What is Oncology Health Coaching?

For too long, cancer treatment has been a one-size-fits-all approach, ignoring the fact that each individual is unique and has different reasons for developing cancer. Despite the moderate advancements in cancer outcomes and quality of life over the past century, we need to start asking the important questions: what went wrong? Why did cancer take root in the first place?

By focusing on an individualized approach that addresses the "why," "what," and "how" of cancer, we can improve the health of clients acing conventional treatment. It's time to shift our focus to the metabolic approach, which identifies areas of health that can be improved with simple nutrition and lifestyle changes. Let's take action and improve the lives of cancer patients by addressing the root causes of their illness.

The Metabolic Approach Focuses on The “Why”

  • How did cancer thrive in the body?

  • What was the person's health prior to diagnosis?

  • What does this individual need to improve their health?

  • What complementary therapies will assist recovery, improve mood and support remission?

Terrain Health

Did you know that your current metabolic health (hormones, blood sugar, etc) emotional state, how you exercise, nutrition, the environment you live in and your community all contribute in some way to your health and wellness? Comprehending the individual’s biological terrain is like a gardener understanding ideal conditions for growing vegetables. It's about soil biochemistry, nutrient balance, water, sunlight, and managing pests. A healthy biological terrain is similar to raising a garden. When the body has a nutritious diet, exercise, sleep, water, and sunlight, it flourishes. Conversely, antinutrients, chemicals, insufficient sunshine, and too much stress cause it to wither.

The human body is a marvel of intricacy and complexity, with all its systems interconnected and woven together. It is impossible to consider one part in isolation without acknowledging the impact it has on other parts. In order to better understand and address the effects of our external environment on our bodies, the Metabolic Terrain Institute of Health (MTIH) has simplified how we observe our bodies, known as The Terrain Ten™.

So, let's take a step back and assess your whole terrain. This can be looked at in these 10 key areas as proposed by Metabolic Terrain Institute of Health (MTIH) :

1. Genetic, epigenetic, and nutrigenomic modifications

2. Blood sugar balance

3. Toxic burden management

4. Repopulating and balancing the microbiome

5. Immune system maximization

6. Modulating inflammation and oxidative stress

7. Enhancing blood circulation while inhibiting angiogenesis and metastasis

8. Establishing hormone balance

9. Recalibrating stress levels and biorhythms

10. Enhancing mental and emotional well-being

By looking through the lens of the Terrain Ten, we can start to address the imbalance that has led to cancer thriving in your body. We must optimise the body’s healing mechanisms instead of only waging war on them. We need to treat the terrain, not the tumour. We must build the body up using all the tools we have at our disposal as an ONC.

The Terrain Ten™

It’s impossible to avoid the burden of our toxic environment. Avoidance of glyphosate-ridden foods, chemicals in body care products and cleaning supplies are great initial strategies but there is more. You may need guidance to explore ways to further clean up your environment, or investigate testing to determine primary contaminats that could be impacting your health.

Toxic Burden

Certain patients have a tendency for poor circulation or even thick and ‘sticky’ blood. Reviewing labs and epigenetics assists us to know when this is part of the condition of your overall health. For cancer patients we want to ensure optimal circulation in order to support healing.

Circulation

Epigenetics refer to inherited DNA variations affecting health, influencing conditions like diabetes, digestive issues, and autoimmune predispositions. These genetic hiccups also impact detoxification, nutrition, and hormonal balance. We can gain valuable information from a detailed Nutrigenomic report to tailor an individualised nutrition regime.

Epigenetics

Hormones

Hormone dysfunction is incredibly common and could be impacting your overall health. Stress, poor sleep, menstrual issues, thyroid/adrenal dysfunctions, obesity, insulin resistance and a history of trauma ALL impact the hormones. There are several option to test and address these imbalances that can be explored.

Your microbiome, made up of microbes, influences your immune system and mood. Factors like toxicity, antibiotics, and diet affect the balance of optimal microbes. An unhealthy microbiome can lead to inflammation and nutrient absorption issues. Lab testing and evaluation can offer insight into its function, including parasite testing.

Microbiome

Mental & Emotional Health

All humans have a history of trauma. Trauma is subjective to your experience. What work has been done to resolve your trauma so that it is not impacting your chronic health? IS there more work to do? Let us help support you so you may find the right and relevant method that resonates with your whole Being.

An increasing number of New Zealander’s are metabolically inflexible, unable to switch between fat and sugar fuel efficiently. Many are unaware of blood sugar issues as these are often not tested for in a cancer scenario. Understanding and correcting metabolism is crucial, particularly for cancer care patients to prevent feeding cancer cells with glucose.

Blood Sugar

Your immune system function is not a measure of how often you get sick. Immune function can be non-existent, reactive or overactive-attacking the body in ways and places it should not as it does in autoimmune conditions. We need to ensure we are providing optimal support to your immune system in order to sustain and recover from treatment,

Immunity

Chronic ‘stress’ or long patterns of disturbed sleep both contribute to chronic disease. If your circadian rhythm is off, meaning you do not get optimal sleep, this indicates an element of your terrain driving illness and indicating a need for support. We can look at simple effective lifestyle changes to support optimal circadian health.

Stress & Biorhythms

Oxidation & Inflammation

The body generally attempts to heal through inflammatory methods. But when inflammation is chronically suppressed (often by using medical interventions) then systemic inflammation begins. Inflammation drives its biochemical cousin ‘oxidative stress’, which is a biochemical term for the burden of free electrons roaming and wreaking havoc in the tissues. These two biochemical dysfunctions worsen each other and must be continually monitored.

  • Genetic and Nutrient testing: Nutrition recommendations shouldn’t be guess work, or generic, they should be based on an individual's genetic makeup, metabolic profile, and health history. This involves using assessments like nutrigenomics (the study of how genes affect nutrition) and micronutrient testing to understand the client's specific nutritional deficiencies and needs.

  • Therapeutic Diets: There are a range of therapeutic diets that can be used effectively to support the cancer client, including the Ketogenic Diet, therapeutic fasting, modified texture diets, tube feeding, digestive rehabilitation (such as GAPS and Low FODMAP), and autoimmune-focused dietary strategies (like the Autoimmune Protocol or AIP). These diets are selected and customized to suit the client's condition and goals.

  • Cancer Prevention and Management: Our goal is to create an inhospitable environment for cancer to thrive. We need to support the body's defenses against cancer and identify and eliminate dietary and lifestyle factors that may contribute to cancer development or progression. We call this the client’s ‘terrain’ and address how we can improve and sustain the person's health as a whole ecosystem, not just addressing the tumour, or disease in isolation. This could involve addressing environmental toxins, personal relationships, circadian rhythm, and grounding.

  • Compassionate Support: We recognise that change is difficult, and new diet recommendations when dealing with cancer, can be really challenging. Our role is to provide compassionate and tailored support, meeting our clients where they are in their journey and offer education and guidance along the way.

In summary, my role as an Oncology Health Coach is to support people on their cancer journey by guiding them towards an understanding of their options and empowering them to make informed intuitive choices. I introduce them to metabolic health tools designed to improve their overall health and enable them to be better prepared to face the challenges of cancer treatment.

Here are some aspsects of Oncology Health Coaching: