Ground & Root Podcast
Welcome to the Ground & Root Podcast with Holistic Cancer Dietitian, Dionne Detraz. In this podcast we will explore science based & time tested holistic strategies that will enhance healing, prevent cancer, and ultimately help you have a long & healthy life.
Ground & Root Podcast
A Cancer Survivor’s Non-Toxic Lifestyle Plan
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A lump. A blunt doctor visit. Surgery scheduled days later. Brandon Weaver’s testicular cancer story starts fast, and what he did after recovery is even more interesting: he built a realistic system for reducing toxic load and supporting detox that he’s kept up for years.
In today's episode I sit down with Brandon to talk through what “surveillance” really looks like over time, how he stays diligent without spiraling, and why learning from the medical exam itself shaped his own self-check habits.
We break down the food, home, and habit changes he actually maintains five years later and how he stays consistent through discomfort.
Here's some of what we're covering:
• Brandon’s diagnosis story and rapid surgery timeline
• Surveillance plan basics including markers and imaging
• Self-check routines and learning from clinician exams
• Organic produce priorities & reading ingredient labels
• Switching from nonstick cookware to stainless steel
• Water filtration & air purification at home and cost-saving strategies
• Choosing organic cotton essentials closest to skin
• Swapping personal care and cleaning products
• Quarterly fasting-mimicking approach for cellular cleanup
• Infrared sauna habit stacking with binders and dry brushing
Plus so much more!
If you’re ready to make one smart change instead of chasing perfection, press play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs motivation, and leave a review with the one habit you’re committing to next.
👉 Resources mentioned on today's episode:
1- Environmental Working Group
🌿 Let's Connect 🌿
Welcome And Real Survivor Stories
SPEAKER_00Hello and welcome back everyone to the Ground Root Podcast. I'm your host and holistic cancer dietitian Beyonda Travis. I'm super excited to be with you today. We have a special guest. So as some of you know, if you have been following along, one of my goals with the show is to share real stories, not just to share theories and ideas and you know my beliefs about things, but to really show people showcase people who have put many of these principles into practice as they move either through their cancer journey or after their cancer journey. And so you can hear from real people what it means to actually use these strategies in their life. I think this is very important to show you that it can be done and that hopefully will inspire you to do the same. So today you are going to meet Brandon Weaver. I'm really excited to have him here. You're gonna hear more about his journey and some of the things that he's been doing to help himself stay healthy and cancer free. This month, we are showcased, if you've listened to any of the previous episodes for this month, it's been all about detox support, right? We've been talking about how to reduce your toxic load, how to enhance your detox pathways. And Brandon is a perfect example for this topic because he really took a lot of these ideas to heart. You're gonna hear all about it. I've had the pleasure of knowing Brandon. Gosh, I realize it's been almost five years. I think it has been five years this month, Brandon. So he joined us inside of our group when we first launched him and he's been here all the way through. And I just feel so fortunate to have you here today. Welcome, Brandon.
SPEAKER_01Thank you. I appreciate it. It's funny because this is like a role reversal for me because I'm usually the one asking you all the questions in the calls.
unknownThat's right.
SPEAKER_00That's true. This time I get to ask you questions. Actually, that's that's I like that. That's fun. Why don't we start with your story? I've known you for five years, but your story with cancer started before that. So can you tell us a little bit about it?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and it was the moment it was looking back on it, it was like a it was sudden, at least looking back on it five years now. Is so I was diagnosed in August of 2020. It was testicular cancer stage one B. And thinking back to those couple days, it was it was hard to ignore that something was different or something was wrong because there was a large mass, and you know, it was two to three times of what it should be. And so obviously, you know, you kind of panic and freak out in the moment, and you're like, what do I do? I gotta talk to my doctor or something. And at the time, of course, I didn't have a urologist, I just had a primary care doctor. So I emailed him the first sign of it one night, and then had a really quick impromptu visit the next morning. And it was actually my primary care doctor, my normal one, was actually on like paternity leave or something at the time. So I actually had a fill-in doctor, and so I wasn't used to him. And so he's just like, Yeah, I think you might have testicular cancer. There was really like, you know, because I wasn't used to his mannerisms, there was like no bedside manner like dancing around it. He just came out right and said it. And so before I even left that appointment, a urologist at Kaiser in the separate department, of course, already had left me a voicemail because they had already communicated or something. So within 30 minutes, I already had a follow-up appointment with the urologist to confirm it. And so I met with him that same day, and he basically said, Yeah, I'm and he I already booked you for surgery as well three days later. So everything moved within four days between like me noticing something and you know getting it taken care of essentially. And so it was like a Wednesday night when I first sent that email, and then the following Tuesday morning, I had the surgery, so it was that quick. And it was just it was crazy because like I said, it was hard to ignore, and everything just snowballs from it. I'm glad it was that quick because if I had too much time to think about it, you know, who knows what have happened? I could have delayed the surgery a little bit, or you know, I don't know. I just, you know, that's something I didn't really want to think about. So I was just I was glad to have the surgery as quick as it did.
SPEAKER_00And I'm guessing because of the size of the mass, they just right away were like, we have to get it out. We're not bothering with other testing or biopsy or anything like this. It was just that was the first kind of treatment plan.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And it was really, I'm sure I probably had some sort of input on it, but the whole thing was new to me because I was, of course, it never happened before. Of course, you know, my only knowledge at that point with test ticker cancer was the whole Lance Armstrong story, and that was 20 plus years ago. Everybody heard about that because of Lipstrom. That was my only like knowledge, if you want to call it that around the subject. So I didn't know what treatment might entail or how long it might be, or what surgery would be, all these different things. Like, I didn't have time to think about it. So that was my only reference. And when they said surgery, I was like, okay, sounds good. They we know what they're talking about, so I'm gonna follow their lead, and that's what happened.
Surgery Recovery And Surveillance Plan
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So what happened after surgery? Was that was there follow-up? Did were was there any talk of needing additional treatment, or what happened next?
SPEAKER_01Fortunately, they caught it early enough where it was stage one B, it was very localized. So surgery was it. I'm on a surveillance plan, and so I never had any, never had any uh follow-up, you know, no chemotherapy, no radiation, no, nothing like that. It's really just been surveillance because post-surgery, first, my my my blood markers were elevated, which I guess is natural for that kind of thing. So they wanted to see they were testing me once a week post-surgery to see what the blood markers were going to do. They were pretty confident they would go back to their normal levels. There's three different markers. And if they didn't normalize after two weeks, then they would reevaluate and see if they need to do anything. But fortunately they did. So at that point, he's my urologist in Northern California basically said, you know, at this point, the guidelines from the testicular cancer foundation or just the recommendations from the everyone around the world is to just do surveillance. And what that meant at the time was blood markers, uh, chest x-ray, MRI, or CT scan. And the intervals with those change over the years. The further you get away from surgery, the less it happens. And so I forget what it was in the beginning. It was probably every two or three weeks they would take blood tests, and then the MRI x-ray was probably three to six months, something like that. But now, fast forward five years, this coming August will be six years. So at this point, it's really just annual. It's annual blood markers, annual MRI, annual chest x-ray. So I've really just been on surveillance ever since August 2020.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and there's been no sign of any even hint of a recurrence, correct?
SPEAKER_01And so just knowing my personality, as you might know, like I'm very diligent on these kind of things. And so, as I'll go into the topic today, but it was really just like a diligence is probably the best word because I was adamant about doing whatever I could to prevent recurrence. And so doing a self-check. So they always recommend, you know, in with this kind of cancer, they recommend you do a monthly, once a month, do a self-check. So just feel for any lumps, any pain, anything like that. But because it's me, I basically do it every time I shower. So then so for that, there's never been any signs. But also, when I go to my urologist check-ins, when he does his exam, what he'll do is he'll he'll poke my chest, different areas, and he'll also do the collarbone and like the lymph nodes and the neck and everything, because those are common spots, he said, where something may present itself later. And ever since my first appointment with him, and I see him do that, I do that too. So it just, you know, even though the recommendation is just to do the one someone's check, yeah. I've seen the experts do what they do. Why can't I do it too? So that's what I do.
Support Groups And Finding Guidance
SPEAKER_00I love that. Yeah, of course you do that. That's good. That's great. Okay, I know. So this happened in August of 2020. And then I met you in March of 2021. So tell us a little bit about like between that time span, what was going on for you? Obviously, you must have been very shocked. You were you're a young man still. So I how old were you when you were diagnosed?
SPEAKER_012020, I was 36.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So shocking to be like, what? So tell me what was going through your head after that. So you you have a surveillance plan, but what else were you either researching or was top of mind for what do I do now?
SPEAKER_01You have your friends and family as a support group, but sometimes they just because they're not experiencing the emotional roller coaster of it all and just everything that comes along with it, that sometimes they're not the best support group for you because they don't know what the questions to ask, or they don't want to, they don't know what to ask, or these kind of things. And so I started joining a support group through UCSF. And that was, I think it was November or December of that year. So a couple months afterward. And I still attended almost every month, or bi-weekly at this point, too, as well. But the lead of that group, she saw you speak at a UCSF conference, you know, shortly before that, or something like that.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_01And so she gave she gave me your name as a reference or your website or something like that. And so that's when I reached out and you had just were the beginning stages of developing the program. And so that's how you and I got introduced.
SPEAKER_00Okay. So I'm curious that okay, if you were interested in coming to work with me, you must have already had a sense that there was more you could explore or do to help yourself stay healthy and cancer free. So had you already started to do some of your own research before we started to come up with a game plan together?
SPEAKER_01A little bit, but it was mostly because I didn't know what to look for. The stuff that I have already implemented today is, you know, it didn't even cross my mind back in 2020 or 21.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01Some of the things that I was just going down the rabbit hole. What else could I take away? What else can I change in those things? And that's how, you know, it started with the food intake, of course, because nutrition program and everything. But then you again you go down that rabbit hole of non-toxic cleaning products and pans and clothing and all the air filter, what all these different things. Like that's how it started.
Organic Food And Reading Labels
SPEAKER_00Okay. So let's why don't we go ahead and talk about that? Let's talk about all the because I know you've made so many changes. And I would love for you to just share exactly like you just said. So, starting with food, what were some of the things that were top of mind for you that, like, oh, I need to do this differently? And even maybe even comment because it has been five years since you've made many of these changes. You know, are you still doing it exactly the same as you were then? Or has it sort of, you know, modified a bit to be more of a long-term game plan for you? Just let's start with just the food part. What does that look like?
SPEAKER_01So I remember emailing you even before I joined the program, just to gauge the information that you'd be willing to share at that point. And it was, I would send you like a here's some typical things that I would eat during the week type of thing. And I would ask you like something along the lines of like, how healthy is this, or what is this okay to eat type thing? And it would be like, you know, chicken nuggets or like Trader Joe's, teriyaki chicken, those kind of things. The can the convenient, easy type of foods to make. And looking back, I don't know that you actually answered the question directly because you were your responses were more like educating me for me to make the answer for myself, which was good because it opened my mind to what else can I learn, what else can I research, those kind of things. So the food part of it was learning about the EWG, the environmental working group, the clean, the dirty dozen, clean 15. So once a year, I think it's around April or something, they always release this study about the fruits and vegetables, the dirtiest dozen and the cleanest 15. So everything, papayas, avocados, bell peppers, onions, you know, basically your the most common fruits and vegetables that people would eat, they're probably gonna be on one of these lists. And I checked it for the first couple of years pretty regularly, and they stay the same for most from what I remember for the most part. So that was the first part, was just learning about the dirty dozen clean 15 and starting to buy basically most things organic. And fortunately, living in California, we have a lot of options for organic food, Trader Joe's, Safeway Vaughn's, you name it. It's hard not to find organic food, farmers markets. So that was like my foray into the whole organic food area.
SPEAKER_00Were there any other parts of your diet that you had to adjust? I it's funny because I don't remember those initial emails, but hearing you, you know, say chicken nuggets, I'm sure I must have commented on that at some point and be like, maybe we need to move towards the whole chicken instead of the processed version. So what else have you modified?
SPEAKER_01It's just yeah, so the organic label is easy for a lot of people nowadays to understand because it's right in the package or in the supermarket, a big stand for it. But reading product labels really matters too because sometimes the marketing on the package doesn't tell the full story. So it might say organic something on the front, but it look in the back, it's there's 26 added grams of sugar. So it's like, how healthy is that thing really? It might be organic olive oil, but whatever else is inside might be not as great for you. So that was part of and so another part of it is diabetes runs in my family history. And so I was already reading product labels, nutrition labels, in terms of the added sugar part of it, but I wasn't really looking at the the full ingredients because I think this is still true, but the way that things are listed on the package is the quantity of the ratio based on what it's in the package. So if sugar is the first or second thing, it's the most prominent ingredient in there. Uh so I never looked at those details that closely before because there's a lot of things that are labeled sugar, like molasses and honey and sucrose, all these different things. So like just knowing having been educated on that kind of stuff, then you realize, yeah, it might be an organic, it might be organic popcorn, but what else is inside type thing. So it's just really being diligent on knowing everything that's in the product you're eating.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And I mean, that alone, right? Even just those two steps of trying to eat more, like trying to eat food more in its whole form. So the less processed version, the least amount of ingredients possible, plus choosing as much organic as you can. I mean, that already is shifting your toxic load and like the environment in your body. What else? What else did you bring in food-wise before we move to anything else that was maybe different than you were doing before?
unknownYeah.
Better Proteins Seed Oils Sugar Cuts
SPEAKER_01So there's like the food part of it. So I was never vegetarian or vegan or anything like that. So I was, you know, I was eating beef, I was being basically eating any chicken, beef, pork, all those things, so fish. And so I kind of switched to wild-caught fish. So wild-caught salmon, and generally you can again, because you live in we live in California, the luxury of finding these kind of specific foods is easier. But you know, at Costco, for example, you can find wild-caught fish, wild-caught halibut, and all these different things. And so wild-caught fish, and then you educated me on grass-fed and grass-finished beef. Because again, something might say grass-fed, but it might be grain finished. And so that's like halfway. But adding it grass finished as well is from what I know is better. And that limits your choices, of course, because you're getting more specific. But that was part of the beef part of it. Just I think I don't know if it's your term or not, but eat the rainbow every day. Yeah, every single, like many colors on your plate. So blueberries, mango, get the reds, greens, yellows. Every single color of the rainbow if you can throughout the day or on a single meal because the color of the food, there's different like phytonutrients, I think, or whatever. I don't know if I'm using that correctly, but no, you are.
SPEAKER_00Actually, this is great, Brandon. People are seeing are seeing firsthand how much you've learned. Like you're clearly one of my best students here. Like you can repeat the things. This is good.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. So there's a reason why these things are different colors because there's different things inside of it, right? So I've been a lot more conscious of to this day, what's on my plate, not just is it is there fat, carbs, and protein, but what fruit am I eating? Do am I eating the same fruit today? No, I try and vary it up. All the banana today, but then a pear tomorrow, then a papaya, you know, then just like keep rotate. I don't keep like a daily log of this, but just a mental note of oh, I had I had strawberries yesterday. Maybe I'll have blueberries today, you know, because different colors, probably different beneficial things. That's my general thought process.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So eating the rainbow. Another one, big another one is like the seed oils. And I'm sure a lot of people see the social media posts nowadays on Instagram, TikTok, whatever. But safflower oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, all these seed oils, it's it's not it's not a secret anymore. Like these things aren't really good for you. So stick to coconut, avocado, olive oil. Those are the three better ones that I stuck to. Um organic is even better, of course. It's just less toxic load on your body, your body processes it better, I think. So that's another big one. And like I mentioned before, like the sugar intake. It's crazy how a little thing like a granola bar, how much sugar can be added to it. Because 12, 15 grams or a can of soda is like 30 or 40. Or Starbucks drinks for two. So just being mindful of that kind of thing. And you know, I was drinking soda before all this happened, but not that much, maybe three, four times a week, like one a day type thing. I don't I think I've had a maybe one soda in like the past six years. So just as an example of something else I've taken out because I don't miss it, because I know like looking at the color of Pepsi or Coke, probably not just probably not good for your body, right?
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So I just again going down the rabbit hole on what I've learned. Oh, I can take that out, I'm not gonna miss it. And I haven't. So just I just keep now that I have such a routine, yeah. All these things are just being replaced by something else or just taken out completely.
SPEAKER_00Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Is there anything that was actually hard to do or is still hard to do? Anything that you miss from before, or does this just feel, I don't know, just a happier normal for you?
SPEAKER_01I have a sweet tooth and I still do. So limiting sweets or like finding good alternatives, like chocolate chip cookies is my vice. It's like the biggest thing that I miss. Yeah. And so obviously it's hard to make chocolate chip cookies without sweet, right? Because then it wouldn't be a chocolate chip cookie. So that's one bigger thing I miss. But on occasion, like Thanksgiving or Christmas, I might have one or two, like the store bought ones. You know, if I make them, I try and find something alternative, maybe coconut sugar or not putting as much. That's another thing. Like when you're making your own stuff, you can modify recipes. If it calls for like half a cup of honey, probably too much. You could you get away with a quarter cup of honey? Could you get away with less? Like it's all depending on your taste buds, of course. But you can still eat these kind of things on occasion. But even then, if you're making it yourself and you know what's going into it, modify the recipe, put us put less of something in and see how it is, because then that could be your recipe going forward.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I love that. I love that. Okay, so you've definitely made a lot of food shifts over this time. What else were what are some other big changes that you made? And maybe not all at once, as you learned and tackled different areas, maybe after you finished, after you felt like pretty solid with your food, what did you where did you go next?
SPEAKER_01Pretty closely to that is just the cookware. Like many other people, I had nonstick pans because the convenience of washing pans that are things will just slide off. There's a reason why they're nonstick, because there's a chemical on the surface of it. Looking back on it, it's common sense now to me that there's a reason why it's easier to clean, because it's probably not beneficial to the body. So I pretty quickly switched to stainless steel pans. There's a there's other recommendations that are of the course, what's the griddle? I'm flanking on the type of it.
SPEAKER_00Like a cast iron?
SPEAKER_01Cast iron, yeah. Yeah, I've heard that being a good recommendation too, but I I actually found that like less less appealing just because it was it's hard for me to imagine leaving whatever you're cooking on at that would be your nonstick surface going forward. Right, right, right. So to me, that's always been weird. So I've always just stayed uh stuck to stainless steel pans. And so even like we don't have any nonstick pans in our house. Everything is stainless steel that goes with the frying pans, the pot the pots, the basically everything. So yeah, that that and the food the changing of the food from basically conventional to organic, and like this switch from nonstick to stainless steel, it was pretty close to like overnight switch. It was like there was no question I was gonna do this. It was just pretty quick. So there was no like delay. It wasn't gradual.
SPEAKER_00You're just like, this is changing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01So that was the other biggest thing. And then, you know, other things non-food related, we can talk about, of course. But yeah, those things are even some other utensils like food grade silicone. There's a lot of silicone things out there, but is it food grade? And you know, you can look for those kind of certifications, the stirring spoons and those kind of things. Like there's there's there's ways to tell if it's real silicone or not. You know, again, just going down the rabbit hole of whether it be Reddit or YouTube or whatever, just searching. What are some brands to look for? Where can I find it? What's a better alternative? All these things.
Water Filters And Air Purifiers
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's great. Okay. So we're continuing on your like, you're you're sort of recreating this non-toxic lifestyle for you, or as best you can. Obviously, we can't control for everything, but you know, what with what's reasonable. What else did you tackle or research or change?
SPEAKER_01Let's I think there was pretty closely after that was water filter and air filter. People drink water every day. So again, something you're gonna be doing regularly forever. So looking into the best water filters. And so this is a you know a very kind of subjective thing with a lot of people online, but there's those those like Brita pictures, though those tabletop pictures, like if you're just pouring water in and it filters out like instantly, is it really working that type of thing? There's a reason probably it's ten or fifteen dollars for the pitcher because it's probably not the best one on the market. So and then and I know that these things aren't really applicable to everybody because budget comes into concern. Yeah, but when I was looking at different things, you know, I think it's the Berkey filter is a good one. But what I use is Hydro Veb. Hydro Veb is a it's actually a shark tank product from way back in the day, but it's an underwater sink filter. They also have them you can attach them to your shower head because again, you're fully engulfed by the water in the shower, so what are you breathing from the water, right? Yeah, uh, but the filters for the fridge as well. But that was one that I've used for about five years now, is this Hydro V water filter. And what they do is they actually they've done studies that about how the quality of their filter compared to everything else on the market, and so that's what convinced me that they were the brand that I wanted to go with because they actually had scientific proof um comparison across different things. So that was the water filter.
SPEAKER_00And did you put it on your shower too?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Okay, great.
SPEAKER_01The next thing was the air filter, and just looking at the market and everything, what options were available? I went with the air doctor, and they have different sizes for how big your space is and everything. We have three at this point. We started out with one because we were living in a smaller apartment at the time, but now we have a bigger house. So we the common areas warrant their own filter. So that was one. And what's good about the air doctor is again, they can have these studies that they've compared their the quality of their product in removing the allergens in the air. But they also what's good is they run frequent promotions. It can be an expensive filter, but a lot of times they run significant discounts. So just watch out for one of those discounts, and it's you know, you won't find a better deal type of thing.
SPEAKER_03Nice.
SPEAKER_01You know, I took advantage of those. So those are the two of the big things because the air you breathe, whether it's in in the house or outside, you can't have it outside, of course. It's much harder. But it's the air and water filter for sure.
Clothing Choices Closest To Skin
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and like I think too when you prioritize, because of course this can get really pricey. And we're we've only scratched the surface, right? Of like the things you could invest in. But I think the things that that are going to impact you on a daily basis definitely make sense, which is what you're describing. That's what you went for first. So, what are the things I'm exposed to every day? The food I'm eating, the how I'm cooking the food, the water I'm drinking, the air I'm breathing. So if you know, if we have to prioritize where to spend our money, that makes sense to me, anyways. I understand why that you went that approach.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and that kind of leads into the next thing is like the clothing you're wearing. You don't think you don't, at least I didn't think, that that would have an impact because there's so many different fabrics out there nowadays, and there's probably even more fabrics being invented because of certain things or environmental reasons, or people becoming more conscious of what they're wearing. But I never thought of like organic cotton, like looking for organic cotton in general, or like linen, like those are two of the better ones you can wear. And so there's a lot of nowadays, I see a lot more products coming available that are you know, health conscious, environmentally conscious, all these different things, like different certifications. There's got certified, there's oito text, there's blue sign, and all these different things. And so it's funny because like I some of these brands that come out with like products, they're they say they are you know environment or health conscious aware, but then they're still made of like a plastic foundation.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And so I'm like, so I see these like social media posts with these articles, I'm like, but it's still plastic. You you're not really doing anything to convince me that it's uh healthy for me to wear if it's still plastic. You know, so again, what I learned was like again, researching all these different brands that you can find of like organic clothing or linen or bamboo, maybe you know, some bamboo is might be questionable just because again, it might be added to using other synthetics. But you know, I found some good organic clothing brands that I just go back to if I need something else. But there's a there's so many different brands now that are offering it. And again, it's gonna be more traditionally than something, something you might buy at Walmart or Costco, but right you're paying for quality, but you're paying for the better conditions that the material was grown in.
SPEAKER_00So over the last five years, have you replaced most of your clothes with or like how did you prioritize what to switch out first? Or was it like when you needed to get something new, then you went with an organic option?
SPEAKER_01Both okay. The main things, not everything in my closet is organic. I will say that, but most of it I'm neither is mine.
SPEAKER_00Let's just normalize that. Yeah, for sure. Neither is mine.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, even though I it was a quick, it was a quick transition in terms of once I found this brand called PACT, that's the one I use a lot. Undershirts, boxers, socks, those are like my first ones.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the things that are closest to the body, that's what I would recommend, especially with something like testicular cancer. What what's close to those areas, we want to limit toxins as much as we can.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And trying to think what else there was. I do have some other one-off branches because I found it on sale or something, and I was like, oh, that can be helpful later, type thing. But yeah, it was mostly it was a combination. So it was all of a sudden, but then gradually over time, oh, that's sweatshirt's getting around, you know, older variety. Let me get a new one. Okay, now I'll go to these other brands that I know and get one from there. And you know, Amazon, of course, they have so many different retailers. They do have a lot of organic options on there, but you really have to know and read the descriptions and even do research outside of that on the actual brand's website to see what's actually in the clothing because Amazon descriptions aren't always going to be totally accurate. Even though you might have options to search, I wouldn't totally trust it in the end.
Personal Care And Cleaning Products
SPEAKER_00Mm-hmm. Okay, this is already a lot. Some people listening might be like, wow, that's really inspiring, right? There's a lot of things to trade out. Was there anything else that you also made changes with?
SPEAKER_01I'm just looking at my list and then where do I start? Like personal care and cleaning products, like toothpaste, lotion, floss. Floss is like one of those overlook things because it is some sort of plastic, I think. And so traditionally, and so a lot of there's a lot of the forever chemicals, the PFAS. I forget what the actual technical name is for it, but that's the abbreviated thing. But the forever chemicals, there's a lot of those in these personal care products, shampoo, lotion, mouthwash, anything like that. You know, again, go to the EWG because they have a skincare, it's called Skin Deep, and they have ratings on everything you could find, probably. And so, again, that's where I found some brands of things that I would need to replace, like toothpaste, like gloss. And so that's where I started because you're doing that every single day. So that was one place. The cleaning products, you know, if something is scented, lemon, grapefruit, whatever, honey, like it might be synthetically created. So even if it's even if it smells nice, if it's an air freshener or something, it's it's a chemical, you know. Just like you can make scented things if you want, like with different essential oils. There's plenty of those other you you can make your own cleaning agent with. So switching out from a lot of the traditional things like the Dawn, the soft soap brands, to what we use now primarily is like Castile soap, which is very potent, but that's what I use a lot of times. And then there's other brands for different things that I've again found on EWG, and just you find the retailers that you can find at like Target or maybe Amazon or there's other places, but just all these different things that you wouldn't immediately think of. Oh, I need to change that probably because you know, you're just exposed to it. Like when you spray to clean your counters, that mist, it doesn't all go on the counter. Some of it'll stay in the air. And so if it's there and you breathe it, you know, it's like how your risk tolerance, or do you think about those kind of things? And so the more I can limit the quote bad stuff in my environment in general, the better I, the more confident I feel that I'm making the right choices. And so it's not just the food, it's not just the water, it's not just the air you're breathing, it's all these things that I've changed because I've gone down the rabbit hole of researching everything.
SPEAKER_00And just to be clear, since other people don't know you who are listening, just to be clear, you were not doing these things before, right? Were any of these things already on your radar before you got your cancer diagnosis?
SPEAKER_01No, because I was going, you know, when you go to for thinking products, you buy the 409 from from Target for like the all-purpose cleaner. Right. Or like the Ajax for your bathroom, whatever it is, just because it's the because it works really well, it's really cheap, but it's there's probably a trade-off on some level, right? So all these different things that, you know, I wasn't like a lot of people, I was a budget shopper. And so for a lot of these things, I would again just go for what was on sale or like buying in bulk because it was a good deal type thing. So it works really well. But once you learn about things, you find alternatives. Like I mentioned, the cast heel, so the different brands on EWG and everything.
Detox Support Sink And Drain
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah. No. Okay. So let's go back to what I was mentioning in the beginning of our show, of our episode, that this month we were talking about detox support. So a big portion of this is how, you know, is just like Brandon's been describing, is what are the things we can do to decrease our exposures as what we have control over. But the other part of this is also how do we help ourselves detox better, right? Like how do we support our pathways to actually clear out whatever we are still exposed to? Because it's never going to be 100%, nor does it need to be, as long as we have good. Something I talked about in earlier episodes was that sink diagram, which I know I've used with you before too, Brendan, of just like, you know, the faucet is pouring the toxins in, but if the drain is open and it's not clogged, things will flow out. So I know you've also done some things to try to help enhance your pathways of clearance. So tell us some of what you've done for that.
Sauna Habits Binders And Dry Brushing
SPEAKER_01The biggest, most frequent thing I do is the overnight extended fast. And when people hear the word fast, I think they generally think, well, that's just to lose weight, which is true because if you're limiting the food intake, the calories, it's probably natural that you'll lose some weight, right? But not only will you do that, but you're what I've learned is that the overnight extended fast or any kind of fast, however long it is, your your body gets a chance to clean up after itself. And so in general, I was probably eating three meals a day, just standard. And oftentimes I would eat like soon before bed. So it could be eight, nine o'clock, whatever, eating whatever it was, like a snack or a late night dinner or whatever. So I wasn't giving my and then I was having breakfast that following morning by 6 30, 7 a.m. before work. So that nine or ten hours was not enough in my mind for to clean up, process, digest everything. So the overnight extended fast right now, what I worked up to, it's about 15 or 16 hours. Almost every single night. And so I'll have dinner by 6.30, 7 o'clock, finished, and then I won't even eat breakfast most mornings the following morning. My breakfast, my first meal is about 11 30 or noon. Because that is about 15-16 hours. And so what happens is in everybody's body is differently, I think, but the topic cleaning up part of it is when they go, is when your body goes in and you know secretes and finds all the bad stuff so that you can secrete it, whether it's through you know, urine, stool, sweat, all those detox pathways. So that's one big thing is the overnight extended fast. But even for a couple years when I joined your program, I didn't do the modified the five-day extended fast because it seemed too daunting. And so again, when you hear fast for five days, you're like, there's no way I can do that. It is possible. I've done it for probably three years straight now, every quarter. So I've probably done it about a dozen times. But basically that you're limiting your food intake, of course. But you're the way I can describe it to people is you're like you're tricking your body that you're in a fasting state, but you're still getting to eat. Because and and the food that I the the diet that I follow during this plan is your initial the initial program you came out with. And so there's a variety in there that I like. There's salads, there's soups, there's sweet potato, you know, there's quinoa, there's it's colorful things. So you're getting a variety, but you're tricking your body that you're actually in a fasted state so that it can do this autophagy part and clean up after itself for three to five days, however long you do the fast. I've always done it for five days just to maximize when I actually do it. Because to be honest, it's not a fun process for me because I can eat a lot of food, and so when I'm really limiting my food for that five days, it's pretty tough, but I've learned how to because I've done it for every three months. I get used to it. So I like when that first day, my body knows, okay, now we're doing it, type thing. And I've just gotten used to it. So the combination of the overnight fast, 15 to 16 hours, plus this five days fast four times a year, that's one big way that I've done it. And there's ways you can compound on that fasting. The next thing I'll say is like infrared sauna. So I'm fortunate to have a local gym about 10 minutes away that I can do an infrared sauna. And so I do that three to four times a week for about 20 to 30 minutes a session. And again, there's different your body detoxes things in different pathways. Again, urine, stool, sweat, whatever. And so some things get secreted or whatever, through sweat. Like heavy metals, I think is one that's that comes out through sweat. So like heavy metals and like chocolate. Heavy metals are common thing found in chocolate. Mmung. You probably don't a lot of people probably don't know that until you actually research it. But again, because out because I like chocolate or dark chocolate, I know that I might be having some trace of heavy metal in the chocolate. So just as an example, I do the infrared sauna, sweat everything out. And so that's another way that I double down on the detox pathways because not everything gets expelled from the body just by going to the bathroom, you know.
SPEAKER_00I love that. The sauna has been, how long have you been doing that though? I feel like maybe that's the more newer one that you've added in. Is that true? How long has it been?
SPEAKER_01It's about two years.
Daily Smoothie With Detox Superfoods
SPEAKER_00Okay. Yeah. But for people to know, so you started this process five years ago, and there were certain things you just changed right away because they were easy for you to wrap your head around and the no-brainer for you. And then over time, you've gradually added more and more strategies, right? So it doesn't have to be an overnight thing unless you feel compelled to do that. But something I really try to emphasize for people is any change you make, even if you just did one of the things that Brandon talked about, like I said, he is a gold star student. So he's an exception. But even if you just did one or two of those things, it's already going to make a big difference. We're starting to shift the balance. And that's really what we're looking for. And then clearly, the more you can do, the better, as you've done. Is there anything else that you've brought in that we've missed? Like major things like that?
SPEAKER_01The biggest thing, the most routine thing I'll say is like my daily smoothie. Smoothie is a very generous word for this because people think of smoothie as like very fruit, very sweet type of thing, honey or sugar added, whatever. But my smoothie is not by no means anything like that. So my smoothie, it'll be it's mixed with water, but it's mostly like matcha, moringa powder, cinnamon, mushroom powder, beet powder, you know, all these different, there's probably half a dozen things that I put in there. I and I drink it most days because again, you go back to the detox thing, matcha is a great food, whatever drink you want to consume, because it helps with that the detox and the autophagy part of it. Um, because the chemical that's in green tea is very potent. And so I my thought process is if I have this regularly, you know, probably five days a week at least, or something like that, I'm just doubling down on everything else I'm doing to prevent something from growing or just feel better in general. So that's the biggest thing. And it again, it smoothie is a generous word. It doesn't look appealing, but it does, it's not that bad to me anyway. So it's again that's the thing I I I you know I drink in the morning. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I love that example. I think that if any of you went listened to last month's episodes around diet and putting together an anti-cancer diet, one of the things we talked about were some of these what I would almost consider anti-cancer superfoods, like some heavy hitters that we know have potent anti-cancer properties. And that could be because they're supporting detox, or it could be that they're immune-supporting or anti-inflammatory, or even that they have research showing that they target and kill cancer cells. So the concept of how do we get as many of those in as possible each day. I love like your strategy is to have a daily smoothie, like to have a daily drink that just incorporates a lot of those things. So you're not, you know, worried about fitting it into your meals every day. I love that strategy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and one thing I'll circle back on the sauna thing because I was going to the sauna for a while, but then during one of your sessions, you were saying, that's great, but there's also binders. So bind there's different binders you can take. And I don't do all of them, but there's the binders basically they by definition, they bind to the bad stuff so that when you sweat it out, you can it'll have a better chance of getting expelled from the body, right? Whether that's through the sauna or like later using the restroom. So the binders I use are psyllium fiber and spirulina. And you know, you generally want to drink those if you're doing the sauna, you generally want to drink those before so it's in your system so that it's ready to bind to the things as you're going through the sauna. So those are the two biggest things that I the binders that I package up with the sauna part of it. And I know it's infrared sauna is it's more trending out over the past couple years because it's gotten so much publicity. But not every not everybody has access to it or easy access to it. And some places it can be quite expensive just for one session, like 20, 30 bucks a session. But I lucked out with my local sauna because it's close by, but it's also really inexpensive for me. So I can go unlimited times a month for a really good price. So that's another, it's more of an incentive for me because of that as well. Yeah. But again, I know it's not readily available for everybody listening or watching the call.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's true. But at the same time, I think, like you did, it's also researching what's possible, right? And you may not even know that there's a possibility close by that you could use take advantage of it. Or maybe instead of a traditional sauna, you use a sauna blanket or other strategies, you know, or it's something you save up for because you decide you really want this in your house and you're gonna like budget for it. I think there's always ways to make it work. But you just, you're right, you take one thing at a time and you gradually bring in the things that resonate that you're called to do.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And then the last thing I'll package on with that is, you know, after you get home from the sauna, you gotta shower, right? Because you're all sweaty and stinky. But before I even shower, I do a dry brush because the dry brush does it activates the lymph in your body because there's no muscle that's pumping the lymph through your body. It's it's you are the muscle. So doing a dry brush, you know, starting, I start at the bottom of my feet and work my way up the body. Circular motions, I think, is best, but I spend three to five minutes doing that because that activates the lymph to push things out, whether it's in the moment or later in the day, going to the bathroom or something. But again, that's just another thing that I've learned that you can add on to something you're already doing to hopefully compound the beneficial impact of the yeah.
SPEAKER_00It's like habit stacking, right? Like you're combining several things in one shot to get the most benefit.
SPEAKER_01That's probably the best way to describe it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I love that. I think any of you listening, I feel like Brandon has probably graduated to health coach level. Like we should probably just recruit you to actually help serve the other members of our group now. And if any of you have listened to my previous episodes this month, you're gonna be like, oh yeah, she said that. She said that too. And I didn't, I promise I did not give him these things to say ahead of time. This is all coming from what Brandon has learned and not just learned, because I think there's one thing to understand and get knowledge. You know, listening to this podcast episode, you're getting knowledge, and some of this might be new information to you. But what's more important is that you're integrating, that you're taking action on what's resonating and finding ways to actually fit that into your. Routine, which I hope is what Brandon has yeah, has shown to you is possible. Brandon, is there anything else you'd like to add or share before we wrap up?
SPEAKER_01Looking at my notes here, just the last thing is it's when people ask me, like, what can I do to whether they just want to lose weight or eat healthier or something like that, like you have to find your why. Like, my why is obviously preventing recurrence, but even if it's like just losing weight, you have to find you your why has to be big enough to make changes, to make long ongoing lasting changes. You can eat healthier for a week by not getting fast food or not drinking soda for a couple weeks or whatever. But if you just revert to old habits, you know, you're not really, in my mind, like making long-term impact. So find your why. And again, everybody's why is going to be different because everybody's story is different. My why is preventing recurrence, but some of the things that I do that I've talked about today that they're not fun to do. I don't look forward to waking up at 6 30 to go to the sauna to sit there for 30 minutes in 160 degree heat. It's not fun. Like I've never really done a cold plunge, but people sit there for three, four minutes in 30 degree water or even I don't even know what the temperature is, but like you have to find your why, have it be big enough, and make sacrifices if you need to have these changes actually have an impact because you know, otherwise it's not really gonna stick, or at least it it wasn't for me. And again, people are gonna do some of these things, they're gonna do more of these things. Like everybody's story is different. So you have to find your why and have it be strong enough so that you can be convicted enough to stay with it long term.
SPEAKER_00I think that's such a good point. And in your own, like your own personal story, do you feel like that's what's helped you stick with all of this for so long? For five years?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because like I mentioned before the fast, it's not easy for me to do that fast for five days because I can generally eat a pretty good quantity of food, but because in the back of my mind, I know my reason for doing everything. Yeah, that when I do that fast four times a year, I know that once I'm done for three months, and it's kind of like a plenty to say, but it's like a celebration because I can eat again.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01So like you have to go through sometimes you might have go through some uncomfortable things sitting in a sauna for a hundred that's 150 degrees or whatever for 30 minutes, or sitting in that cold plunge because you know your immune system's getting stronger, you're eliminating toxins, you'll feel better, you know, all these different reasons. So just find your why.
Closing And Share The Podcast
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah. And cancer can absolutely be a strong motivator, that is for sure. If you've gone through a cancer journey or you're currently going through a cancer journey right now, listening to this, then I know you can relate to that. You certainly don't want to do that again. And, you know, anything you can do to help lower that risk can be motivating. So I get that. Brandon, thank you so much for taking the time to be with me here today and for sharing all that you've learned and implemented over the last five years. I hope that our listeners have found that helpful and inspiring and given you some ideas too, given our listeners had some ideas of how you could implement some of the things that Brandon talked about. Perhaps there are some things he listed that just hadn't been on your radar yet. So I hope it gave you guys some good ideas. And as always, if you're enjoying this podcast, please help share it and spread the word so we can get into as many ears as possible. I'd just be so appreciative. Thank you so much for joining us today. And I look forward to seeing you or having you listen to me again in next week's episode. Bye for now.