Episode 121 | My Second Year in Practice: 5 Learnings on Healing Cancer, Fasting & Your Mitochondria

[00:00:00] Dr. Katie Deming: Hello and welcome back to The Born to Heal podcast. I'm Dr. Katie Deming, your host, and on today's episode. I wanna talk about my second year in practice. So in the fall of 2024, I did a podcast episode about my first year in practice and today I wanna share what I've learned in my second year. So my, I hit my second year in October.

[00:00:23] Dr. Katie Deming: We're now in December of 2025. I've completely shifted my practice, so obviously some. I've [00:00:30] had some big learnings, but what I wanted to do was to come in here and summarize what have I learned in my second year. Not only is it a good reflection for myself, but I also think that it's valuable for you guys to hear the things that I have learned in a summary format.

[00:00:46] Dr. Katie Deming: Because I kind of dole out these episodes of things that I'm learning and experts that I wanna speak to. But it's nice when you can kind of get a summary of the things that I am seeing, as someone who is, you know, has deep [00:01:00] knowledge in the conventional space and then stepped out into this new world of more natural healing and, giving that perspective.

[00:01:07] Dr. Katie Deming: So that's what we're gonna do on today's episode. And as many of you know. In my second year of practice, I have shifted my focus from doing a, an integrative oncology practice where I was really helping people do all the things so, you know, diet and physical practices to connect with circadian [00:01:30] rhythms and the rhythms of nature, sunlight, grounding, all of that.

[00:01:34] Dr. Katie Deming: Water, obviously water is really important. So talking about the quality of your water and making sure we get that right. also doing emotional work with people, doing mindset work and subconscious work, and then spiritual alignment and connection. And I would do all of those things with individual clients, um, and working through that process with them.

[00:01:54] Dr. Katie Deming: I would usually work with people for about 12 weeks, but in. The summer of [00:02:00] 2025. Now I realized, actually I was prompted by my mentor who told me that I was in too much noise, that I needed to focus because I was trying to do everything and just even those things that I just described to you, focusing on diet alone could be someone's whole career in, you know, trying to heal using diet.

[00:02:19] Dr. Katie Deming: But I was doing all of these things. And then on top of that, there's all of these. New therapies and different things that people could be doing. And I explained how I was spending so much time researching those different things [00:02:30] that I was just completely, losing myself in the process. And when he brought that to me that I needed to, or not, he didn't say, all he said was that I was into much noise and then I fasted and I took that to heart and really looked at my practice to figure out.

[00:02:45] Dr. Katie Deming: What was the most effective thing that I was doing? Was there one thing that incorporated all of the aspects that I knew, which was physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of healing? Was there one thing that I was doing in my practice that [00:03:00] really was making an impact on all of those levels?

[00:03:02] Dr. Katie Deming: And water fasting is that thing. So that has been my big shift within this year. But what I wanna do is I wanna talk about. Why is that? Like, why do I think that that is where I wanna put my effort and where I would put my money actually with healing? So the first thing that I realized in my second year, and, and probably this was actually already happening in my first year, but I, my first year I was new in this space and so I was trying to figure things out and [00:03:30] I didn't know whether it was me just, you know, lacking knowledge or it was the space, but.

[00:03:36] Dr. Katie Deming: I recognize now that this space of healing. Is so confusing and so noisy. And I'm saying that as someone with like two decades practicing as an oncologist and a healthcare leader, really understanding the system. Really like having a grasp of cancer from that aspect. coming out into the space where like [00:04:00] everything is possible, natural healing, integrative oncology, functional medicine, all of these different things, conventional.

[00:04:05] Dr. Katie Deming: How do you mix it all together? The one thing that I realize is that this space is really noisy, which is part of the reason why my mentor told me you're in too much noise is because this space is so noisy and there's so many conflicting. Ideas. And like one person says one thing and then another person says [00:04:30] complete opposite.

[00:04:30] Dr. Katie Deming: And it's like, how can all of that be true? And it's not. It's because it is, there isn't just one answer. There isn't just one answer, and this is the thing that I want you to realize, is that anyone who tells you it's this way or that way and they're so dogmatic about it, is probably someone that. May not be in your highest interest, and [00:05:00] I would listen to the things that they say, but I would also, it's so funny, Milo is here with us.

[00:05:05] Dr. Katie Deming: That's one of my kitties. He's talking to me. and maybe he likes this topic and he agrees that, this space is really noisy, but the, there's this. In addition to the noise, there's also this black and white thinking where people say it has to be this way or that way, and I think that is just not correct.

[00:05:25] Dr. Katie Deming: Like that is the one thing that I've learned is the more I've come into this space and the more [00:05:30] that I've expanded my own knowledge, the more I've realized that we're. Complex beings, you know, and every person is different. And so there are gonna be things that work for one person that don't work for another person.

[00:05:50] Dr. Katie Deming: And so. What I really look for when I am looking at different things and different tools that I can use for healing, [00:06:00] what I'm looking for is, does it resonate with me? Like, does what this person says resonate within me? If that's a yes, then I follow, and then I, and I keep. Assessing, and this is the other thing that I think many, and I see this actually from clients, more from like the practitioners in this space, is that.

[00:06:21] Dr. Katie Deming: You're wanting to make the right choice. You don't wanna get it wrong. So what you do is you end up going down something, and [00:06:30] even if you have an inkling, you're like, ah, maybe this is, we're too afraid to say, you know what? I learned what I needed from this, and now I'm gonna pivot. We stick with it and we stay with something even when it feels like maybe we know that's not the right answer for us.

[00:06:44] Dr. Katie Deming: And so what I would say, and I'm gonna do an episode about this, about following the signs, but. Really listen to yourself when you are working with someone, and if at some point it starts to feel misaligned, listen to that and pivot. And that is another [00:07:00] thing that I've learned is that your journey is not gonna be linear.

[00:07:03] Dr. Katie Deming: It's not like this is the answer, I'm gonna do this and then I'm gonna get this and I'm gonna do this, and I'm gonna get this. It's like, you know, you're learning. You have to think about this healing journey as a learning journey. You are literally just learning about your body, learning about yourself, learning about your patterns, learning about your conditioning, and if you use it in that way, it's gonna create so much more freedom for [00:07:30] you because you're less worried.

[00:07:31] Dr. Katie Deming: The the problem, where we get into trouble is fear. And fear is like. Ubiquitous with healing. You know, I think that especially with the people who I work with the most, which those are healing, cancer is fear is this huge like elephant in the room. It's like you're afraid your mortality has been brought up.

[00:07:52] Dr. Katie Deming: You are facing, you know, gosh, I'm not gonna live forever. Something could happen to me, and what if this. You know, whatever happens with the cancer. [00:08:00] And so you get into this like fear mode. It's just normal. It's just like what's been created just by the word cancer, right? This is what I say in my TEDx talk is that there's, the word cancer alone is like an atomic bomb going on off in your brain.

[00:08:13] Dr. Katie Deming: And so in any crisis you could take any crisis and fill in the gap. So any illness, any crisis in your life, all of these things create this fear because like what if the worst happens, right? So with Following [00:08:30] your intuition and really tuning to what's inside you. You have to get out of the fear, and that's why I have episodes.

[00:08:36] Dr. Katie Deming: So I have several episodes actually talking about fear. there are many ways that you can calm your nervous system. One is for eight breathing. So using breathing to calm your nervous system. another one is to, use. Meditation or hypnosis. Hypnosis is really great at getting at fear, but you have to get to that fear and you have to work on dissipating the fear [00:09:00] to be able to tune your signals.

[00:09:01] Dr. Katie Deming: ‘ cause otherwise you won't get clear messages. So, and I also have an episode or, um, I have an episode onto intuition, but I also have a guide and I'll have, my editor link the intuition guide here so you guys can learn the techniques to tap into your intuition. But. If you can look at your journey of healing as a journey and rather of not like this destination, like, I'm doing this thing to get to this point.

[00:09:27] Dr. Katie Deming: It's like, no, I'm using this to learn about my [00:09:30] body, to learn about myself. It really creates an openness for you to be listening and to hear the messages. So cancer or any other illness or any crisis in your life, is your body speaking to you. A physical manifestation of illness is like the ultimate sign that things are out of alignment in your life and the illness challenge, crisis, whatever it is, is an [00:10:00] opportunity for you to.

[00:10:02] Dr. Katie Deming: Look at things differently. And so you have to get out of the fear, and then you have to be looking at like, okay, what is opening for me and who resonates with me? And I honestly think that the people that you surround yourself with. Practitioners, healers, you know, whatever. It's their frequency that is impacting you the most.

[00:10:23] Dr. Katie Deming: You know? So that is the thing that you're wanting to tune to is, does this person's frequency align with [00:10:30] me? Does the treatment, the frequency of the treatment that they are offering align with me at this time? And the other thing is, is that. Sometimes things are good for us at one point and then not later.

[00:10:41] Dr. Katie Deming: And that's why I always say be listening and shift, but also because keep your mind open like you know something that is not right for you at one time. Like for example, let's just say water fasting. So water fasting. There has to be the right opening and time in your life to do this. Of course, it re requires you [00:11:00] creating that time, but sometimes it's not the time to create that space for that.

[00:11:04] Dr. Katie Deming: And that's okay. And just know that it's like, okay, that's not wrong for you. It's just not right for you at this time. And so looking at things with that open-mindedness and not just. Well, that wasn't right, so I'm never doing that. It's like, no, maybe in a year that's gonna be the right thing for you to do then because you need to do this other thing now.

[00:11:25] Dr. Katie Deming: So that's the second thing. The first thing was that the space is really noisy and [00:11:30] it's very chaotic and it is hard to find your center in with all of the information. And the one thing that I would say is. Really starting to be discerning about who you let into your space. And this brings to the second point, which is so many of these, voices in this space are black or white this way or that way.

[00:11:50] Dr. Katie Deming: You, you know, you have to do it my way. It's like that's something that you want to really look at and say, that's not correct. [00:12:00] Healing is not like that. Everybody's body is not the same. Everybody needs something a little bit different, and so it is okay for you to be pulling things from this person and this person and not getting into black and white thinking that there is a one right way for you to do your healing.

[00:12:18] Dr. Katie Deming: There's a thousand ways and you are going to find the path that resonates for you, that feels true for you, and not let yourself get, [00:12:30] persuaded by other people when you know something's not right for you. Don't let someone else's like, you know, idea that this has to be the thing sway you. Really stay true to yourself and just be open.

[00:12:42] Dr. Katie Deming: Like listen to the information, see if something resonates. If it's resonates, it's time for that. If it doesn't resonate, it's not time right now, and maybe that's a never, maybe it's later on, but really being discerning about who you're letting into your space, who you're listening to right now. Is really [00:13:00] important.

[00:13:00] Dr. Katie Deming: And the truth is you can listen to someone else later. But I, and this is one thing I hear a lot during my water fast, is people start to get really clear about the noise. And so many of my clients exit the water fast and basically unsubscribe from everyone's podcast. And honestly, I'm okay if you guys unsubscribe from my podcast.

[00:13:19] Dr. Katie Deming: If I'm creating noise in your life. You don't need that in your ear. You don't need to have like constant content. And that's one of the things that. People have told me is that [00:13:30] they, they were like so addicted to consuming content because they felt like that was gonna give them an answer and more information.

[00:13:37] Dr. Katie Deming: More information. But the truth is more information just clouds you from your own internal knowing. And so. Subscribing to less podcasts might be exactly what you need. You know, and I support that. Like I really want you to find the voices that resonate for you and keep those, but be really discerning about how much content you're listening to and [00:14:00] who you're bringing into your space because.

[00:14:02] Dr. Katie Deming: Your frequency is affected by those people who enter your frequency, right? So that can be through a podcast, it can be through Instagram, it can be through Facebook. And I will tell you that the algorithms on these platforms are terrible for healing. I mean, in some ways it's nice because you can find some of these different people who are doing different things, but the algorithm then.

[00:14:25] Dr. Katie Deming: Knows what you're searching and knows what you're saying, right? You notice it listens to you [00:14:30] and like you're talking about something, and then all of a sudden you're getting all these posts, but it's giving you everything. It's not giving the things that you choose. So. Getting off social media is not a bad thing either.

[00:14:43] Dr. Katie Deming: It's like, it can be a tool, but it can really, really be harmful because it can amp up that fear, right? It can amp up all the concerns of not getting it right. When you're hearing all these voices and all these different things and you started to do one thing and then you see, you know, pop up on Instagram, someone telling [00:15:00] you that's the worst thing to do, it's like you don't need that in your ear.

[00:15:04] Dr. Katie Deming: So I just, those are some things of being cautious about what you're letting into your space and your field, because everything that you're doing is healing you or it's blocking you from your healing, and that includes me, that includes other people that you listen to. You just wanna make sure that you're bringing information that is helpful.

[00:15:27] Dr. Katie Deming: And that's one of the things that I've had [00:15:30] to start thinking about. Who do I bring on as guests? In the beginning I was like, I just wanna talk to like all of these experts and whatever. And I started bringing all these people on and then I realized, I'm like, no, I have to bring on only the guests that really resonate.

[00:15:47] Dr. Katie Deming: With what I am learning, with what is growing inside of me so that I don't confuse you. And so now I'm much more discerning about who I'm bringing on the podcast as I'm learning, to [00:16:00] make sure that that is someone who is going to add value for you and not. Destabilize you. If you've been listening to me and you're, you know, the things that I've been sharing have been resonating, I wanna make sure that the guests that I bring on reinforce those concepts to help you deepen the knowledge.

[00:16:20] Dr. Katie Deming: ‘ cause I'm not an expert. I'm like, I feel like I know this much. Like, and I'm holding up my fingers with like a very, like maybe an inch between them. I know so little [00:16:30] and I. Know that like the, the more I learn, the less I feel like I know because it's just, there's so much to know, and that's why I bring these guests on so that they can bring in additional deepening knowledge that I may not have.

[00:16:42] Dr. Katie Deming: I know that this is an important topic, but I'm not an expert and so I wanna bring those things into you. Okay, so those were the first two things. It's a noisy and confusing space. And the second thing is there's a lot of black and white thinking in this space, and you want to get outta that. You don't want to buy into that black and white [00:17:00] thinking that conventional is the only way, or, you know.

[00:17:03] Dr. Katie Deming: Natural healing is the only way. Or because this is actually another thing. It's so funny. I'm like, this podcast episode's gonna be longer than I thought. I was like, I think it's just gonna be like 30 minutes. But another thing that I see, this is interesting, so with the black and white thinking is people say, I'm going a hundred percent natural.

[00:17:20] Dr. Katie Deming: And then if they ever need to use conventional therapy, it's like a failure. And I find myself, this is a conversation I have like every week is like, wait, [00:17:30] who said? Who said that natural is like the only way. It's like we have all these different options, so it's okay. And it may have been in the beginning of your healing journey.

[00:17:42] Dr. Katie Deming: Natural was what was resonating for you. You needed to do it that way. But you know what? At some point it shifted and now we have these tools. Why not use them? You know? And, and a lot of people who fast with me, they may fast with me because they're like, that's my first option, that's what I wanna do. [00:18:00] And they create this amazing clarity and they get connected with themselves, and then they come out and they're like.

[00:18:06] Dr. Katie Deming: Okay. Actually I'm okay with that treatment now. Like I, I was really opposed, I was really terrified of whatever it's, let's say chemo or chemo radiation or radiation or whatever, and they come out and then they're like, you know what? If I have to do that, that's okay. And that is a really healthy approach.

[00:18:25] Dr. Katie Deming: And for me, because I'm in this unique position, I don't think that there are many [00:18:30] doctors in this space who have been in the conventional and then left the conventional and are comfortable both in the purely natural healing and then also the conventional or any combination of the two. But I really think that it's important that we stay open because I know there's value in conventional medicine.

[00:18:47] Dr. Katie Deming: Like I have a, a client who was like. Really did not want to pursue conventional therapy. She had a gynecologic cancer and she had been doing natural therapy for several years and, um, [00:19:00] things had been progressing. And then she did the water fast. And the water fast was challenging 'cause her weight was too low.

[00:19:06] Dr. Katie Deming: So we couldn't do too, too long for the water fasting, you know, like I would love to do 30 days with people and, and I think we were able to get to like nine days or something with her, which is great. And it created some clarity, but more importantly, I. It got her to the place where she felt comfortable, where she's like, okay, like this treatment that had been recommended before, I just couldn't do it.

[00:19:26] Dr. Katie Deming: And then she did it and now she's having a great response and she [00:19:30] realizes like, I didn't need to be afraid of that as the enemy. So I just wanna say that, that it's not conventional versus natural. It's like we use what we need to use when we need to use it. And so that's another part of the black and white thinking that's important.

[00:19:46] Dr. Katie Deming: The third thing that I have learned in my second year of practice is a deepening about the emotions and I, I mean, in my first year of practice, I was blown away with how tied to [00:20:00] illness emotions are and emotional trauma. But I will dare to say at this point that I really believe that most illness is emotional related.

[00:20:13] Dr. Katie Deming: And yes, there's the, the food and you know the other things that you need to do as well, but I see so many people who are doing the quote unquote right things with their diet and exercise and whatever, and they're still sick. [00:20:30] And I can tell you it's emotional and there's so many aspects of it. So trauma effects, causes illness in the body for sure.

[00:20:37] Dr. Katie Deming: I see that, you know, I've talked about this on multiple episodes, but emotional trauma has the potential to cause illness in the body. If we don't address it and if we don't release it, and if we don't learn how to process our emotions in a healthy way. So a hundred percent trauma relates to, illness.

[00:20:53] Dr. Katie Deming: But the other thing that I see is there are emotional patterns within people who have cancer or [00:21:00] other illness. And it depends on the type of illness. But also I'll speak generally about cancer and I'll also speak more specifically about women in cancer because I see more women than I do men. so. I don't know why that is.

[00:21:12] Dr. Katie Deming: Like, I don't know if the women are ready for me and the men are not. But I, like most of my clients have been women and in the water fasting as well, I'm starting to have more, but the patterns that I see are the people pleasing. So doing what everyone else wants and ignoring your own needs or, you [00:21:30] know, basically living, like you have to get everything right.

[00:21:33] Dr. Katie Deming: Like, I gotta do everything perfect and I've gotta get this, and as long as I do this and check this box, then, then I'm good. Girl, or I'm a, you know, good person or whatever it is. or suppressing, like pushing down how you really feel and living other people's lives. And I've talked about that, like that, that for me was my biggest wake up calls, like I needed to.

[00:21:56] Dr. Katie Deming: Change what I was doing in, my career in western medicine [00:22:00] because I was misaligned. I didn't know that that was good. That could make me sick. But I see that now. I see people and I'm like, oh, you, you know, this person has something that they need to let go in their life, but it provides security or safety or whether it's a job or whether it's a relationship or whether it's, you know, something else happening in your family, but it's misaligned with you and you've been ignoring it.

[00:22:23] Dr. Katie Deming: Illness is one of the ways that that shows up. And that's an emotional thing, like where you're emotionally out of [00:22:30] connection, with who you are is, you know, you're suppressing your emotions to be that person. So even though it's like that last one maybe is like more spiritual alignment. In order to live a life that's not aligned, what do you have to do?

[00:22:43] Dr. Katie Deming: You have to suppress your emotions to be able to stay in that, situation. So, and then emotional healing. So emotional release work. I, I talk a lot on this, podcast about subconscious release of emotions. [00:23:00] Has been like my most effective tool and I'm learning. Before I would just talk about site K as the technique that I use, but actually I realized that there's a lot of other techniques and I'm starting to use other techniques within my practice, within the water fasting that also work for emotional release.

[00:23:19] Dr. Katie Deming: But, subconscious work is really, really powerful from that perspective. But the other thing that I found is water fasting. Brings the emotions up to the surface to release. And [00:23:30] I see this personally myself with fasting. So I am fasting right now. I'm on day three, is anything like 60 something hours in, and this is the first time that I'm actually taking a break.

[00:23:42] Dr. Katie Deming: So. Today Maybe. Yeah. 'cause yesterday I still saw a client. Today is the first day that I don't have any clients or any fasters anything on my schedule. And of course here I'm working, but I'm like, I, I, I gotta catch up on the podcast episode so that you guys have some episodes, but [00:24:00] I'm, I. Creating some space.

[00:24:01] Dr. Katie Deming: So this is maybe the first time that I'm gonna be able to go past six days. I've only fasted six days before because I've always been working at the time, and I got to a point where I felt like my body was stressed. So, my goal is to go seven days, this week because I do have that break until I st start, work again next Monday.

[00:24:19] Dr. Katie Deming: But in water, fasting emotions come to the surface and. I just had a client, actually, she came back to me. She's been, you know, on her [00:24:30] journey of healing cancer for a couple years now, and has done all of the things and, and really deep in the metabolic approach and, and, and doing amazing work from that perspective.

[00:24:41] Dr. Katie Deming: But the one piece that. She did not expect to get from the water fast was the emotional healing that happened for her. And when you clear yourself out, the emotions start to surface and they can release. And I see that myself. So with me being on a day three of a water fast yesterday, on day two, [00:25:00] I started to just have like a emotions that were just coming up that needed to be released.

[00:25:04] Dr. Katie Deming: And so. Water fasting is a really powerful way to help us release those emotions that may be trapped in our body and also become more connected with ourself and feel more peace within ourselves. Um, so that's the third thing is I really, really am doubling down now on the emotional aspect of cancer.

[00:25:23] Dr. Katie Deming: Like I really think this is maybe even the primary [00:25:30] cause of illness. That's like really bold to say, but I do think that that is what I'm seeing in my practice. And then the fourth thing is that the mitochondria are like the whole story. Like I feel like mitochondria are like the key, in healing in every way in the modern world.

[00:25:49] Dr. Katie Deming: So, cancer specifically. The thing is, is that our mitochondria are unhealthy or dysfunctional or deficient, like that is the crisis that we are [00:26:00] experiencing in terms of illness. So diabetes, obesity, neurodegenerative disease, cancer, autoimmune, chronic illness, the mitochondria are really, I think, the key in this story and.

[00:26:15] Dr. Katie Deming: The mitochondria. You know, the, the most basic way that people think about the mitochondria is the mitochondria are like the powerhouses of the cells, right? They create the energy, right? And this is, comes down to the fact that healthy normal cells [00:26:30] use oxidative phosphorylation to generate energy. Energy in the cell is in the form of a TP.

[00:26:38] Dr. Katie Deming: And when you're able to use the mitochondria to generate. Energy, you have the ability to either use glucose or use ketones as fuel. And it turns out that ketones are much more efficient in creating a TP. So you create [00:27:00] about four times energy from one molecule, well, like one ketone body for one glucose.

[00:27:06] Dr. Katie Deming: So basically you're getting. A lot more efficient energy production. And that's where most of the focus has been around with mitochondria. And this is, you know, I've had Thomas Siegfried on the show a couple times. this ties to his work, this ties to the work of Otto Warburg who won the Nobel Prize for showing that cancer cells, by [00:27:30] definition, don't.

[00:27:32] Dr. Katie Deming: Or use fermentation as their source of, uh, fuel or source of energy production. And if you don't have mitochondria in your cells, we have a primitive form of energy production that only uses glucose and it is called fermentation or glycolysis. And so cancer is a problem of deficient or dysfunctional mitochondria.

[00:27:55] Dr. Katie Deming: And when you have deficient or. Dysfunctional mitochondria, you end up [00:28:00] using fermentation as your primary. Energy production source. And the, the reason why this becomes such like a big thing in cancer is then we have really a couple sources of fuel, right? We have glucose, we have proteins, and we have fats.

[00:28:18] Dr. Katie Deming: And if you understand that cancer uses primarily. Sugar or glucose, carbohydrates, sorry. And like should have put carbohydrates, not glucose is the, like the three forms of [00:28:30] nutrients. So, is carbohydrates, not glucose. Glucose is one of them, obviously. And then proteins and fats. But if you understand that cancer primarily uses glucose, then you can basically reduce glucose intake or carbohydrate intake.

[00:28:45] Dr. Katie Deming: So that you can shift to using more fats and using ketone bodies to fuel your cells and to fuel the body. And this is the approach of like a metabolic approach where you're reducing carbohydrates, [00:29:00] eating higher fat, or fasting to. Basically, starve the cancer cells of the fuel. But this is not just the only thing that mitochondria do.

[00:29:09] Dr. Katie Deming: They don't just do oxidative phosphorylation and create energy within the cells. They are also the gatekeepers. For cell division and regulation of cell growth, and cancer is a problem of cell growth. It's unregulated cell growth and mitochondria [00:29:30] are the gatekeepers for that. So they are the ones that basically say whether a cell can continue or whether that cell should be killed and removed from the system because it's diseased.

[00:29:42] Dr. Katie Deming: And so you can see, if you don't have functional mitochondria, you basically can have cells. That continue to divide, even though they don't have the, the, they're damaged in some way. And this is the way that you can lead to un controled cell growth or [00:30:00] dysregulated, cell metabolism that leads to cancer, right?

[00:30:04] Dr. Katie Deming: So cancer is the downstream effect of if you have enough cells that are damaged that then basically this generates a tumor. So, the mitochondria also are the gatekeepers for the cells. So they are affecting whether or not we grow the cells continue to grow and divide or whether they stop and they are killed by the body, which is, The body's way of cleaning itself out. And then the last thing is that they are, [00:30:30] Like antenna for information and light. So information is light and the mitochondria are sensors for information. So when we have dysfunctional or deficient mitochondria, that is when we get sick, right?

[00:30:46] Dr. Katie Deming: That is when we see the body start to do things that are not in the highest order of working. Collaboratively, right? So every cell in our body works in [00:31:00] harmony with the organ that it's part of or, and then the whole organism. And when the mitochondria are dysfunction or deficient, the cells start behaving differently.

[00:31:10] Dr. Katie Deming: These. They grow unregulated, and then there's not the mitochondria to stop that dysregulated growth and cause them to die. So it is the thing that actually is the crux of the linchpin for all of these things. And also it's responsible when you have dysfunctional mitochondria. It's responsible for creating, oxidative[00:31:30] Like free radical oxidation, within the cells, which leads to the DNA damage. So the mitochondria are really the like key piece in this. And so, and this is actually why I think that I've landed on water fasting, which, so water fasting is my fifth thing, is that water fasting is like the key. And not that it's like the only, right, just like the black and white thinking.

[00:31:52] Dr. Katie Deming: But it is a very powerful tool that. Anybody could be using in their healing journey. [00:32:00] And I realized that really what's happening with water fasting is autophagy. So we talk a lot about autophagy, which is basically you can get the body to start using disease tissue like cancer for its fuel to heal cancer.

[00:32:19] Dr. Katie Deming: But what I found in my practice is that, you know, I've had like probably five very dramatic cases where cancer has disappeared with water [00:32:30] fasting. And about 30% of the people have a shrinkage or some reduction in the size, but 70% of the people who fast the tumor stays the same, so it doesn't grow right.

[00:32:39] Dr. Katie Deming: It is a way like Dr. Siegfried talks about with the ketogenic diet, that you can basically manage cancer with that water. Fasting does the same thing as it shuts down the growth of the cancer, which is amazing. And there's a few types of cancer that can grow with water fasting. So you, you know, you wanna make sure you're monitoring for any [00:33:00] change and that kinda thing.

[00:33:00] Dr. Katie Deming: And I've had I think two cases now where the tumor has grown through water fasting and it's using autophagy as a, um, protection. mechanism. That is the. Like a small, small minority. Most people actually have it hold the tumor. But what's interesting is I've had this thing where people come in to fast with me and they're like, they think that the end all be all is the tumor going away.

[00:33:25] Dr. Katie Deming: And like that's, I mean, I want that to happen, but it doesn't happen for everyone. [00:33:30] And so then I started, but the thing is that even when the tumors don't go away, people are getting better. And something is shifting in their body and also mentally and emotionally and all of this. And I really think that the water fasting comes down to Mitophagy, that basically what we're doing is we're Mitophagy is basically the pruning.

[00:33:55] Dr. Katie Deming: Of diseased and dysfunctional mitochondria so that you [00:34:00] can boost the health of the, the healthy mitochondria that are there. So you're basically pruning out the diseased mitochondria. And what happens when people come out is that even if the tumor hasn't gone away. You've shifted the underlying physiology of the human being so that that body is not amenable to growing cancer.

[00:34:23] Dr. Katie Deming: Because the problem is the mitochondria and the mitochondria are affected by. Sunlight, they're [00:34:30] affected by blue light. I'm like, you know, recording this and surrounded with, um, lights. It's like this is all, it's okay to use it. So I'm not, I'm not afraid to use these tools, but I also make sure that I mitigate those things because blue light definitely affects our mitochondria.

[00:34:47] Dr. Katie Deming: Um, EMFs, like wifi, cellular service, all of that stuff affects our mitochondria. Emotional trauma. So emotional trauma shocks the MI mitochondria. And so [00:35:00] with water fasting, what we're doing is we're clearing out all the toxins, right? So we're clearing out the physical toxins. When someone goes into a water fast between days four and seven, they have very deep detoxification, releasing the toxins from their fat cells and excreting them out.

[00:35:17] Dr. Katie Deming: that is very powerful to help the, Health and function of your mitochondria. It's also giving you the emotional release so you're not trapping these low frequency emotions in the body. And the [00:35:30] mitochondria are so sensitive to frequency that they are also helped by that. So water fasting with the emotional release, you're, you're doing that and that helps the mitochondria We're also, you know, basically the body. I don't know exactly how this works, but while you're fasting, the body just like it does with autophagy of starting to use disease tissue, it, it knows to get rid of those disease mitochondria or dysfunctional mitochondria. And so I. [00:36:00] You're cleaning out your whole system and you're rebooting your mitochondria so that when people come out of a fast, they are just like a different person.

[00:36:09] Dr. Katie Deming: That's what I see. And you know, I did an episode with Geneva and then with Jenny Davis. There's no denying if you could see them from before and then after these were, you know, these people who come to me are pretty incredible human beings who are willing to not eat for 30 days.

[00:36:25] Dr. Katie Deming: It's like takes special person, I think, to want to do that, but. [00:36:30] They are different. They come out and like Geneva was like, I was never a morning person. And now, you know, she's at up at 5:00 AM with the sun, you know, watching the sun rising in the east. And you know, Jenny described similar things where she just shifted.

[00:36:44] Dr. Katie Deming: It's like the, the people who come out of a fast are different than the people went who went in. And I really think the mechanism behind all of this has to do with the mitochondria and pruning away those disease mitochondria and then. Fortifying [00:37:00] the healthy mitochondria. And so what you come out with is like this beautiful resilience, you know, and this peace inside yourself and then also a connection.

[00:37:11] Dr. Katie Deming: So right, remember we talked about the mitochondria as being little antennas for light and information, and so now when. My fasters come out. They're more tuned to higher level information from a consciousness standpoint, and so they're more clearly guided on their path. [00:37:30] So those are the five things that I've learned in my first year of practice.

[00:37:33] Dr. Katie Deming: So let's just review those. Number one, this is a noisy and confusing space, and if you feel that way, you are not alone. I'm right there with you, and I had to do things in my own life to minimize that noise and get out of it so that I could listen to really what was. Within my heart and what needed to happen for me, and I want that the same for you.

[00:37:53] Dr. Katie Deming: The second thing is black and white thinking is rampant in this space, and I had to really [00:38:00] grapple with this. Like there's not one answer, and so I want you to know that as well. It's like there are lots of different answers and you just tune to what feels right for you at the moment, and then it can change over time.

[00:38:12] Dr. Katie Deming: The third thing is emotions are. Very clearly linked to illness and that this is something for you to be aware of on your journey is what are you doing from an emotional standpoint to help yourself get to a better space of being more fluid with your [00:38:30] emotions, releasing past trauma and working past the things that may be limiting you emotionally.

[00:38:35] Dr. Katie Deming: The fourth thing is the mitochondria are the key that those are really, I think, the linchpin in all of this with cancer and when we. Get clear and we figure out how to make our mitochondria healthier, this is where the healing occurs. And then fifth for me is that water fasting has been that like answer to helping with the mitochondria and [00:39:00] regardless of what else people do.

[00:39:01] Dr. Katie Deming: So water fasting is not like the end all, be all, like the only thing you're ever gonna do. It's like part of the path. You know, for me it's like I, I love having that opportunity of helping people get clear. You know, detox emotionally, physically, mentally, and. Getting connected with themselves. And so for me, water fasting has had been such a beautiful, practice that, that brings all of these things together and it, it is [00:39:30] wide now within my practice that is the foundation of it.

[00:39:33] Dr. Katie Deming: And I know that there's things coming, like more evolution and change, but that is where I'm at now, you know? And, um, just like you, I'm teaching you to listen and then pivot and move. With what is guiding you. I'm gonna do the same in this practice, and I'm not afraid to do that. I don't think that that's failure.

[00:39:51] Dr. Katie Deming: I think that that is evolution and growth, and you'll continue to see that from me. So thank you so much for listening and for being on this journey. I [00:40:00] am so grateful to. All of you who have either worked with me, who or who have listened to this podcast, and I'm always surprised when people say, you know that they're listening to me regularly.

[00:40:12] Dr. Katie Deming: I was like, I don't know. I'm putting this stuff out and I have no idea whether this is gonna resonate or what it's gonna mean for people or whether it's even helpful. But for those of you who have responded, you know, and messaged me to say that these episodes are helping you, I just wanna say thank you because I.

[00:40:28] Dr. Katie Deming: I couldn't do the work that I do in the [00:40:30] world without those of you who are listening and resonate and are sharing my content. So my one ask for you is, please, please, will you write a review for me? That would be very helpful. That's like the biggest help that you could do for me is to write a review.

[00:40:45] Dr. Katie Deming: Leave comments if you're watching on YouTube because it helps other people find me, and I really am not advertising in any way. This is like just grows organically. So I depend on you guys for sharing and then also for leaving reviews so [00:41:00] that other people know what value is in this content. So wishing all of you a wonderful holiday season and so much love and excited to see what unfolds in my third year of practice.

[00:41:13] Dr. Katie Deming: So take care everyone.