Your Body Has a Built-in Anti-Cancer Switch (Here's how to activate it!)

[00:00:00]We all know somebody who's had cancer, or maybe you've had it yourself. And once cancer becomes personal, it can change how you think about everything.

[00:00:08]You start to wonder what caused it? Was it sugar? Was it our laundry detergent?

[00:00:13]Was it that plastic container I used to microwave with in 2010? But it can really feel like this never-ending list of things to avoid. Don't eat this.

[00:00:21]Don't use that. Check that label. It's exhausting. But what if the most powerful way to prevent cancer, or keep it from coming back, isn't about avoiding things, it's about activating something that's already built in to each one of your cells? Because your body is already fighting for you. Right now, as you're watching this, your body's working hard to find abnormal or damaged cells like precancerous cells and get rid of them before they can cause a problem. It's a process called autophagy, and it's basically your body's cleanup system. Picture a little cleaning crew inside your body with tiny little garbage bags saying, "Okay, this protein is damaged. This mitochondria isn't weight. This one looks suspicious.

[00:01:04]Toss them out." And your body's always doing some level of autophagy, but here's the important part. There are things we can do to really ramp it up.

[00:01:13]In case you're new here, I'm Sarah. I've been working in oncology for over 19 years, and this channel exists because I got tired of watching my patients go through one of the hardest times of their lives without having the information they actually deserve. What frustrates me most in oncology is we're so focused on treatment, the drugs, the radiation, the surgery, which are critical, they save lives. But somewhere along the way, we forgot to tell people the important stuff they can do every day to improve their chances even more.

[00:01:43]Like what to eat, how often to eat, how to move, how to manage stress. Your body isn't passive in fighting or preventing cancer, and autophagy is proof of that.

[00:01:52]But the level of autophagy happening, how active and how effective it is, that can vary enormously based on the choices you make every day. But that's actually great news, especially if you've had cancer and you're doing everything you can to keep it from coming back. Or if cancer runs in your family and you're trying to be proactive, cuz it means that we have more control than we've been led to believe. So let's get into it. Here are some of the main ways we can naturally ramp up autophagy. Number one, first and foremost, fasting. But stick with me because I know the second that some people hear the word fasting, their brain says, "Absolutely not. We almost died that time we didn't have lunch in 2018." So let's talk about why fasting matters when it comes to cancer prevention. Because when you eat and snack all day long, especially if it's carbs or sugary things, your blood sugar goes up, your insulin goes up, too. So your body gets a very clear message, "We have enough resources coming in. We have enough energy, so it's time to grow and store calories." And that's not a bad thing. needs food. It needs energy. It needs insulin. But when insulin is high, autophagy tends to slow down. When your body thinks it can get quick energy from food, the cleanup crew takes a break.

[00:03:06]And it makes sense, right? Why clean house when you're in the middle of a dinner party? But when the party's over, the food is put away, things get quiet, that's when the cleanup crew go back to work again. Your body's the same. When you give it a break from food, your blood sugar starts to come down, insulin starts to come down, too, and your cells start to get a different message, like, "Okay, resources are low right now, so let's become more efficient. Let's repair. Let's clean house." And the good thing is, you don't have to do a five-day water only fast to start supporting autophagy. For a lot of people, the most realistic place to start is with intermittent fasting. They close the kitchen after dinner and then don't have breakfast until 10:00 or 11:00 the next day. Ideally, you want to give your body at least a 16-hour break from food, but remember, you're sleeping for most of that. But if you're still thinking, "No, I can't fast. I hate it.

[00:03:58]I wake up starving, or I have meds I need to take with food." I hear you, and you shouldn't feel guilty about not being able to fast. It can be stressful and emotional, so I'm not going to sit here talking about fasting like it's simple and easy for everyone, because it's not. Some people skip breakfast and feel amazing. Other people skip breakfast and suddenly everyone around them is in danger. And that's okay, because there are other ways to enhance autophagy, like exercise. Now, unfortunately, we're not talking about a slow stroll around the block here.

[00:04:27]Although walking is still great, you should never stop walking. But when it comes to autophagy, you want to challenge your body a bit more. Exercise puts a healthy kind of stress on your cells. When you move your body enough for your heart rate to go up and you challenge your muscles, you make your body work harder than it's used to. Your cells have to adapt. They have no choice. They have to become more efficient and repair themselves. And those are the exact same signals that ramp up autophagy. So, this could be anything from strength training to walking uphill or using resistance bands or doing bodyweight exercises. Anything that makes your body say, "Okay, we need to keep up here. Let's get stronger."

[00:05:07]And I'm not talking about destroying yourself in the gym. That's the opposite of what you want. The goal is to challenge your body just enough so it has a reason to adapt. And if you're able to do it in a fasted state, like before breakfast, that can stack the odds in your favor even more. So, start where you are. If 10 minutes is all you can do, 10 minutes counts. Or even if a short walk is all you can do, that's way better than doing nothing, too. But maybe try doing it before breakfast when you're in your fasting window. Okay, another thing you can do to enhance autophagy before breakfast is have some black coffee. Believe it or not, coffee contains certain compounds, like certain polyphenols, that can activate the same cellular pathways involved in autophagy.

[00:05:48]But the catch is it has to be black coffee. And I know black coffee sounds like something you drink when you're mad at yourself, but once you start adding cream or sweetener or collagen, your body now has something to deal with so that cleanup crew slows down again. I know it sucks. I love a good cappuccino, too. But if your goal is to support autophagy during your fasting window, black coffee is the way to go. This is one of those small changes that's doable. Now speaking of things that support autophagy-related pathways, there are certain types of food that can do this, too. A popular one that gets a lot of attention in the research world is something called spermidine. Terrible name, but it's found in foods like mushrooms, legumes, aged cheese, and wheat germ. And it's actually really well known for its role in cellular renewal and autophagy. And then we have another compound called EGCG, which is found in green tea. Great for lowering inflammation and for your metabolic health. And then there's turmeric, which also gets a ton of attention because it contains curcumin. And curcumin is pretty amazing because it seems to counteract some of the biggest troublemakers when it comes to cancer, inflammation and oxidative stress. So adding a little turmeric to your diet can do wonders. Now the final way to support autophagy, not as exciting, but it's by getting deep sleep. You can't out-fast, out-exercise, or out-supplement sleep deprivation. You just can't. At some point your body's like, "I'd love things, but you gave me 4 hours sleep so I'm just trying to survive Tuesday." Your body does so much of its best repair work while you're sleeping. It's when you literally go into maintenance mode. Your hormones regulate, inflammation calms down, and your brain and nervous system get a rest. So if you're always cutting your sleep short and you're on TikTok until 1 a.m., your body's constantly trying to do its repair work with one hand tied behind its back. And I know that getting a good night's sleep can be hard for a lot of people, so I'm not just saying just sleep better like it's easy. But I am saying that the quality of your sleep matters enough to take it very seriously. So if you struggle with it, bring it up with your doctor. Try to get some help. And sometimes it's just a matter of cutting back on caffeine throughout the day or making your room a darker place. Sometimes it's just the simple boring things that actually work.

[00:08:06]We spend so much energy worrying about what we should be avoiding. Avoid sugar, avoid stress, avoid plastics. And yeah, that matters. But what matters more are the small things we do every day. So I hope you walk away from this video feeling a little bit inspired because autophagy is a reminder that your body is on your side. It's working for you.

[00:08:26]You just have to give it a chance. And you don't have to be perfect. You don't have to do all the things. Just pick one of the things we talked about. Maybe stop eating after dinner tonight. Maybe switch to black coffee tomorrow morning and then hate me for it. Or maybe have a green tea instead. Start there and I'll see you next week.