Episode 052: Life After Breast Cancer: Nutrition, Mindset, and Building a Healing Environment

Understand why lifestyle and diet matter after a breast cancer diagnosis, including the role of sugar intake and metabolic health in cancer growth.

Learn how gut repair, antioxidant balance, and blood sugar management can support immune function and recovery after treatment.

Discover why emotional support, mindset shifts, and community play a critical role in helping women heal and rebuild their lives after breast cancer.

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About the Guest:

Carol Lourie is a naturopath, acupuncturist, homeopath, and holistic breast health expert with more than 35 years of experience helping women navigate breast cancer recovery and long-term wellness.

Through her integrative approach, she focuses on the metabolic, nutritional, emotional, and lifestyle factors that influence healing after a breast cancer diagnosis. Her work supports women during and after treatment by combining evidence-based supplements, dietary strategies, immune support, and mindset coaching.

Carol leads educational programs and group coaching communities that help women rebuild their health, reduce recurrence risk, and create sustainable habits for lifelong wellness.

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Social Handles:

Website: https://carollourie.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HealingBeyondBreastCancer
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carollouriehealing
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HealingBeyondBreastCancer/videos

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Transcript

00:00 Optimizing Immune Health and Nutrition

Dr. Carol Lourie (00:00): There's no one cause of breast cancer and there is no one strategy that you want to use to optimize your immune system. I recommend, and we just were speaking about this to my community, that women start their day with your Pao Pereira tea because that is one of the ways that you can optimize your immune system. I know it's not directly connected to your quote, TH1, TH2, your immune system, but it does provide an environment that is inhospitable to cancer cells.

Sylvie Beljanski (00:36): Welcome to the Beljanski Cancer Talk Show, where integrative science and holistic healing come together. I am Sylvie Beljanski and in each episode we explore nutrition, lifestyle, mental health and research-backed approaches to support the whole person through cancer and chronic diseases. Carol Lourie, my guest today, is a naturopath, acupuncturist, homeopath, and a holistic breast health expert. She's here to help you navigate life after a diagnosis of breast cancer. With over 35 years of experience, she guides women all over the world to put the pieces of their life back together and come back stronger, better, healthier than ever. I love it. Whether you are newly diagnosed in treatment or have completed your treatment, Carol Lourie will show you how to develop the tools and the mindset you need to create deep healing and transformation in your life. With her help and despite the adversity and the difficulties, the trauma and the pain, the next chapter can become a better life than you ever imagined. Carol, when I read that, I felt like, do I need to have cancer to benefit of all?

Dr. Carol Lourie (01:45): We all do, I think. I mean, that is the goal of all of our lives, whether we had cancer or have cancer or not. Our society doesn't discuss this. Our society is acute problem solving and it doesn't address the empowerment that people have over their health and life, especially with changing lifestyle, changing how you eat, taking certain targeted supplements, and divorcing yourself from the standard American diet and the standard American lifestyle, which is so unhealthy.

06:06 Integrative Care Misconceptions

Sylvie Beljanski (02:28): Speaking of a standard diet and since you are seeing women with breast cancer issues mostly, what would you say is the biggest misconception about integrative care for breast cancer?

Dr. Carol Lourie (02:41): Well, I love that question because it's actually very alarming to me that when women are concerned about how to eat, how to live, lifestyle, what do they need to change after they've basically finished treatment and rung that bell, which is a mixed example of a metaphor. And they ask their oncologist, you know, what else can I do? How should I change my diet, my lifestyle? And I just had a woman say to me yesterday, "Eat whatever you want or eat everything in moderation". And that is medically and research-wise one of the worst things that a woman can be told—or a man, anyone who's had cancer does not want to go back to the standard American diet. Because across the board, there's a few things that are true for all types of cancer, and especially about nutrition. Cancer loves sugar and that was discovered in 1918 by the German scientist Otto Warburg and he won the Nobel Prize for it in 1924 and it's known as the Warburg effect. Now this was lost for many years but recently this attitude of cancer as a metabolic disease has had a resurgence. So, if you're eating fast food in the morning, if you're eating sugary Pop-Tarts or cereal or even oatmeal, basically you're putting sugar in your body and your cancer cells are going, "Great. I have gas for my gas tank now".

Sylvie Beljanski (04:18): Yes, sugar—cancer cells love sugar and they need a lot of energy in order to grow, multiply, and create those big tumors. So it is really, really important to speak about diet and especially now we recently heard about this change in the food pyramid and it looks like finally the healthy fats are coming on top and starting to be recommended again. What you have said for four years seems to be finally validated at the highest level. It was about time.

Dr. Carol Lourie (04:50): It's about time. Yes, absolutely.

Sylvie Beljanski (04:54): So we are speaking of diet and it is impossible to separate diet and immune function. So how can a woman optimize her immune function after a breast cancer diagnosis?

Dr. Carol Lourie (05:04): Well, I think it's really important to understand that immune function or hormones or recurrence are not just a separate thing sitting over there. Everything is connected. So, your stress level, the toxins in your home from cleaning products and laundry detergent, what you put on your body, how you talk to yourself, how you eat, the supplements you take, all of those contribute to optimizing your immune system. Now, there's no one cause of breast cancer, and there is no one strategy that you want to use to optimize your immune system. I recommend—and we just were speaking about this to my community—that women start their day with your Pao Pereira tea because that is one of the ways that you can optimize your immune system. I know it's not directly connected to your quote TH1, TH2, your immune system, but it does provide an environment that is inhospitable to cancer cells and you're also not feeding your body coffee the first thing in the morning, which then promotes sugar uptake. So, there's a lot that we can do as far as attitude and mindset and exercise and detoxifying your home to support your immune system.

Sylvie Beljanski (06:33): Go beyond that. I mean there are many things and thank you for mentioning the tea. What are the natural strategies that you like to use to optimize the immune system and reduce the side effects of the treatments?

Dr. Carol Lourie (06:48): Okay. So let's say a woman has finished treatment now or she's in the middle of treatment. There are little different categories. If you're in the middle of receiving active chemotherapy or radiation, I have protocols for that which we don't want to interfere with the medical oncology treatments if a woman has chosen to do that. There are certain supplements that you don't want to give during radiation, but there are certain supplements that have been proven in research that are safe to take during radiation. So it's important to be working with a practitioner who can differentiate what is safe and what will actually support medical oncology treatments. Chemotherapy—you need a different protocol than radiation because they really do different things to your body as far as impacting your immune system. But both of them have in common reducing the health of the gut, impacting the gut—and the gut is where a lot of the immune system originates. So it is safe for both chemo and radiation to take certain probiotics and to use whey in your healing smoothie, which is a proprietary product that I use. You want to stay away from certain antioxidants when you're in the middle of chemo or radiation, especially for radiation, vitamin E. There are certain herbs such as andrographis and ashwagandha that are very safe to take and have actually been proven to increase the benefit of medical oncology treatments. Now what was the other half of the question? I got sidetracked.

Sylvie Beljanski (08:31): How do you work with the doctors? How does it go when a woman is hesitating to tell her doctors that she wants more, she wants to see you, she wants to follow your advice, but she feels she's going to be dismissed by her doctor? How do you work around that?

Dr. Carol Lourie (08:48): I always encourage women to be forthright with what they're doing. It's so the doctors are educated. I have a very extensive PubMed research list that I provide to the women to show to their doctors about the benefit of the products that I'm recommending. And I also encourage the woman to explain to the doctor that my goal is to keep the woman as healthy as possible throughout treatment and afterwards. And especially if somebody is on a chemotherapy schedule, let's say every three weeks, you can stop taking certain supplements three days or four days before the infusion and then start them up two or three days afterwards. I think it's important to be respectful of the medical oncology treatments. You don't want to do anything to interfere with them. But you also want to be able to take care of the woman's optimal health in between the scheduled infusions.

(Sponsorship Message 10:04 - 11:24)

Dr. Carol Lourie (11:24): It can be tricky because medical oncologists are very straight and narrow, a lot of them, but a lot of them have really come around when they're presented with a very extensive list of PubMed researched articles that are done on people, not just within a cell.

Sylvie Beljanski (11:44): And tell me more about your protocol. I mean beyond supplements, what kind of support can you offer?

12:09 Mindset and Emotional Support

Dr. Carol Lourie (12:09): I think the number one attitude that really needs to shift is "What is cancer?" because mindset, in my opinion, is critical. You could be having a good day in which you feel empowered and "I got this," and then nothing can have changed on the outside but then a woman can feel like, "OMG, what am I doing? I'm lost. I'm not feeling well. I'm overwhelmed. I don't know what to do". I think that in our society, the messaging around healing and wellness and how much a woman needs to be involved in every decision doesn't exist. And we are unconsciously brainwashed through social media and television. There are ads—for example for anti-depressants—where a woman is sitting there and the house is "a mess." There are dishes in the sink, the beds aren't made, and she's sitting there like this. Then she's given an anti-depressant pill and the next image is the house is spick and span and she's serving the family a picnic lunch. There are so many inappropriate messages in that ad. First of all, what happened beforehand that the woman doesn't feel well now? Second of all, I had dishes in my sink and laundry when my child was young and I wasn't depressed. Third of all, why is it only the woman's responsibility to take care of that? And fourth, why is she serving the family a picnic lunch afterwards? Why isn't everybody doing it together? This kind of insidious brainwashing is unconsciously in our minds and it takes 120 days—that's been proven by neuro research—to change habits. We are unconsciously giving ourselves these messages of unwellness. So live group coaching is very important where women come together and everybody gets to put down in the chat their negative thoughts. You get them out of your brain, and then you're gently told, "Okay, now we need to go to track number two". Because track number one is not the healthy track, and it's not a good or a bad moment—we don't want to judge like that—we want to use positive affirmative words because it takes a lot to keep your mindset positive when you don't feel well every day.

(Sponsorship Message 14:20 - 15:47)

Sylvie Beljanski (15:47): So not only are women getting nutritional advice but they are also becoming part of group coaching and support groups to deal with their disease and the anxiety and everything that comes with the diagnosis.

17:50 Dietary Changes and Lifestyle Adjustments

Dr. Carol Lourie (16:03): Yes, because the statistics of recurrence are not great. For women who have hormonally positive breast cancer, the rate of recurrence is up to 11–12% within two to five years. So those statistics are not great and there are tools that they can have to reduce that risk. The goal is to change the environment in the body so it's inhospitable to cancer regrowth and we do that through foundational nutrition. This is a way of eating that becomes a lifestyle. If a woman is looking at food and going "I can't," that leads to frustration and feeling deprived. I eat the way I suggest women eat and I don't feel deprived. I went to Europe and I ate croissants every day—they were delicious and I didn't feel guilty at all. But when I'm home, I don't usually eat like that. It's very easy to eat a modified Mediterranean diet that works in your lifestyle.

Sylvie Beljanski (17:53): It is so important to look at the diagnosis not as a fatality but as an opportunity to learn, to change, to grow, and to get better. I love the fact that you are offering the blueprint to women to get there.

Dr. Carol Lourie (18:09): Well, it's a foundational aspect of health care. And the beautiful thing is when a woman changes how she eats, there's a ripple effect in the whole household. The spouse will lose weight, the children will be healthier, and the budget is usually pretty much the same because they're no longer spending money on boxed cereal or regular bread. It does take a little bit more time in the kitchen, but you get your systems down and everybody in the household can cook.

Sylvie Beljanski (19:07): Speaking of evidence-based natural strategies, what can you recommend to reduce side effects?

24:03 Supplement Protocols and Gut Health

Dr. Carol Lourie (19:16): I think that's what my "Empowered Against Recurrence" program is about. It is a comprehensive program that looks at how to eat, mindset tools, and targeted supplements that work optimally to change the environment in your body. Very few supplements are based on research, and that is the determining factor for what I recommend. I have very specific supplements that I trust because there's no one protocol that lasts forever. When you've just finished active treatment, you need a different type of protocol than you do two to three years later. You can't give somebody 20 new things at once. I usually say, "Let's start with these five supplements in addition to the healing smoothie," and let's do that for six to eight weeks before adding more. Slow and steady keeps women from being overwhelmed.

Sylvie Beljanski (20:34): Is there something most important that you are considering when putting together a supplement protocol?

Dr. Carol Lourie (20:39): Yes, the categories are gut repair, antioxidant status, and sugar status. Everyone needs gut help because of antibiotics, unhealthy food, and the environment. For antioxidant status, chemotherapy and radiation create enormous inflammation and oxidative stress. We need to pay attention to inflammatory markers like TH1 and TH2 every three to six months. For sugar status, we test how your body is handling glucose through blood parameters like hemoglobin A1C, leptin, and C-peptide. Once a woman is on a protocol, it usually takes about three months before they feel they've turned a corner and their energy returns. And you have to be organized—I educate women on a special system so they aren't just looking at all their bottles before every meal. Later we might add bone health supplements specifically for menopausal needs.

Sylvie Beljanski (24:20): So for somebody who has just been diagnosed, the journey with you lasts for how long on average?

Dr. Carol Lourie (24:32): They're about to go through probably three to six months of treatment. In addition to group coaching, they might work with me individually twice a month to ensure supplements are used properly and their emotional state is supported. It's important because being on tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor for five to ten years and being in chronic pain is a whole different story that needs different assets.

30:05 Navigating Relationships and Intimacy

Sylvie Beljanski (25:18): What do you recommend for somebody who is overwhelmed by the amount of conflicting information?

Dr. Carol Lourie (25:52): I think it's important to have one person that you trust and you put blinders on. When someone gives advice, you have a button you push and you say, "Thank you so much for your concern but I'm working with an expert and I'm well taken care of". It becomes very simple. There has to be an energetic trust. Most people giving advice don't really know anything about cancer.

(Sponsorship Message 27:26 - 28:57)

Sylvie Beljanski (28:57): And what is going to work for one person is not necessarily going to work for another because the causes of cancer are multiple and the approach needs to be tailored.

Dr. Carol Lourie (29:08): Absolutely. The goal is to get through treatment healthy and then develop strategies for longevity. We also haven't talked about the emotional experience—you can't go through breast cancer without it. Your body changes, and often women stop looking in the mirror because it's too upsetting. Breast cancer patients have a higher divorce rate because of spousal problems and intimacy difficulties. In my coaching programs, I ask "Who's having marital problems?" and we have conversations about how to talk to your spouse about your different needs now. Intimacy is different when you're in your 40s, 50s, or 60s anyway.

Sylvie Beljanski (30:53): It's not easy even without cancer, so I couldn't imagine with a mutilation and everything.

Dr. Carol Lourie (31:02): The medication makes it difficult, so I recommend talking with a gynecological oncologist about low estrogen vaginal inserts once or twice a week. You also need to understand that you can't go from your busy life straight to being intimate—you have to get ready and ensure you won't be interrupted. There needs to be frank conversation.

Sylvie Beljanski (31:58): Your support groups are really precious—a safe space for conversations only women who have been through this can discuss.

Dr. Carol Lourie (32:10): Yes, and they aren't recorded and don't show up on Facebook—it's very private. My program also includes the "Empowered Library" with 50 different eBooks and articles, the healing smoothie recipe, and a 50-page eBook on testing.

36:11 Empowerment Through Education and Community

Sylvie Beljanski (33:04): Where can women find you and follow up?

Dr. Carol Lourie (33:14): My website is carollourie.com and I personally answer every email I get.

Sylvie Beljanski (33:31): And do you have a book already?

Dr. Carol Lourie (33:45): I'm in the process of writing my book, hopefully for this year, about the emotional and metabolic needs of breast cancer.

Sylvie Beljanski (34:10): And of course we are going to hear you at the Beljanski Integrative Cancer Conference in San Diego, June 27 to 29. Can you tell us a bit about your experience?

Dr. Carol Lourie (34:31): I think your conference is the number one conference people need to attend. The level of doctors and professionals is so comprehensive that it's impossible not to feel optimized and positive about taking charge. Last year I talked about the emotional component and this year I'm talking about hormones and breast cancer. I want to address the misinformation and chaos: is it safe to take hormone replacement therapy? How do you take care of your bones? What kind of testing, like the Dutch hormonal test, do you need? I'm very excited to provide this information.

Sylvie Beljanski (37:37): Thank you so much, Carol. I think everybody is looking forward to your presentation. Thank you for everything you are doing.

Dr. Carol Lourie (37:55): Thank you so much for having me, Sylvie.

Sylvie Beljanski (38:00): Thank you for listening to the Beljanski Cancer Talk Show. If this conversation supported or inspired you, please follow the podcast, share it with someone who may benefit, and leave a review. For more resources, please visit the Beljanski Foundation.