Advertise on podcast: Born to Heal: Holistic Healing for Optimal Health

What would you hear if the noise finally stopped and your body could tell you what it's been trying to say all along? Host Dr. Katie Deming is joined by Jessica Erwin, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and sarcoma in 2024. By the time Jessica started a 30-day fast with Dr. Katie, she'd been through chemo and five abdominal surgeries. She expected the fast to be tough. What she found surprised her, and it showed up in places she never thought to look, including her sixth surgery. Jessica now sees fasting from both sides. She did it herself, and today she runs Dr. Katie's practice as her practice director, supporting close to 100 fasters so far. Together, they explain why Dr. Katie asks her fasters to stop their world, and why that kind of rest looks nothing like you’d expect. If you're living with cancer or chronic illness, you'll hear how Jessica stopped carrying everyone else's fears. And if you've learned to live with symptoms you've stopped noticing, this one may be hard to ignore. Chapters: 00:04:14 - Thirty Days of Stillness 00:09:19 - When Pain Feels Normal 00:11:08 - What the Surgeon Found 00:13:00 - A Liver Scan Comes Back Clear 00:16:32 - The Burden She Put Down 00:20:34 - Why You Have to Stop Your World 00:23:23 - Hours of Silence 00:27:15 - Behind the Scenes of a Fast 00:29:25 - Life After the Last Day 00:32:55 - What Frequency Really Means 00:37:15 - Frequency and Faith 00:42:16 - Honoring Your Own Path Stay until the end as Jessica asks Dr. Katie about the word frequency, and the answer matters if your faith makes you wary of this kind of conversation. Press play and learn what your body can do when you finally give it room to heal. Work with Dr. Katie One-on-One — a Fasting Consult to build your personalized fasting plan: https://l.bttr.to/L05ab Or a Health & Healing Consult for a deeper conversation about your diagnosis, your options, and what’s worth exploring next: https://l.bttr.to/Abcf1 Join Dr. Katie for a three-day guided reset to slow down, listen to your body, and practice a more loving relationship with yourself—with daily live calls, expert support, and community alongside you: https://3-day-reset.vercel.app/ Follow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram Watch on Youtube DISCLAIMER: The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare provider. A thought-provoking podcast explores cancer through the lens of holistic medicine and functional medicine, discussing causes of cancer, metabolic health, and unconventional approaches like water fasting, fasting and autophag...

What do cravings, brain fog, and high blood pressure have in common? Research suggests nearly 9 in 10 American adults fall short of optimal metabolic health. Dr. Katie Deming sits down with Brittney Zeedik to talk about what they see as the root, insulin resistance, and why it shows up as high blood pressure in one person and brain fog in another. And that advice to keep snacking through the day? It may be working against you. Brittney is an Insulin Resistance Coach. After losing her father to colon cancer, she came to see his psoriasis, high blood pressure, and gut trouble as warning signs nobody had connected. Dr. Katie fasts every month, who started out a skeptic until one ketone reading made her look twice. If fasting leaves you shaky, if cravings run your day, or if your cholesterol results never quite make sense, this one’s for you. You’ll learn what insulin is doing inside your cells, why Dr. Katie looks past total cholesterol, and three simple habits you can start today. Chapters: 00:04:16 - Why Fasting Posts Keep Getting Blocked 00:06:43 - What Her Father’s Colon Cancer Revealed 00:12:06 - Two Drinks, Ketosis, and Blood Sugar 00:19:09 - Rethinking Your Cholesterol Numbers 00:24:43 - Early Signs of Metabolic Trouble 00:26:58 - Natural GLP-1 and Gut Emptying 00:31:57 - What Insulin Resistance Really Means 00:45:03 - A Burger, Corn, and a Surprise Ketone Reading 00:50:00 - How to Use the Drinks and Track Your Labs 00:54:38 - Ordering Safely and Avoiding Counterfeits Stay until the end, Dr. Katie shares what happened 16 hours after a burger with the bun and a full cob of corn, a result she didn’t think was possible, and how she’s checking it against her own labs. Press play and learn how to spot insulin resistance early, and what to change starting with your next meal. Connect with Brittney: https://mindbodybrit.com/ Order High-quality Ultra-Concentrated Yerba Mate: HERE Work with Dr. Katie One-on-One — a Fasting Consult to build your personalized fasting plan: https://l.bttr.to/L05ab Or a Health & Healing Consult for a deeper conversation about your diagnosis, your options, and what’s worth exploring next: https://l.bttr.to/Abcf1 Join Dr. Katie for a three-day guided reset to slow down, listen to your body, and practice a more loving relationship with yourself—with daily live calls, expert support, and community alongside you: https://3-day-reset.vercel.app/ Follow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram Watch on Youtube DISCLAIMER: The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare provider. A thought-provoking podcast explores cancer through the lens of holistic medicine and functional medicine, discussing causes of cancer, metabolic health, and unconventional approaches like water fasting, fasting and autophag...

What if every attempt to figure out your fear is feeding it, and the one thing that lets it go is the last thing you'd think to try? Fear can be quietly expensive. It hums along in the background, takes a little energy here and a little there, and you may not even notice it's running. Dr. Katie Deming didn't notice hers for years. Her friends call her the most fearless person they know. Meanwhile, she'd wake up with a pit in her stomach, like something was wrong. What she uncovered about that fear caught her off guard. Dr. Katie stopped reading books recently, yet two from the past month clicked together: Letting Go by psychiatrist David Hawkins, MD, PhD, and Existential Kink by Carolyn Elliott. She blends them into one practice that may sound strange at first. Then she tells you what happened when she tried it herself. If you're healing from cancer or living with illness, this matters now. Dr. Katie explains how holding fear down uses up energy your body could put toward healing. You'll hear why thinking it through keeps you looping, why even expressing an emotion can backfire, and what shifted for her in just one week. The same practice applies to shame, guilt, anger, and jealousy. Chapters: 00:03:11 - This Works for Shame, Guilt, and Anger Too 00:04:59 - Two Books That Tie This Together 00:07:22 - Why Expressing an Emotion Can Backfire 00:13:17 - How Thinking Feeds Your Fear 00:14:46 - What Surprised Dr. Katie About Her Own Fear 00:16:07 - The Energy That Came Back in One Week 00:16:38 - The Fear You May Not Know You Have 00:17:19 - The Truth Behind Looking Fearless 00:18:50 - The Simple Practice for Any Emotion 00:19:53 - How Fear Can Interfere With Healing 00:20:30 - Why This Is an Ongoing Practice Stay until the end as Dr. Katie lays out the practice in simple terms and explains why it works best as something you return to again and again. Press play and learn how to stop feeding your fear and reclaim the energy it's been taking. Work with Dr. Katie One-on-One — a Fasting Consult to build your personalized fasting plan: https://l.bttr.to/L05ab Or a Health & Healing Consult for a deeper conversation about your diagnosis, your options, and what’s worth exploring next: https://l.bttr.to/Abcf1 Join Dr. Katie for a three-day guided reset to slow down, listen to your body, and practice a more loving relationship with yourself—with daily live calls, expert support, and community alongside you: https://3-day-reset.vercel.app/ Follow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram Watch on Youtube DISCLAIMER: The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare provider. A thought-provoking podcast explores cancer through the lens of holistic medicine and functional medicine, discussing causes of cancer, metabolic health, and unconventional approaches like water fasting, fasting and autophag...

Why do two people with the same diagnosis, the same treatment, and the same odds end up with completely different outcomes? Dr. Katie Deming spent 20 years as a radiation oncologist before moving into integrative oncology. She watched some patients sail through the hardest treatments while others struggled with side effects she couldn't explain.  Today she shares what she now believes sits underneath those differences, and it comes down to one word: frequency. Dr. Katie brings in the work of psychiatrist David Hawkins, a story about a man whose daily menu would make any nutritionist wince, and what she's learned from guiding 150 people through water fasts. The most common result she sees probably isn't the one you'd guess. If you eat clean, exercise, and still carry a quiet worry about your health, this one's for you. Dr. Katie explains why doing "all the right things" can sometimes work against you. Medical professionals will recognize her patient stories and you might recognize yourself. Chapters: 00:06:13 - When Doing Everything Right Isn’t Enough 00:12:26 - The Energy Behind Your Healthy Choices 00:13:17 - What She Saw Treating Cancer Patients 00:14:30 - Two Very Different Cancer Experiences 00:17:32 - What Fasting Is Really Trying to Change 00:19:03 - The Outcome She Sees More Than Tumors Disappearing 00:20:19 - What Happens When the Fear Finally Lifts 00:21:55 - The Difference Between Treatment and Healing 00:24:14 - What a Healed Life Can Look Like Stay until the end. Dr. Katie reveals what her fasters say they really walk away with, and why one simple choice afterward can shape everything that follows. Press play and learn how the emotions you hold every day may be shaping your health. Work with Dr. Katie One-on-One — a Fasting Consult to build your personalized fasting plan: https://l.bttr.to/L05ab Or a Health & Healing Consult for a deeper conversation about your diagnosis, your options, and what’s worth exploring next: https://l.bttr.to/Abcf1 Join Dr. Katie for a three-day guided reset to slow down, listen to your body, and practice a more loving relationship with yourself—with daily live calls, expert support, and community alongside you: https://3-day-reset.vercel.app/ Follow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram Watch on Youtube DISCLAIMER: The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare provider. A thought-provoking podcast explores cancer through the lens of holistic medicine and functional medicine, discussing causes of cancer, metabolic health, and unconventional approaches like water fasting, fasting and autophag...

What happens when the person who teaches authenticity loses her own voice? And what did her body do that finally made her stop and listen? In this return episode, she opens up about what that break was really about and the lesson she didn't expect to learn. After more than 20 years as a radiation oncologist, Dr. Katie Deming walked away from Western medicine to find what truly helps people heal. So it caught her off guard when a marketing strategy slowly pulled her off course. At first she felt a little stuck. Then she couldn't pick up the microphone at all. Dr. Katie has now guided more than 150 people through water fasts, many with cancer and many without. That experience has changed how she sees fasting. You'll hear why she's rethinking the way it's used, the four things she sees in people who heal naturally, and why her practice is taking another turn. If you've ever felt pushed into a box, this episode is for you. Maybe a treatment plan put you in a category that doesn't feel like you. Maybe you're a physician who feels boxed in by protocols. Or maybe you're just tired of other people's opinions drowning out your own. Dr. Katie's story gives you permission to pause, listen to yourself, and choose the path that fits. Stay until the end because Dr. Katie names what she now believes is the linchpin of all healing, the piece she couldn't see when she first left conventional medicine, and shares where the podcast is headed next. Press play and learn why trusting yourself might be the first step toward healing. Work with Dr. Katie One-on-One — a Fasting Consult to build your personalized fasting plan: https://l.bttr.to/L05ab Or a Health & Healing Consult for a deeper conversation about your diagnosis, your options, and what’s worth exploring next: https://l.bttr.to/Abcf1 Join Dr. Katie for a three-day guided reset to slow down, listen to your body, and practice a more loving relationship with yourself—with daily live calls, expert support, and community alongside you: https://3-day-reset.vercel.app/ Follow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram Watch on Youtube DISCLAIMER: The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare provider. A thought-provoking podcast explores cancer through the lens of holistic medicine and functional medicine, discussing causes of cancer, metabolic health, and unconventional approaches like water fasting, fasting and autophag...

What if the signs nudging you to slow down aren't setbacks, but directions worth following? Dr. Katie Deming shares an announcement she says goes against nearly every piece of advice she's been given. For months, she's felt pulled toward a decision most experts told her to avoid. She's finally saying yes to it, and the reason why might shift how you think about rest, content, and the quiet messages your own body keeps sending. Dr. Katie has spent her career watching what happens when people live out of step with who they really are. As a former radiation oncologist turned integrative oncologist, she's seen how staying out of alignment can affect your health in ways you might not expect. Here, she opens up about her own signs, why she won't wait for the louder wake-up call, and what she believes real healing actually starts with. If you've been running on empty, buried in information, or brushing off that small voice telling you something needs to change, this one speaks straight to you. Dr. Katie offers a gentle invitation to step back, reset, and reconnect with yourself before life makes the choice for you. Press play and learn why listening to yourself might be the most healing thing you do. Work with Dr. Katie One-on-One — a Fasting Consult to build your personalized fasting plan: https://l.bttr.to/L05ab Or a Health & Healing Consult for a deeper conversation about your diagnosis, your options, and what’s worth exploring next: https://l.bttr.to/Abcf1 Join Dr. Katie for a three-day guided reset to slow down, listen to your body, and practice a more loving relationship with yourself—with daily live calls, expert support, and community alongside you: https://3-day-reset.vercel.app/ Follow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram Watch on Youtube DISCLAIMER: The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare provider. A thought-provoking podcast explores cancer through the lens of holistic medicine and functional medicine, discussing causes of cancer, metabolic health, and unconventional approaches like water fasting, fasting and autophag...

Learn about the Healing Power of Prolonged Fasting: HERE What if the thing you assumed was deprivation is actually one of the oldest healing practices in medicine? Someone you love is exploring a prolonged water fast, and you want to understand what that really means. Host Dr. Katie Deming  walks you through what a supported fast actually is, the way she would explain it to her own family. She describes what happens inside the body when someone stops eating, and why it looks nothing like what most of us learned in school. You'll hear why she compares a supported fast to a retreat rather than a period of going without, and what the structure looks like day to day. She also explains the part of the process almost nobody talks about, the piece she takes more seriously than the fast itself.  If you've been worried, confused, or unsure how to bring this up with the person you love, this conversation gives you language and a clearer picture. Dr. Katie also traces fasting back through Hippocrates, Galen, and the physicians who shaped Western medicine, then explains what changed and why we set it aside. And she names what people are truly reaching for when they choose this path, which is rarely what you'd expect. Stay through the end for the most important thing she has learned in two decades of caring for people with cancer, including a deeply personal story about her own mother. Press play and learn how to walk alongside someone you love as they heal. Work with Dr. Katie One-on-One — a Fasting Consult to build your personalized fasting plan: https://l.bttr.to/L05ab Or a Health & Healing Consult for a deeper conversation about your diagnosis, your options, and what’s worth exploring next: https://l.bttr.to/Abcf1 Join Dr. Katie for a three-day guided reset to slow down, listen to your body, and practice a more loving relationship with yourself—with daily live calls, expert support, and community alongside you: https://3-day-reset.vercel.app/ Follow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram Watch on Youtube DISCLAIMER: The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare provider. A thought-provoking podcast explores cancer through the lens of holistic medicine and functional medicine, discussing causes of cancer, metabolic health, and unconventional approaches like water fasting, fasting and autophag...

Learn about the Healing Power of Prolonged Fasting: HERE What if everything you’ve been told about muscle loss and prolonged water fasting isn’t the full story? Dr. Katie Deming welcomes back Dr. Christy Kesslering, a fellow radiation oncologist who left conventional medicine to focus on metabolic health. Christy didn’t just complete a supervised 14-day water fast. She tracked what happened before, during, and after it. She collected DEXA scans, body-composition measurements, toxin testing, insulin levels, cholesterol markers, and inflammation data. She wanted to understand what her own clients experience during an extended fast and see what the numbers could reveal about what was happening beneath the surface. The results challenged one of the biggest fears surrounding prolonged fasting. As a 58-year-old postmenopausal woman, Christy lost body fat while her follow-up DEXA scan showed an increase in lean mass. But the numbers are only part of the story. She also walks you through the difficult middle of the fast, including back pain, aching tissue, skin changes, shifting inflammation markers, and the gradual return to normal during refeeding. Dr. Katie and Christy also explore why rest is an essential part of a supervised fast, what happened to Christy’s triglycerides and cholesterol-related markers, and why changes during fasting need to be interpreted differently from routine lab results. Chapters: 00:05:00 - Escaping the Workaholic Hamster Wheel 00:05:42 - The Health Data She Tracked 00:09:21 - What Happened to Her Muscle Mass 00:11:07 - Losing Fat While Gaining Lean Mass 00:16:11 - Why Fasting Differs From Calorie Restriction 00:23:53 - Disconnecting From Fight or Flight 00:28:13 - What Hunger Felt Like After 14 Days 00:28:56 - The Detox Symptoms Began 00:30:25 - Her Inflammation Markers Rose 00:31:24 - Why Triglycerides Changed 00:33:30 - What Fasting Can Do to Cholesterol 00:36:54 - Temporary Inflammation During Healing 00:39:11 - Healing Can Look Messy First 00:41:14 - What Her Toxin Testing Revealed 00:45:01 - How Insulin Shifted During the Fast 00:46:36 - The Possible Autophagy Turning Point 00:48:59 - What Happened to Her Liver Markers This conversation offers a rare look at prolonged fasting through the experience of two physicians examining both the physical process and the laboratory data. You’ll learn why rest may matter as much as not eating, why temporary lab changes can be misleading without context, and what Christy’s results suggest about the fear of losing muscle during a properly supervised fast. Press play to hear the data that challenged the muscle-loss narrative. Connect with Dr. Christy Kesslering: https://www.kessrx.com/ Work with Dr. Katie One-on-One — a Fasting Consult to build your personalized fasting plan: https://l.bttr.to/L05ab Or a Health & Healing Consult for a deeper conversation about your diagnosis, your options, and what’s worth exploring next: https://l.bttr.to/Abcf1 Join Dr. Katie for a three-day guided reset to slow down, listen to your body, and practice a more loving relationship with yourself—with daily live calls, expert support, and community alongside you: https://3-day-reset.vercel.app/ Follow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram Watch on Youtube DISCLAIMER: The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare provider. A thought-provoking podcast explores cancer through the lens of holistic medicine and functional medicine, discussing causes of cancer, metabolic health, and unconventional approaches like water fasting, fasting and autophag...

Learn about the Healing Power of Prolonged Fasting: HERE What happens on the day your cancer treatment ends and instead of feeling free, you feel like you're standing at the edge of a cliff instead? Host Dr. Katie Deming sits down with Tara Elmore, the founder of Complex Creatures, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at 37. Tara understands the strange silence that follows the very last treatment, because she lived it. The roadmap disappears, the check-ins slow down, and people see your hair growing back and assume that you're fine.  But inside, you're left wondering what you're supposed to do with the 364 days that stretch between one screening and the next. Dr. Katie brings her own perspective as a former radiation oncologist who used to prepare her patients for this exact moment. She saw the anxiety, the loneliness, and the fear that tend to show up right when the world expects you to celebrate.  They explore what it means to reclaim your agency, how to gently detox your body after treatment, and why the intuitive knowing inside you is far more powerful than you've been led to believe. Chapters: 00:05:42 - The Emotional Cliff After Treatment 00:08:49 - Why Ringing the Bell Feels Complicated 00:09:52 - Reclaiming Your Role in Healing 00:11:13 - Building a Post-Treatment Care Team 00:12:31 - Taking the First Step Toward Recovery 00:15:09 - The Fast That Changed Her Body 00:18:22 - Finding Safer Ways to Fast Postpartum 00:20:16 - Turning a Healing Gap Into a Mission 00:22:34 - Supporting Skin Through Radiation 00:26:20 - Why Breast Care Matters Between Screenings 00:30:46 - Reconnecting With Your Body 00:32:46 - Reclaiming the 364 Days Between Screenings 00:33:14 - Choosing Your Health Non-Negotiables 00:34:58 - Understanding the Body’s Terrain 00:39:14 - Making Health a Lifelong Practice You'll hear how Tara rebuilt her health one small step at a time, why fasting became a surprising turning point in her story, and what breast care has to do with reconnecting to your own body. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by protocols or afraid to stop doing all the things, this episode was made for you. Press play and to learn the simple starting place from Tara that changes everything, and it's easier than you might think.  Work with Dr. Katie One-on-One — a Fasting Consult to build your personalized fasting plan: https://l.bttr.to/L05ab Or a Health & Healing Consult for a deeper conversation about your diagnosis, your options, and what’s worth exploring next: https://l.bttr.to/Abcf1 Join Dr. Katie for a three-day guided reset to slow down, listen to your body, and practice a more loving relationship with yourself—with daily live calls, expert support, and community alongside you: https://3-day-reset.vercel.app/ Follow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram Watch on Youtube DISCLAIMER: The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare provider. A thought-provoking podcast explores cancer through the lens of holistic medicine and functional medicine, discussing causes of cancer, metabolic health, and unconventional approaches like water fasting, fasting and autophag...

Before EP Description: Learn about the Healing Power of Prolonged Fasting: HERE What if losing weight on a GLP-1 drug and losing weight through fasting produce the same number on the scale, but nearly opposite effects inside your cells? Host Dr. Katie Deming believes some of the most popular weight loss drugs on the market may be quietly blocking one of your body's most essential repair processes. Not because they're failing to work, but because they work in a way that keeps your body in a state it was never meant to stay in. She takes an honest, no-shame look at GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy and compares what's actually happening inside your body when you lose weight on them versus when you fast.  The scale might show the same number. The story underneath is very different.  Dr. Katie explains a repair switch your body can only flip when your stomach is genuinely empty, and why keeping it perpetually fed may keep that switch turned off for good. She connects the dots between mitochondrial health, cellular cleanup, visceral fat, muscle preservation, and metabolic flexibility in a way that's clear, honest, and direct. She's not here to shame anyone taking these medications. She gets why people reach for something that works. But she shares what happened when several of her patients who were certain they'd go right back on the drug after fasting decided they didn't want to, and why. Chapters: 00:04:23 - The Food System Is Broken 00:06:13 - Your Body Needs Empty Space 00:08:24 - GLP-1s May Block Repair Mode 00:10:41 - Weight Loss Is Not Healing 00:12:26 - What Cancer Cells Feed On 00:13:30 - Fasting Changes the Terrain 00:17:00 - Cleaning Out Damaged Mitochondria 00:18:00 - The Most Dangerous Fat 00:20:35 - The Hidden Muscle Loss Problem 00:22:20 - Clients Who Were on GLP-1s Before Fasting 00:26:06 - Who Should Never Water Fast  If you've ever wondered whether weight loss and true healing are actually the same thing, or why one of her patients gained lean mass six weeks after a 14-day water fast, this episode will change how you think about what your body actually needs. Press play and learn why the repair process your body is waiting to run may only start when you finally stop feeding it. Work with Dr. Katie One-on-One — a Fasting Consult to build your personalized fasting plan: https://l.bttr.to/L05ab Or a Health & Healing Consult for a deeper conversation about your diagnosis, your options, and what’s worth exploring next: https://l.bttr.to/Abcf1 Join Dr. Katie for a three-day guided reset to slow down, listen to your body, and practice a more loving relationship with yourself—with daily live calls, expert support, and community alongside you: https://3-day-reset.vercel.app/ Follow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram Watch on Youtube DISCLAIMER: The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare provider. A thought-provoking podcast explores cancer through the lens of holistic medicine and functional medicine, discussing causes of cancer, metabolic health, and unconventional approaches like water fasting, fasting and autophag...

Learn about the Healing Power of Prolonged Fasting: HERE What if the moment that shattered the life you carefully built became the moment that showed you what healing really is? This episode is a little different. Instead of sitting in the host seat, I'm the one answering the questions. My dear friend and colleague, Dr. Nasha Winters invited me onto her podcast, Tend the Terrain, for a conversation that went somewhere I didn't expect. It got honest. It got deeply personal. And it went straight to the heart of why I left a 20-year career as a radiation oncologist at the top of my field and what I found on the other side. I'm sharing it here because I think you need to hear it. We get into something I've rarely talked about in this much depth: a shared death experience I had in 2020 that fundamentally changed me. Not just personally, but in how I understand illness, healing, and what the body may be trying to communicate when it gets sick. If you've ever felt like your diagnosis is something happening to you, this conversation may help you see your body differently. Chapters: 04:15 - The Crack in the Foundation 06:38 - Sitting With Death 08:29 - When the Soul Let Go 10:08 - Proof She Could Not Ignore 13:16 - Leaving Conventional Oncology 14:30 - Why Illness Carries a Message 16:30 - Healing the Human First 18:41 - Why Fasting Became the Path 19:02 - The Four Things Healers Do 21:19 - Stop Your World to Heal 23:14 - What Happens Inside the Fast 24:55 - The Deep Healing After Day Seven 27:00 - Refeeding Matters Most 32:00 - Why Doctors Feel the System Breaking 34:01 - Food as the First Foundation 36:13 - The Ripple That Could Change Cancer Care 36:50 - Holding Peace While Healing Others We also go deep into prolonged water fasting, not as a trend, but as a biological and spiritual tool for healing. I walk through what's happening in the body from the first 36 hours through the deeper work that only begins after day seven. I also explain why fasting at this depth is not something to improvise alone, and why proper guidance and refeeding matter so much. There's a reason I've built my current practice around this work, and it's not the reason most people assume. By the end, you'll understand why the four things I've seen again and again in people who heal are not what conventional medicine ever taught me to look for. Press play and learn why your body was never broken to begin with, and what it may have been waiting for you to understand. Tend The Terrain™ Podcast with Dr. Nasha: https://www.youtube.com/@drnashawinters Work with Dr. Katie One-on-One — a Fasting Consult to build your personalized fasting plan: https://l.bttr.to/L05ab Or a Health & Healing Consult for a deeper conversation about your diagnosis, your options, and what’s worth exploring next: https://l.bttr.to/Abcf1 Join Dr. Katie for a three-day guided reset to slow down, listen to your body, and practice a more loving relationship with yourself—with daily live calls, expert support, and community alongside you: https://3-day-reset.vercel.app/ Follow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram Watch on Youtube DISCLAIMER: The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare provider. A thought-provoking podcast explores cancer through the lens of holistic medicine and functional medicine, discussing causes of cancer, metabolic health, and unconventional approaches like water fasting, fasting and autophag...

Learn about the Healing Power of Prolonged Fasting: HERE What if the secret to deep healing isn’t doing more, but going further? Most people assume that repeating short fasts is just as powerful as completing one long fast. Stack enough three-day fasts together and you’ll eventually get the same result, right? It’s a reasonable assumption, but it may be costing you the deeper healing you’re working so hard to reach. Dr. Katie breaks down something many people have never been taught: short fasts and prolonged fasts are not the same healing tool. Short fasts are genuinely valuable. They can support ketosis, lower insulin, improve metabolic flexibility, and put pressure on cancer cells. Dr. Katie does a three-day fast herself every month. But she says they stop short of the second tier. That second tier begins after the early detox window, when the body moves into a much deeper fasting state. Around day eight is the threshold where the fast stops being just a metabolic tool and begins to reveal a much deeper layer of healing.  Dr. Katie believes most people never reach because they keep restarting the clock. Chapters: 00:04:22 - Why Short Fasts Reset the Clock 00:05:21 - Detox Starts After Day Four 00:06:21 - Why Long Fasts Need Supervision 00:07:23 - The Danger of Refeeding Wrong 00:08:21 - The Magic of Day Eight 00:09:31 - The Body Targets Damaged Tissue 00:10:22 - When Tumor Shrinkage Becomes Possible 00:12:17 - The Mind Finally Quiets 00:13:20 - Healing Crises Begin 00:16:49 - Why You Can’t Stack Short Fasts 00:17:32 - Cancer Deserves the Full Distance 00:18:52 - The Brain Tumor That Disappeared 00:19:45 - Why Refeeding Matters Most 00:21:00 - Fasting Opens Emotional Healing 00:23:19 - What Cancer Experts Would Do 00:24:45 - Physical and Emotional Healing Arrive Together Every time you break a fast, your body doesn’t just pause. It resets. Dr. Katie uses one simple analogy that makes this clear, and once you hear it, the difference between stacking short fasts and completing a prolonged fast becomes hard to unsee. Press play to learn why Dr. Katie believes anyone fasting for cancer needs to understand the difference between stopping early and going the full distance. Work with Dr. Katie One-on-One — a Fasting Consult to build your personalized fasting plan: https://l.bttr.to/L05ab Or a Health & Healing Consult for a deeper conversation about your diagnosis, your options, and what’s worth exploring next: https://l.bttr.to/Abcf1 Join Dr. Katie for a three-day guided reset to slow down, listen to your body, and practice a more loving relationship with yourself—with daily live calls, expert support, and community alongside you: https://3-day-reset.vercel.app/ Follow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram Watch on Youtube DISCLAIMER: The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare provider. A thought-provoking podcast explores cancer through the lens of holistic medicine and functional medicine, discussing causes of cancer, metabolic health, and unconventional approaches like water fasting, fasting and autophag...

Learn about the Healing Power of Prolonged Fasting: HERE What if one of the most studied alternative cancer therapies in the world was used across Europe and South America, yet still out of reach in the United States?  Dr. Katie Deming sits down with Dr. Nasha Winters, a globally recognized authority in integrative oncology and co-author of Mistletoe and the Emerging Future of Integrative Oncology. Dr. Winters has trained hundreds of physicians in mistletoe therapy and has also used it herself. Together, they unpack a plant most people only know from the holidays and explore why injectable mistletoe has been used in cancer care since 1917. You’ll hear how mistletoe may work on multiple levels: supporting the immune system, affecting the tumor environment, and helping the body’s terrain during and after treatment. If you’ve ever felt rushed into decisions based on a scan, this episode is especially important. Dr. Winters explains pseudoprogression, a phenomenon where things may appear worse on imaging before they improve, and why timing scans too soon can lead to fear-driven decisions based on misleading information. Chapters: 00:06:39 - The Most Studied Alternative Cancer Therapy 00:08:18 - Why the U.S. Still Requires New Trials 00:09:34 - The Patient Who Changed Dr. Winters’ Path 00:12:43 - How Mistletoe Works in the Body 00:14:02 - Waking Up the Immune System 00:16:28 - Quality of Life During Cancer Treatment 00:18:42 - Mistletoe, Fasting, and Metabolic Support 00:21:37 - Why Terrain Matters More Than Tumor Kill 00:27:42 - Why Practitioner Training Matters 00:30:01 - The Scan Mistake That Can Change Everything 00:34:17 - When to Image During Mistletoe Therapy 00:37:06 - When Healing Looks Worse Before Better 00:41:00 - Who Should Be Careful With Mistletoe 00:42:54 - Why Fasting and Mistletoe Work Together Most relevant support from the transcript: the episode moves from mistletoe’s history and use since 1917, into mechanism and terrain, then closes with pseudoprogression, scan timing, and who should use caution.  Stay until the end, because Dr. Winters shares how one patient first pushed her to explore mistletoe therapy, and how that moment opened the door to decades of clinical experience with a treatment most Americans still never hear about. Press play to learn why your body may be far more capable of healing than you’ve been told. Connect with Dr. Nasha: https://drnasha.com/ Pick up a copy: Mistletoe and the Emerging Future of Integrative Oncology Work with Dr. Katie One-on-One — a Fasting Consult to build your personalized fasting plan: https://l.bttr.to/L05ab Or a Health & Healing Consult for a deeper conversation about your diagnosis, your options, and what’s worth exploring next: https://l.bttr.to/Abcf1 Join Dr. Katie for a three-day guided reset to slow down, listen to your body, and practice a more loving relationship with yourself—with daily live calls, expert support, and community alongside you: https://3-day-reset.vercel.app/ Follow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram Watch on Youtube DISCLAIMER: The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare provider. A thought-provoking podcast explores cancer through the lens of holistic medicine and functional medicine, discussing causes of cancer, metabolic health, and unconventional approaches like water fasting, fasting and autophag...

Learn about the Healing Power of Prolonged Fasting: HERE What if the prostate treatment your doctor recommended wasn't your only choice? Joel Pruttis came to Dr. Katie Deming with a rising PSA, a lesion seen on his prostate MRI, and a urologist telling him he probably had cancer. But something about it didn't sit right, so he paused, did his research, and made a choice many people in his position may never hear about. Dr. Katie and Joel talk through what it's like to face a scary diagnosis, feel pushed toward a system that doesn't quite feel right, and find the courage to try something different. Joel's story centers on prostate health, but the questions he wrestled with will feel familiar to anyone who has ever wondered if there's another way. Chapters: 00:06:17 - Why the MRI Room Changed Everything 00:07:09 - Two PSA Numbers, One Big Question 00:09:17 - The Reason He Trusted Dr. Katie 00:10:09 - The Part of Fasting That Scared Him Most 00:11:45 - Why He Took the Leap Anyway 00:13:09 - What 14 Days Without Food Actually Felt Like 00:14:52 - The Subtle Shift That Told Him It Was Working 00:16:13 - The Treatment Path He Almost Walked Into 00:23:37 - The Health Changes He Didn’t Expect 00:29:30 - The Decision That Could Have Changed His Life 00:34:40 - The Cost Comparison No One Talks About 00:38:47 - The Healing Path Hidden in Plain Sight It's not only about Joel's lab results after a 14-day water fast, but everything else that shifted along the way, things he wasn't even looking for when he started. If you've ever felt stuck between fear and uncertainty, or wondered whether the standard path is really your only option, stay until the end. Joel shares exactly what he would say to anyone standing at that crossroads right now. Press play and learn what happened when one man decided to trust his body first. Work with Dr. Katie One-on-One — a Fasting Consult to build your personalized fasting plan: https://l.bttr.to/L05ab Or a Health & Healing Consult for a deeper conversation about your diagnosis, your options, and what’s worth exploring next: https://l.bttr.to/Abcf1 Join Dr. Katie for a three-day guided reset to slow down, listen to your body, and practice a more loving relationship with yourself—with daily live calls, expert support, and community alongside you: https://3-day-reset.vercel.app/ Follow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram Watch on Youtube DISCLAIMER: The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare provider. A thought-provoking podcast explores cancer through the lens of holistic medicine and functional medicine, discussing causes of cancer, metabolic health, and unconventional approaches like water fasting, fasting and autophag...

Learn about the Healing Power of Prolonged Fasting: HERE What if the one food you’ve been told to avoid isn’t always the problem, and when prepared the right way, could actually support your healing? In this episode, Dr. Katie Deming brings back Monica Corrado, a traditional foods educator, author, and ancestral nutrition expert to dig into what’s actually true about dairy, cancer, and the gut. They break down the difference between the dairy you’ll find on grocery store shelves and the kind traditional cultures prepared for centuries. They cover everything from Holstein cows versus traditional brown cows, to A1 versus A2 casein, to why raw milk dairies may be held to stricter safety standards than conventional pasteurized dairy. You’ll also find out why some people feel sick after trying raw milk for the first time, and why that reaction may have more to do with drinking too much of a potent, microbially live food too quickly than with the milk itself. Chapters: 00:06:08 - Why Modern Dairy Changed 00:07:18 - The Problem With Store Dairy 00:08:24 - The Dairy That May Heal 00:09:12 - The Raw Milk Difference 00:10:05 - How Culturing Removes Sugar 00:11:18 - Why Raw Milk Scares People 00:15:21 - How Milk Quality Got Lost 00:18:11 - Drinking Dead Bacteria 00:20:29 - A1 vs A2 Dairy 00:24:19 - What Better Dairy Looks Like 00:26:09 - Making Dairy Cancer Friendly 00:30:08 - The IGF-1 Question 00:36:10 - Why Kefir Is Different Dr. Katie also shares what she’s observing in her own practice about IGF-1 levels in patients who are eating long-cultured dairy, a question her fasting community has been asking about for a long time. By the end, you’ll understand what kind of dairy may support your microbiome, why long culturing matters, and how Monica recommends making yogurt or kefir at home. Press play and learn how an ancient food you may have written off could become one of the most overlooked tools in your healing toolkit. Chef Monica's Books: https://simplybeingwell.com/2nd-ed-gaps-complete-book Work with Dr. Katie One-on-One — a Fasting Consult to build your personalized fasting plan: https://l.bttr.to/L05ab Or a Health & Healing Consult for a deeper conversation about your diagnosis, your options, and what’s worth exploring next: https://l.bttr.to/Abcf1 Join Dr. Katie for a three-day guided reset to slow down, listen to your body, and practice a more loving relationship with yourself—with daily live calls, expert support, and community alongside you: https://3-day-reset.vercel.app/ Follow Dr. Katie Deming on Instagram Watch on Youtube DISCLAIMER: The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare provider. A thought-provoking podcast explores cancer through the lens of holistic medicine and functional medicine, discussing causes of cancer, metabolic health, and unconventional approaches like water fasting, fasting and autophag...