An Interview with Dr. Chris Holder, ND of Hill Park Integrative Medical Center
While attending the Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians Conference I got to chat with Dr. Chris Holder, ND of Hill Park Integrative Medical Center in Sebastapol, CA and drchrisholder.com!
Create the Perfect Cancer Free Environment
One of my favorite questions to ask practitioners is on the somewhat competing theories of cancer one sees floating around while researching “alternative” approaches to cancer – epigenetic, metabolic, microbial, etc. I loved his answer and it’s one right in line with what I hear from actual clinicians that are working with patients day in and day out – all three are present and they all need to be addressed!
Dr. Chris Holder also noted that in order for cancer to flourish the immune system needs to have failed to stop it in the first place, so even if you are taking in a ton of good food and supplements to get your genes to express the way you want, working on your cellular metabolism, and taking care of viral or bacterial infections, if your immune system isn’t online at the end of the day the body is not going to mop up the cancer. In addition to the immune system not functioning other conditions that tend to be present are high acid and high glucose environments, so watch that diet!
Flavonoids, Sleep and Exercise Are Always a Good Anti-Cancer Idea
Another great answer when I asked what Dr. Chris Holder recommends across the board regardless of the patient or cancer type. No matter what type of cancer you’re dealing with you’ll always be well served with a high antioxidant and high flavonoid diet, i.e. LOTS of vegetables! This means five or six, not one or two, vegetable in at least two of your meals. Smoothies are another surefire and tasty way to be sure you’re taking in high amounts of the good stuff.
And speaking of your immune system working “at the end of the day,” proper sleep is vital as this is when your natural killer cells are lysing (killing) cancer cells most. This means a deep restorative sleep and enough of it. If you want to know EVERYTHING you can do to get the best possible sleep, Shawn Stevenson does a great job of laying it all out in his book Sleep Smarter.
His other constant “prescription” is exercise which is going to oxygenate tissues which is vital, and also the increased circulation is going to get more of whatever “treatment” you might be implementing, be it supplements or chemo or both, where you want it to the tumor. Here’s a video of Ryder and I working out for inspiration. ☺
Why are You Here and What Do You Want to Do?
I’ll let you watch the video for the full breakdown of all of this and Dr. Chris Holder’s three golden rules to staying healthy and disease free, which coincidentally (or maybe not) were almost identical to Dr. Paul Anderson’s when asked the same question at the same conference, but his last rule I do want to highlight. Purpose.
Ironically cancer is one of Dr. Chris Holder’s favorite diseases to treat because it forces patients to come to terms with who they are and what they want to do. If you don’t have a clear vision in mind for what you want to get done on this earth and why you’re here, your body isn’t going to fight as hard to stick around. And this isn’t just some woo-woo philosophical type thing, there is a ton of hard data directly linking cancer survival to a strong sense of purpose. Something to think about.
With small children it’s a little easier because their purpose is to learn and have a good time, but we as parents need to be sure we’re constantly fostering that environment, projecting “positive vibes” their way and not letting the stress of the situation rub off on our kids.