.

Josh Axe and throughout this process. And I remember Jordan, I said, you know, how long am I going to have to do this diet? And because it's so strict and not only is it a keto diet, it's based on my blood work. And so it's even more sensitivities and everything else. And then he goes, I don't know, how long do you want to live for? He goes, how long do you want to fulfill the call of God in your life? He goes, then for me, I would do it the same way. In Jordan, someone who's 17 years ago was diagnosed with testicular cancer and went the natural route and they actually mocked him.

The doctors at Johns Hopkins mocked him and said, you will die. You have a 0% chance to be alive. And that's 17 years ago. Um, and so it is a hundred percent possible, but I think you have to establish the train of the body. You have to open up the detoxification pathways. You have to add the sufficiency of the body needs. And for me, there's really five main pillars that have really governed my journey. And that's number one diet. Number two, supplementation. Number three, detoxification. Number four, oxygenation.

And number five, faith. And so really that's kind of how I've approached this journey. And by God's grace, I feel better than I've ever felt my whole life. So tell us about detox. So for those listening, what daily detox regimens can they start incorporating today? Yeah. So for me, I think just even hydrating yourself and hydrating the cells will be one of the greatest things that they can do. And typically a good rule of thumb is half your body's weight in ounces of fluid. So say a 200 pound individual, a hundred ounces a day without going over a gallon typically, but is great, especially with some electrolytes, some.

Celtic sea cell, the Himalayan sea cell, the pinch of that in the water, I think is just so beneficial for rehydrating those cells. I think, you know, I personally have an echo hydrogen water flask. So in fact, one of these flasks is like 1600 blueberries. It's that powerful of an antioxidant. So I try to do at least two, three, four of these a day. So water is great. I think coffee enemas for me. are just a great way to detoxify the liver and the kidneys. Even castor oil packs over the liver. You know, I talk about like castor oil in the belly button is a great way to detoxify the body.

Infrared saunas are great. Dry brushing, you know, to just stimulate lymphatic drainage, Rebounding is really, really good. 10 minutes every single morning is what I still do every day since I was diagnosed to improve lymphatic drainage. I think there's just so many amazing things in ways that the God has designed the body to heal. The body is self-regulating, self-healing. It was created to work. It wasn't created to break down. If you cut yourself, that cut heals. You don't have to think about it.

I think, unfortunately, we have a society that says, you know, when you're born, good thing we have these doctors because you're screwed. Well, that's not the case. We're fearfully wondering if the maid bought with a price created from two cells to 80 trillion cells in nine months. Trust me, I think God is a little bit bigger and our body's a little bit more brilliant than the knowledge that a doctor might have. Oh, yeah, that's so true. Well, because of you, Mike and I are putting a pinch of salt under our tongue every morning.

Tell everybody about that. You know, I think just a pinch of Himalayan Celtic sea salt, you know, Mediterranean sea salt underneath the tongue, even a few times a day is such a great way to just replenish electrolytes, to recharge those cells. It will give you energy. You know, there's somewhere between 78, 82 trace minerals, minerals that are typically depleted because of stress in just a pinch of sea salt that you can replenish those. And so, yeah, it's something that I've done for a number of years, even before I was diagnosed.

And it's just a simple thing that doesn't cost anything that will actually kind of rejuvenate the cells of the body. That's great. I love Baja Gold Seesaw, as you know, like 90 microns against the minerals. So Dr. Pete, you help people kind of reset their nervous system.

Daily cancer protocol: diet, detox, and supplementation 12:40

What does that look like? You know, I think stress is probably the biggest epidemic that's going to face this generation. And our bodies were created to work and go from a place of homeostasis or balance or equilibrium, adapt physiologically to the demands of stressor's place and then recover. And every day stress bombards us. So the secret's not avoiding bad things, avoiding stressors things is being resilient in the face of them. So how do I become resilient? As long as my body is able to go to from a place of rest, adapt to life in the stressors of life and then recover, we're good.

The problem becomes when my body gets overwhelmed and eventually we'll reach what's called allostatic load. And that's simply a medical term that means your body got stuck in a stress response. And if the body gets stuck, that's the point of vulnerability. That's where body fearfully, wonderfully made becomes very chaotic and dumb. All essential activities like heart rate, blood pressure, stroke volume, and blood sugar increase. Those are things necessary for survival. And non-essential activities, those that we don't need to survive like digestion, reproduction, growth hormone, and so forth, those things down regulate.

It's similar to COVID. When COVID first happened, all essential businesses stayed open, non-essential businesses closed. Well, that's what really happens in the body when it's under stress. And, but that's great if my body's trying to survive. But the last thing we want is that body to get stuck like that because when it does, it begins to break down and affect the body at a cellular level. And so we want to just make sure we're restoring homeostasis, allowing the body to adapt and struggle. And so our biggest thing is number one, restore homeostasis.

Number two, let's replenish the vulnerabilities. Number three, let's retrain a person's lifestyle. and then just create resilience so that the body can adapt to life and be very resilient in the face of the circumstances and situations of life. So retraining the lifestyle, that's probably a little tougher than it sounds. So initially when you talk to somebody who needs to get started, what do you tell them to do? You know, the biggest thing for me is one established in the fact that their life is great, worth valuing significance and that their life is worth investing in.

I think so often what happens is when it comes to health, we react to the things of health. But we don't do that in any other area of our life. We've all been given gifts. Health is an incredible gift that we've been given from God. Our relationships are gifts. Our resources and finances are gifts. And when I steward over those gifts, I can partake in the fruit of those things. When I steward, it means that I honor those gifts in my life. Well, if I wait for the bags to be packed in my front steps because it didn't take care of my wife and try to react to it, then I'm too late.

We know no better when it comes to my finances. If I wait till all the creditors come after me and don't pay my bills and then try to react to it, it's just, it's too late. But when it comes to our health, we actually think that that's okay. Like that's a normal thing that I'm just going to do whatever I want, pay not to pay attention to my health, even though it's the greatest gift I've been given. And we're just going to try to react to it when we have a problem with a pill such as surgery or antidepressant.

Well, that's very poor stewardship. That's very dishonoring for a gift that God has given us. And so my thing is there are simple practical things that we can do. The Bible talks about prudence, wisdom and practical matters that we can do to steward the temple of God. Why? So we can finish well. And so, trust me, I know that more than ever before with this diagnosis. It's like, okay, Lord, you have given me a gift of health, but not only that, like time is a gift and the fact that I'm alive on the earth, that's a tremendous gift.

So Lord, give me wisdom and discernment so that I can steward really the temple of God and make sure I can run and not grow weary and walk and not faint. And really that's how I've approached things. And for me, it was about when I was first diagnosed, it was like, okay, If we're going to become very, very strategic in how we approach things, for me, it was a matter of I'm going to run blood work on myself. I want to look underneath the hood. I don't want to guess. I want to test. I want to make sure that I know exactly the nutrients I'm deficient in, what my DNA says, if there's any DNA mutations.

any food sensitivities I have and I want to know which antioxidants are going to work best for my physiology. And then I created a compounded supplement. I created a meal plan and I worked with a nutritionist and for me that was a foundation I wanted to lay. Yes, I do oxygen therapy, which I'm a big advocate for, but when it came to diet supplementation and detoxification, I literally covered in took care of those three stones, for instance, with my diet and personalization. And so it's honestly something I learned from my wife five years ago.

She approached me not feeling that well, and it's a program I actually developed for her. And now, thank God, it's something that I've used in my own personal case. Okay, so tell us about oxygen therapy. What do you do in that? So oxygen therapy is great. I think hydrogen water is a great way to get oxygen in those cells. I think hyperbaric oxygen therapy, a hyperbaric chamber, very, very beneficial. I think things like ozone saunas. I personally have what's called a Hockett machine that has ozone, infrared, PEMF, and essential oils.

I think things like PEMF that can actually supercharge the cells and oxygenate the cells, even things like rebounding are a great way to oxygenate cells. And so anything we can do because cancer does not like to live in an oxygenated environment. And so anything we can do to basically oxygenate the heck out of those cells, I'm a big advocate for that. I interviewed Dr. Thomas Seyfried, probably one and a half ago, who wrote Cancer as a Metabolic Disease. And I also interviewed Joe Tippins. He's from Oklahoma.

And so Dr. Seyfried and I talked a lot about, of course, the ketogenic diet and glioblastomas. And that was before Dr. Pete that Dr. Seyfried really was seeing say, phenbenzidol as a glutamine inhibitor. Of course, for Joe Tippins, it was sort of, you know, accidental. I mean, he was about to die and just his vet said, take some dog dewormer. And so he did. But now we know that phenbenzidol acts as a glutamine inhibitor. Tell us your journey in terms of potentially those medications. Yeah. And so I think Jane McClellan actually has brought a lot of attention to the fact that cancer is very adaptable.

It will actually feed on three main fuel sources, glucose, glutamine, and fatty acids. Now, not bad fats. So a lot of people say, well, Dr. Pete, like I thought you were a keto Dr. Pete. And, you know, and now you're saying, you know, fats are bad.

Oxygen therapy and metabolic approaches to cancer 19:40

No, bad fats are bad. and so you know seed oils and and processed foods and those those are bad but good there's great healthy fats like coconut oil and grass-fed butter and ghee and extra virgin olive oil which are so so beneficial for the body but when it comes to blocking those those three fuel pathways you have finbendazole ivermectin is something that i've personally used i think when you look at the research not even as anti-parasitics but if you look at the research of creating vulnerability amongst cancer cells and then protecting the healthy cells.

You know, the fact that, you know, Phenbendazole will actually block glutamine uptake or what's called glutamate uptake is just so, so beneficial when it comes to cancer research. I think I like to utilize, and I talk about it on social media, is foods to block these three pathways, supplements to block these three pathways. Because if we're not careful and we're doing a lot of things like metformin or statins and so forth to block some of these pathways. My concern is it down regulating the body's ability to do it on its own.

So what happens when you do a protocol blocking these three pathways and then you stop that protocol, will it come back? And typically we see it comes back more aggressively. So my thing is, hey, if we can use food um, to starve cancer and to starve those pathways. If we can use supplements to starve those pathways, then my body doesn't down regulate. And so even when I taper off of it, my body still does really, really well. But no, I love what Joe Tippins is doing. I love what Dr. Thomas Seyfried is doing.

I've never met them personally, but research from Dr. Otto Warburg, there's so many out, Dr. Gonzalez, I mean, so many incredible holistic research out there, Dr. Gerson, and I'm a big fan of all of them. But I think for everybody that's watching, it's just kind of using discernment and saying, okay, who do you trust? approaching your own journey with your family and figuring out where you have peace. And if you feel yoked by a certain decision that someone's telling you to do, I would just be still or take a step back.

That's my approach. I believe that God leads us besides the waters where there's rest for us. And if you don't have rest with a decision you're making, simply be still or take a step back. And I don't believe any doctor should tell you what to do. Doctors are supposed to be teachers. They're supposed to educate. They're supposed to empower you. They're supposed to be the ones that are going in Figuring out the information and presenting it to you and giving you a choice to say, okay, that sounds good to me.

That's not the job is not to say, do this or do that, or basically you're going to die. The job is, Hey, we have enough people speaking into our life. For me too, it's hard enough to serve myself and my family and make sure they're taken care of, let alone for some doctor to tell me what I should do or how stupid I might be. That's just not what a doctor is supposed to be for. A doctor is to empower, to educate, to inspire, to provide you. And then when you make a decision to go where you have peace at, then go there and fight for you from that position.

That's how I've always approached it. Never told someone do this or do that. My thing is here's the information. Here's the education. Here's what the research and the science says. So go find peace for you and your family. And then once you have that peace, then I will come there and I will fight for you from that position. Oh, that is the best anybody's ever articulated that, Dr. Pete. I thank you for that. The tailhard listeners about the Warburg effect, that's something in my education that I learned Dr.

Warburg was totally discounted for finding the cause of cancer. You know what it is, and you know, I think if you look at it, here's the first one that really proved that cancer feeds on sugar. You know, I think a lot of people would say, well, you know, what do you mean? And I think most lay people would say, yeah, well, of course, you know, cancer feeds on sugar. Yeah, they go to their oncologist, the oncologist say, oh, diet doesn't matter. But the same doctor that said diet doesn't matter will then give you a PET scan and blow you up with radiographic glucose that will light you up like that cancer up like a Christmas tree.

Yet in the same sense, just tell you diet doesn't matter. And unfortunately, I deal with a lot of people that while they're having chemo, their meal in the hospital having chemo is pizzas, milkshakes, diet cokes, and cookies. That is the most craziest, ignorant thing a doctor could ever do. And so any doctor that tells you food doesn't matter, honestly doesn't know their research. And it's very, very unfortunate, but you have to understand that most of their hands are tied because, you know, unfortunately, but then when they come to me, they say, Dr.

B, whatever we can do, just let us know. And we want to do that. But I think unfortunately, the way our, our healthcare system is right now that a lot of people's good, good well-intentioned doctors, their hands are tied. And so I think with Dr. Otto Warburg too, he just really proved that, um, cancer feeds on sugar and it does not do well in an oxygenated environment. And so anything you can do to starve glucose metabolism, anything you can do to oxygenate the cells, um, will put the vine in a very, very good position to heal.

Right. The body is designed to heal. God designed our bodies. I make my patients stand in front of the mirror, Dr. Pete and, and, you know, say that, say my body's designed to heal, uh, you know, in the name of Jesus, I'm going to learn the best that I can do to facilitate that. Uh, and it's, it is shocking. You brought up that many oncologists and even dietitians of oncologists tell people that it's okay to eat sugar. And, um, so, so thank you for emphasizing that because it's pretty shocking if you're, uh, trusting somebody and they tell you no problem,

Choosing peace, discernment, and the role of doctors 25:40

you know, a lot of people just have a hard time believing it. Um, I think that's so true. I believe food is medicine. I believe it's been proven over and over again. I think just look at the statistics between America and one out of every two men in America and one out of every three women in this generation will be diagnosed with cancer, according to the latest studies. That is crazy to me because we are the best country in the world. Yet, India, which is essentially a third world country, one in 12 individuals will be diagnosed with cancer in this generation.

Like, how is it so less likely to get cancer if you live in India than America? Number one, diet. The standard American diet literally fuels cancer. And in India is such a less racial and I'll tell you this that I don't care if someone does chemo radiation or not. What's the missing variable? I really believe it's diet and nutrition. Establishing this at the body to cellular level, you know, the more personalized you can make it the better in my opinion. But I have, I know some relatives that had stage four cancer, both did the conventional route and, but went all in on their diet.

And one's now five years cancer free and one is seven years cancer free. But then I know individuals that they were given a diagnosis that wasn't as severe of a cancer diagnosis. And so they really didn't pay attention to diet and now they're not here anymore. because they didn't pay attention to what they ate. For me, I wanted to go all in right away on personalizing my diet and my supplements to give my body the best chance to heal, to detoxify itself, and to oxygenate itself. Well, that's truly the integrative approach.

I had an interesting case. I use ozone in my practice and I had a woman, I think I told you all my patients are physician referrals, come to me who was undergoing chemo in her thirties with stage three breast cancer. And because of the bone density drugs that they were giving her, because of her chemotherapy, she had developed this hole in her jaw. So in the medical world, folks, we call it osteonecrosis of the jaw. It's a side effect from these bone density drugs. So she was told, you're going to lose half of your upper jaw.

And so I called Dr. Schellenberger. Dr. Schellenberger, who's the father of ozone, has been on the podcast. And he said, oh, you can treat that with ozone gas. So anyway, bottom line in us getting to know each other, she said, what about, she said, my cancer markers are crazy high. But they're telling me sugar doesn't matter. What do you think? And so, you know, I went through the whole thing like basically you said, what is a PET scan? And so she went fully ketogenic. Her cancer numbers plummeted.

We were able to successfully treat this outgrowth of bone with ozone. And an oral surgeon just kind of smoothed it off and she's good. So, you know, integrated sugar. Yeah. And I love ozone. I, you know, I have a, like I said, a hot kit machine and it's just very, very beneficial. And for me, it was pulling out all the stops and it's a huge routine that I do every single day, but to be able to see my kids and share on my kids and grandkids one day and. It's all completely worth it. I don't feel sorry for myself at all.

I don't feel sorry for the fact that I was diagnosed. I honestly feel like it's the greatest privilege I've been given because I really believe that the Lord, like I said, has punked the devil with my life and taken what the enemy has used for harm and turned around and really provided me a great platform to inspire and give people hope. So you are giving people hope when they're listening. Cause you were a shaker and a mover before that. So how does rest, part of your equation is rest. Yeah. You know, I think it's just having, making sure you have margins because to be honest with you, I've had a very busy life, run multiple businesses and have a worldwide ministry.

And I love doing all of those things. And so they were never stressful. I mean, they're never stressful from a perspective of, you know, I just enjoyed them so much, but I didn't have margins. And so my wife has been really good at helping me create margins in my life and telling me to put my phone down in the evenings and on the weekends. And that's hard for me to do. Just, you know, I'm working from home so I'm not seeing patients because I'd go back and see patients right now, but it's just making sure, you know, putting strong people in areas where I'm not.

And, um, and just, I have an incredible team that's around me, an incredible family that loves me, um, that I love dearly. And it's just really more than anything, just creating margins for yourself. Um, and being able to really say no, that's a hard thing for me to do is say no, but my wife's had to help me say no to some of the things that are not as important. And because for my wife, she just says, you know, this is your life. Like I love all these people you're serving, but I'm more interested in your life and you staying around, um, so that we can experience the gift that's your life.

Um, which I'm very, very grateful for that. So do you have grandchildren yet?

Warburg effect, sugar, and the importance of food 31:20

I wish no, not yet. I'm telling my two, you know, boys that are married, like, Hey, let's hook a brother up. Let's get going. So I think one's maybe on the verge, but I think the other one's going to wait a few years. So hopefully they'll both, um, just provide, you know, provide me some grandchildren. It really does play into part of the vision. We're in our late 60s, and we just have our first granddaughter. So I painted the wall behind me the color of her eyes. That's the color of her eyes. And it's just thrilling to add that to what you want to do, because God just called each of us to a unique purpose.

And I think when people can keep their eyes on that, That's the whole key. It's not different. Pete, something you said earlier, years ago, when I was first back in functional medicine school, Mike and I were leading this 20 something Sunday school class and this girl, I'll never forget it. It literally changed my whole trajectory. She came up to me and had like two donuts in one hand and a big gulp in the other. And she said, Oh, Debbie, please pray for me. The doctor says I'm getting diabetes.

And she literally had no connection in her brain that what she was eating was part of this diagnosis. I told, I told Mike, I said, I think she thinks this diabetes bird flew over her and just sort of, you know, poop diabetes on her. So what do you, what do you start to tell people when you see them and they need this whole mindset shift To understand because you know as Christians, you know, well doesn't God just heal people right? Yeah in you know, and that's the thing too I Have seen with my own hands and eyes numerous people Healed all over the world like crazy miracles Miracles that people would never thought possible.

So God is an all-powerful miracle-working God. He's our Jehovah Rapha He sends his word and it heals and so that is a hundred percent true and But it doesn't make up for being a poor steward over the temple of God. And that's where a lot of people don't realize is that the gifts that you've been given, if you don't steward over them, like, hey, and a lot of people come in even to my office over the years and saying it's thought that their condition happened overnight. But you know, if you look at the statistics of how long it takes to develop heart disease, how long it takes to degenerate the spine, how long it takes to really begin to affect blood sugar, it's not something that took place overnight.

It's something that's been taking place for years and years and years prior. that just never manifests the symptoms. So it's like that iceberg, the picture of the iceberg, that's just the top of this poking above the water, but there's this huge iceberg below it. Well, that's basically the accumulation of, you know, not making healthy choices. And then all of a sudden you hear the symptom, you feel the symptom, and then also, well, let's treat the symptoms. And then you go back to letting this sucker grow and grow and grow.

And so I think it's just a matter of, hey, giving people perspective that, hey, first of all, everything that's good in life is going to take time. It's going to take repetition. It's going to take effort on your part. And if you're not willing to make the effort, then unfortunately we can't really help you. But we need time and repetition to be able to put things in place so we can help begin to reverse it. And I'll tell you this, I would rather be a desk door and get moving in the right direction.

than assuming you're healthy, moving in the wrong direction. That's playing Russian roulette with your life. And many people assume if you feel good, you're healthy. If it's not broke, don't fix it. That is playing Russian roulette with your life. But I would rather you come into me on death's door, given a diagnosis like I was, 1% chance to be alive in eight months. And let's just get you moving in the right direction. We'll gain momentum and just watch what God can do. Literally all things are possible with God.

Yes, I think as humans, we naturally, God designed us to move to lesser pain. So that pain can sometimes just be the real catalyst to help people get well. You mentioned earlier that you did some genetic testing on yourself. So speak to epigenetics. I think too many people think, oh, this is all genetics, but epigenetics is the point. Yeah, you're right. It's, you know, we're all given DNA from our mother and her father. Okay. And many people have been led to believe that, well, my mom had cancer.

And so you, as a female will get cancer and your mom had breast cancer and so forth. And your dad had prostate cancer. And so you, well, health isn't based on gene code. as much as it is based on genetic expression and how that gene expresses itself. 90% of gene expression is based on lifestyle. For instance, I have a mom who has an identical twin sister. They grew up together. In fact, when I looked at their 12-year-old picture, I could not determine the difference. I didn't know who was my mom.

Um, they dressed the same, played the same, you name it. But it was interesting when my aunt got a little bit older, she went the medical route and she started getting on all these, basically every time she had a symptom, she went on another medication, which is the typical, um, healthcare system. My mom went on a more natural route. And so she went holistic, she went to a chiropractor, she was taking supplements and so forth. My mom now is in her seventies on no medications.

Rest, margins, and family life after diagnosis 37:10

And unfortunately, her best friend, her twin died 10 years ago of cancer. And, um, but really just how they approached it. And so I'm not saying that. She didn't love the Lord. She was a lover of Jesus, you know, and, but I think it's looking at the variable and it's they, so my point in that is that they had the exact same DNA as close of DNA as you could possibly have. They had it yet. One expresses self in disease and one expresses self in health. And I think if you look at things, you know, like.

You know, there's a famous actress who had her mom had breast cancer. So to be preventative, she removed her breast tissue, assuming that health is based on gene code, but no health is based on genetic expression. You know, why does one person get cancer and one person doesn't is genetic expression. And so I think it's, and we can dictate that through lifestyle. And so that's why I'm a big advocate of how diet, supplementation, detoxification, oxygenation, and faith, and really how we approach health.

And I pray that my life is an example of like, Hey, You can beat this thing and this is how I did it. And that's why I provide my resilience protocol is, which is now an 87 page document for free for anyone that comments protocol and one of our videos to make sure that they can have exactly what I personally used. Yes, I would encourage you all to get Dr. Pete's protocol. It's super easy on Instagram. Yeah, those studies, there's some great studies from King's College on winds that goes on and on, 50 years or more.

And just absolutely fascinating, if anybody wonders, If genetics are your total destiny, then just look up twin studies from King's College. Dr. Pete, tell us, I fully agree with you, the power of life and death is in the tongue. So tell us about the power of words and what you've seen among your patients. Yeah, I think it's important because we can confess all day long and see nothing happen, but the Bible says when you decree a thing, it is so. Well, what's a decree? It's something where it comes from your heart where you're fully convinced of truth.

When I get squeezed I know what basically you squeeze me a little bit and let life squeeze you you know You can see very quickly the countenance of an individual in the words of their mouth because out of the heart the mouth speaks and so when I am fully convinced of truth in God reality Fully convinced that God is my healer fully convinced that he said his word and heals now a son It's and it's an impartation from the living God that says it is so like I'm not trying to work it up I'm not trying to hope it hope so, literally it was an impartation that says, you're going to live and not die in the clear, let's just work for the Lord.

Like you're, I am for you, not against you. You can live a long life and, but it was, it came from my spirit. So when I speak those things, it's, it's a done deal. I think there's a lot of people that try to find scripture and find promises, but it's never been in, developed in their spirit and in their heart. So they're not truly fully convinced of it. They know intellectually that God is their healer, but when the push comes to shove and they get squeezed and they get the doctor's diagnosis, it's, wow, I'm not fully convinced that he's my healer because look at the diagnosis.

I think in that moment. y'all that will carry a yoke or a burden when I'm not fully convinced of something it brings a burden or a yoke to it and so in that moment my encouragement is just come bowling to the throne of grace to attain grace and mercy and help in a time of need and God will give you his perspective again he will renew your mind he will refresh you and just in really his mercies and kindness will kiss you But death and life are in the power of your tongue and those who love it will eat as fruit.

And the reality is, is you're going to, out of your heart, what you're fully convinced of, you will speak. And those things that you speak out of the conviction of your heart will manifest. And it's, it's, it's a law of the universe. And it's just, you know, but my encouragement is let's prophesy. Like even, so even if you don't believe it in your heart, keep your mouth shut like i know what the diagnosis might be i know the diagnosis might tell you this but the only reason i even have freedom telling you that i was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given a one percent chance to be alive in eight months and that eight month mark is tomorrow the only reason i even feel liberty with this because i know that i know that i know that my destiny.

I know that the Lord has imparted to me a great grace and a conviction that I will not die but live in the clear.

Faith, words, and the power of conviction 42:00

Let's just work to the Lord that the enemy, that no weapon foreign guests we can prosper, no evil can befall me. What the enemy tries to use for harm, God turns around and uses it for his glory. And so for me, it came through intimacy, through, through meditating on the word of God, where I became fully convinced of it. And now I speak freely based on what I have conviction of and it manifests. Yes, and you make it clear on your Instagram that it's not just, you know, motivational quotes that got you through.

For our listeners, we have on my website, Fearless 40, 40 scriptures that really help embed in your brain the truth of the Bible regarding fear. Because, you know, we want to go back to the science world, Dr. Pete. There was a neuropsychologist named Donald Hebb that developed a theory, neurons that fire together, wire together. And so whatever people think about over and over and over and over and over becomes this superhighway And so, you know, I appreciate that you're telling people make the super highway as word, God's truth, and not just, um, you know, I feel good quote or.

Yeah, absolutely. And just the research that's been done in regards to neurons and neurogenesis and everything else is just pretty fascinating. But my charisma is speak the word of God, speak truth, speak his promises over your life, prophesy over your life. And if you don't have anything good to say, like my mom used to say, then don't say it at all. So good. That's so great. So you've told us your day, you get up and you have your regimen. What do you do for fun? You know, it's clear that humor and fun is such a part of our design.

What's fun for you and your family? You know, honestly, just being with my family right now, you know, when you, when you face death in the face to be have family and, you know, we enjoy family, we golf together, we go to the lake together, we go to the beach together, we hang out, we watch. movies together, we play games together and we just laugh and we love the Lord together. And so for me, it's just truly the one of the greatest gifts in my life is family and just waking up every day and enjoying the fact that I'm there's breath in my lungs and people have, you know, we've had a lot of things happen and my wife is as well and You know, when I was diagnosed a few months later, my father-in-law, who was one of the greatest blessings in her life, died in a tragic truck accident in the midst of what I was going through.

And then I just lost my brother-in-law and someone just said, wow, Dr. Peat, you've had a very hard year. And I said, you know, in the natural, yeah. But I said, I know where my eternity is set. I know where the joy of the Lord is my strength. You know, I get to partake in each and every day in being an expression of His goodness throughout the earth. And I said, yeah, I know where my father-in-law's at. He was only passing through. I know where my best friend's at. He was only passing through. You know, I know to live as Christ in my life is You know, to live as Christ and to die is great gain.

I can't wait to meet my savior face to face one day, but until that time, like, I'm just going to live my life to the fullest. And you know, when that time comes, Dr. Pete is dead. I will not be dead. I'll be more alive than ever before meeting my savior face to face. And so I really don't feel sorry for myself. There's not enough time to feel sorry for yourself. I don't feel like a victim. I feel like honestly, I'm the most blessed person in the world. Well, you know, in the functional medicine world, we sort of talked off camera.

So many people think they can out supplement, out exercise, out whatever death, you know, like that's a terrible, terrible thing. I totally share your faith that we are, we are passing through. And that to me is the most important health strategy is to have this biblical eternal perspective that takes away the stress of, you know, trying to live to be 120. Yeah. Yeah, no, absolutely. Like I would love to live eyes unabated like Moses did to 120 years of age, but honestly, I just want to live my life to the fullest.

Ministry work, hope, and closing reflections 46:30

I want to fulfill the call of God in my life. And when that call is, that assignment is over, then I can't wait to meet, walk across the threshold of eternity and meet my savior and live with him forever. I just don't know how I would do it without Jesus. And for those that don't know Him, it's just, know this, your life is of such great worth and value and significance in the eyes of God, in the living God, the creator of the heavens that you thought you were worth dying for by sending his son Jesus to die in your place, not to start a religion, not to condemn you, judge you, to restore a relationship back with the living God.

It's the greatest news ever told and something available for each and every one of us. Yes, yes, thank you so much. Well, tell our listeners about your ministry, which you've had for years. Yeah, you know, so it's matthew10.com, M-A-T-T-H-E-W-1-0.com is a nonprofit that we created 20 years ago now in 2005. And it was simply the scripture in Matthew 10, eight says, as freely as you receive, freely give. And so early on, we just said, Lord, you have blessed us so much. So let's, we want to give off the top of all of our entities.

We want to give it to you. And now it's allowed us to see millions and millions of people come to Christ around the world. We're taking care of setting slaves free from brick factories in Pakistan. I think we've now set over 800 some slaves free, actually families free from slavery. I think close to like 3,000, 3,500 people from slavery. We just, everything we do is about, hey, how do we just give people hope, inspire people. We give out Bibles, we do discipleship things, we start churches, we have children's homes, we feed the poor.

It's just honestly just our offering to the Lord and it's just one of the greatest privileges ever to just be a small part in what God's doing on the earth. Oh, that's so great. Well, thank you so much for being here today. It's been wonderful to sort of meet you in person after following you on Instagram. And to our listeners, thank you for joining us. Thank you for making Vitality Made Simple a successful podcast. I think we're in about 140 or 50 countries. maybe 6,000 cities because you are sharing this.

So share it with somebody who needs hope and who needs more joy in their life. And join me on Instagram too. You know, I'm kind of a wacky person on Instagram, but it's super fun. And blessings until next time. Thank you for tuning into Dr. Talks. We hope today's episode has enlightened and inspired you on your path to optimal health. Each day is a new opportunity to make choices that empower your well-being. For more insights and strategies, subscribe to our podcast and visit our website, www.doctortalks.com.

Stay connected, stay healthy, and join us next time on Doctor Talks. Real talks from real doctors on the issues that matter to you most.