Why fasting is my #1 tool for living with cancer

The Feminine Fasting Method, Learning to Fast Safely as a Woman

I first came to fasting after being diagnosed with breast cancer as a slim, active and health-conscious 33 year old in 2021 and now I support women 1:1 on how to fast safely.

At the time I had no idea what integrative, naturopathic or metabolic medicine was, but what I did know was that I’d gotten to this age on no medication whatsoever (apart from one single round of antibiotics in my late 20s) and so I was going to be doing lots of natural therapies as an adjunct to protect my healthy cells going through treatment.

Trawling the forums on cancer treatment (I definitely wouldn’t recommend this now…) amongst a lot of fear and fake news, I came across fasting to minimise side-effects through chemo and it made sense to me. I didn’t fully understand the science back then but was blessed with will power so thought I’d give it a go for my very first round at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in central London.

I went on to have 16 rounds of chemotherapy - 12 of Paclitaxel and 4 of Doxorubicin and Cyclophosphamide. I followed a fasting-mimicking protocol of clear broth and a little steamed broccoli for 48 hours before and 24 hours after each infusion. I’d wake up the morning after and anxiously scan my body for any pain or side-effects… but they never came.

I had no side effects at all - no nausea, no neuropathy, no metal mouth, no fatigue, no brain fog, no constipation/diarrhea and along with the cold cap and some extra organic products I’d researched… kept 80% of my hair with no patches. Honestly, I felt pretty fine all the way through chemo.

I was even going for a run the day after, some weeks.

Fasting was a big part of the reason I tolerated chemo so well but I was also taking potent doses of medicinal mushrooms, eating a wholefood ketogenic diet and doing a whole load of nervous system regulation practices to keep my mind and body calm through the process. I also had a deep knowing that I could trust my body and that I was going to be OK.

Hope and belief in our ability to heal are essential going through any health challenges.

Our cells are listening to our thoughts.

For those wanting to incorporate fasting to live your best metabolic life, then the aim of the game is to get into ketosis. Get yourself a Keto-Mojo glucose to ketones device to test you’re actually there pre-treatment (it’s a finger-prick blood test you do yourself) and consider exogenous ketones if your readings aren’t getting high enough.

Ensure you’re drinking plenty of properly filtered water with clean electrolytes (bonus if you have a Hydrogen water bottle) throughout your fasting windows to avoid headaches and nausea. If you are really struggling then a little grass-fed bone broth or warm water with lemon juice and himalayan salt can help, without breaking your fast.

Getting through chemo with no side effects showed me the power of fasting. I started weaving fasting into my life and loved how it made me feel. Not only does fasting balance your blood sugar (top trump of our metabolic health list), it gives us more sustained energy throughout the day, stops the 3pm slump when we reach for more caffeine, promotes deeper sleep, balances your mood and stops any cravings.

Fast-forward to 2022 and I took myself off of Zoladex (the hormone injection in the stomach putting you into medically induced menopause to protect your ovaries through treatment) and my cycle came back. But then I was fasting too much and overdoing it at the wrong times in my bleed and so lost it again.

I knew I loved this practice but I hadn’t quite nailed it.

Photo by Masaaki Komori on Unsplash

I dug deeper and trained with Dr Nasha Winters and Metabolic Regen and studied fasting safely for women with Dr Mindy Pelz, putting all this into practice myself as a human size metabolic guinea pig.

In a nutshell for women interested in using fasting as a tool to support their metabolic health whilst also supporting a healthy cycle - we can fast safely when oestrogen is rising (days 1-10 and 16-20) and then on the other days around ovulation and pre-bleed our progesterone is rising and we need to eat enough to nourish healthy production of that hormone.

After 4+ years of fasting myself, sometimes doing it wrong and learning the hard way, plus all of my training and research I now have my fasting protocols locked down. I know when and how to choose different types of fasting eg OMAD, Intermittent and extended fasting that works in-line with my cycle.

Having deepened my fasting practice and mastered the physical challenges, one of my favourite benefits of fasting is the spiritual and emotional re-set it allows. It gives us a chance to really slow down and listen in without the noise. Especially with extended fasting of 3-5 days. I do these longer fasts twice a year as the season changes. I’ve got my longest fast yet coming up in October and am hoping to go for 7-10 days in total, depending on how I feel.

Something that isn’t talked about enough with fasting is the eating part. What we eat before and after our fasts makes a huge difference to the therapeutic effects. I’ve done so many tests with my own ketones and blood sugar with different protocols and combinations and the impacts are real.

My rule of thumb is that when entering into an extended fast, we should be eating a clean wholefood ketogenic diet for as many days before and after our fast as we intend to be in the fast. E.g. for a 3 day fast, I would make sure I’m eating clean keto 3 days before and 3 days after. This helps us get into therapeutic ketosis quicker (the whole point of fasting) and keep the halo effects going for longer post-fast.

Exactly what we break our fasts with is also key. We want to opt for high fat, no carbohydrate and things that are easy to digest. My go-to is grass-fed bone broth, avocado, olives, two tablespoons of organic probiotic sauerkraut (to replenish my gut microbiota) and Lion’s Mane mushroom to boost Nerve Growth Factor further (which fasting promotes). I keep my fast break meal very small and chew 20x times. It’s important we resist the feeling to fill ourselves up - I’ve also made this mistake - and everything goes straight through you.

Other things to think about to give yourself the best success when fasting:

• Clear your diary as much as you can. Fasting is about slowing down your brain just as much as your digestive tract

• Taking time in nature each day

• Opt for gentle movement like walking, stretching and yoga vs. intense working out. I’ve made that mistake too and almost collapsed in front of a gym class full of people

• Don’t organise your extended fast dates over special occasions where there’ll be more temptation. Be smart.

• When things get tough remind yourself that humankind has been fasting for millenia and that your body has evolved for periods of feast and fast

Because of my (now healthy) fasting obsession and how it has literally changed my metabolic life for the better, I’m launching an online group fasting programme in October. It’s called The Feminine Fasting Method and you can learn more and sign up with us HERE with a special discount for The Metabolic Nutritionist community.

I’m still on my cancer journey and will be living metabolically for the rest of my life, but my training with Dr Nasha Winters and support from our global tribe of metabolic physicians, practitioners and therapists means I know exactly what to do to manage things metabolically. I also work 1:1 with those going through a diagnosis with support around fasting, the ketogenic diet, nervous system regulation, detox tools and sleep hygiene.

If fasting is something you want to learn more about then you can contact Lucy by clicking HERE