[00:00:00] Carl Lanore: [00:00:00] hey. Hey, welcome back to another episode of superhuman radio. Today is going to be an uplifting story full of hope. Nowadays, when people hear the word cancer, they lose all hope or maybe they lose hope, but it's half-hearted that they actually hold on to hope and hope could be one of the most important things to help you fight this battle.

[00:00:21] That you're about to fight. We're going to talk to my guest today, dr. Diva Nicola about his own journey of going from being a doctor. To being a patient. This is going to be a wonderful interview because most physicians don't know what it feels like to walk in the shoes of the patients that they treat.

[00:00:38] And it's a game changer when you find a physician that understands that. So we'll get into that in a minute. Of course, we have to thank my title, sponsor legendary foods. Without them, this show would not exist. The website is eat legendary.com. The coupon code is SHR. You'll save 10% off everything that they offer there, seasoned nuts, um, just [00:01:00] wonderful nut butters that tastes like they have a lot of sugar in them and they don't.

[00:01:04] And of course they're the star ship, uh, of their product. And that is the tasty pastry, which is actually. A pop tart with less than one gram of sugar, less than three to four impact carbohydrates and nine grams of high quality protein. If your macros are important to you, go there, show them some love, tell them that Carl sent you.

[00:01:28] So we're going to remove that and bring my guest on how are you doing dr. Nicola?

[00:01:34] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:01:34] I'm doing great. Carl, how are you?

[00:01:36] Carl Lanore: [00:01:36] And that really is true. You are doing great now, aren't you, but you weren't there for a while.

[00:01:41] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:01:41] You're darn right. I'm doing fantastic.

[00:01:43] Carl Lanore: [00:01:43] Yeah. And you know, before we get into that, how has your life changed since you had this, you know, potentially you, this could have killed you, it could have consumed you.

[00:01:52] It's a blood cancer. It's actually a non Hodgkin's lymphoma. Very, very damn dangerous cancer. How do you look at life now?

[00:02:00] [00:02:00] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:02:00] Oh, I look at it so differently now, um, through a different lens, I have healed myself over and over again, and discovered so many different things to help heal me and to also look at life totally differently than what I was looking at, even before I was diagnosed with cancer.

[00:02:18] So it was actually a blessing that I actually had cancer because of the realities. That has changed since actually looking at things differently and actually having an understanding of how to live a healthy life.

[00:02:34] Carl Lanore: [00:02:34] Do you think most physicians know how to live it healthy life?

[00:02:37] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:02:37] No. 100% now. Um, and it depends on what you qualify as a physician.

[00:02:42] If you're talking about a physician that practices the traditional, uh, Western medicine, uh, I say now, if you are talking about a physician or a health practitioner that actually. Understands holistic medicine, understanding how to diagnose [00:03:00] conditions and getting to the root cause of the problem. Then I say yes.

[00:03:04] Um, but there is a vast majority of people that are following traditional medicine versus the, um, integrative or functional medicine where you're getting to the root cause of the problem.

[00:03:16] Carl Lanore: [00:03:16] And really we have to harken back to some of the, uh, medical, uh, styles of our innovative medicine and traditional Chinese medicine when we want to integrate health, because those were the styles of medicine that focused on staying healthy and not getting sick in the first place.

[00:03:33] Allopathic medicine is, uh, is, is more of a, we treat you right once you're sick, go out there and do your best to figure things out on your own.

[00:03:42] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:03:42] Right. Um, and yes, and we're using, and some of the integrative approaches uses Ayurvedic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine. It also encompasses at different things, different holistic practices.

[00:03:55] We're not just looking at a specific elements. We're looking at what [00:04:00] is causing the ailments. So we're looking at it from a spiritual perspective, a nutritional perspective, what we put into our body. We also looking at toxins that are. Prevalent in our environment. We're looking at those types of things that could have a role in a specific chronic disease that you might be having.

[00:04:17] So it's looking at the big picture. Really? What if a physician does an allopathic physician does is just looking at a problem. Looking at a number, looking at I had a, a laboratory. For your value and making a diagnosis and a recommendation accordingly.

[00:04:32] Carl Lanore: [00:04:32] So tell your story, start at the beginning. You, you, you're a fish physician, you're a doctor of osteopathy.

[00:04:39] Uh, you treat patients for a variety of wide variety of diseases. Most of them are diseases of modernity. I think we can all agree to some part to that. I would imagine that at one point in your career, you turn your nose up on things like olive oil or a Vedic medicine, or even traditional Chinese medicine.

[00:04:55] Right?

[00:04:56] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:04:56] Yeah. I mean, I, um, I was an osteopathic physician. [00:05:00] So the difference between an osteopathic and an alibi, I think physician is very simple and osteopathic physician has more of a holistic perspective, um, in the musculoskeletal sense. So we are actually trained to do a lot of what chiropractic, uh, practitioners do.

[00:05:17] Um, but we also have the education and knowledge of an allopathic physician. So in my eyes, it's the best of both worlds. Um, but. When I practiced medicine and I learned in the allopathic tradition, I did all my training in the allopathic institutions, did my residency and my fellowship, um, through allopathic institutions.

[00:05:36] Um, so I was literally in, in a situation where I was, I call it brain one, gosh, now, but back then I was, I was calling it education. Um, But essentially I was brainwashed to think that, um, medicine, medicine should be practiced utilizing pharmaceuticals. And I have a strong disinclination for that [00:06:00] thought process at this point.

[00:06:01] And I don't find that as relevant as I did. And it's because you that's what they train you and your, they don't pray. You don't really teach you anything about nutrition and diet. And that is a huge travesty because we can heal so much of disease processes simply by changing our diet or adding some foods to our regiment that we normally don't.

[00:06:22] So that was a huge thing. The thing that I learned after I got diagnosed and was trying to understand where this disease came from and how I knew to heal myself and stay in remission. So that was, that was a big learning point for me.

[00:06:39] Carl Lanore: [00:06:39] Do you think that I have a suspicion about this, but do you think that, um, like for instance, once you've suffered from heat stroke, you have a higher rate of it happening again, it's almost like when the body gets pushed past a certain threshold and once it sees the other side, so to speak, it's hard for that [00:07:00] not to happen.

[00:07:00] If you given even lesser conditions that pushed it there in the first place, do you think that once you. Have developed cancer, uh, that. There is a higher probability that you can develop it again. Oh,

[00:07:17] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:07:17] I agree that that is a hundred percent accurate statement. And the reason being is because cancer, there are cancers that are genetically predisposed and you just, you just got the wrong hand dealt to you, right.

[00:07:29] So that's fine. But a large majority of these cancers and chronic diseases are corrupt because of lifestyle. Practices. And so if you are diagnosed with cancer and in my instance, it was non Hodgkin's lymphoma. It was a lifestyle just, uh, way of living my life. That led me to that diagnosis. And as, as, as many other diagnosis, yeah, cancer that's out there.

[00:07:52] If you get diagnosed and get treated using chemotherapy immunotherapy or whatever else is out there, you're not [00:08:00] addressing all the. Issues of your lifestyle practices and that caused you to have the cancer. And no oncologist is going to tell you that we're going to tell you that, okay, this is what's going to happen.

[00:08:12] You're going to get chemo and we're going to fix this, which is probably true because there were so many advances in modern medicine, but. The problem is, is that you are at risk of having a, having the cancer reoccur simply because your lifestyle practices haven't changed. So your diet, your stress that you're under, um, the environmental toxins that your, that your probably encountered on a regular basis, all the chem personal care products that have so many chemicals that you're applying on a daily basis, all of these accumulate over time and can have a risk of causing you to have cancer, a chronic disease.

[00:08:44] So that's why it's important. To really look at your lifestyle practices after you you've gone through chemo. If you have a diagnosis of cancer, otherwise it's going to come back.

[00:08:54] Carl Lanore: [00:08:54] So, what were the cancerous choices you were making? I know you use that term in the book. What, what were the cancerous [00:09:00] choices that you were making that you had to eradicate from your life so that this wouldn't come back?

[00:09:04] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:09:04] Right. So number one for me was, uh, as I learned about my cancer and realized that it was caused by my lifestyle choices, I looked at it and. The biggest thing that I changed was, was my diet. And my diet was so poor when I was in high school. Um, you know, my mom cooked great home cooked meals. We were vegetarian growing up.

[00:09:25] Um, and so everything was really organic and fresh. And, and at that time, you didn't have to worry about these herbicides and pesticides that are, you know, rampant in our diet. Um, so I changed everything. So I no longer ate processed food. I no longer had a whole lot of sugary beverages that, uh, I used to drink a lot.

[00:09:43] I also ate everything. Um, I changed everything to organic. And, and prior to this diagnosis, I probably couldn't tell you. The last time I ate a meal that had a good rainbow array of vegetables. And when I made a rainbow is being like all the colors of the rainbow [00:10:00] apply to vegetables and fruits for me to intake.

[00:10:03] The last time I had, I mean, usually the leafy vegetable that I would eat will be a scrap of lettuce. That'll be in my burger, you know, and, and, and that's, and that's the, that's the poor nutrition that I was getting and that. Is a classic standard American diet. And that is what people consume every single day.

[00:10:21] We go to, we don't really discuss and worry about the quality of food that we're putting in our bodies. We just eat food to either satisfy our appetite or because, you know, it's, it's, it's something social that we're doing and we're not really. I'm engaged in, in the quality of food that we're putting into our bodies.

[00:10:40] And so that was the one thing that I changed immediately. It was a hard change and it was a hard switch. But after, you know, one to two months, like I started to feel significantly improved because I felt like I had more nutrition in my body. The brain fog was gone. Um, the, um, Uh, the, the improvement in sleep was, was, was [00:11:00] significantly better because I had a better nutrition.

[00:11:03] Um, I, and I started to lose fat because I wasn't eating such high, intense, immense amount of calories from PR. Cause I was, I don't know any processed food. Right. That was, that was the one thing that I think that had a huge impact for me.

[00:11:16] Carl Lanore: [00:11:16] So T tell your story. Let's talk about when you were diagnosed, what brought you to the, to what brought you to a doctorate in the form of a patient?

[00:11:25] What symptoms did you?

[00:11:26] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:11:26] Right. So, interesting thing is, is that, um, I had, uh, exited my, my medical practice that I had started up a year before I got diagnosed. So I really didn't have a whole lot of stress at the time, and I didn't have any issues about going to work, worrying about employees, worry about patients.

[00:11:45] So that was a lot of stress that I'd carried for a long time when I was practicing medicine. And so when I went into it, you know, to the doctor's office, it was a routine physical that I was actually having at the end of the year. And essentially what I went to him to get an, a [00:12:00] and opinion on was these enlarged areas in my neck.

[00:12:04] And, um, I had, uh, they were actually getting larger, you know, week by week. And it was in the course of a month where I was like, okay, I got to go see somebody for this. I assumed it was a cyst, you know, because I'm, I'm a physician. I was feeling fine. I wasn't feeling fatigued. I wasn't losing any weight, uh, which are telltale signs are typically a person who does get diagnosed with cancer.

[00:12:23] I was feeling totally fine. I went into the doctor's office and I asked him what's going on with this? And we had just had some blood work done and which was totally fine. It was normal. So we looked at my neck and he's like, you know, let's, let's take a look further. Let's get a cat scan and have your neck can just see what's going on and see when you need to investigate further.

[00:12:41] So I went, I went to the cats, I went and got a cat scan done and about. Three weeks later, I went back and we reviewed the cat scan results together. And it was there where we, we saw together. And the imaging study showed that my lymph nodes were enlarged all over the place to give you a little perspective.

[00:12:58] A normal lymph node is [00:13:00] about one to two centimeters in size. My lymph nodes that had grown to, um, one, one centimeter. So it went from one millimeter to one centimeter in size. And so it was extremely. Uh, enlarge, which was abnormal. And typically the, the telltale signs from a physician perspective, this was going on in my head, when this telling me all this, I was like, okay, well, it could be an infection that's growing.

[00:13:22] It could be some inflammation that's going on. That, that that's brewing in my body. Um, lasting, I would think about is cancer because I was feeling so fine and I know issues. So the next thing he says is like, let's refer you to an oncologist. You know, unlike why, you know, cause I've freaked me out a little bit, cause like, why are we going there?

[00:13:41] It's like, well, you know, we need to get a workup. And an oncologist has to rule out specific things to make sure that this isn't cancer. So that's when the C were started, came out. Um, I went to the oncologist, we did a battery of tests. Um, we did more scans. We did a lymph node biopsy, uh, the whole nine yards, the whole workup.

[00:13:59] And [00:14:00] after all the diagnostic tests were done, I went back into the office with my, with my wife at the time. And, um, he shared me with the results. The first thing he said is you had stage four non Hodgkin's lymphoma. And, uh, my wife started to cry, you know, and she was balling. And, um, we weren't expecting this at all.

[00:14:18] Um, you know, I literally had just gotten married and I had exited my practice. I was looking forward to starting a family and entering a new part of my life. This is not what, not something that I really needed to hear at the time or was expecting to hear at the time. And so this was a private practitioner in, in Jacksonville, Florida who told me that I had a diagnosis of cancer and he wanted me to go and start an aggressive form of chemotherapy immediately.

[00:14:46] And I was like, Whoa. You know, I. I kind of have to research this and I need to think about this. I need to get a second opinion. Um, I need to do some more investigating and, um, to me it was just odd [00:15:00] is why he wanted to start chemo for me. And, um, as I researched more and I had more physicians that I went to, went to go see a specialist at Sloan Kettering.

[00:15:09] Um, which is in New York, I went to see a specialist at Mayo clinic in Jacksonville, and everyone said that I did not need to start this aggressive chemotherapy. And I was, it dawned on me why this wanted to do this is because he was a private practitioner and he owned an infusion center. And so. He was going as he was incentivized by sending me to his infusion center to start an aggressive chemotherapy regimen.

[00:15:36] And so I was, I was just like, okay, this is where we have issues with, with medicine. Right. And I know at the time that's when. My eyes started to raise about the invalid and, and all the issues of incentivizing you. Did you confront

[00:15:51] Carl Lanore: [00:15:51] him about this? Did you go to him and say,

[00:15:53] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:15:53] I didn't actually, I didn't, I didn't go back to them at that time.

[00:15:56] I was more involved with my own personal cancer. [00:16:00] I didn't get an opportunity to do so. I wish I did. I would have told them a I'll give them a piece of my mind, but anyway, So we did this thing, what was called a watch and wait. And that was a recommended, um, um, uh, therapy for me because I was not feeling any symptoms.

[00:16:14] Right. Even though I had the cancer, we still had some time where we could implement lifestyle strategy changes that could, um, basically reverts or help revert the cancer. And that's what I was hoping for. And so I went all in, you know, I changed my diet. I was starting to exercise. I was doing everything that I could, um, to improve my health, to reduce the inflammation that was in my body.

[00:16:36] I'm trying to get my mind. Right. It'd be more in a relaxed state of being and not be so stressed out. And I didn't have any reason to, cause I was, I was, I was not working at the time. So, um, We're going to get serial scans just to make sure everything was okay. And about six months to this watch and wait period.

[00:16:55] Um, I actually started to have this, uh, flank pain in my left side. [00:17:00] And I was like, okay, what is going on here? Um, it felt like a kidney stone because it started to radiate into my groin. And when you have, uh, cancer cells and they have a high turnover, it actually increases the amount of calcium that's in your body.

[00:17:14] And I was thinking. This is the cause of why I'm having stones. Cause most of the, uh, kidney stones have calcium. So that was a logic I was thinking. And I was thinking, I guess that was like, I called my doctor. He said, well, you know, we are scheduled for your, your next, your first set of scans in a week.

[00:17:28] Let's push it up and let's go ahead and see what's going on. I got this Ganz came back to his office and unfortunately my cancer had aggressively grew the, the, um, The lymph nodes that were a one centimeter in size were no longer distinguishable. There were no longer lymph nodes that were actually grown to a point where they coalesce into this big mass.

[00:17:50] And it was all over my body, behind my stomach in front of my kidneys, in Ron, my groin area, all the lymph nodes, lymph nodes. I just grew even more. [00:18:00] And, um, at that point he's like he said, we need to start, um, uh, chemo ASAP. And that's when, um, uh, it, it went, it became really real for me as well. What do you,

[00:18:11] Carl Lanore: [00:18:11] what do you think, what do you think caused it to accelerate?

[00:18:14] I mean, you, you, you actually were doing things right now,

[00:18:17] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:18:17] so to speak. Yeah, that's a good question. Um, well I think it, because it was in an advanced stage, it really was something that it was difficult to revert. Um, and you know, I, I, there's no telling if some of these strategies that I implemented were actually working because we didn't really get like serial scans weeks apart or month apart to really know what I was doing was actually playing a role in regressing the cancer.

[00:18:42] So there were a lot of ifs. There's a lot of like, Things that unfortunately, I wish I'd done differently, but, um, I really feel that they did help. Um, I probably gave me that six month window where I probably, if I didn't do that, I would probably would have had to have that chemo earlier. Right. Um, but yeah, but, [00:19:00] um, that's, that's probably what happened.

[00:19:02] Carl Lanore: [00:19:02] Okay. So you got the chemo and I want to fast forward through that because I want to come back to something that I thought is very, very interesting in this discussion. So you got the chemo. And it worked, which it usually does. A lymphoma is a non Hodgkin's lymphoma is something that is, it's very curable today.

[00:19:21] If it's caught early and it works. But now, you know, you, you, you've gotta be timid about moving forward. Like, wow. I was doing all these things that I thought were right. I don't want this to come back. How do I proceed? How do I move forward? So this really doesn't come back. What is your checks and balances?

[00:19:38] What is your logic moving forward for what to include in your lifestyle and what to exclude?

[00:19:43] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:19:43] Yeah. Good question. Um, I knew from. From the beginning, that diet was really important. And that was a big part of my like research. And I was trying to research what are the things that I could do? Um, it was around that time while I was getting diagnosed, those are actually started at chemo and I [00:20:00] discovered a field of medicine called integrative medicine.

[00:20:03] And integrative medicine, as we talked about briefly earlier on the show is typically a blend of a traditional medicine and holistic, uh, wellness medicine. And so it's a practice of, um, traditional allopathic, but it also gives a lot of credence to. A traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, and other holistic practices like diet and supplementation.

[00:20:26] So I applied for this fellowship and it was I'm at university of Arizona under the, under dr. Andy Weil, who is a very well known practitioner. So he was a program director out there. So I was like, this is my path. This is what I have to do. And cause I can learn about. My own cancer and how I can regress it and not only regress it at the time, but more stay in remission and I can actually help other people who are facing the same plight.

[00:20:53] And so, um, that's what that's, where began. I started to learn a lot of strategies about lifestyle changes, [00:21:00] and I started to implement these strategies, but specifically the diet and exercise was a big part of it. And as I was learning more about these practices, I learned more about supplementation.

[00:21:10] What's what's specific supplements that I needed to take. And that's when I really became more interested in, in putting supplements in my body that really. Reduced inflammation. And that was the key. It was a strategy that I had to live, where I would have, uh, whether it was the way I live my life through stress or whether it was what I put into my body.

[00:21:30] Everything had a role on reducing inflammation and that's the root cause of all diseases. Is this high amounts of inflammation.

[00:21:37] Carl Lanore: [00:21:37] So on this show, uh, I've kind of tried to drum this into the audience's mind. When we talk about inflammation, we're talking about the army of the immune system. When we talk about the immune system, we're talking about the gut because 90% of the immune system resides in the gut.

[00:21:58] So we talk about inflammation. We talk about gut [00:22:00] problems. That's really where they start. But modern medicine doesn't connect those two. They treat inflammation by using, uh, analgesics and antiinflammatories instead of addressing where the info, why is the army of the immune system being called? Like there's a war when there's no war and you'd have to look at what's going on in the gut.

[00:22:22] Talk to me about your gut from, you know, first of all, did you drink coffee before? And do you drink coffee today? I'm just curious.

[00:22:29] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:22:29] Yeah, I'm a drink. I'm a, I was always a coffee drinker. Um, but I still drink coffee, but I drink organic coffee and, um, I drink one cup a day. Um, and did you

[00:22:40] Carl Lanore: [00:22:40] drink more back then?

[00:22:40] Did you drink a lot more back

[00:22:41] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:22:41] than I would drink one? I would drink one to two. I mean, they should back then for caffeine intake. It wasn't coffee. It was more about, um, I would drink these crappy sugary beverages. Right. You know, you know, Coca-Cola diet Coke, whatever it was that I could get to, to ant me up to get through the day.

[00:22:56] Um, I don't, I don't, I don't consume those, right. Yeah. I do [00:23:00] drink coffee and I also drink green tea. Green tea has so many health health benefits. So I drink green tea, my coffee in the morning, and then I drink the green tea throughout the day.

[00:23:09] Carl Lanore: [00:23:09] Pretty good. Um, so tell me about your gut. Did you have stomach problems before?

[00:23:15] Did you have a slow digesting, slow gut motility? Did you have bouts of pain in the stomach? Anything like that? And then what about today?

[00:23:24] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:23:24] Yeah. So that was a telltale for me, which I didn't know at the time. Um, so for years when I was practicing my practice yeah. Which was a very, very high stress a time of my life.

[00:23:34] And I would always have issues with my stomach, my balance. I would go frequently five, six, seven times a day, very loose. Um, I would often be bloated. I would be gassy. And to be honest with you, Uh, at the time it became the new normal for me. Right. So I didn't, I couldn't remember what normal was and I didn't have the time or the energy to research what was going on in my gut.

[00:23:58] I just figured it was like, [00:24:00] okay, I ate something bad, you know, at, at, at Chick-fil-A or at subway, it

[00:24:04] Carl Lanore: [00:24:04] didn't agree with me. That's why I didn't agree with me.

[00:24:08] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:24:08] Exactly. And that, and that's kinda what I, I felt it was, I knew I was starting to get lactose intolerance, so I was like, okay. Yeah. Did I have cheese that day?

[00:24:16] Yes I did. And maybe that's why I feel gassy, um, and have issues. And interesting enough, it got a little bad to the point, right. Where I had to go see a gastroenterologist and I have two family members that are gastroenterologist and they're like, yeah, you probably need to see somebody because one of the things that you want to look, look for is a person who is having.

[00:24:36] Uh, frequent bowels or changing vows is, is see if they have any issues with their, with their, uh, with, with inflammatory bowel disease or cancer. Um, so I got scoped. The doctor said, Oh yeah, yeah, you shouldn't be going six, seven times a day. And if it's watery or as loose yeah. We need to figure out what's going on.

[00:24:54] So of course, first thing he did was schedule a scope. Um, the scope was normal, but that was it. [00:25:00] There was no discussions about my diet. There was no discussions about maybe I should get on some probiotics, um, or maybe do a food sensitivity test to see if I have allergies to specific foods that are causing these symptoms.

[00:25:13] None of that. So, um, you know, I, I, it was normal. So guess what I started doing, I continued to do what I was doing. Why should I change? I went to a gastroenterologist who does scope. I don't have any signs of inflammatory bowel disease. I don't have cancer. I don't have any polyps. I'm not, I don't need to change anything.

[00:25:31] So that was my thinking. This is me a physician thinking that, right. So imagine what the standard person is out there thinking when they're going through the same processes as I went through. And, um, so yeah, so yeah, there was bowel changes and, and that's, and that was for me, I'm looking back at it. Now you can get so much information from the caliber of your stool by just looking at it and the bowel habits

[00:25:56] Carl Lanore: [00:25:56] laughing right now, because I've actually done entire shows.

[00:26:00] [00:25:59] People are afraid to look into the toilet at their poop, but the poop tells you if the food you're eating is there, you know, We do it to our pets too. People feed their dogs, food, and the dog has loose bowel movement. You go in the wilderness and you look at the poop, I'm a Wolf, it's solid form. It's nice and hard.

[00:26:20] I mean, you know, w and that really, I would say, and this is a bold statement, but probably 70% percent of all disease States today happen because of what we feed ourselves day in and day out, months and years. And, and you're tells you if the food you're eating is right for you. We have that idiot. Larry, the cable guy doing Nexium commercials, you know, fighting with the hot dog.

[00:26:45] And when the food you love, doesn't love you take Nexium. Know when the food you love. Doesn't love, you don't eat it.

[00:26:52] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:26:52] That's the problem is that that is exactly you see this commercials on TV. If you have heartburn or indigestion, you know, yo take this [00:27:00] specific medicine. If you don't take an antacid, let's get you to another bla uh, a H two blocker, which is like Zantac or Pepcid.

[00:27:07] And if that doesn't work, let's give you a proton pump inhibitor, which is the purple pill. So it's like, and these medicines they're yeah, they, they, they work. But you did get dependent on it and it's not natural. We're supposed to change our diet. And, and really, and that's the key thing is, is that we're such a society that wants immediate gratification, that the medical doctors, they know that.

[00:27:31] So that's, let's prescribe you a pill and let's make it go away instead of actually doing the work of getting to the root cause and fixing the

[00:27:38] Carl Lanore: [00:27:38] problem. I want to take our first commercial break. When we come back, we'll talk about the body, the mind. So we've been talking about the body this whole time. I want to talk about the mind, the value in treating cancer and disease States.

[00:27:50] Uh, when you allow the mind to be part of what you're fixing, we're talking today with dr. Diva Nicola, stay tuned. We'll be right back.

[00:28:00] [00:28:00] This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and Amazon, you were listening to the superhuman channel. Don't hate us because we feel good.

[00:28:14] Welcome back. You can learn more about the book from doctor to patient, from doctor to patient.com. Uh, the book is really inspiring and inspiration is what you need. You really do. It's This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Barnes and noble, Amazon, or wherever the books are sold. Inspiration is really important.

[00:28:43] You know, I almost drowned off the coast of Yugoslavia as a young man. And I remember the moment that I gave up. You, you almost get relaxed. It's inevitable. It's like you don't, you can't save yourself. It's all. Oh my God, [00:29:00] this is it. This is how I'm going to go. No, one's going to find me. No, one's even knows where I am in the water.

[00:29:05] And luckily I had a couple more CCS of energy in me to take a shot and get on my back and back. A stroke back to the seashore, but there was a moment where I had this kind of relaxed feeling where you just kind of give in it's inevitable. I think that people who are diagnosed with life threatening diseases, They lose the ability to fight.

[00:29:31] And that's in here. That's in your mind, your mind has to be up for the battle. If it's not, you just kind of go, ah, it's my destiny. And I'm going to go. So talk about the mind, talk about what you experienced, knowing that you could die. This could consume you, but you, you want to go on, how do you, how do you stay focused?

[00:29:53] How do you keep hope alive? You have to keep hope alive, right?

[00:29:57] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:29:57] Yeah, those are all really good questions. And we could [00:30:00] talk about this from different perspectives of me first being diagnosed. And then what I learned after, um, I went into remission and through my research, um, initially I, um, The problem that I had was my mind was, was taxed.

[00:30:14] Um, I had lived in a state of fight or flight for pretty much my entire life. Um, I think I was born into this world and in fight or flight, to be honest with you. Um, so when I actually, um, had the diagnosis of cancer, I actually gave up, um, My mind just basically I had no, no, no fight left in me. And it was hard for me to give in.

[00:30:38] Um, because I, I was, I'm a control person. I have to have control over the situation. And for me, going into the process of leaving my entire, um, prognosis of my life, to the medications that was being administered, just didn't resonate with me. And that's what ultimately happened. Um, I, I became very, um, Uh, [00:31:00] angry, angry at everyone.

[00:31:01] I was angry at life. I was angry at people. I was angry at God. Um, I didn't trust anybody. I push everybody away. Um, and, and I'm sure that contributed to, um, issues with my marriage. Um, but it was the only way that I could live because the anger fueled me and gave me energy to get through the day.

[00:31:24] Otherwise, I would have been resorted to the bed and stayed in bed all day because of depression. I had my wife and I had, you know, I had a household to keep up with the, you know, and, and to worry. So I had to be strong for her, for them. Um, and, uh, it was, I had, I had to just use that energy that fuel his energy.

[00:31:40] And so that's what happened. And so, um, I had really wished when we're talking about the mind, um, I remember going to Mayo clinic and the oncologist's office, there was this big waiting room and there was a sign next to the receptionist that said, um, if you want to talk to a psychologist about your diagnosis here, you know, we make, we can, [00:32:00] we're happy to make a recommendation and a referral.

[00:32:02] That was never brought to my attention when I actually sat with my oncologist, whether it's because he knew I was a physician and he thought that I would have know better or he didn't think I needed it yet, there was still a sign at the front desk, but it was, um, It was a travesty that I didn't have mental health counseling during this whole process.

[00:32:22] I didn't know how to cope with this. You know, I was 40 years old when I was diagnosed and when I had this thing and I, and I literally, we had a whole life my whole life to look forward to, you know, and I had just gotten married, as I mentioned before, looking to, to start a family and. That was the problem.

[00:32:38] And my anger was not, it was normal, but I didn't know how to cope. I didn't know this was normal and I didn't have any strategies in place to cope with this. So, um, unfortunately this, that, that's what, what I, I went through and it's not the right thing to do. And, and I really highly recommend anyone. One who is going through a disease process, such as cancer or any chronic disease to really [00:33:00] seek counseling.

[00:33:01] Um, you, if it's vital to have some coping strategies in place, Um, so that, that's one thing that I wanted to discuss. Um, but to your point, um, mentally, um, it was all about how to live a life that's not in fight or flight. And, um, if you, if you live a life that where you can actually balance, you know, your, your nervous system or, and, and where you're more in parasympathetic or fight or a rest and digest it.

[00:33:30] Serves your body so much better. It allows you to do two things. It allows you get out of that heightened state where all those hormones are running and cortisol levels are high and puts us on edge. There's a right. Yeah. Time to be in that state. But you know, when a mountain lion is coming down at us.

[00:33:46] Yeah. Yes. That is an inappropriate time to be engaged in a fight or flight system. Uh, but if we're sitting there routinely sitting there in a comment, having a conversation, there's no reason to sit there and be in fight or flight. And when we're in that, in that, in that state, you know, we're [00:34:00] causing inflammation and that's what we need to reduce.

[00:34:03] And a lot of these issues about lifestyle and, and inflammation can really be curtailed by just reduction of part of stress or modulation of stress. And so for me, I, I started as I was writing my book, I was researching and learning about all these mindfulness strategies and mindfulness is by definition is moment to moment awareness, um, without judgment.

[00:34:28] And so it can be practiced by, uh, numerous, uh, ways. Um, you could actually do meditation, you can do breathing exercises. Um, you could engage in, in activities like yoga, Tai Chi. Um, you could even do, um, what I call is the lazy man's way of meditating is by listening to binaural beats. And, uh, these are all strategies that really can help you to be more in a rest or digest state, but more importantly, it actually helps you to be more present.

[00:34:55] And that was the other issue that I had. I did not know how to be present and be in the moment,

[00:35:00] [00:35:00] Carl Lanore: [00:35:00] always picking up the past or the future.

[00:35:03] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:35:03] And that's what a physician does. Because as a physician, we are, and from college, always looking ahead, we look at what medical school we have to apply to. We look at what residency program we applied to.

[00:35:15] We then went after residency. You know, we have all these board examinations that we have to take. It's never about living in the moment. It's always prepping for the future and then always have it. I mean, regrets about the past. So yeah. That's exactly what I went through and I didn't know how to live in the moment.

[00:35:30] And, and so living in the moment it is by true definition, you don't have any problems in the moment you're living in the moment that's pure happiness and pure bliss is what our mind wanders and thinks about the future or regrets in the past. That's when we start increasing our stress levels and anxiety lows.

[00:35:45] So, um, by practicing mindfulness, really able to do two things really to, uh, achieve being more in the moment. And two is to really get out of that heightened state of fight or flight and be more in a more relaxed state,

[00:36:00] [00:36:00] Carl Lanore: [00:36:00] you know, um, When you're a prisoner of war, you, maybe you sleep on the floor for 15, 20 years, maybe for five years.

[00:36:08] And then when you come in, you're presented with a bed. You have a hard time sleeping in a bed. We get used, we get used to chaos in our lives. There are a lot of people and I'm sure, you know, people like this. And I absolutely know people. There's always some disaster, always some explosion in their lives and they go through life acting like.

[00:36:28] It's been put upon them when in reality it's a result of choices that they've made. And so. When you, when you live a life, like you said about F fight, fight, or flight, you know, there are people who are literally in fight or flight every minute of every day, because that is where they feel most comfortable.

[00:36:51] They don't know anything else. They, in fact, I'll tell you a funny story. I went to the, when I, when I first started. Training as a powerlifter, I had, uh, [00:37:00] been abusing caffeine and, uh, I ended up going to the ER and my blood pressure was very, very high. My, my heart rate was very, very high and I remember I wasn't paying attention.

[00:37:12] The nurse was talking to me, the doctor was talking to me, they gave me a shot and I'm just standing there talking to them and all of a sudden. I said to them, wait, something's wrong. I think, I think I'm dying. I think, and the doctor looked at the, the, the, the scope and he says, no, you're not dying. He goes, your heart rate, just dry two 65.

[00:37:30] Like in other words, I got Sue you're so used to being up there that being down here felt like, Oh, something's wrong with me? You know, there are people who actually live their lives that way. And it's very sad. If, if you're somebody that there's always a problem in your life, take a step back. You're not being put upon.

[00:37:49] You're putting upon yourself. There are things that you're doing and you're absolutely right. We need to live our lives with more peacefulness, with more peacefulness, and that [00:38:00] has a lot to do with it. Um, so. The other thing that you said that I wanted to mention, you know, when I, when my dad got old, I noticed he became very angry and we always hear this thing about angry, old men, angry old men.

[00:38:12] But I really think now that I look back at him, that anger was the only thing he had left, that where he felt energized, where he felt in control of his environment, where he felt alive. And that's really sad. What do we do to, to stop us from turning to anger to feel like we exist?

[00:38:31] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:38:31] That's a good question.

[00:38:32] I think it's recognizing that we are in state of anger. I mean, I think if, if you point that out to a person who's in that state, we're going to deny it. Um, but then you, you present them with objective data, you know, like your blood pressure, your heart rate, um, you know, and, and just, yeah. Talk to them about their sleep.

[00:38:48] I bet you it's all impaired. And then their level of mind, their, their mindset. I bet you, they have an issue of underlying depression. I mean, we know that, you know, depression and anger are along the same wave lens except on opposite ends of [00:39:00] the spectrum. So it's really the issues of what's underlying what's causing that anger, you know, is, is there repressed issues?

[00:39:06] Is there trauma that's going on? Um, is there, is there underlying depression or anxiety that's causing this anger to come out? That's where it's all about. And that's where I think it's important again, to get to the root cause of it and not by prescribing a medication like a SSRI or Xanax to really alleviate the symptoms,

[00:39:23] Carl Lanore: [00:39:23] you know?

[00:39:24] And I agree with you and I, and it's something I've said on this show numerous times is sometimes sadness is an appropriate response to circumstances in your life. And doctors want to give you a pill. I, it would be the equivalent of I'm sitting in the movie theater laughing hard at this movie. And someone came to me and said, Hey, you're laughing really hard.

[00:39:42] You need to take a pill for that. No laughter is appropriate at this moment in time. Sadness is appropriate. Death loss of a job. There are events. Now, granted, you may dwell in sadness a long time. How long is too long? That is your [00:40:00] personal circumstance. Stances to decide not some doctor to say, well, you should have been over this by now.

[00:40:04] We're going to give you an SSRI.

[00:40:05] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:40:05] Right. And that's why there's so many different coping strategies, you know, with cognitive behavioral therapy, um, with so many different strategies that you could utilize to help. Um, and then granted, now don't get me wrong. Pharmaceuticals have its role in, in, in society.

[00:40:20] And, you know, Prozac has saved thousands and thousands of lives and, and, and I give credence to it, you know, but there are other strategies that we can implement that don't have a bearing on our bodies and don't have interactions with them. Other medicines or supplements or the vitamins that we're taking.

[00:40:36] And it doesn't cause that dependency. And I really feel, you know, we need to explore more of that. Um, and, and not be dependent on pharmaceuticals.

[00:40:46] Carl Lanore: [00:40:46] Yeah. Pharmaceutical she'd be as used as a rescue, like a crutch, like a guy breaks his leg. You don't say here's a crutch. You're gonna use this for the rest of your life.

[00:40:52] You're going to say, we're going to use this until the bone sets and you can walk on your own. The problem is that too many physicians turn to pharmaceuticals as a lifelong [00:41:00] endeavor. You're absolutely right. The book is. From doctor to patient healing cancer through mind, body, and spirit. When we come back on to talk about the spirit, uh, the website is from doctor to patient.com.

[00:41:13] The book is available there, or Barnes and noble or Amazon. And then also you can check out the podcast there from doctor to patient podcast. It's available on Spotify, Apple podcasts, and Google podcasts. We have one quick question from a. A viewer. And it's a really good question. And he says, what if your now moment sucks?

[00:41:35] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:41:35] In the moment that's okay. Because you're actually experiencing that moment and you're experiencing that emotion, um, rather than not dealing with it. And thinking about the future and thinking about the past, you're dealing with your issues, you're dealing with what is going on. What's being in the moment.

[00:41:51] That's okay. I think that's actually a good way of actually to, um, uh, I've actually, uh, Coping with things. Um, a lot of people don't live in [00:42:00] the moment and they're not able to cope with stuff and deal with their emotions and get through it and process it accurately.

[00:42:06] Carl Lanore: [00:42:06] Yeah, just, just let it happen. You know?

[00:42:08] Um, I was, yeah, actually in talk therapy when I was in my twenties and I was living in Las Vegas and I had a very, I was lucky to find a good therapist. He was really a great therapist. A lot of the things he taught me, I still apply in my life today. His name was Jerry Katz. I wish I could find him again.

[00:42:22] Um, but he said, you know, like if you're sad, he goes, stay home and wallow in. It says, stay home, be miserable, cry. Ovary, do whatever you want to do because you get through it faster. So instead of pushing it away and prolonging it, jump into it and then he'll be gone. I

[00:42:42] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:42:42] also, you know, if you are sad, you are depressed.

[00:42:45] Yeah. It is a different state, but there is some beauty in being that emotion. A lot of creativity happens when you're in this state of mind. So you have to explore this and not sit there and be in that state. It's like, I couldn't be in this state. I need to get out of it. No, [00:43:00] explore it. Get into it. You be curious about it.

[00:43:04] Carl Lanore: [00:43:04] Yeah, it really is something, you know what? We're going to go ahead and talk about the spirit now because I'm having a little technical difficulty, so let's do this. Let's just go right into it. Um, so talk to me about the spirit. A lot of people, including myself, I kind of don't, I don't have real great feelings about.

[00:43:21] Organized religion today. That's not what you're talking about when you talked about treating the spirit, right?

[00:43:26] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:43:26] Correct. Yeah. Um, so that religion is, is one way of, of organizing people that have a common belief. And that's what religion basically is. Spirituality is really about. Having a connection with the universe, having a connection with your fellow human being.

[00:43:44] Um, that's really what spirituality it is. And it's also about, you know, um, you know, again, it's all about connection. And for me, you know, I, when I was doing my, my, my book research, I wasn't even going to really talk about spirits. [00:44:00] And then I started to do more and more research and understand. That that's where a lot of my Dipesh deficiencies were with spiritual growth and I didn't have, um, a whole lot of, uh, connection.

[00:44:10] I was really lonely. I didn't know how lonely I was until I started researching. And there was this one stat that I write in my book that really. Stared at me. And I was like, wow, it's loneliness is actually as big of a risk factor as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day or being a chronic alcoholic. It's the same risk it's as it's the same risk as of, of mortality as being obese and living a sedentary lifestyle.

[00:44:36] And it's amazing to me when I read that, I was like, wow. Wow. That is a huge, huge issue that we need to solve. No, and loneliness doesn't mean that. Okay. Well, I'm around 20 people all the time in my room and I go home I'm around my family all the time. Yeah. But that doesn't mean that you can't feel lonely and lacking connection and that's the issue.

[00:44:59] And that's what happened to [00:45:00] me all my life. It's like I was around people, the wrong type of people where I couldn't feel like I could. Speak freely without being butchered or without being held without being acknowledged and understood

[00:45:12] Carl Lanore: [00:45:12] judge you, you said it though. So being in the moment is, is, is being in the moment without judgment,

[00:45:18] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:45:18] non

[00:45:18] Carl Lanore: [00:45:18] xAPI moment.

[00:45:19] And so, yeah, that same thing comes to pass with people when you're around people that are very judgmental, they make you clam up. You don't want to say anything.

[00:45:27] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:45:27] Yeah. And you can't be honest. And the people who are lonely, there is a remedy for that. You know, obviously connection is one thing, but being of service to others is a way of actually combating loneliness.

[00:45:39] Um, you know, joining some sort of a community service program or just helping your, your fellow, your man, um, those are service to others where that can help get out of that loneliness feeling. Um, so I started to do more of that and, um, you know, a lot of things. Accelerated for me. Um, when I started to actually engage in psychedelics and [00:46:00] I talk about in my book, um, and how a lot of my experiences and a lot of my issues that I had, you know, it was like, it was like, I, I, one or two explorations of psychedelics was like a uterus of, of psychotherapy.

[00:46:13] And it was amazing how much clarity a God and how much. Connection. I felt to people how much my heart opened. My heart was closed for so long, um, because of the cancer because of the divorce. Um, and just, it was just. Just, it was just closed and then being exploring psychedelics and having understanding of what's going on.

[00:46:32] And then also the psychedelics enhance connections in my brain. It's called neuroplasticity. It repaired old connections that were severed and it actually enhanced new connections from, from one part of the brain to the other. And that just opened up things for me. Um, I saw things differently. I experienced things differently.

[00:46:51] Um, I had hope I had inspiration, you know, I understood that. You know, I had to be positive and live positively because if you are positive and have a [00:47:00] mindset of positivity, then that energy will come back right at you. And that's, that's, that's all what I've talked about in this section. Let's talk more

[00:47:07] Carl Lanore: [00:47:07] about psychedelics.

[00:47:08] I want to go ahead and force our break now. And when we come back, I want to talk more about psychedelics because I've actually talked about my own use. I microdose still to this day periodically. Uh, we've done shows about it, but I also did a lot of acid as a kid in the sixties. It was. It was okay. No one judged you for doing acid.

[00:47:24] In fact, it was a prerequisite. So we're going to take one quick commercial break, stay tuned. We'll be right back. This is the superhuman channel doing reps with the weight of the world.

[00:47:37] Welcome back. We're talking with dr. Diva Nicola. We're talking about his journey from being a physician to being a patient fighting. His own cancer and all the things that he's learned along the way before we talk more about, uh, psychedelics, which I'm a big proponent of, uh, just put this comment up. Jeff Clif Clifton says religion.

[00:47:58] The word means to [00:48:00] reconnect. I hate that today. People associated with rules and dogma. Yeah, it's true. Spirituality is replaced the word religion for people who want a more broader opinion or broad definition and less and less confines that you have to do this. You have to believe it this way. Um, I've been a big proponent of.

[00:48:22] LSD for a long time. I met Timothy Leary when I lived in law school.

[00:48:25] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:48:25] Oh

[00:48:26] Carl Lanore: [00:48:26] yeah. I know he spoke at UNL V. It was a cold November night. Um, there were like 20 people that showed up in this big auditorium. No one knew who he was.

[00:48:39] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:48:39] I

[00:48:39] Carl Lanore: [00:48:39] had done a lot of acid in my life. I had lots of interesting experience. I wanted to talk to him with about, and so after his little seminar with, to this small group, we all moved to the front of the hall.

[00:48:51] Uh, I. No appealed often. He and I sat and we talked for about 40 minutes and, um, one of the things he told [00:49:00] me back then has just actually been proven in science. Now think about this. This was probably 1986 or 87 when I met him. And, uh, he told me then that LSD causes. Uh, neuroplasticity in a unique way. It causes brain neurons from the right and left hemisphere to bypass the Corpus callosum and go directly.

[00:49:27] And this is why you have original thought. You can, because the processor, the clearing house of data, so to speak, the Corpus callosum is not controlling. What can connect to where. So the part of the brain that smells can connect to the part of the brain that sees. And all of a sudden you can smell colors.

[00:49:45] And so, um, I was at

[00:49:51] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:49:51] Sinskis. Yeah, I think that's the terminology for it.

[00:49:54] Carl Lanore: [00:49:54] Yes. Yeah. And, and so I was at quest nutrition, uh, for one of our think [00:50:00] tank events and, um, a guy named Jamie wheel, I want to say was there. And he was doing a lecture. I think he wrote a book called becoming Superman or something like that.

[00:50:11] And so. He talked a lot about flow States and how they actually mimics what happens in a flow state. And I peeled off and I talked to him and I told them the story about all the things I talked to Larry. He says, you know, that was only just proven like last year or two years ago. That that's exactly what happens when you do LSD.

[00:50:32] Um, I've done shows on microdosing. I stole microdose today. I don't do it all the time. Uh, I do it on and off just as I feel. But one of the things that dosing does, that's fascinating to me is, you know, if you've, if you've really tripped, if you've actually used enough of a psychedelic where you, you literally altered your state of mind, you're seeing trails and, and everything.

[00:50:53] It just has this different dimension to it. That's one thing. But all microdosing does is just kind of make you [00:51:00] feel like, gee, I never noticed the way hits the side of my house like that. It just so fascinating. Wow. And it gives you a greater appreciation. The only thing I can attribute it to is when you're young, everything is new.

[00:51:11] In fact, fascinating, doing nothing is exciting. Right? As you get older, you've done nothing so many times. It's not fascinating anymore. Microdosing kind of gives you that feeling like everything is new and shiny again. What do you think?

[00:51:24] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:51:24] Yeah, I agree. I mean, there is some neuroplasticity that comes out of microdosing.

[00:51:28] That's why people continue to do it. And it does after some period of time of micro-dosing, it does have that effect of having that big one psychedelic dose. Um, and, and sometimes people prefer that because they're afraid of the trip affected the psychedelic dose. That's fine. I totally get that. Um, but I, I agree that when you're on when your mic, and it depends on the specific medicines that you're using, right.

[00:51:51] LSD is one, one specific substance that you can microdose on. You could also microdose from psilocybin, which is the active ingredient of magic mushrooms. You would [00:52:00] also, um, uh, microdose on San Pedro, which is, um, the cactus. Um, and it's just basically, um, uh, mescaline. Um, so you can definitely, yeah. Micros and that's.

[00:52:10] And so each one of those. Typically has its own flavor and its effects on the body. But overall you're getting a little bit, yeah. More of increased cognition. You're getting a little bit more creativity, um, throughout the day or a couple of days. Um, you just, you just feel like you, you just feel like you're more on your heart, more, um, everything, like you said, the colors are brighter.

[00:52:31] The air is air smells cleaner. Um, you know, the tastes of sweeter, uh, it really enhances our, our senses. Um, so yeah, I'm a big proponent of it. Yeah. Um, I, I do think that for me specifically, I think you have to, if you're a micro-dosing or taking any psychedelics to really optimize it, you have to have a clean vessel.

[00:52:49] You have to have a body that's not polluted. If you're polluted, you're, you're eating is fast food and you're eating processed stuff and you're. Drinking a lot of alcohol or smoking tobacco a lot, or, you know, like, you know, [00:53:00] cigarettes, it's just pollutes your body. So you can't get that benefits from the psychedelic experience or from microdosing.

[00:53:07] So unlike what we've talked about, the show it's about living your life, optimally, you know, balancing the mind, body and spirit, and then it goes to show you, you have to do that even to experience a good, um, uh, have a good experience with psychedelics,

[00:53:19] Carl Lanore: [00:53:19] right? No, I agree. So, um, what do you hope people take away from the book?

[00:53:25] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:53:25] Yeah. It's, it's interesting. When I wrote this, it was specific play for the audience of people who have cancer or people who have loved ones suffering from cancer. Um, after, you know, it was released in December of last year and it's been six, seven months of it being released and talking about it on podcasts and shows.

[00:53:46] I th I really think there's a utility of this book for anybody. Um, you know, it's, yeah, it's a, it's a, really a playbook of how to live your life and how to do it, really take notice of your life and understand, but living about living in the moment [00:54:00] and being more aware of your body and cause that is your tool for health.

[00:54:04] I mean, if you would notice some changes that are appearing over a few days, Being just more in tune with your own personal being your body, your mind state that allows you to really be able to diagnose self-diagnosis issues that may be occurring. Um, so yeah, I think it's the playbook and handbook for anybody who wants to live a better life and who wants to optimize their wellbeing.

[00:54:26] It's not necessarily for a person who's currently suffering for cancer. Um, it could be apical for anybody. And, um, so yeah, I would, I would really invite people to take a look at it and see if it resonates with them.

[00:54:38] Carl Lanore: [00:54:38] Your cancer scare. Isn't really over right. It's day by day. You just live your life.

[00:54:45] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:54:45] I researched and I come across new things all the time, you know, and, and it's it's for me, it's like all about.

[00:54:52] Taking it all in and, and using these strategies to really reduce my stress levels, reduce my inflammation [00:55:00] and, and increase my longevity. Um, so those are my three things that I look for for any strategy that I employ. It has, it has those three things. Um, but no, you're not, it's, it's not, it's, it's, I'm young, you know?

[00:55:10] Um, and so, uh, you know, I'm 46, so I could have a recurrence at any time. You know, and, and, and they say that the longer you live after diagnosis, the more likelihood you have a recurrence. Um, but they don't say in these studies is what, if you have implementation of lifestyle strategy changes, what are your odds of having a recurrence then?

[00:55:30] No one does studies on that. So,

[00:55:33] Carl Lanore: [00:55:33] um, have you read any of, uh, um, dr. Thomas C Freed's, uh, work, uh, cancer as a metabolic disorder?

[00:55:40] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:55:40] I haven't. No.

[00:55:42] Carl Lanore: [00:55:42] You, you like him?

[00:55:43] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:55:43] You'd like him.

[00:55:44] Carl Lanore: [00:55:44] He's been on this show a couple of times. He, he, um, he is promoted the mitochondrial theory of cancer. And one of the studies that he did was, and I'm gonna, I'm going to butcher this, but you'll understand it.

[00:55:59] So [00:56:00] they took rodents, uh, that had cancer and they took a cancerous cells and noncancer cells from other rodents. And they. They took the, the mitochondria out of the cancer cell and put it in a non cancerous cell and the mitochondria righted itself. And they dispelled this whole thing that it's genetic as a result because they were able to reverse that same process.

[00:56:22] And so, you know, epigenetic testing is very, very popular today. We actually have a sponsor named chronometer that's over in the UK that does the most advanced, uh, next gen epigenetic testing, um, that. It was a saliva test and it actually looks at 20 million,

[00:56:41] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:56:41] uh,

[00:56:42] Carl Lanore: [00:56:42] plots on your DNA and gives you the things that you should stay away from these tests.

[00:56:48] As these tests become more and more efficient and more widespread, where more doctors are using epigenetic testing. I think that. We will start to see [00:57:00] people, uh, be able to avoid their cancers in the future. Cause it will actually pinpoint odd. This is, you know, because we know from twin studies, we know that cancer is not genetic.

[00:57:12] We have twin studies, we have girls. We have BRCA genes and we have one that gets breast cancer and one that does it. Oh, it's not genetic. Then if, cause if a genetic they both get it. So epigenetics is really becoming a very fascinating, especially in the area of cancer.

[00:57:28] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:57:28] Yeah. And I, and I, yeah, I'm glad you talked about that.

[00:57:30] So genetics is, is basically how the future is going to be per se. Utilizing four practices of personalized medicine. And I recently enrolled into a training program where it's genetic it's genetic space, personalized medicine. So I learned about the genes and then based on the genes and the, and, and the, and the snips that we see, we could basically, uh, personalize their strategies to live, where they can avoid a specific disease.

[00:57:56] And that's, I think that's the way that it,

[00:57:59] Carl Lanore: [00:57:59] yeah, [00:58:00] absolutely. Um, again, the book is called. From doctor to patient healing cancer through mine, body and spirit. It's This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. It's also available at Barnes and noble, Amazon, and we're finding books are sold. And also you can learn more about the podcast there, which is available at Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, uh, and wherever you like to listen to your podcasts.

[00:58:22] Thanks for being here today.

[00:58:23] Dr. Diva Nagula: [00:58:23] Thanks for having me take care.

[00:58:25] Carl Lanore: [00:58:25] We're going to take one quick commercial break. When we come back, I got a new episode and you may be a guest on the show. Stay tuned.

[00:58:34] This is the superhuman channel where we use oxygen for the power of doing I'll come back, I'll make this fast. I always try to make these fast. So in August we're launching a new site, a new segment, and the name of the segment is of fathers and sons. And what I want to do is I want to explore traditional and unique, uh, parenting, uh, [00:59:00] adaptations from fathers.

[00:59:01] And who have male children because boys learn how to be men from their fathers. I've already gotten two guests commitment. Uh, Ben Greenfield, who I think is a wonderful dad. Um, Aaron Singerman, who I think is a wonderful dad and they're raising boys and, you know, and, and you could be raising girls too, but if you have a son and the mix, if you know somebody that should be on this show on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

[00:59:29] They don't have to be famous. They don't have to be a podcaster. They don't have to be a supplement company owner. They don't have to be any of those things. They could just be somebody that, you know, personally, who is just taking a unique approach to raising their boys and their boys are turning out really great.

[00:59:48] I think men. Are really under the attack these days. And we have been for a while. And I've said this before to those of you who listened to the show, and that's not taking anything away from women, [01:00:00] not taking anything away from women, but I think it's time to start looking at men who are good fathers.

[01:00:08] And who's children who male children are turning out to be good young men and understand what they do differently. Where did they get the courage to do the unique things that they do with their boys? Uh, who did they learn from? Was their father the one, you know, sometimes the mother turns out a good boy.

[01:00:28] Maybe, but I want to hear those men say it. You know, I learned a lot of these things from my mom. I was, I lived in a single family, a single parent home. So if you know anybody who is just an amazing father and is also raising boys who seem to be amazing young men, please email me at, on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

[01:00:50] They can be famous or not famous. It doesn't matter to me. Um, And I want to talk to them. I want to interview them. I want to know what they do, why they do it, [01:01:00] where they learned it, how they became, who they are and what they are trying to instill in their boys, uh, to move forward, to make great young men out of them.

[01:01:09] So help us out. And you know, it could be you if you know somebody, maybe it's you, maybe you think you're a great dad. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Maybe you're doing things differently than your father did. Maybe you're doing things the same. He did. I want to hear from you on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. is the way to get in touch with me.

[01:01:29] And we will see you tomorrow with more superhuman radio, please share the show. Always share the show, help us grow and always share the show. There you go. I sang it to you. See you tomorrow. [01:02:00] .