I also love to flit between fiction and development, because I love a story as much as I like to be motivating myself, but I can’t be in constant motivation state or I end up over thinking. So absorbing myself into someone’s life, but intertwined with a little “you can do this” is the vibe I go for with my reading library.

But in addition to this too, I also walk for two hours a day, so I burn through pods & audiobooks. Basically my monthly consumption list is long!

Let’s start with the books…

Let’s start with fiction, as I’ve read some good reads this month:

Female Nude

If you want a really easy beach read, with a bit of culture thrown in then this is ideal. Set on a Greek island, a group of “friends” go away and their history unravels as the main characters come into conflict over mostly their love lives. It’s excellently written, juicy and a definitely read for holiday. Easy and enjoyable.

When the Cranes Fly South

Be prepared to have your heart broken with this one, an easy read won’t take long to get through with a heartbreaking ending. About the love a man can have for his dog but also a story of old age and loss of identity, told through the main character who is coming to the end of his life. Don’t read on holiday, I cried on my sun lounger in a beach club which isn’t the best vibe.

All That Man Is - David Szalay

I don’t think I expected this to be a collection of characters; I thought there would be more of a storyline. It follows nine different men, at different stages of life, whose stories are loosely connected by what it means to be a man: desire, ambition, sex, failure, ageing and the quiet disappointments in between.

If you liked Flesh (which I adored), this is an interesting one to go back to. It has the same sparse, observational writing and slightly bleak examination of masculinity, but I found myself missing the intimacy of following one character all the way through. Some of the men stayed with me far more than others. The writing is great but perhaps more a book I admired than one I loved.

My Husbands Wife

I deeply believe a well-written thriller is the ultimate gateway book. Like a gateway drug, except hopefully leading you towards increasingly pretentious literature rather than anything more sinister. If you’ve fallen out of reading, a book you can burn through in a few days is often exactly what gets you back into it, and this will do just that.

It’s hard to say too much without giving it away, but it’s a proper mind-twister and the kind of story that completely grips you. Also left me thinking: bloody men. Again. Haha.

Now for the development / wellness phase:

Bootstrap Empire

Women that have build impressive businesses is a great interest of mine. I hate business books that give you 300 pages of theory or frameworks, but the story of how Natalie Holloway built Bala is a great one. One not so publicly projected either because she’s not a founder who really a business founder on the quest for infinite influencer status - well done to her. Very easy to read, not a big one and hugely motivating - recommending to anyone who keeps talking themselves out of starting a business.

Metabolic Approach to Cancer

I actually read this book for the second time this month. I first read this book years before my diagnosis, just out of general curiosity for wellness and I adored it then. I re-read it this august, obviously through a new lens having had cancer but I wholeheartedly believe that it’s a book everyone should read to understand how our dietary choices influence cancer outcomes. I read a stat this week that by 2030, 100% of people in the US will have cancer at some point in their lives. Is this therefore relevant to 100% of people? Yeah I'd say so.

Now for the podcasts:

LINK

I’m going to do a shameless self nom here as my podcast on Raise came out last month and it goes through my journey with cancer & healing naturally. I thought it was a good episode, my first podcast and ironically on my favourite podcast too - so give it a listen here.

LINK

Dr John is the co-founder of the supplement company Mara labs, which developed a patented sulfurophrane supplement due to both the founders wives having breast cancer, sadly one lost his wife and the other cured hers. Amazing story, they’ve been on the His and Her show twice, so find the first episode too as that explains their stories but this episode was more about cancer and detox and it was fascinating. Would really recommend.

LINK

One for the slightly more advanced wellness person, but the role of high dose melatonin is fascinating and one I practise myself, I take up to 200mg which is a wild amount but I have spent a while building to this. The Dr also talks about endogenous and exogenous toxins which I hadn't thought about much and how we create our own toxic inner waste, but we also receive external toxins and the importance of toxin clearance. He also talks about mould toxicity and his combination of supplements to counteract it which is BodyBio PC & Butyrate, two I take daily and two favourites of mine!

And finally, the newsletter:

I adore reading Daily Rituals every single week, it’s release on a Monday and it’s the low down of all things wellness that I want to tune into. Think SheerLuxe but for the wellness girls - link here to have a read!

ALSO

Because I don’t want anyone to be under the illusion that all I listen to is educational things, I listen to My Therapist Ghosted Me, Giggly Squad and The Jack and Ash show every week for a light dose of rubbish listening and I adore all three podcasts.

Any questions, please ask away in the comments but hope you loved what I’d read and consumed this month!

Katie x

The Fellow Carter Mugs - in Desert Rose

Obviously I had to get the water and the tea version, one for my icy electrolytes and one for my matcha, these are so leak proof too - obsessed.

LINK for the larger water one and LINK for the smaller tea flask.

Then speaking of Matcha - this is the one I buy to take away - the sachets are the perfect amount of matcha too - strong but not too much,

Pique Sun Goddess Matcha

LINK

Avmacol Broc Sprout Supplement

LINK

I take Sulfuraphrane religiously, one of my best and favourite supplements. Not only does it support phase two liver detox, it’s hugely anti-cancer, protects against DNA damage and in vitro - in a Petri dish - has been shown to kill breast cancer cells - it’s a yes from me. Also it’s my secret to glowy skin, no gatekeeping.

Renue Labs - Liposomal Apigenin

LINK

Apigenin is one of my favourite additions to my nighttime routine. It’s the calming flavonoid naturally found in chamomile, and I take it for sleep, but I love that it does so much more in the background too. It’s a powerful antioxidant, helps protect cells from oxidative stress and is being studied for its anti-inflammatory and healthy-ageing effects. This one is 75mg and liposomal, which is important to me because apigenin naturally has pretty poor oral bioavailability, so the delivery system is designed to help more of it actually make it into circulation.

I love extra antioxidants when travelling not only because of the oxidative damage of the planes, but also the sun is an oxidative stressor, so this does also reduce damage to the skin too which is a great holiday bonus.

Anima Mundi LIVER VITALITY Greens

LINK

I’m actually really picky with green powders. I don’t want one bulked out with loads of kale and spinach, partly because I’d rather eat those foods whole and partly because they’re naturally high in oxalates, especially spinach. I want a greens powder to give me something more functional. This is all organic and combines things like moringa, spirulina, chlorella and nettle with alfalfa, plus some of my favourite liver-supportive herbs: milk thistle, dandelion, burdock, turmeric and chanca piedra. It’s much more of a herbal greens formula than a powdered salad, which is exactly what I’m looking for.

When you travel, you just don’t tend to get the same nutrient intake so this ensures I'm pretty topped up and also keeps the digestion flowing.

COSMIC DEALER Genmaicha Green Tea with Ginger & Tulsi

LINK

This is such a good caffeine replacement when I still want a little lift. It’s organic Japanese Genmaicha, so Sencha green tea blended with toasted brown rice, then they’ve added ginger, moringa and tulsi. You’re getting the polyphenols from green tea, ginger for digestion, mineral-rich moringa and tulsi, one of my favourite adaptogenic herbs. I also love that there are no added “natural” flavours, artificial flavourings or sweeteners, which sneak into SO many teas. It tastes slightly nutty and toasted and is genuinely delicious.

It’s not a huge haul but it’s a good one!

Happy shopping - oh and the above are affiliate links!

Katie xx

• My favourite new workout sets

• Oura Ring Cover

• Agent Nateur Hair Growth Spray

• Alexis Smart Safe and Sound tincture

• Creamer I add into my matcha

• Humic/Fulvic minerals

• GlucoBitters

Indigo Luna workout sets

My favourite pieces are the:

Eden Black Trouser

Agni Crop Sports Bra

Agni Flares

Bamboo Onsie

Since breast cancer, I’ve become far more conscious of the things that sit against my skin every day, including my activewear. We talk endlessly about what we eat and put on our faces, but much less about the fabrics we wear tightly against the body while we are hot and sweating.

A growing concern within clothing is PFAS, the family of persistent chemicals often used to make fabrics resistant to water, oil and stains. They are known as “forever chemicals” because they break down extremely slowly, accumulating in the environment and, in some cases, the body. Exposure to certain PFAS has been associated with hormone disruption, immune effects and an increased risk of some cancers. That does not mean every synthetic workout set contains PFAS, or that clothing caused my breast cancer, but diagnosis has made me think differently about cumulative exposure.

Indigo Luna has become my answer to activewear that still looks beautiful but feels much more considered. The brand prioritises organic, plant-based and recycled fabrics, including organic cotton and plant viscose, with several of its yarns certified to OEKO-TEX Standard 100, meaning they have been tested against a wide range of potentially harmful substances. I also love that the fabrics feel soft, breathable and loose, also a huge win for lymphatic health too..

If you’re going to have something pressed against your important regions for a lot of the day, or especially when you are sweating, best make it healthy!

My silicone Oura Ring cover

I have finally hacked how to wear an Oura Ring in the gym. Link here!

I love my Oura, but rings and weights are not natural friends. Aside from scratching the ring, gripping dumbbells and bars with a hard metal band can feel deeply uncomfortable. Taking it off solves that problem, but it also means losing the activity data from the exact part of the day I most want it to record.

Enter the tiniest, least glamorous item in this month’s cart: a silicone Oura cover. It slips over the ring, gives it a little cushioning and protects the finish while I train. It costs very little, lives permanently in my gym bag and means I no longer have to choose between tracking my workout and destroying my jewellery.

A very small invention. A genuinely excellent life improvement.

Agent Nateur hair growth spray

My hair is currently SPROUTING OUT OF MY HEAD, and this is the product I genuinely think has made the biggest visible difference.

After everything my body has been through, seeing those tiny new hairs appear feels far more emotional than I expected. Hair growth is never about one product alone. Protein, minerals, hormones, stress and scalp health all matter. But this Agent Nateur spray has been the consistent topical step in my routine, and the amount of new growth around my hairline is impossible for me to ignore.

I apply it directly at the roots and let it do its thing, it smells nicely natural but it also doesn’t require me to wash it out which is a huge plus! Everything this brand does I love! It’s a big yes from me.

Alexis Smart Safe and Sound tincture

Bach flower remedies have been a huge part of my healing journey, they are subtle, and perhaps that is why I love them because they really feel like a low effort step that is supporting you emotionally. They do not make me feel switched off or unlike myself and it’s not another supplement to add into the routine.

Safe and Sound by Alexis Smart is the blend I keep reaching for at the moment and it was a really random find too! Just a few drops under the tongue a few times a day and I feel so much more emotionally stable and grounded. I often suffer with my brain moving faster than I want it to and that combined with quite a lot of emotionally trauma has left me a little shell shocked so this is one of the things I’m using these days.

Sidekick Energy Creamer

There are mornings when I want to extend my overnight fast but still want the comfort and ritual of my matcha. Sidekick Energy Creamer is what I use to bridge that gap.

One thing I have become increasingly aware of is how quickly some sweetened or higher-carbohydrate plant milks can turn an apparently innocent morning drink into the beginning of a blood-sugar rollercoaster. A matcha might look healthy, but what it is blended with matters so much. I want something creamy and satisfying without starting the day with a big glucose rise followed by the inevitable dip.

This gives my matcha the texture I want while fitting far better with the way I like to structure my mornings. I don’t do it daily, because I don’t love to start my day with fat but it’s a lovely way to keep fasted especially if I’ve managed to really clock some hours in which I do a few times a week. It works for me when the goal is steadier energy, appetite control and making the fasting window feel a little easier.

Humic and fulvic minerals

Humic and fulvic minerals feel like the ancient wisdom version of electrolytes before we packed them with stevia and gave them unnatural flavours.

They are created over centuries as plants and organic matter break down into mineral-rich soil and they basically act almost like a transport system for minerals, binding to trace minerals and helping carry them across cell membranes so the body can actually use them. Really in the most natural form like we would if digesting minerals from food.

I think they are particularly relevant today because our relationship with minerals has changed so dramatically. Intensive farming, depleted soils, long food supply chains and heavily filtered water can all reduce the mineral diversity we are exposed to. We tend to focus on the headline minerals such as magnesium and sodium, but the body relies on a far broader spectrum of trace elements to support energy production, hydration, enzyme activity and cellular communication.

Fulvic acid is also interesting from a detoxification perspective. Its complex molecular structure can bind or interact with certain metals and other compounds, while its antioxidant activity may help protect against some of the oxidative stress associated with toxic exposure. Quality and purity really matter here too, because a poorly sourced product can contain the very contaminants you are trying to avoid.

Just a swig a day is an incredibly easy way to bring a broad spectrum of naturally occurring trace minerals back into my routine. Don’t expect it to taste nice, because it absolutely doesn’t, but the difference I notice in my energy makes it worth it.

Link here.

GlucoBitters

Blood sugar balancing is huge for me at the moment, I’ve managed to reverse my insulin resistance through focusing on bitter herbs and insulin focused supplements and I’m really transforming my body as a result. GlucoBitters by Organic Olivia is one of the best I’ve found, it’s essentially a concentrated “metabolic vinegar” - an organic apple cider vinegar base infused with more than 500mg of botanicals per serving. The formula includes gymnema, bitter melon, fenugreek, cinnamon, gentian, sweet orange, peppermint and bupleurum. Gymnema is particularly interesting because its gymnemic acids can temporarily alter how intensely we perceive sweetness, while bitter melon and cinnamon have both been studied for their potential roles in glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity. Gentian also provides the traditional digestive-bitter element, helping signal the release of digestive secretions before food arrives.

I carry the bottle everywhere and add one or two droppers to sparkling water before I eat, particularly before a carb-heavy meal, dessert or dinner out. It tastes sharp and properly bitter, but diluted in cold sparkling water it becomes the most delicious pre dinner drink. It is one of the easiest blood-sugar habits I have found to maintain because it replaces several separate supplements with one bottle that can live in my handbag. LINK

That is what I am buying, using and loving this August…

I no longer think the best wellness products are necessarily the most complicated or extreme. They are the ones that slip naturally into your life and help you do the things you already know make you feel good, with a little more consistency and a little less effort! Oh and a few of these are affiliated links just so you’re aware.

Love Katie x

And I absolutely love cooking. It’s one of my love languages. There is something deeply satisfying about taking simple ingredients and turning them into something beautiful for yourself or for the people you love. If you ask my friends, they are always very well fed in my house.

Since having cancer, I naturally think about food differently. Not fearfully, and certainly not obsessively, but with a much greater awareness of what each meal is giving my body. I’m no longer interested in eating something simply because it is low-calorie, convenient or marketed as healthy. I want food that provides fibre, protein, minerals, antioxidants, healthy fats and an extraordinary variety of plant compounds.

People often ask what a “cancer-preventative” diet looks like, as though it requires an entirely separate way of eating. I don’t believe it does. The foundations are remarkably unglamorous: mostly whole foods, plenty of plants, adequate protein, lots of fibre, fewer ultra-processed foods and very little added sugar.

This is not a claim that food can guarantee cancer prevention, or that anyone caused their diagnosis through their diet. Cancer is far more complicated than that. But diet is one of the daily environments we create for our bodies, and after cancer I’m not willing to pretend it is irrelevant either.

My food rules

I rarely eat pork. Maybe once a month, if that. It has never made me feel particularly good and it simply isn’t a food I consider nutritionally valuable enough to prioritise.

I’ve massively reduced my red meat intake. I still eat good-quality red meat occasionally, but it is no longer an everyday staple.

Instead, I’ve increased my fish, choosing wild, line-caught or responsibly sourced options wherever possible. Oily fish gives me protein alongside omega-3 fats, so it earns its place on my plate regularly.

I try to eat a salad every single day, even if it sits alongside a warm meal. It doesn’t have to be a sad bowl of leaves. Mine are enormous, heavily dressed with extra-virgin olive oil and usually filled with herbs, sprouts, seeds, avocado and something sharp like lemon or apple cider vinegar.

Added sugar is a no-go for me. I’m not frightened of every gram of carbohydrate and I don’t subscribe to the simplistic idea that eating one sweet thing directly “feeds” a tumour. But I do care deeply about blood-sugar regulation, insulin signalling, inflammation and the way sugar displaces more nourishing foods. So I don’t add it to my daily diet, and I check sauces, drinks and supposedly healthy products because it appears in almost everything.

I avoid most grains where I can, although I will happily have a bowl of gluten-free pasta occasionally. Oats are very rare for me. I know they are treated as a universal health food, but they don’t work particularly well for my own glycaemic goals, and I don’t find them nearly as satiating as a protein-rich meal. They are also used to fatten animals in the livestock industry for a reason.

I don’t eat huge quantities of fruit either. I mostly choose berries, pomegranate and the occasional apple. When I do eat fruit, I tend to have it before a meal rather than using something sweet to finish every meal as when it sits on top of your meal it ferments in the stomach and increases the insulin potential.

I generally eat two substantial meals a day. This naturally gives me a longer overnight fasting window without turning fasting into another full-time job. This is what suits me personally and the research on fasting in cancer is huge.

And contrary to what people often assume, I eat a lot. Once your meals are built around nutrient-dense whole foods, portion size becomes far less frightening. My plates are huge, colourful and incredibly filling. I am not picking at lettuce leaves in the name of health.

The foods I deliberately add

Removing things is only half of the conversation. I’m much more interested in what I can add to a meal to increase its nutritional density.

My regular cancer-supportive foods are not miracle treatments, and I would never present them as such. They are simply plant foods and drinks containing compounds being studied for their potential roles in antioxidant defence, inflammation, cellular signalling and overall metabolic health.

Broccoli sprouts

These are probably my ultimate nutritional topping. Broccoli sprouts are particularly rich in glucoraphanin, which the body can convert into sulforaphane. I add them to salads, eggs, fish and bowls rather than expecting myself to eat an enormous portion of broccoli every day.

Turmeric

I use turmeric regularly in cooking, dressings and drinks. I usually combine it with black pepper and a source of fat. It is one of the easiest ways to introduce another deeply coloured plant compound into the diet, although food amounts should never be confused with taking high-dose curcumin supplements during treatment.

Pomegranate

Pomegranate seeds make almost everything look and taste better. They add colour, fibre and polyphenols without turning a meal into dessert. I throw them over salads, yoghurt, fish and roasted vegetables.

Fresh herbs, especially coriander

Herbs are criminally underestimated. They are not decorative. They are concentrated plant foods, and I use them by the handful rather than as a polite garnish. Coriander is my favourite, but parsley, mint, dill, basil and rosemary all appear constantly in my food.

Matcha

Matcha is one of my daily rituals. It contains catechins and gives me a gentler, steadier form of caffeine than another coffee. I buy good-quality matcha and treat it as something I genuinely enjoy, not as medicine in a mug.

This is often where the biggest difference lies. You can eat a fairly ordinary piece of fish or chicken, then add olive oil, lemon, coriander, broccoli sprouts, pomegranate and a pile of vegetables and suddenly the meal has an entirely different nutritional profile.

Even when I order a takeaway, I almost always add nourishment rather than thinking only about restriction. I’ll add a salad, extra vegetables, herbs, sprouts or good olive oil. Health does not require you to live in a monastery. It asks you to make the better choice often enough that it becomes your normal.

The things I don’t completely avoid

I don’t avoid caffeine. Coffee and matcha remain part of my life, although I care about quality, quantity and timing. I don’t drink caffeine endlessly throughout the day, and I don’t use it to compensate for terrible sleep.

I don’t claim to be completely alcohol-free either. It is important to be honest here: alcohol is not healthy but I find the environments where alcohol is, often are for me - bars with my friends, sitting on the sofa with my girls, a date filled with laughter, but from a cancer-prevention perspective, less is better, none is ideal - but I’m 30 and I have a life to live. When I choose to drink, it is usually tequila with fresh lime juice and sparkling water. No sugary mixers and no agave. I keep it to a maximum of around one drink a week because I would rather make a conscious exception than create a false halo around alcohol.

And I don’t panic about gluten. I have it here and there when I’m out, travelling or eating something genuinely worth having. My rule is simply that I don’t buy it or cook with it at home. That gives me flexibility without allowing the exception to quietly become my everyday diet.

Prevention does not need to look extreme

I eat this way because I have had cancer, but I don’t think someone should need a diagnosis before examining what makes up the majority of their meals.

A prevention-supportive diet should not be considered a specialist “cancer diet”. For most people, it should simply resemble a normal human diet: abundant plants, plenty of fibre, adequate protein, healthy fats, minimal ultra-processed food, little added sugar and alcohol kept genuinely occasional.

None of this needs to be perfect. I eat pasta. I order takeaways. I drink tequila occasionally. I eat gluten when I want to. The difference is that these things sit at the edges of my diet rather than forming its foundation.

My foundation is real food, enormous colourful plates and ingredients that offer my body something in return.

That is not restriction to me. It is one of the most practical forms of self-respect.

I have learned more about love in the last twelve months, far more than in the thirty years before it, because the thing nobody warns you about being diagnosed at thirty is that a lifetime of hard lessons arrives all at once, served up on a big plate, like a big pie and the pie is thrown into your face with no warning.

I have been loved in ways I never knew were possible and I have also felt love retreat at the exact moment I needed it to stay. There are a handful of big punches to the gut that life throws and I would count most of them as character building, but the ending of a ten-year relationship while you are still sitting in a chemotherapy chair is not one I would ever wish on an enemy.

People asked me a LOT how I stayed so strong, how I coped with everything that was thrown at me, and the honest answer is that strength was never really a decision I got to make - whats the alternative? Really with cancer you fight it or you die, sorry to be bleak. Everyone looks a little shocked when I say that in person (haha). So yeah, you do put your big girl pants on and get on with it. Or your big girl cashmere tracksuit because the nurses did say I was the most glam at chemo, chic.

To spare the horrifying details, and I have actually spoken about this very little out of respect and privacy, yet it is very much part of my journey, my healing and it’s my story to tell. But my ten year relationship came to an end after I was diagnosed. And yes a big lesson that not everyone nor every relationship can deal with what life throws its way.

There’s a statistic that has never left me: 1 in 5 women are left by their partner following a serious illness diagnosis, compared with around 1 in 34 men. And really that tells us everything we need to know about which is the superior gender let’s just say that. Alongside that loss, one of the losses I never saw coming, and did not fully register until much later, was the friends who quietly retreated during the breakup too, the ones who picked a side and stopped messaging. Every loss of love carries its own disappointment, but there is a particular kind that lodges itself somewhere permanent when it lands while you are fighting for your life, and that is a disappointment you do not forget. It felt like double losses left right and centre.

I have sat most dramatically in the why-me chair, and I can tell you although the attention seeking part is great, it is in fact a miserable place to sit. Feeling sorry for yourself offers no comfort and changes nothing about what is in front of you. But the option you do have is to channel disappointment into was determination. Mostly determination to be the strongest I could, obviously kick the cancer in the a-hole, and never let fear into the room. There was really a period where I had to be the person looking after myself and the person holding my life together, and that I would also not recommend to a friend. Driving myself to appointments, cooking myself dinner, coming in from chemo and having to take the dog out who sits staring at me like he’s the one thats just had poison administered for 8 hours.

It was on one of those walks that I learned the world does have a habit of reaching back at exactly the moments I expected it least. I remember stopping once because the world was spinning, a common side effect I had, when a dog walker came over to ask if I was alright, and I said “chemo,” and we both laughed, and then she stayed and walked beside me, because she had had breast cancer herself. I caught the tear on her face as she walked away, Otto had started humping her dog so the exit was quick for whatever reason. But you can’t help but notice that quiet flicker of grief strangers often carry when they see you at the very height of treatment and you look like s.h.i.t. But a sign that life can throw you comfort in small ways and unexpected places.

Cancer is a profoundly lonely thing, not because you are physically alone, because I rarely was, but because you can be surrounded by people who love you and still know that not one of them can follow you all the way in. In a strange way the chemo ward became a small pocket of solidarity where each of us sat with our own version of the same shitty thing, where there were smiles and dark jokes and a startling amount of humanity in a place that delivers such trauma, and it was another space where love was unmistakably present and I felt it.

I was lucky that the absence of romantic love was filled, almost forcefully, by a family and a circle of friends who refused to let me feel unloved for a single moment. I surrendered so much to them during treatment; they fed me watermelon and brought me matchas and green juices on the sofa, they laughed with me when my sideburns fell out and my bum vanished, and one of them asked with real hope whether I would be bald by Halloween, which in hindsight was a genuinely missed opportunity for all. I never truly felt alone and I never really cried alone, and it has left me certain that the greatest loves of a life are rarely the romantic ones.

Somewhere along the way something shifted, because I became wildly, unexpectedly proud of myself too, proud for getting through hospital appointments without crying in front of my onco, proud for learning to slow my own breathing inside the MRI scanner while the banging deafened me and tipped me toward blind panic, proud for handling the things I never imagined I would have to handle at all.

There is a particular clarity that comes from overcoming something so hard, because it forces you to see that the person carrying all the strength, the one who kept showing up, was only ever you, and it becomes almost impossible not to fall a little in love with yourself in a moment like that.

I have said more than once through all of this that I no longer have the time to be anyone other than exactly who I am, and that I intend to fill every room I walk into. As I navigate space that holds new possibilities of romantic love, which is a very poetic way of saying Hinge. I want to hold onto the thing this year has taught me most clearly, that the strongest love is not the one you receive but the one that surrounds you, the kind that straps your arms to your chest while your friends bombard you with kisses, the message that arrives before every scan and after every result, the people who do not forget, the people who did not withdraw when it got hard.

When I sat down to write this I am not sure I knew where it was going, and there is something quite fitting in that, because I did not know where any of the last twelve months were going either. What I have arrived at, in the writing as much as in the living of it, is that love never actually left me the way I first believed it had - actually it changed its shape, moving out of the one place I had always been taught to look for it and quietly into all the others, the strangers and the ward and the nurses and the friends and my family and, in the end, into me.

I set out to write about losing love, and somehow finishing this, I feel like I’m the luckiest person in the world to be so surrounded by it all along. And above all, we are all still here and laughing about it and that’s all that matters. And by we, I mean me.

Katie x

Ps. if anyone has a 6ft single brother or friend who likes wellness and cavapoos, leave a comment below.

If you want the quick links, see below, if you want the why, read on:

Tropic’s Great Barrier SPF

Organic Olivia - GlucoBitters

Supplement pouches

Ursa Major Mountain Glow Serum

Rahua Hair Protectant

Free Soul Electrolyte Sachets (Code KATIE for discount)

Magnesium Bisglycinate Sachets

My everyday SPF

This has become my go-to sunscreen.

It absorbs beautifully, doesn’t leave a white cast, smells like coconut, and uses zinc oxide as its UV filter rather than the chemical UV filters found in many conventional sunscreens. I personally prefer mineral-based formulas, particularly when I’m applying them multiple times a day in strong sun.

The best sunscreen is always the one you’ll actually wear consistently, but if you’re looking for a mineral option that feels lovely on the skin, this is the one I keep reaching for - I have both the body and the face one and they smell like coconut pudding. When things like this exist, you literally don’t need to be reaching of the chemicals.

Tropic’s Great Barrier SPF

My favourite blood sugar support

One thing I don’t stop on holiday is supporting my blood sugar.

When I’m eating out more often, having desserts, or enjoying long lunches, I like having something that helps smooth out those bigger glucose swings.

I usually order sparkling water with lemon and add a few drops before meals. This particular formula contains bitter melon and genistein alongside herbal bitters, ingredients that are being studied for their potential role in glucose metabolism. I’m doing a lot to stop insulin surges following my treatment and it’s literally helped the weight drop off, so I’d highly recommend this!

Organic Olivia - GlucoBitters

My travel supplement bags

This might be the least glamorous tip but probably the most useful.

Instead of taking huge tubs of supplements, I portion everything into small reusable bags before I leave.

It saves so much space, keeps everything organised, and means I never have to think about what to take with breakfast or dinner and I slip them into my handbag to take on the go too.

Supplement pouches

A skincare product I completely fell for

This bottle being empty is probably the biggest review I could give.

It has the texture of a serum but leaves your skin with the nourishment of an oil and the hydration of a moisturiser. My skin has absolutely loved it, especially after long days in the sun when it needs a little extra support.

Ursa Major Mountain Glow Serum

Hair protection

Sun, salt water and chlorine can leave my hair feeling dry surprisingly quickly.

I always travel with a heat and UV protectant, even if I’m barely using hot tools. Protecting your hair before damage occurs is much easier than trying to repair it afterwards.

This one kept my hair soft despite spending most of the week either in the sea or by the pool.

Rahua Hair Protectant

Hydration

Probably the most underrated part of any holiday.

Most people think about drinking more water in the heat, but they forget about replacing electrolytes too. Sweating more means you’re losing minerals as well as fluid.

I usually keep electrolytes in my bottle throughout the day and take magnesium in the evening. It’s become one of those habits that helps me sleep better, recover faster and avoid that sluggish, dehydrated feeling that often creeps in after a week away.

These are genuinely the products that travelled with me this week and earned their space in my suitcase.

Free Soul Electrolytes

Magnesium Bisglycinate Sachets

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As always if you have any questions, please ask!

Please note the above links are affiliate links!

Not only from the diagnosis perspective, but because one thing we forget about cancer is that there is no general consensus for why it happens, where it comes from or how to treat it.

And I can’t say this clearly enough.

Even conventional medicine has only a rough idea of what it is doing when it comes to cancer treatment. However, when you look at the rates of survival and improvements in cancer outcomes over the last 50 years, we are no closer to achieving a better standard of care when it comes to treatment. And certainly not better outcomes.

When you reframe cancer treatment in this context, you have to be aware that when you walk into an oncologist’s office, the person sitting in front of you, regardless of whether they’ve gone to medical school or how many years of specialism they have behind them, hasn’t cracked the code - no one has.

So if we’re starting on the assumption that conventional medicine doesn’t fully know how to treat cancer, you need to be fully aware that you stand as good a chance of figuring out your own medical history, the context in which your cancer has developed and how best to tackle it, as the oncologist sitting across from you.

That might seem like an incredibly arrogant statement, but honestly, I believe it is completely correct. Especially in today’s society where the success of doctors and oncologists aren’t benchmarked on knowledge of evolving research, they are benchmarked on treatment plans and prescriptions, which are ultimately profit driving.

Nothing in this article is intended to diminish the role of conventional medicine. I did it - I did the chemotherapy, the surgery, but it was probably 10% of my treatment plan when it came to cancer. 90% sat outside the cancer centre.

Ultimately, when you start to uncover the basis of conventional treatment that we’re given, you begin to realise that you are not given a treatment option that isn’t proven to provide somebody with profit somewhere.

I just want to say that again so it’s completely clear.

Every single conventional treatment that you are given for cancer by the health service, somebody profits from somewhere.

That might be hard to stomach, but it is ultimately true.

There’s a reason why even my own oncologist, who wanted to research exercise, said it probably wouldn’t receive funding from cancer research because it won’t make any money.

That came directly from my oncologist.

She openly acknowledged that something like exercise is unlikely to ever be researched in the context of triple-negative breast cancer because it won’t make money for a drug company, and therefore it won’t receive funding.

When it comes to cancer, everyone has a choice in how they approach their treatment.

One thing I will say is that sometimes I envied the women who walked into the oncologist’s office and blindly trusted what they were told, because that must have been easier. It must have been easier to believe that the only treatment available to you existed within that hospital or inside that room with your oncologist.

For me, my entire life was suddenly cast into scrutiny. I had to decide which parts of my life I was willing to overhaul in order to get rid of this cancer.

I think we are sold a lie when we’re told that cancer cannot be reversed, regardless of stage. My favourite way to demonstrate that is that I became fascinated by the stories of people who achieved extraordinary outcomes through approaches that extended beyond conventional treatment alone.

You only have to read books like Radical Remission to realise there are people achieving outcomes that many believe are impossible.

So if I tell you five things that probably won’t come out of your oncologist’s mouth, but which I believe are completely essential to your cancer journey, please forgive me if you don’t want to hear them.

They might just save your life.

God knows they saved mine.

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Number One:

Achieving No Evidence of Disease Does Not Mean Your Cancer Journey Is Over

One of the most significant misconceptions I encountered during my treatment journey was the idea that reaching No Evidence of Disease, or achieving a pathological complete response, represents the finish line.

For many people, these milestones are understandably viewed as the ultimate goal. They represent the moment when scans are clear, treatment has worked and life can begin to move forward again. But sadly, once you have cancer you can’t nor should return back to the life you lived before, sadly it means your work just begins now. Transforming your life into the positive, wellness-oriented, cancer free living is the ultimate priority or sadly recurrence is a real risk.

This might involve:

• Healthy eating - organic and high quality where possible

• Lower on the meat and dairy, higher on the alkalising nourishing veg

• Low or no alcohol

• Exercise and movement

• Spirituality and connecting to your innerself

• Emotional protection - boundaries and love

• Supplement protocols

• Detoxing practises - saunas, juices, fasting

• “Tools” like Hyperbarics, IV drips etc..

Whatever your new life recipe looks like, it has to involve the above. And in some cases this requires more dedication and commitment than the treatment did, personally I felt this.

Number Two:

You Have Far More Options Than You Are Led To Believe

One of the things that surprised me most after diagnosis was how narrow the treatment conversation can sometimes feel.

Most patients are introduced to a relatively small number of conventional treatment options, which may include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy or targeted therapies depending on their diagnosis. Those treatments are important and they save lives every single day.

However, what surprised me was how little attention was given to everything else that could potentially support a person’s health during and after treatment.

I discovered enormous bodies of research examining the impact of nutrition, exercise, sleep quality, metabolic health, blood sugar regulation, circadian rhythms, stress management, environmental exposures, fasting protocols, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, integrative oncology approaches, repurposed medications and countless other interventions.

I am not suggesting you only do alternative therapies, I’m suggesting you “integrate” that what integrative oncology is at its core.

When I was diagnosed, I initially believed that my options were limited to the treatments being presented in front of me. The more I researched, the more I realised that there were hundreds of different ways to support my body alongside those treatments - how empowering?! And I actually felt so in control a lot of the time with my diagnosis, and it wasn’t that it was less severe too, I was grade 3 it wasn’t a walk in the park situation ahead of me.

Whether people choose to explore those options or not is entirely personal, but I believe patients deserve to know that the conversation extends beyond the walls of a hospital.

Number Three:

The drugs you’ll be given to manage side effects can be worse than the cancer drugs themselves.

This might surprise you, but when I was sat in my oncologist’s office she didn’t once explain to me the potential side effects of any of the treatments I was going to be prescribed, yes they were handed to me in a pack - but she never went into detail on what the treatment OR the accompanying medicines alongside treatment actually did to the body.

I’ll talk about three major ones that I was given because they actually were really, really difficult.

Number one was Zoladex, which is basically a drug that’s given to shut off your ovarian function in an attempt to protect your ovaries.

But no one warned me of the emotional shock that this would give me when it completely shut down my hormonal function.

Zoladex literally switches off your hormones and it left me with crippling migraines, worse than any headache I got from chemo during the whole time I had cancer.

Even after surgery, the recovery wasn’t as painful as the Zoladex injections.

Not only were the injections themselves insanely traumatic, it was like a gun, like a miniature gun being shot into your stomach, but the pain from the headaches, the sickness and the feeling of emotional numbness was horrific.

I wasn’t warned about any of this.

Number two was Filgrastim, which is the injection you’re given to stimulate your immune system to work.

What I was warned by a more integrative oncologist before I started treatment was that I would be told to take this after every single chemo round, whereas traditionally it was used when your immune system failed.

Knowing that secondary leukaemia is listed amongst the serious warnings and risks associated with the drug, I decided not to take the injections routinely and instead only take them if I genuinely needed them.

I only became neutropenic once, so I only took the injection once.

Throughout the entirety of my chemotherapy, that meant I avoided three injections a week for the vast majority of treatment- 36 in total, drastically reducing my chances of developing secondary cancer - a side effect of the drug.

Why weren’t we told more about this?

Patients are seemingly given this injection to stimulate their bone marrow, but many are never encouraged to read through the full prescribing information for themselves.

To me, that feels utterly immoral.

And yet, again, it was not something that was properly discussed with me by my oncologist.

The final one was famotidine, which was given alongside my chemotherapy to line my stomach before the treatment was administered.

Which is strange, because you’re not orally taking chemotherapy. It’s getting delivered intravenously. So why are you being given a gastric tablet?

Famotidine has been recalled numerous times throughout its history on the market over concerns relating to safety and contamination issues, yet it’s handed out like a KitKat on the chemo ward.

Again, why are we not asking why we’re being given these things? I didn’t need it once. In fact, the one time I took it, I had terrible gastric symptoms afterwards.

We’re simply not warned about all of these additional drugs that we’re given alongside treatment.

What frustrated me most throughout my cancer journey was not just the side effects themselves, but the lack of meaningful conversation around them.

I was expected to consent to drug after drug after drug, often with very little discussion about why I needed them, what the alternatives were, whether I had a choice, or what the long-term implications might be.

For something as serious as cancer treatment, I don’t think that’s good enough.

Number Four:

You can be at fault for why your cancer has happened.

Taking responsibility is not assigning blame, it’s a tool you need to properly heal.

This is probably the most controversial thing I believe about cancer, but it is also one of the ideas that has had the greatest impact on my healing journey.

I do not blame myself for getting cancer.

I did not choose cancer.

I did not consciously create cancer.

I do not believe anybody deserves cancer.

At the same time, I have chosen to take responsibility for investigating the factors that may have contributed to my health declining in the years leading up to my diagnosis.

When I look back honestly, there were periods of chronic stress that I normalised. There were hormonal issues that persisted for years. There were environmental exposures that I now believe may have been significant. There were countless nights out of drinking, late nights, vaping and neglecting my body.

Do I believe any one of those factors single-handedly caused my cancer? Absolutely not.

Do I believe they may have collectively contributed to the environment in which disease developed? I think that is a possibility worth exploring.

The distinction between blame and responsibility is incredibly important.

Blame leaves people feeling powerless.

Responsibility creates the opportunity for change.

Once I stopped asking, “Why did this happen to me?” and started asking, “What can I learn from this?” my entire perspective shifted.

Number Five:

Your Diet Will Be The Single Most Powerful Tool You Have To Influence Your Outcome

Not once, in my whole cancer journey has someone discussed a nutrition plan.

Nobody sat me down and explained how blood sugar impacts inflammation, how ultra-processed foods affect the body, how nutrient deficiencies can develop during treatment, or how important it would be to support my body with the highest quality food possible.

Instead, I was largely left to figure that out for myself. And worse, I was even given terrible advice by the chemo dietician who told me to drink CREAM when I was loosing weight - the one thing with the highest growth factor which causes tumour growth? Ok.

I quickly realised that whilst I couldn’t control every aspect of my diagnosis, I could control what went on the plate everyday. Every meal became an opportunity to either support my body or place more burden on it.

I became focused on nutrient density, on protein, healthy fats, mineral-rich foods, blood sugar balance and removing as much processed food as possible. I prioritised foods that supported recovery, muscle mass, detoxification and metabolic health because I wanted to give my body every possible advantage.

Do I believe diet alone cures cancer? No.

Do I believe diet alone is enough? No.

But I do believe that if there is one thing every cancer patient has the ability to influence every single day, it is the quality of the food they eat.

For me, diet stopped being about calories, weight or appearance. It became one of the most powerful forms of participation in my own healing journey.

Right to conclude! This was a long one!

If you’ve made it this far, you might be feeling one of two things.

You might be nodding along because you’ve experienced some of this yourself.

Or you might be completely horrified by what you’ve just read.

Either response is fine.

The reality is that cancer forces you to confront uncomfortable questions. Questions about your health, your habits, your environment, your relationships, your stress levels, your priorities and ultimately the life you’ve been living.

I didn’t write this article because I think I’ve discovered the answer to cancer because I absolutely haven’t but I was quite appalled at what I faced in the conventional space and how much I was actively discouraged from doing so many of the treatments which literally turned the needle on my cancer.

I think cancer patients deserve more information, more autonomy and more ownership over their health than they are often given. Ultimately to your oncologist you’re just another patient, really only you are going to shape your decision makings and you need to be as informed as possible.

Cancer was one of the hardest things that has ever happened to me, but it also forced me to become an active participant in my own wellbeing instead of a passive recipient of healthcare.

And perhaps that is the greatest lesson of all.

The goal shouldn’t simply be to survive cancer.

The goal should be to create a life and a body that is so radically different from the one that existed before it that the diagnosis becomes a turning point rather than an ending.

That has certainly been my mission. And I have no intention of stopping now :)

As always if you have questions, please feel free to message me!

With love, Katie x

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And honestly I suspect it was even less than that. My tumour had already shrunk significantly by month two.

Before I launch in, I want to preface this properly.

This is not medical advice. This is what worked for me, and only me. It doesn’t mean it will work for you - that’s where your own research, your own second opinions, and your own intuition come in.

I’ll also say this: my oncologists - both of them - told me none of this would work. They told me to stop, they warned me about contradictions with treatment and I want to be really clear about why they say that.

They say it because they aren’t trained in this area. They can’t comment on it. So instead of saying “I don’t know” - which would be the honest answer - there’s often an arrogance from parts of the medical establishment that defaults to denying effectiveness outright - nearly 100,000 naturopathic studies are done each year on supplements and largely they are completely ignored by the medical community because there’s no opportunity for profit. We have to remember hospitals are businesses, they generate profit by purchasing tools, treatments and medications which they sell onwards to the patient, so they are only going to be really selling you on the things they offer, which is your big four: chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy and immunotherapy. You wouldn’t go into a fish monger and they recommend you a steak. Once you acknowledge this, you’ll understand why hospitals or health institutions are not “health providers” - they are prescribers and are not incentivised by health sadly, they are incentivised by return customers.

But here’s the reality I had to sit with, cancer rates haven’t improved in the last 50 years - we’re not getting it right for patients and it’s not fair. I cite this paper a lot much to my oncologists frustration but when it comes to chemotherapy, there was a huge meta-analysis study done on 5-year survival in adults in the US and Australia and the increase to survival from chemo was just 2.3% in Australia and 2.1% in the USA - mad. Oncologists are trained to be really ambiguous with their language, and I bet if you asked every single cancer patient - they were told “your cancer responds really well to chemotherapy” - we’re all told this, but with 200 types of cancer and one size fits all treatment and again with no improved survival rates globally, we’re not looking at the best picture.

So the supplements came in. Not as an alternative - but as an addition. To make the chemo work harder. To protect the rest of me while it did. And to attack the cancer through every pathway I could find. As with healthcare, there isn’t a one size fits all approach to supplements, so you must take your case and research it to develop an individualised protocol.

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The Metabolic Map

If you take nothing else from this article, please read up on this.

The concept comes from Jane McLelland’s How to Starve Cancer - a book I originally dismissed because I thought “starve” meant don’t eat. It doesn’t thank god. It’s about something far more interesting.

Cancer cells survive by hijacking specific metabolic pathways. Glucose. Glutamine. Fatty acids. The mevalonate pathway. Each one is essentially a door the cancer uses to feed itself, replicate, and spread. McLelland’s premise - backed by a growing body of research on cancer metabolism, much of it stemming from Otto Warburg’s Nobel Prize-winning work on the metabolic basis of cancer - is that if you systematically block those doors using a combination of off-label drugs, supplements, and lifestyle interventions, the cancer essentially runs out of fuel.

That’s what most of the supplements I took were doing. They weren’t random and they weren’t a scatter-gun “everything healthy” approach. Each one was chosen because it shut down a specific pathway my cancer was using to stay alive.

• Berberine → blocking glucose

• Sulfuraphrane / Curcumin → blocking glutamine

• Aspirin → blocking COX-2 inflammation and platelet-driven metastasis

• Modified Citrus Pectin → blocking galectin-3, which drives TNBC growth and spread

• Mebendazole and Fenbendazole → blocking microtubule assembly and glucose uptake in cancer cells

• Curcumin and Honokiol → triggering apoptosis (cell death) the cancer was avoiding

• Melatonin → working on multiple pathways at once and acting as one of the most potent anti-cancer compounds in nature

This is the framework I built my protocol around. Once you understand that, supplementation stops feeling overwhelming. It starts feeling strategic.

My Three Phases

I’m splitting this into three phases, because what I took during chemotherapy is not what I took after, and is not what I take now. The body needs different things at different stages, and understanding that is one of the most important things I learned.

There’s also a lot to be said for not taking everything at once. Lean into what you feel intuitively drawn to. I really felt “pulled” towards certain things at certain points in my journey, and I trusted that - I also hated coming to the end of this and thinking omg what worked and what didn’t - so I’d really advice starting with maybe 6 strong ones and building from there.

Phase One: During Chemotherapy (The Weekly Protocol)

Chemo changes the rules so supplements. There’s a balance between supporting your body and not interfering with the treatment itself - and that balance shifts depending on where you are in the weekly cycle. Chemo is meant to be “oxidative” so causing damage in the body, so loading anti-oxidants around chemo will just stunt it’s effectiveness, and really you want to give it a day to do it’s job before you try repair the damage.

Every single week during chemo, your bloods are monitored. Chemotherapy is paused or stopped if certain markers fall out of range. So my strategy became very simple:

Keep everything within range. At all costs.

The key markers I focused on were calcium, potassium, magnesium, white blood cells, neutrophils, and liver enzymes. I supported these through nutrition, supplementation, and hydration - and because of that, my chemotherapy was never delayed or stopped until week 10 - but doing 10 B2b weeks is quite unheard of.

That, in itself, was one of the biggest wins.

Chemo day:

• Magnesium (taurate and glycinate)

• Potassium-magnesium

• Modified Citrus Pectin

• B Vitamins (methyl support)

Day after chemo (repair):

• B Vitamins (methyl support)

• Magnesium (taurate)

• Potassium-magnesium

• Vitamin ADK

• Modified Citrus Pectin

Days 2–4 (repair and rebuild):

Now I would begin my antioxidants, start to repair damage and support the body before the next round:

• Omega 3 (high-dose, also reduces clotting risk during chemo)

• Oregano oil (chemo wipes out your gut bacteria, so I took this to protect against pathogens - also you can get a surge in yeast due to your bodies defences down so this stopped that.

• Multivitamin (methylated nutrients only)

• Berberine (3x daily with meals)

• Vitamin D3 with K2 and E

• CoQ10

• Turkey Tail

• Selenium

• Turmeric / Curcumin

• Melatonin (higher dose than typical)

• Modified Citrus Pectin (empty stomach only)

• Honokiol

• Dandelion root

• Sulforaphane

• I would also take Britt’s Superfood Wheatgrass Sachets everyday to keep my iron high

• APE - Liver and Bone Marrow - I took this daily to support my bone marrow and iron levels too

Off-label drugs throughout chemo:

• Ivermectin

• Fenbendazole

• Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN)

• Aspirin (75mg)

Ivermectin does sensitive cells to chemotherapy, so I would take this every single day, the others I would pause the day before and begin the day after.

Treatment-day strategies I also used:

• Fasting before IV chemo - water and green tea only, for 24 hours before chemo. The rationale (well-researched by Dr Valter Longo at USC) is that healthy cells go into protective “standby” mode after 24+ hours of fasting, while cancer cells, unable to adapt, continue demanding fuel - so they take in more of the chemo drugs but also your healthy cells are protected as they’ve “gone to sleep”

• Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy - as close as possible before each IV, and again a few days after. Acts as a chemo-sensitiser by increasing oxygen delivery to tissues.

• Saunas - resumed 2 days after each round, hydration non-negotiable

• Bentonite clay baths weekly, salt baths post-sauna

• Binders - chlorophyl and chlorella in my smoothies really helped bind the toxins, MCP for systemic

• Gut support - Ion Gut Support or Symprove to keep the gut happy

Phase Two: Still Active Cancer, Post-Chemotherapy

After chemo, the focus shifts and it’s less about tolerating treatment, and more about clearing what’s left, rebuilding the terrain, and being aggressive about the residual disease.

This is when I really layered in.

The foundations (daily, every day):

• Modified Citrus Pectin — non-negotiable for me every morning and evening on an empty stomach

• Broccoli sprouts / Sulforaphane - you have to make sure the sulfurophane content is high on the ingredient list, I recommend a good one below.

• Turkey Tail mushroom

• Melatonin (high dose, anti-proliferative)

• Turmeric / Curcumin

• Honokiol

• Dandelion root

• Vitamin D3 with K2

• A good multivitamin with active B vitamins

• Berberine, 3x daily with meals

• Astaxanthin

• A probiotic (Lactobacillus + Bifidobacterium strains)

• Apigenin

Additional cellular support:

• BodyBio PC (Phosphatidylcholine) to repair cell membranes after chemo

• TUDCA also by Body Bio to get the liver back on track

• Introduced Alpha Lipoic Acid, another antioxidant

• Pau d’Arco (antiviral)

• Also now - I started taking CBD with THC at night. This is hugely anti-cancer, and something I wish I'd known about sooner. There's compelling research on cannabinoids and aggressive breast cancers - CBD downregulates ID-1, the protein that essentially tells cancer to spread, and THC triggers cancer cell death through dedicated receptor pathways. I take it before bed at a 4:1 CBD to THC ratio. Sleep, repair, and an anti-cancer compound all in one - it's become one of my favourite parts of my evening protocol, although not one evening when I took too much and was high as a kite, slow and low is more haha.

Off-labels in this phase:

• Ivermectin

• Fenbendazole

• Mebendazole

• LDN

• Aspirin

• Loratadine - this simple antihistamine is really good as cancer can sometimes hijack histamine as a bit of a vehicle to get around the body.

Phase Three: Maintenance (Where I Am Now)

Maintenance is different and quieter (thank god) - It’s less about killing and more about keeping the terrain hostile to cancer for the long haul but also being the healthiest I can possibly be. The principle behind everything I do now is: don’t let the environment that grew it the first time grow it again but also keep the pathways suppressed too - mostly glucose.

I’ve simplified significantly — but the foundations stay.

Daily core:

• Vitamin D3 with K2

• Omega 3

• Magnesium glycinate

• Modified Citrus Pectin

• Curcumin

• Sulforaphane

• Honokiol

• Berberine (twice daily with meals)

• Melatonin (still high-dose at night)

• A good B complex (methylated)

• A probiotic

• CoQ10

• Selenium

• Turkey Tail and Reishi (rotating)

• Nattokinase

Off-labels I continue with:

• Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN)

• Aspirin (low dose)

• Loratadine (cyclical)

• Ivermectin + Fenbendazole (cyclical, lower frequency)

What I monitor regularly with blood tests:

• Vitamin D

• Fasting insulin and HbA1c

• CRP

• Liver enzymes

• Homocysteine (kept below 10)

The Terrain Is SO Important

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that you can’t look at cancer in isolation - it’s a product of the bodies pathways malfunctioning, and you need to address each piece to get it back to health. Whereas a patient will think, breast cancer - right cut and radiate the breast, it’s a full body dysfunction and the full body needs treating.

It’s about the environment the tumour exists in. The terrain. The biology underneath. The gut, the liver, the lymph, the immune system, the nervous system, the blood sugar, the inflammation, the stress.

My entire approach was built around three things:

Supporting my body’s ability to handle treatment.

Keeping my internal environment as hostile to cancer as possible.

And also actually getting to the point where progress was great, I could leave conventional treatment behind - which is what I did.

As I’ve stated, each of these should really be researched thoroughly - I also used AI as a great tool to tell my therapeutic doses, put my blood tests in to check it was safe, check contraindications with any medicines - but largely you really can’t go wrong! The one thing I would recommend doing is regular bloods alongside what your doctor recommends, Randox in the UK is great for this.

I’m conscious I’ve told you a lot of what I’ve taken but not explained really what it is or why it works, so I’ve summarised this below as a final read, but also put the product link next to it if you do want to buy!

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My Full Supplement Glossary

MODIFIED CITRUS PECTIN

What it is: A modified form of pectin (fibre) from citrus peel.

What it does: Binds and blocks galectin-3, a protein that drives cancer growth, metastasis, and chemo-resistance - especially relevant in TNBC. Also acts as a gentle systemic binder for toxins.

Link: Powder or Capsules!

SULFORAPHANE / BROCCOLI SPROUTS

What it is: A compound concentrated in young broccoli sprouts.

What it does: Activates the NRF2 detox pathway, boosts glutathione, supports oestrogen detoxification, and targets cancer stem cells.

Link: Longevity Box OR I later found this one which was higher dose.

TURKEY TAIL MUSHROOM

*Disclaimer - this has now been made illegal in the UK to be sold to humans, which only happens when they realise the pharmaceutical benefits are so good that it needs a patent, so you have to buy it “for pets” - it’s the same thing.

What it is: A medicinal mushroom (Coriolus versicolor).

What it does: Immune modulator. Boosts NK cells and lymphocytes, sensitises cancer cells to chemotherapy, and reduces drug toxicity.

Link: British Supplements

REISHI MUSHROOM

What it is: A medicinal mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum).

What it does: Modulates T-cells and macrophages, supports immune surveillance, and reduces inflammation.

Link: Hifas De Terra

MELATONIN What it is: A hormone made by the pineal gland. What it does: Acts on cancer cells through five different pathways, blocks glucose uptake by tumours, anti-proliferative, anti-angiogenic, and one of the most potent antioxidants the body has.

Link: Bulk Supplements

TURMERIC / CURCUMIN

What it is: Active compound from the turmeric root.

What it does: Triggers apoptosis (cancer cell death), reduces COX-2 inflammation, inhibits PD-L1 immune escape, downregulates cancer-driving genes, and sensitises cancer cells to chemo.

Link: Cytoplan Curcumin or I loved this one by Hinanao

HONOKIOL

What it is: A compound extracted from magnolia bark.

What it does: Crosses the blood-brain barrier, kills cancer cells and cancer stem cells, restricts angiogenesis, and inhibits metastasis — particularly studied in TNBC.

Link: Econeugenics

VITAMIN D3 WITH K2

What it is: The hormone (vitamin D) paired with vitamin K2.

What it does: Activates immune T-cells, regulates cancer cell behaviour, and supports survival outcomes. K2 protects the liver and works synergistically with D3.

Link: Now Foods

BERBERINE

What it is: A plant alkaloid from barberry and other herbs.

What it does: Blocks glucose uptake (cancer’s main fuel), activates AMPK, attacks cancer cell mitochondria, lowers homocysteine, and acts as a chemo-sensitiser.

Link: Lipo Berberine

OMEGA 3 (FISH OR ALGAE OIL)

What it is: Essential fatty acids (EPA/DHA).

What it does: Anti-inflammatory, supports cell membranes, reduces clotting risk during chemo, and lowers homocysteine.

Link: Life Extension - I’ve always taken this one as it has quite a few varied types of oil including krill and asthaxanthin for antioxidants.

MAGNESIUM (GLYCINATE / TAURATE)

What it is: Essential mineral.

What it does: Involved in 800+ pathways in the body. Drugs and chemo deplete it rapidly. Vital for energy, nerves, sleep, and detoxification.

Link: Alpha Zero One is SO good - so reasonable and quality is high!

COQ10 (UBIQUINOL)

What it is: Coenzyme made in the body.

What it does: Powers the mitochondria, protects the heart from chemo damage, and acts as a potent antioxidant. Non-negotiable if you’re on statins.

Link: Seeking Health

SELENIUM

What it is: Essential trace mineral.

What it does: Cofactor for glutathione enzymes, boosts neutrophils (white blood cells), and lowers NF-kB (a metastasis driver).

Link: This one is great and inexpensive

APIGENIN

What it is: A flavonoid found in parsley, celery, and chamomile - also helps you sleep so well!

What it does: Inhibits cancer cell proliferation and supports immune function.

Link: HERE - very important that the apigenin is sourced from chamomile or parsley - not grapefruit which is literally one of the only contraindications with chemo.

ASTAXANTHIN

What it is: A red carotenoid antioxidant from algae.

What it does: One of the most potent antioxidants in nature - protects healthy cells from oxidative stress and inflammation.

Link: Alpha Zero One again, the best.

B VITAMIN COMPLEX (METHYLATED)

What it is: Methylated forms of B6, B9 (folate), and B12.

What it does: Crucial for energy, DNA repair, methylation, and keeping homocysteine low. Chemo depletes B vitamins fast so this helps energy so much too. You also need to methylate to get rid of the toxins.

Link: B Vitamins

MULTIVITAMIN (METHYLATED)

What it is: Broad-spectrum vitamin and mineral support.

What it does: Covers the basics, particularly important when chemo is depleting nutrients across the board.

Link: Seeking Health Multi

POTASSIUM-MAGNESIUM

What it is: Combined electrolyte support.

What it does: Keeps potassium and magnesium in range during chemo, potassium is needed to shuttle magnesium into cells. It helped me so much to stay hydrated too.

Link: Pure Encapsulations

VITAMIN ADK

What it is: Vitamins A, D, and K combined.

What it does: Supports immune function, calcium regulation, and liver health, all working synergistically.

Link: DaVinci

DANDELION ROOT EXTRACT

What it is: An extract from the dandelion plant.

What it does: Supports the liver (which works overtime during chemo) and has emerging evidence for inducing cancer cell apoptosis.

Link: Alpha Zero One

OREGANO OIL

What it is: Essential oil from the oregano plant.

What it does: Strong antimicrobial - manages yeast, candida, and opportunistic infections that flourish when the immune system is suppressed.

Link: Designs for Health

PAU D’ARCO

What it is: Bark extract from the Lapacho tree.

What it does: Natural antiviral and antimicrobial - supports against EBV, HPV, herpes family viruses.

Link: Swanson

BODYBIO PC (PHOSPHATIDYLCHOLINE)

What it is: A phospholipid that forms cell membranes.

What it does:Repairs cell membranes after chemotherapy damage and supports liver health.

Link: PC Capsules (20% off!)

TUDCA

What it is: A bile acid (tauroursodeoxycholic acid).

What it does: Supports liver function, bile flow, and recovery after chemo.

Link: TUDCA

ALPHA LIPOIC ACID

What it is: A sulphur-containing antioxidant.

What it does: Recycles glutathione, protects nerves from chemo-induced damage, and supports the liver.

Link: Pure Encapsulations

BRITT’S SUPERFOOD WHEATGRASS SACHETS

What it is: Concentrated wheatgrass.

What it does: Supports iron and haemoglobin, boosts white and red blood cells, and contains chlorophyll for detox binding.

Link: Buy here!

APE (LIVER AND BONE MARROW)

What it is: Organ supplement.

What it does: Supports the bone marrow and iron levels - particularly helpful during chemo when these take a hit.

Link: Liver and Bone Marrow

CHLORELLA

What it is: A freshwater green algae.

What it does: A gentle gut binder - helps escort toxins out of the body so they don’t recirculate.

Link: Great for Smoothies

NATTOKINASE

What it is: An enzyme from fermented soybeans.

What it does: Supports healthy circulation, breaks down fibrin (the sticky environment cancer thrives in), and reduces clotting risk.

Link: Dr Mercola

CBD

For obvious reasons I can’t disclose where the THC is from, but I really like

What it is: Cannabinoids from the cannabis plant.

What it does: CBD downregulates ID-1 (a protein driving aggressive cancer spread); THC triggers cancer cell death via cannabinoid receptors.

Link: I use the brand CBD1 for CBD only and really rate their products.

Off-Label Drugs

*I can’t really recommend where to get these from, but you can do some research or find a prescriber in the UK. You could look at Oncostore if you were curious.

IVERMECTIN What it is: A repurposed antiparasitic drug. What it does: Kills cancer stem cells, sensitises cells to chemotherapy, and is one of the safest drugs the FDA has ever approved.

FENBENDAZOLE What it is: A repurposed antiparasitic drug (animal-use). What it does: Blocks microtubule assembly in cancer cells, preventing them from dividing. Strong research across multiple cancer types.

MEBENDAZOLE What it is: A repurposed antiparasitic drug (human-use). What it does: Disrupts cancer cell division and blocks glucose uptake by tumours.

LOW DOSE NALTREXONE (LDN) What it is: A repurposed addiction medication at micro-dose. What it does: Modulates the immune system, reduces inflammation, and increases cancer cell apoptosis.

ASPIRIN (75MG) What it is: Common over-the-counter NSAID. What it does: Blocks COX-2 inflammation and reduces platelet-driven metastasis. Particularly studied in breast cancer survival.

LORATADINE What it is: An over-the-counter antihistamine. What it does: Blocks the histamine pathway that aggressive cancers hijack to spread. Karolinska Institute research shows up to 30% increase in breast cancer survival - literally just off amazon or boots!

Please note some of the above are affiliate links!

Thank you for reading and as always if you have any questions please drop me a comment or a DM!

Katie x

Especially with cancer, I’ve become less interested in trends and far more interested in creating an internal environment that feels resilient, calm and nourished.

These are some of the things currently in my morning routine.

LINK SUMMARY HERE

(I know everyone doesn’t want to read the full piece)

Anima Mundi Liver Vitality Greens

Artah Cellular Hydration

BodyBio Liquid Chromium

Apricot Kernels

Lily of the Desert Aloe Vera Gel

BiOptimisers PeOm prebiotic

Pendulum Akkermansia

Clipper Organic Nettle Tea

Truvani Vanilla Chai Protein

Britts Superfoods Wheatgrass

Liver Greens & Electrolytes

I start most mornings with a giant green drink. At the moment I’m using Anima Mundi Liver Vitality Greens alongside Artah Cellular Hydration.

I know “alkalising” is a controversial word online because technically the body tightly regulates blood pH, but what I donotice is that when I eat heavily processed foods, too much sugar, excess dairy or live in chronic stress, my body feels more inflamed, sluggish and acidic overall. My skin changes, digestion worsens and energy drops.

Greens, minerals and hydration genuinely shift that for me.

The liver greens are packed with chlorophyll-rich plants and bitter compounds that support detoxification pathways, particularly phase 2 detoxification, which is where the body neutralises excess hormones and toxins so they can actually leave the body safely.

The electrolytes are equally important because treatment, stress and inflammation absolutely deplete minerals. So many people are walking around exhausted but are actually under-mineralised and dehydrated at a cellular level.

Chromium & Blood Sugar

I’ve also started adding liquid chromium into my greens. I use BodyBio Liquid Chromium.

Chromium is one of the most underrated minerals for blood sugar regulation because it improves insulin sensitivity and helps glucose get into the cells properly rather than lingering in the bloodstream.

This became especially important for me during treatment because my fasting glucose and insulin became elevated (and is still above average for the normal person).

One thing I’ve learned through cancer and especially triple negative which is so metabolic, is how deeply blood sugar regulation affects everything including inflammation, hormones, cravings, anxiety, sleep and energy. Stable blood sugar creates a much calmer internal environment overall.

Apricot Kernels

I eat a small amount of apricot kernels daily, usually around 5 or 6 max. I buy organic bitter apricot kernels from places like Buy Whole Foods Online.

Apricot kernels contain amygdalin, often referred to as “B17” in alternative cancer spaces - in the US they give B17 drips to cancer patients because of how effective it is. When metabolised, it releases compounds including cyanide, which is why dosing matters so much but is also why in small doses it works so well to disable cancer cells.

More is absolutely not better here but just a few a day is such a great simple hack.

Gut Repair & Aloe Vera

One of the biggest shocks for me through treatment was honestly how much antibiotics affected my gut and anxiety levels.

I had barely taken antibiotics in my life prior to surgery and afterwards I could physically feel the shift in my microbiome. Increased food sensitivities, bloating, anxiety and gut irritation almost immediately.

Every morning now I take probiotics with Lily of the Desert Aloe Vera Gel.

Aloe vera is incredibly soothing for the gut lining and can help calm irritation and inflammation within the digestive tract. The gut lining is essentially your body’s barrier system, so once that becomes inflamed or compromised, it impacts immunity, mood, food reactions and nervous system regulation too.

I’ve also been focusing heavily on rebuilding beneficial bacteria strains so the BiOptimisers PeOm prebiotic, I love this brand, especially their digestive enzymes but I heard the founders say this probiotic can literally stop food poisoning within hours due to how effective it is, and I’ve been really seeing benefits taking it to rebuild.

Akkermansia

One supplement I’m particularly interested in right now is Pendulum Akkermansia.

Akkermansia muciniphila is one of the most researched beneficial gut bacteria strains in longevity and metabolic health right now because it’s strongly associated with gut barrier integrity, insulin sensitivity and reduced inflammation.

Lower levels are often seen in people with cancer, metabolic dysfunction, obesity and inflammatory disease states.

Your gut lining is not just about digestion, it’s your immune interface with the world. So rebuilding the microbiome after treatment feels incredibly important to me.

Nettle Tea Instead of Coffee

I used to wake up and immediately reach for coffee.

Now I often start the day with organic nettle tea and fresh mint instead. I use Clipper Organic Nettle Tea.

Nettle is deeply mineralising and surprisingly rich in compounds like iron, silica and polyphenols. It’s also amazing during allergy season because it has natural antihistamine-like effects.

I still love coffee sometimes, but I’m much more aware now that constantly overstimulating an already stressed nervous system isn’t always the answer to fatigue.

Sometimes the body is asking for nourishment, not stimulation.

Smoothies That Actually Support the Body

One thing treatment taught me is that smoothies can either be blood sugar bombs or genuinely therapeutic depending on what goes in them.

Lately I’ve been making blends with frozen courgette, cauliflower, parsley, bee pollen and Truvani Vanilla Chai Protein.

Adding vegetables into smoothies massively changes the glucose response whilst increasing fibre, minerals and phytonutrients. Frozen courgette is honestly one of the best hacks because it makes smoothies incredibly creamy without needing loads of fruit or dairy.

Wheatgrass

I also have two sachets of wheatgrass daily. I’ve been using Britts Superfoods Wheatgrass.

During treatment I lost a huge amount of blood and became very cautious around iron supplementation because excess free iron can become problematic in oxidative environments. Cancer cells also use iron in the body and bind to them to make fuel, so I’m always conscious to naturally regulate iron instead of using anything synthetic.

For me personally, supporting iron status through chlorophyll-rich foods felt far gentler. Wheatgrass is packed with chlorophyll, antioxidants and trace minerals and genuinely helped restore my iron levels during treatment without needing aggressive supplementation.

The Most Powerful Thing? Sunlight.

And finally, the wellness practice that has changed me more than anything else: morning sunlight.

Light entering the eyes within the first hour of waking regulates cortisol, dopamine, melatonin and circadian rhythm signalling in a way coffee simply cannot replicate.

I genuinely notice the difference in my nervous system, energy, sleep and mood when I get outside early. It sounds too simple to matter, but humans are biological creatures designed around light exposure. We’ve just become incredibly disconnected from it with phones and blue light in our homes, I love using sunlight as for me it also signals that connection back to nature too.

The older I get and the more I go through, the more I realise wellness is rarely about expensive products or tech, it’s about supporting the foundations the body was always designed to run on in the first place and using little nutritional tweaks to ensure the body runs efficiently.

Thank you for reading!

Katie x

If you want to explore any other of my links or discounts..

• You can view my Healf Store here!

• Shop Primally Pure using code WELLBYKATIE for % off.

• Use code KATIEW50 for 50% off Symprove

• Shop here for £20 off Skuma Water Filters!

• Use my link for 10% off my favourite juicer

• Use my link for 15% off BodyBio

Note: There are affiliates used on this page! Thank you x

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Stainless Steel Chopping Boards

🔗 Shop stainless steel chopping board

This one is underrated. Plastic chopping boards - especially older, scratched ones - leach microplastics directly into your food as you cut. Stainless steel is non-porous, doesn’t harbour bacteria and will last a lifetime. It’s one of the simplest food safety swaps you can make, and once you go stainless you genuinely can’t go back. The one I use also has a wheat straw backing which really seems like plastic too. I find these so much more hygienic than wood too.

Fruit & Veg Spray + a Brush

🔗 Shop produce spray

🔗 Shop veg brush

I eat mostly organic, but let’s be honest it’s not always possible or affordable to do so for everything PLUS I don’t tend to get things with skin or peels on organic - like kiwis, oranges, lemons etc. A good fruit and veg spray combined with a firm brush removes the vast majority of surface pesticide residue and wax coatings. Studies show a fruit and veg wash can remove up to 96% of certain pesticides and this Attitude one is really great. Use this and you can stress less about the odd non-organic item in your basket.

A Phone Charging Station (Away From Your Bed)

🔗 Shop the wooden charging station

I bought a small wooden bench to make a little phone station away from my bed and it’s been a dramatic difference. It still lives inside my bedroom but just far away and every night the phones go there. What sounds almost too simple has been one of the most impactful changes I’ve made for my sleep and mental health. We vastly underestimate how much our nervous system stays ‘on’ just by having a device within arm’s reach. The physical distance creates a genuine psychological boundary. You cannot reach for it half-asleep. You cannot doom-scroll at 3am. Give your brain the signal that the day is done and pick up a book instead of the late night scroll.

An EMF Router Cover + a Plug Timer

🔗 Shop EMF router cover

🔗 Shop plug timer

Your WiFi router emits electromagnetic fields 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - even when you’re sleeping and certainly don’t need it. I use an EMF cover on mine to reduce the field, but the real game-changer is the old-fashioned plug timer. It costs almost nothing, and it means my router automatically turns on at 7am and off at 10pm, every single day, without me having to think about it. No decision fatigue, no EMF through the night, set it once and then you don’t have to worry everyday, but you’re also protecting your family from the negative impacts of the constant exposure.

Glass & Stainless Steel Storage - The Aarke Bottles

🔗 Shop Aarke glass bottles

Plastic storage containers, especially when exposed to heat or acidic liquids like juices, leach endocrine-disrupting chemicals into whatever you’re storing. I bulk-make my juices and tonics and store them in glass or stainless steel - no compromise on freshness, no chemical transfer. The Aarke glass bottles are genuinely the best I’ve found: well-sealed, beautiful, and robust enough to survive daily use.

Salt Lamps

🔗 Shop Himalayan salt lamps - LARGE or SMALL

Salt lamps serve two purposes in my home. First, their warm amber glow is perfectly aligned with circadian lighting principles, the colour temperature signals to your brain that the day is winding down, supporting your natural melatonin rise. Second, salt lamps are believed to release negative ions into your space, which can help neutralise positive ions emitted by screens and electronic devices. Whether you’re drawn to the science or simply the ambience, they’re a genuinely lovely addition to any room but they bring the cosy vibes whatever time of year.

Bedside Red Light Lamps - My Bon Charge Picks

🔗 Shop Bon Charge red light reading lamp

🔗 Shop Bon Charge red light bulbs

This is, hands down, one of my favourite products I own. Unlike blue and white light, red light does not suppress melatonin production, meaning you can read, wind down, and prepare for sleep without your brain receiving the signal that it’s still daytime. My Bon Charge reading lamp and bedside bulbs have completely changed my evening routine. My nervous system genuinely drops into a different gear under red light. If you do one thing from this list, make it this.

Everything Mentioned - Add Your Links Below

Here’s the full list for easy reference:

• Stainless steel chopping board - LINK

• Fruit & veg produce spray - LINK

• Produce brush - LINK

• Wooden display stand aka phone charging station - LINK

• EMF WiFi router cover - LINK

• Plug timer / socket timer - LINK

• Aarke glass storage bottles - LINK

• Himalayan salt lamps (My large one!) - LINK OR a smaller option - LINK

• Bon Charge red light reading lamp - LINK

• Bon Charge red light bulbs - LINK (make sure you check which light fitting you need!)

Some of the above are affiliate links where I earn a small %, some are not they are just genuinely things I use :)

Thanks for reading!

K x

No one prepares you for what it actually feels like to enter that world. You’re given a plan, a protocol, a list of side effects, and that’s kind of it. There’s very little conversation about how you got there, what was happening in your body before the diagnosis, or what you can do to support yourself alongside treatment. It’s just… this is what we do.

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And what’s wild to me is that a lot of that framework hasn’t evolved in the way you’d expect. Chemotherapy entered medical use in the 1940s, and whilst drugs have obviously advanced, the model itself is still largely the same, kill fast-growing cells and manage the fallout. Meanwhile, we now have thousands of published papers on metabolism, the tumour microenvironment, immunology, mitochondrial function, and how lifestyle directly impacts cancer progression and outcomes… and yet almost none of that makes it into the room with the patient.

I sat across from one of the UK’s leading oncologists and was told that nothing I had done led me here, and nothing I could do from a diet or lifestyle perspective would impact my outcome. That was the moment I realised I couldn’t just hand everything over and hope for the best.

My cancer wasn’t genetic. It didn’t just appear out of nowhere. Something in my body’s terrain had shifted, and as a health coach I knew there was an entire layer of biology being completely ignored in that conversation. Things like insulin signalling, inflammation, immune surveillance, environmental load… we have data on all of this.

So I made a decision quite early on. I fired one of the UK’s leading oncologists, and I didn’t settle on another until I found someone who would at the very least tolerate the fact that I was going to support my body alongside treatment. Not agree with everything, not guide it, just not shut it down.

Because the part no one really talks about is what this does to you beyond the cancer itself. I was 30, sitting there trying to understand what my body would look like after this, whether I’d still feel like myself, whether I’d be fertile. And those questions felt almost secondary.

What I was told, very clearly, was that yes, this treatment increases your lifelong risk of heart disease, particularly with drugs like anthracyclines that are known to be cardiotoxic. Yes, it can impact your thyroid. Yes, it can trigger autoimmune conditions. Yes, it can impact ovarian reserve and fertility.

But if you’re “cancer free”, that’s what matters.

And I remember thinking that cannot be the only outcome we care about. Surviving something is not the same as being well. We now have entire fields of research looking at survivorship, because the long-term damage from treatment is so significant, and yet it’s still positioned as an acceptable trade-off with very little discussion on how to mitigate it.

I genuinely believed there had to be a way to do both. To go after the cancer aggressively, but also protect my body in the process. And that meant doing things slightly differently.

I was told not to take supplements, not to interfere with treatment, not to do anything outside of what I was prescribed. Which is interesting when you consider that a huge amount of chemotherapy toxicity is driven by oxidative stress, mitochondrial damage and nutrient depletion… but we’re told not to support any of that.

So instead of blindly ignoring the advice, I took everything I was doing to a pharmacist. Every supplement, every therapy, everything I was considering. And I asked them to check it properly against my treatment.

They couldn’t find a single contraindication. Not one.

And yet the blanket advice was still to avoid it all entirely.

There were moments during treatment that really stayed with me. Every Friday on the ward it was the same, Black Forest gateau and fish and chips being handed out. And I completely understand why, appetite disappears, people need calories, you take what you can get.

But at the same time, we have decades of data showing that glucose metabolism is central to cancer biology, that many tumours rely heavily on glycolysis, and that insulin and IGF-1 signalling can promote tumour growth. We have studies on fasting and fasting-mimicking diets showing improved chemotherapy tolerance and protection of healthy cells through something called differential stress resistance.

And yet none of that translated into guidance.

I was fasting around treatment, intentionally, and I got told off for it more than once. Properly told off. Like I was doing something reckless, despite there being hundreds, if not thousands, of papers exploring fasting in oncology settings, including work from researchers like Valter Longo showing it can make chemotherapy more effective and less toxic to normal cells.

At one point I was even told to consume cream, despite my tumour tissue being tested and shown to grow in response to growth factors in dairy. That was one of those moments where the disconnect just became impossible to ignore.

It’s not even that there’s no logic on either side, it’s that the two conversations are happening in completely different worlds and never meet. One is purely protocol-driven, the other is rooted in systems biology, and the patient is stuck in the middle trying to make sense of it.

What I’ve come to realise is that there are two sides to cancer treatment. There’s the treatment itself, and then there’s how you support your body through it. And that second part is where everything changes.

Diet, lifestyle, fasting, sauna, IV support, supplementation… none of that felt optional to me. It felt essential. It was the reason I could tolerate treatment the way I did, the reason my body held up, the reason I didn’t feel like I was completely falling apart while it was happening.

Because when treatment strips someone of their health in the process of trying to save them, we have to start asking better questions. Not whether the treatment works, but at what cost, and whether that cost is as inevitable as we’re told it is.

The part that genuinely shocked me most came after it was all over. No one offers you proper blood work to see how your body has actually held up. No deep dive into nutrient status, no assessment of mitochondrial health, no real look at inflammation markers beyond the basics, nothing on metabolic function.

You’re essentially told you’re done and sent on your way.

I had to do all of mine privately, which is wild when you think about it. In any other area of medicine, you would track recovery. Here, you just… don’t.

I went through Randox and ran everything, and my bloods have come back better than they were before chemo. Better. And that’s the part I feel quite strongly about now, because I can actually say, with evidence, that supporting my body alongside treatment made a measurable difference.

Not instead of treatment. Alongside it.

And it honestly shocks me how many people message me saying they’ve been told to ignore supplements, ignore nutrition, ignore anything outside of the core treatment plan. In a time where we have over 30,000 papers published on nutrition and cancer, thousands on the microbiome alone, and entire oncology centres globally integrating these approaches, how is the default still to do nothing?

I’m not anti-conventional medicine, not even close. It saved my life. But I am very aware that it’s incomplete.

And patients shouldn’t have to choose between killing the cancer and protecting their body in the process. That shouldn’t be controversial. That should be the baseline.

Katie x

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It wasn’t a dramatic overhaul or a single moment where everything changed, it was more of a gradual shift where certain choices just became part of my normal without needing to think twice about them. I stopped drinking and going out weekly, started focusing on detoxing, infrared saunas, enemas, green juices and another important thing was I built annual private scans into my budget in the same way a holiday would be.

I was always tuned in on some level, paying attention to what I was putting into my body, how well I was sleeping, how much stress I was carrying, and whether my nervous system felt calm and supported or like it was quietly running on empty in the background.

By the time I received my diagnosis in October 2025, wellness wasn’t something I had to scramble towards and flip my life to try and fix.

And I genuinely believe that made all the difference - not necessarily to whether the cancer arrived, but to how I met it when it did.

I Can Already Hear The Question

If you were so healthy, why did this happen?

It’s a fair one. And I’ve sat with it a lot.

The honest answer is that you can be doing a great deal right and still be working against a bad hand of cards you didn’t know you were holding. My genetics are, bluntly, not great. Polymorphisms (mutations) across multiple pathways mean my body has always had to work harder to detoxify, process hormones, repair cells, and defend against oxidative stress. Years of mould exposure worsened the expression of those genetics in ways I couldn’t have known at the time. My detoxification pathways were sluggish. And there was emotional weight I had been carrying for a long time which I believe contributed to the environment in which this disease took hold.

The position of my tumour - left breast, over the heart - is something I can’t ignore either, for those of you familiar with the lens of German New Medicine. The emotional profile associated with that placement fits me precisely. The peacekeeper. The one who got on with it. The one who kept the noise down for an easy life.

I also want to be transparent about something: there were things I was doing in the name of wellness that, knowing what I know now, I would stop. Supplements that stimulate growth factors — NAD, collagen, glutamine — taken with the regularity I was taking them. Sugar in the diet. I believe these contributed to just how quickly and aggressively the tumour grew. Wellness is nuanced, and more is not always more.

But the deeper point, the one I keep returning to is that being physically well is only part of the picture. You cannot supplement, detox, or biohack your way out of unresolved emotional pain. The body keeps the score, as they say, and eventually it will find a way to make itself heard.

Living Like Something Might Go Wrong

With one in two people now getting cancer in their lifetime, the odds are not abstract. This is not fear-mongering. It is just reality and I think most of us know it somewhere beneath the surface but find it easier not to look directly at.

What I want to offer is a different framing: live like something might go wrong - and then live fully anyway.

Not with dread. Not with obsession. But with the same energy and consistency you bring to your career, your relationships, your finances. We work hard at the things we value. We prepare. We show up repeatedly. We invest. And yet so many of us treat our health as something to address reactively, when it breaks, when the diagnosis arrives, when the body finally makes itself impossible to ignore.

For me, the preparation I had done for years meant that when my diagnosis came, I didn’t have to turn my life upside down. The tools were already in place. The knowledge was already there. The habits were already mine. It became, strangely, a personal challenge to solve rather than a catastrophe to survive. I wasn’t afraid instead I was really focused and I didn’t approach my diagnosis with fear, more like a challenge to overcome.

What people don’t know is too that everyone is walking around with cancer in their body, it just has to be the right conditions for it to take hold. So you do really carry a choice everyday whether you support your body to manage the cancer cells, or whether you do things to allow them to take hold.

Work at your wellness like you work at everything else that matters to you.

5 Things I Would Do First, Knowing What I Know Now

1. Nervous system work before anything else Nothing in the body works well in a chronic stress state. You cannot detoxify, digest, repair, or heal properly when your nervous system is stuck in fight-or-flight. This is not soft advice, it is foundational physiology. Breathwork, somatic practices, stillness, learning to regulate rather than just push through. Start here. Everything else builds on it.

2. Circadian alignment Your body runs on light and dark. Sleep when it’s dark, be in natural light when it isn’t, eat within a reasonable window, and stop treating your rest as something you’ll catch up on later. Circadian disruption drives hormonal chaos, impairs immune function, and quietly degrades the systems you most need working in your favour. Getting this right costs nothing. Also what a lot of people don’t know is that circadian alignment is driven by light AND food, so if you’re eating late, you’re also damaging this crucial rhythm in the body. Eat when it’s light is a great rule that many Mediterranean communities follow and it’s hailed as a reason for their health.

3. Make detoxification a daily practice Your body is designed to eliminate but modern life loads it with far more than most of us can efficiently clear. Prioritise your drainage pathways: sweat regularly (sauna if you can, movement if not), support your liver, keep your bowels moving (shocking how much this goes unaddressed for so many!), drink clean water, reduce the toxic load you bring in. Detox is not a January programme. It is something you do quietly, daily, consistently.

4. Eat less, eat better You genuinely need less food than you think, and the quality matters more than the quantity. Organic where possible, seasonal where you can, processed as rarely as you can manage. Your food is either building your resilience or quietly eroding it - there is no neutral. You don’t need to be perfect but my general rule of thumb is more than 5 ingredients is a no and if your grandparents don’t recognise it, probably a no too.

5. Prioritise your lymphatic health and keep moving The lymphatic system has no pump of its own - it moves because you move. It is a critical part of your immune surveillance and waste clearance, and most of us never think about it at all. Before I was diagnosed I had a thermography scan and they showed the lymph nodes under my arms were closed and cold, ie not working. Walk every day. Rebound if you can. Dry brush. Even oil up and massage under your arms and collar bone. Move your body consistently and joyfully rather than intensely and occasionally. Lymph health is cancer prevention in one of its quietest and most accessible forms.

None of this is complicated and none of it requires you to overhaul your life overnight or spend money you don’t have. It requires consistency, curiosity about your own body and a decision to treat your health as something worth showing up for every single day.

Not because you’re afraid, in fact the opposite because you know what it’s worth and you know how good it feels to feel good!

Katie x

October is breast cancer awareness month, knowing I had a lump and spending the first few weeks listening to stories of diagnoses, people telling you to “check yourself” and after listening to the story of a 25 year old girl on the Wednesday’s Podcast, something in my gut was telling me to get this checked.

Part of me really felt in denial, the week before I’d run 10k without feeling tired for literally the first time in my life, I was lifting twice a week in the gym, my skin was clear and flawless and I was jumping out of bed at 5am everyday to start my to do list. Nevertheless, every morning I now woke up with that pit in your stomach of “I need to address this."

I acted on it pretty quickly, not waiting for an appointment with my GP - instead I booked in with Daniela from Sonoworld Diagnostics on Wimpole street - it’s about £270 for both breasts to be scanned, I’d been to her the year before just to get my boobs checked, thyroid scanned and an internal pelvic ultrasound, something I did bi-annually as a way to just check any changes plus I’m always pretty hot on check ups and self monitoring, I think it’s literally essential. Nothing had showed up on my ultrasound the year before, so I went back suspecting nothing but sadly she said there was a very suspicious lump in my left breast and two enlarged nodes in my lymph nodes in the armpit. My scan the year before was November 2024, it showed no lumps nothing unusual - this was October 2025 and I had a 3.8cm lump that had literally come from nowhere. Just 10 months later…

The reason I went for annual ultrasounds was because I had dense breast tissue, they are far safer than a mammogram which are known to cause cancer in every 1 in 150 women - this is a risk margin the NHS/NICE Guidelines in the UK accept - but would you not be furious if you were that one woman? There are safer options, thermography and ultrasound are my favourite surveillance tools but sadly you have to pay for them. My doctor himself told me that if they gave ultrasounds to every women, they’d find too many pre cancerous changes and the system would be overrun with women too early to be treated. Which is wild because if women knew an early detection option was available would we not all be banging at the door? And think how many lives would be saved? PLUS he said each ultrasound takes 30 minutes which is why they don’t do them, whereas a mammogram takes 5, so efficiency wins ahead of patient safety again, thank you health service. All additional reasons why I monitor my own health annually, but I’ll try not to let my opinions on the “system” be too front and centre here.

Anyway back to my story…

If a radiographer tells you there’s a suspicious lump, you act, and I immediately phoned my private health - got an appointment at the breast clinic the next day and after two biopsies, an ultrasound and a mammogram I’d been told it was cancer.

I was incredibly lucky to be able to use my private health for this. The average diagnosis time is 10 weeks for a woman in the UK with breast cancer and 10 weeks from my private diagnosis, I’d completed IVF, had an egg retrieval procedure, was underway with my integrative protocols and I’d done 4 rounds of chemo already. The progress I’d made in ten weeks arguably improved my changes of a positive outcome drastically, it’s an incredibly important decision to make if you have the money to do it these days. It’s self funded for me at the cost of a few thousand a year (every level of cover is different), it might seem a lot because it is but I factor it into my yearly budget, it’s less than I pay for my car and I thank myself time and time again that I was covered for this process.

So my diagnosis was in!

My cancer diagnosis was triple negative, meaning the tumour doesn’t respond to the three receptors most breast cancers rely on for growth: oestrogen, progesterone, or HER2. Because those pathways aren’t present, treatments that target them, like hormone therapy or HER2-directed drugs, aren’t effective. Instead, treatment typically relies on chemotherapy and surgery. There is quite some fear about triple neg cancer because the pharmaceutical treatment options are more limited - I was told words like “very aggressive” and “lack of treatment” “highly dangerous” cancer - but really, this is classic of a medical system when they’ve run out of pharmaceutical options for a cancer.

Yes the cancer was aggressive, it had grown in less than 12 months and in some cases triple negative tumours grow at 1% a week, but putting the fear factor into women is something that is so rife around breast cancer. When really the options to treat triple negative are far reaching, effective, evolving and vast if you are able to look further than conventional options and have the confidence to implement them alongside your treatment.

When you are diagnosed you have a three step approach in the UK: it goes ultrasound (they will ultrasound you once you’ve got something suspicious, just not routine screening!), biopsy and then mammogram. In the clinic they wanted to do the biopsy there and then, and then the mammogram but I said I didn’t think it felt right puncturing the breast to remove tissue, then go and squeeze it in the mammogram. There is a lot of emerging literature around this diagnosis process actually causing cancer to spread and leave the tumour site. Truthfully, you need a solid diagnosis, so I think at this early stage it’s highly important to get the tissue tested, but you can change the order, I insisted to do the mammogram before the biopsy and put my foot down on this. Going forward I probably wouldn’t do routine mammograms or biopsies unless I had a confirmed suspicious lesion on an ultrasound. But I will do annual thermography scans, biannual MRI’s privately and ultrasound scans.

Also there is a simple hack which does help stop spread of any cancer after a biopsy and it’s to take the anti-histamine loratadine. It’s recommended for a year from biopsy to surgery and beyond if you are on this journey. And to combat the radiation of the mammogram - you can take homeopathics to help with the exposure and melatonin too. All incredibly safe options.

This was where they do the biopsies, direct into the breast and one under the arm.

So the routine went:

• Ultrasound

• Mammogram

• Biopsy

And then you wait for the results. I was phoned about 2/3 days later and it was confirmed triple negative, but the lymph nodes under my arm tested negative (thank god!), so the cancer was contained in the primary tumour.

From there you go for:

• A PET Scan

• CT Scan

• MRI

To see if the cancer has spread anywhere else in the body.

I was fortunate enough they didn’t find cancer anywhere else at all. My category was Stage 3, Grade 2, which isn’t ideal but the histology from the biopsies, which means the tissue sampling, showed the cancer was highly prolific and was multiplying at a very fast rate. You get a KI67 score which tells you the aggressiveness of your cancer, out of 100 - 100 being bad 0 being good and mine was 80/90% - so highly fast growing.

This is typical of triple negative, but what makes it so prolific and fast growing, also makes it incredibly responsive to treatment, so again don’t fall into the fear trap. When you are given your grading and staging for cancer, it really neatly puts you into a box whereby you can be given a life expectancy, which I really found completely wild. I was 30, in the best health I’d ever been in, given this shit diagnosis, but my body was not suffering from this cancer and being given your years left even from a mental-emotional point of view is so disheartening and also explains why in medical literature people decline drastically after a diagnosis, because they loose quite a lot of their hope. I was aware of this phenomenon with cancer, and I wasn’t going to let it bother me. From day one I thought, we’ll use this for good (weirdly I kept referring to everything I was going through as “we” - I don’t know why but I think now I was separating the cancer from myself, it wasn't “me” or “I” - me and cancer were off to chemo, “we'“ we’re going to get rid of this).

I say this with an acknowledgment of my privileged situation to not have metastatic cancer, but I didn’t allow myself the time to dwell or be upset, I really felt like the floor had been ripped out of me. But I said to myself in that moment, you’re going to make it your mission to understand everything about this diagnosis, why it’s happened and I’d say to everyone around me - there will only be a positive outcome from this, so no one is allowed to worry.

I also was firm with the way that people were allowed to talk about the cancer, it was never with “ifs” or “maybes” it was always “when” - never “if you get through this” only “when you’re cancer free” was allowed to be the narrative in my home.

To conclude!

This story is a long one, the above had happened in two days, the next few weeks started the most horrendous cycle of IVF and appointments, scans and prods, blood draws, operations to put in my porta cath (where chemo is administered under the skin in a little line attached to your artery). But I don’t want to rush writing it all down, it’s been therapeutic for me to address this time, one that a lot of people would close the door on - but if there is one thing I’ve learned in this process and learned a lesson from my life before, its that putting emotions in a box only makes them angrier. You must head on face what’s hard and upsetting for your own sake, or it will re-emerge. I feel my cancer was partially caused my a lot of suppressed emotion and not fully being able to use my voice freely in life, amongst other things that I will get into!

There’s an organisation called German New Medicine, who believe the placement of a tumour signifies the emotional cause of the cancer. For my, left breast over my heart, it was emotionally protective, and the qualities of people who have cancer in this place fit my description to a T: agreeable, not forthcoming with emotion, happy to quieten down just to keep the peace and unable to properly voice hurt or deep emotion. The “peacekeepers” and people who got on with it for an easy life.

Whether you believe in it or not, you can’t ignore it once you know. But, as I have said, I’d like to unravel my story on here so please follow along. Cancer can be a really scary thing so please message me with any questions that you have. But above all if you have a niggle gut feeling something might be wrong in your health, get it checked. Mine was still classed as early detection, so thank god I had the steps in place once I found something.

I hope no one had to go through this, but it’s not the reality especially for us women. So I hope this goes a small way to help someone somewhere!

Subscribe for more to come!

Katie x

I took this on the day I was diagnosed, I had a feeling life was about to change. But as I’ve mentioned I was kicking around as healthy as can be (little did I know)!

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1. Hair Protection: Silk Cap & Silk Pillowcase

BRAND: SLIP
LINK

Whether you cold cap or not, hair becomes fragile during chemotherapy. Think of it less like “hair” and more like glass.

Silk reduces friction in a way cotton simply doesn’t. A silk bonnet and silk pillowcase minimise mechanical pulling, breakage and tension while you sleep, which is when a lot of unnecessary shedding happens.

On the nights I used both consistently, I noticed significantly less hair fall. This isn’t about vanity, it’s about preserving what your body is already struggling to hold onto.

Gentle inputs matter more than aggressive treatments here and less is more with your hair and scalp in general during chemo.

2. Oral Care: Herbal Oil Pulling

BRAND: LIVING LIBATIONS

LINK

Mouth sores and dental issues are one of the most feared chemo side effects, and understandably so. Chemotherapy alters the oral microbiome, weakens tissue integrity and can create the perfect environment for inflammation.

Oil pulling is simple but powerful. Swishing oil around the mouth for a few minutes helps mechanically remove bacteria while soothing gum tissue.

You can use plain coconut oil, but I opted for a herbal blend containing antibacterial oils such as clove, oregano and peppermint. I oil pulled twice daily and, thankfully, avoided mouth sores entirely.

3. Gentle Detox Support: Essiac Tea

Really any will do but I just kept ordering this from Amazon for ease!
LINK

I was sceptical about this one as some people claim it literally cures cancer on it’s own. But I read a lot of research about it being hugely supportive during treatment.

Chemotherapy places an enormous burden on the liver, skin and elimination pathways. For me, Essiac helped take the edge off side effects, supported skin clarity and aided overall detoxification, and if it was having positive effects on the cancer too? Bonus :)

I drank 1–2 cups daily, often prepared as a cold brew kept in the fridge with lemon. Subtle, steady support rather than forcing detox during an already intense process.

It isn’t nice, it tastes like mud, but I do think this stopped literally any sickness and my liver enzymes never went up during treatment.

4. Gut Motility: Herbal Gut Movers

BRAND: Gaia Herbs
LINK

Constipation during chemo is very real and it’s often the reason a lot of people end up in hospital. It’s wild to explain but it’s literally like the minute you have the chemo whatever is in your gut get’s solidified and it’s really hard to get out.

The standard advice I was given was to cycle laxatives and anti-diarrhoeals depending on symptoms. That approach felt harsh and damaging to the gut long-term - was chemo not harsh enough without all this too?!

Instead, I opted for gentle herbal formulations containing gut-soothing ingredients - all organic, like dandelion, fennel chamomile - rather than stimulant laxatives. These supported regularity without stripping the gut lining or creating dependency but also they’re all incredibly supportive herbs during the cancer journey, a huge bonus and so so safe.

Your gut is already under siege during chemo. Kindness here is essential.

5. Skin Support: Deep Nourishing Body Butter

BRAND: URSA MAJOR
LINK

Chemotherapy pulls collagen and hydration from the skin. Dryness, cracking and sensitivity are incredibly common. I found loads of my magnesium butters or essential oil creams were actually too much, but this Ursa Major body butter was UNREAL.

Completely clean, packed full of calendula and omegas - it’s literally like butter on the skin and also the brand is made out in Vermont using forest based ingredients. It does come from the US but without import fees which was a huge plus!

6. Facial Care: Keeping It Minimal

EYEAM Inflammaging Serum
LINK

Sabi Facial Mist
LINK

Now these were two products I was truly obsessed with PRE cancer because they are clean and gorgeous. But once my chemo skin started to react to anything I put on it, I really had to go through my products and see what was triggering my skin and these two were the two that saved it when I got a big chemo rash.

Nourishing and barrier repairing, the inflammaging serum I’m on about my third bottle and second of the Sabi Facial Mist (I also ADORE their teas). Both brands I really just think prove time and time again that clean care is still luxury and effective.

7. Gut Repair with Caution: Colostrum Powder

Brand: APE
LINK

This one comes with a big caution flag.

Colostrum and dairy more broadly are high in growth factors, which many people choose to minimise during active cancer treatment or if you have a family risk at all, I would really avoid BUT…

Small amounts of oral colostrum haven’t been shown to increase circulating IGF-1 in adults, as its effects are largely local to the gut.

I used a very small amount, 2–3 days per week, timed between chemo rounds, to support gut integrity and immune resilience rather than daily or aggressively and it did make a difference to my immune markers which stayed quite stable.

8. Morning Foundations: Liver Greens & Cellular Hydration

Anima Mundi Liver Greens
LINK

Artah Cellular Hydration
LINK

Every morning, I focused on hydration and liver support before anything else.

Chemotherapy shifts the body towards acidity, and many electrolyte formulas unintentionally worsen this. Salt itself isn’t the issue, acidity is - this is a major red flag for me with electrolytes going forward is that they really shift the bodies state to acid not alkaline which is pro cancer and pro inflammatory.

I chose greens and hydration blends that included lemon powder or fresh lemon to support alkalinity and liver function. Organic mattered here, especially for liver-supportive herbs and this blend by Anima Mundi is the best I’ve found and so tolerable too. Containing moringa which is said to be really anti cancer too. I though this really helped nourish the body with extra greens during my treatment.

9. Immune Barrier Protection: Silver Nasal Spray

Sovereign Silver
LINK

During chemo, you lose nasal hair, which normally acts as a first-line immune barrier. That makes you more vulnerable to airborne pathogens.

I used a silver nasal spray externally, particularly after hospital visits, crowded spaces or being around people as just that extra barrier to clear out my nose and avoid infection. Silver is anti-bacterial and microbial so it felt like I supported my defences where I could. Also colds/flu’s often harbour in the nose for 2/3 days before they colonise and cause full body illness, so clearing your nose out regularly stops anything catching. Especially during chemo when your defences and immune system are so bad!

There is emerging bodies of research showing colloidal silver is anti-cancer too and causes apoptosis (cancer cell death), so it’s likely doing great things around the body too and the product I linked is diluted, so there’s no concerns about overdoing it.

Once you’re going through chemo and you walk anywhere all you hear is people coughing as you are anxious suddenly about being in public, I’d literally have 4 of these - in the car, in my bags, at the front door. It was very reassuring.

A Final Note

When I started out on this journey, I spoke to an oncologist who really told me that nothing I could do would ease the side effects of the treatment. I walked out his office and never came back. I have avoided talking too much about supplements on here, as really these are just little tips and tricks to make the days go easier and support your body through some of the major symptoms. There’s a lot more you can do to support the body, but this is truly a GREAT place to begin.

If you’re going through chemo, about to go through it or know someone who is. It really will change the person you thought you are in so many ways, but only for the better, because you really do suddenly realise how strong you are to cope with what you are going through. My best advice? Spoil yourself as much as you can because yes those nice silk turbans, comfy PJ’s, body creams all make a different when you feel like a bag of sh*t.

LOVE KATIE x

1. The Best Clean Burning Candles from Kalå

2. Somavedic EMF & Home Harmonising Device

3. Linen Bedding

4. Infrared Saunas

5. Grounding Sheets

6. Copper Dry Brush

7. Circadian Lighting

8. Sweet Bee Detox Bath Salts

9. EMF Electricity Filter

10. Red Light Panel

11. Goat Milk Soap

12. Primally Pure Eucalyptus Body Butter - use code WELLBYKATIE for a discount.

13. Caraway Teflon Free Pans

14. Beeswax Candles

15. Herbal Dandelion Tea

16. Mayu Structured Water Device

17. Quality Olive Oil

18. Stainless Steel Chopping Board

19. Air Purifier

20. Mould Free Coffee

A few of the links above may earn me a small commission, but they all belong to my real, lived rituals. Nothing here is shared unless it’s truly used and trusted.

I also keep my routine pretty clean, I avoid a lot of the major companies packed full of chemicals and let me tell you why. They are endocrine disruptors, so if I’m making all this conscious effort to balance my skin VIA balancing my hormones, yet then smothering myself with products that will then distrupt them. You’re driving with your foot on the brake and you won’t go anywhere. So how I got my skin from this to this in one week:

PS: this post does contain affiliate links!

Right what caused it: Let’s be frank, I was overdoing it on the chocolate and the cheese, I started with honey in my matcha and my sweet tooth blossomed haha - I firmly believe that reducing sweet foods makes you crave less of them. So even that “one off” changes your palette to crave more. Skincare isn’t about adding in lots of the time it’s about removing - so we cut the sugar.

Also the cheese - dairy is very risky for someone with oestrogen dominance like me, so I do tend to avoid large quantities, so we’re back to no dairy too! (Unless it’s kefir which I love here and there!)

Stress: I am launching my new business - please follow it! But this has caused me to be up late, working lots, lots of blue light and reduced sleep. All contributors both to poor skin but poor health. Along with stressful life events, the nervous system took a hit this month.

SO what fixed it:

1. SKIN LOVING FOODS

2. BROCOLLI SPROUTS

3. LIVER SUPPORT

4. RAW CARROTS

5. RED LIGHT MASKS

6. SAUNAS

7. MICRONEEDLING AND EXOSOMES

8. NERVOUS SYSTEM REGULATION

I’ll deep dive into each:

Skin loving foods - there are a few things I turn to for skin health and they fall into three categories: LIVER SUPPORT, CERAMIDE SUPPORT and DIGESTION SUPPORT. I’ll explain each, for me skin good skin is a combination of supporting your barrier, the lipid layer on your skin to be stronger and to regenerate, it’s about supporting the liver to clear toxins and hormones which make skin bad, and finally you have to focus on digestion and regularity, because unless you are going to the toilet 1-2 times a day, you’re re-uptaking toxins and hormones in the bowels through waste sitting there. This is SO overlooked, my skin is bad if my digestion slows down. Simple. So let’s look at food in these three categories:

LIVER: Greens, cauliflower, broccoli, rocket, liver, parsley, citrus, berries.

CERAMIDE SUPPORT: fats, fish - wild salmon, mackerel, eggs (choline), grass fed meats, bone broth, soaked nuts.

And DIGESTION - i.e. what is making me go to the toilet - chia, kiwis, sweet potato, quinoa (all the liver foods also apply here too as they increase bile production and help stimulate digestion!!).

What I am not eating: oats, dairy - cottage cheese is a NO for me, sugar, seed oils, pasta or large gluten portions,, I do sourdough but not much, no fish that isn’t wild, I also don’t overdo eggs and I also don’t really do pork unless I’m out for brunch/dinner, it’s not huge in my diet as it’s quite inflammatory.

Broccoli sprouts – These are one of my forever favourites, I eat them, I take them as a supplement, they are potent and amazing for hormone health. I have them with almost every meal. They’re rich in sulforaphane, which helps your liver detoxify excess oestrogen and environmental toxins. If you’re breaking out around your chin or jawline, this can make a real difference. It’s not glamorous, but it’s effective. I sprout my own at home - I use these and put them in this device, it couldn’t be more simple. ALSO if you want a shortcut because I love a shortcut - this product is amazing too!

Liver support – You can’t clear skin if your liver is congested. I focus on supporting Phase 1 and Phase 2 detox with bitters, binders, taurine, and magnesium. If your liver is sluggish, everything backs up - skin, mood, hormones, the lot. I am loving the “Liver Greens” by Anima Mundi, every morning I have these and it really clears the skin very quickly.

Raw carrots – A daily staple for me. They help clear endotoxins from the gut and bind excess oestrogen. I usually slice one up with olive oil and sea salt or dunk in humous, it’s so simple but genuinely transformative for hormonal balance and skin clarity. The fibre too is excellent for your gut and regularity, so it’s a real yes to the carrots for clear skin.

Red light masks – This is my non-negotiable. I use mine for 10–15 minutes at night. It helps calm inflammation, speeds up healing and improves collagen naturally. The one I have is on the more expensive side, HOWEVER very important the reason I chose this as it works in 3 minutes, most masks are 20m plus daily, this is 3 which is unreal.

Saunas – My favourite detox ritual. It’s not just about sweating, it’s about moving lymph and improving circulation. I always pair my sauna with binders (I love Chlorella mostly for the good glow!). My at home sauna is from Therasage but I’m a huge sauna blanket fan too as a more accessible product!

Microneedling and exosomes – These are the only “treatments” I do now. No fillers, no toxins. Microneedling helps stimulate collagen and exosomes take recovery and glow to another level, I found these really sped up the healing and it also took the top layer off my face which helped. In the UK I see Beauty Method By Bethany only!

Nervous system regulation – This might be the biggest one. You can’t heal your skin in a stressed-out body. Breathwork, walking outside, magnesium baths, grounding, journaling – all of it helps bring my system back to safety. When your cortisol drops, your skin heals and a lot of it was my attitude shift, letting things stress me out. I really took some time to do some deep breathing, I also started the Activations app by Mimi Bouchard a recommendation from the Raise Podcast episode - they are really amazing and I’d highly recommend for anyone who struggles to meditate.

Also of course my daily products at home which do help so much too:

MY SKINCARE

Weleda deep cleansing Gel

Eve Lom Cleansing Balm - one non-clean product I cannot part with, this is I think my favourite cleanser ever.

Oskia Cleansing Gel

Oskia Violet Water

Ere Perez Green Boosting Serum

100% Pure Restorative Sea Culture serum

Dr Hauschka Rose Day Cream

Lol we’re not messing around on the Dr Hauschka it’s life changing.

One Skin Peptide face supplement

RMS superserum hydrating mist

Primary Pure Everything Balm - use this link and my code:

https://creatoriq.cc/4lkBsON

WELLBYKATIE

—

SO to summarise…

Good skin isn’t just about what you put on it - it’s the result of everything working in sync beneath the surface. The liver, gut, hormones and nervous system are all connected, and when one is off, it shows up on your face. By cutting sugar, dairy and processed oils, you’re reducing inflammatory triggers. By supporting the liver with greens, sprouts and bitters, you’re improving hormone clearance and detoxification. By eating raw carrots and fibre, you’re keeping digestion moving so those hormones actually leave the body.

Then you build from there - nourish your barrier with good fats and ceramide-supporting foods, use light therapy and natural actives to stimulate regeneration, and calm your stress response so cortisol isn’t driving inflammation.

The skin will always mirror your internal environment. When you balance your hormones, support detox pathways and regulate your nervous system, the glow follows - and it lasts.

Any questions, DM me on Instagram!!

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1) Indoor air can be four times more polluted than outdoor air

Fresh air comes from circulation, not a plug-in. I open my windows for at least one hour every day, even in winter or rain, to dilute indoor pollutants from cooking, heating, cleaning products and off-gassing from furnishings. Cross ventilation is best. Open windows on opposite sides of the home for a short, strong flush.

I also run high-efficiency air purifiers. At home I use AirDoctor (Amazing Air in the UK) units to capture fine particles and odours. Extra wins

• Vacuum weekly with a HEPA vacuum

• Use extractor fans while cooking and after showers

• Keep humidity around 40 to 55 percent to discourage mould growth

• Open windows even in the rain - I open 2/3 so I get a good draft and air pull

• I avoid any chemical fragrances that contribute to poor air quality to start with

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2) A “clean” smell is not the same as clean air

Many conventional cleaning products contain fragrance mixes that can include phthalates and other volatile organic compounds. These can act as endocrine disruptors or irritants for some people. Safer cleaning can still be effective. I favour non toxic options from Purdy and Figg, Bower Collective or Miniml, and I keep to simple ingredients like soap, vinegar for glass and bicarbonate of soda for gentle abrasion. Avoid mixing products and avoid anything that lists “fragrance” without detail. Fragrance free is the lowest exposure. If you want scent, use a small amount of essential oil after cleaning rather than building fragrance into the product itself.

3) A messy space unsettles the nervous system

Visual clutter increases cognitive load and makes it harder to downshift into rest. A calmer bedroom really does support deeper sleep. I aim for cool, dark, quiet and tidy. Practical steps

• Temperature around 16 to 19 C

• Blackout curtains or an eye mask

• No screens on the nightstand

• A ten minute reset each evening to clear surfaces and clothes

  I am not naturally tidy and my friends will tell you that. The reset ritual is what makes the difference for me.

4) Your home is your first medicine cabinet

When I feel run down I start at home and turn inward. I air the house first, opening windows for 10 to 20 minutes morning and evening to flush indoor pollutants and help my nervous system settle. Then I use simple mineral therapies that support recovery. My go to is a detox bath or on low energy days a foot soak is easier, using a basin with warm water, 1 cup Epsom salts and a spoon of bicarbonate for 15 minutes. After bathing I apply a magnesium butter or magnesium oil to calves, shoulders and the soles of the feet to top up magnesium and relax muscles for sleep. At the first sign of a scratchy throat I use a propolis spray as directed and keep fluids up. These are gentle inputs that help the body do its own work: fresh air, minerals, warmth, rest.

My bath recipe

• Two cups Epsom salts

• One to two cups magnesium chloride flakes

• One cup bicarbonate of soda

• Five to eight drops essential oil diluted first in a tablespoon of carrier oil

  Use warm water, not too hot, and soak for 15 to 20 minutes. Hydrate before and after. Skip essential oils if you are pregnant or sensitive, and check with a clinician if you have blood pressure or cardiovascular concerns. Other home therapies I rotate include gentle sweating in a sauna, dry body brushing toward the heart and nasal rinsing in pollen season.

5) The wrong candle pollutes your air. The right candle supports it

Paraffin and heavy synthetic fragrance can increase indoor soot and VOCs, and some fragrance chemicals can aggravate sensitive airways or hormones. If you burn candles, choose clean waxes such as beeswax, coconut or rapeseed, use cotton or untreated wooden wicks, and check the CLP label for allergens. This is why I created Kalå. We use functional essential oil blends that are designed to smell beautiful and support the space rather than overwhelm it. Smart burn habits matter as much as ingredients

Brands I adamantly avoid - Dyptique, Yankee, anything from TK Maxx, anything from a perfume retailer,

6) Blue light at night is the new junk fuel for the brain

Evening blue light suppresses melatonin and pushes the body clock later. Swap harsh overheads for warm lamps after sunset and use red night lights for hallways and bathrooms. I use Bon Charge red lights in the evening. On screens, turn on Night Shift or a similar warm setting and set a firm screen curfew at least one hour before bed. Get outside early in the day for natural morning light. Morning light anchors the circadian rhythm so night sleep comes easier.

7) If you do not feel safe at home, you cannot heal

Physiology follows felt safety. When the home feels unsafe or chaotic, the body sits in a stress state and recovery stalls. Create cues of safety

• Clear sightlines and tidy routes through rooms

• Predictable routines for meals, work and rest

• Softer evening lighting and lower noise

• Boundaries with news and social media at night

• Scent and sound associations you love, such as a calming oil in a diffuser and gentle music

  Safety is the foundation. Everything else builds on top.

To finish…

Your home is not just a backdrop. It is an active part of your biology. Fresh air, gentle products, calm sleep spaces, supportive rituals, cleaner candles, smarter light and a sense of safety combine to shift your baseline. Pick one change to start today, keep it for eight weeks, then add another. Slow, steady changes are easier to keep and you can clearly see what works for you.

Now for the fun stuff:

My Clean Home Staples

1. Castor oil roller

2. Sauna Blanket

3. Detox Bath Salts

4. Dry Body Brush

5. Enema Kit

6. The coffee I drink

7. Amazing Air Purifier

8. Propolis spray

9. Primally Pure is amazing for products: You can use my code WELLBYKATIE for a discount

10. Essential oil diffuser

11. And of course, my own brand - Kalå, coming soon!

Happy Healthing, Katie xx

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—

This post is educational and not medical advice. If you have specific health conditions or are pregnant, check with a qualified practitioner before starting new protocols. Or Dm me any questions - always happy to help!

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1. Buy a quality multivitamin

I always say: if you’re not taking a good multivitamin, you probably shouldn’t be taking any other supplements. Why? Because a multivitamin covers your nutritional bases - a broad, low dose of everything you need, daily. Most people feel a difference in energy, mood, and resilience almost immediately.

But not all multivitamins are created equal. Look for ones that contain methylated nutrients or food-state nutrients. This means forms your body can actually use, without relying on conversions that some of us genetically struggle with.

• Folate should be 5-MTHF (methylfolate), not folic acid. About 40–60% of the population has variations in the MTHFR gene that make folic acid almost useless, while methylfolate bypasses this issue and supports detoxification, fertility, and brain health.

• Vitamin B6 should be in its active form, P5P (pyridoxal-5-phosphate). This supports neurotransmitters, hormone balance, and energy.

• Look for methylcobalamin or adenosylcobalamin for B12, rather than cyanocobalamin.

Brands I rate: Heights, Wild Nutrition, Seeking Health, Cytoplan. The key is quality, reputable sourcing, and those active forms. Some link below:

This is the one I take: Seeking Health

But I also love: Heights and this Thorne one.

2. Filter your water

This might be the single best investment you’ll ever make in your health. Think about it: you don’t just drink a glass of water once a day. You drink it every hour, every day, every year of your life. That’s constant exposure - and if you’re drinking unfiltered tap water, you’re constantly exposed to what’s in it too.

Tap water isn’t just “water.” It often contains:

• PFAs (forever chemicals linked to cancers and immune issues)

• BPA and microplastics (endocrine disruptors that interfere with hormones)

• Fluoride and chlorine (affect thyroid, gut health, and beneficial bacteria)

• Pharmaceutical residues (yes, even traces of birth control pills, antidepressants, and more)

My go-to is a reverse osmosis filter that remineralises the water. RO strips everything (the good and the bad), so remineralisation is key to restore electrolytes and taste.

• This is the one I have: [Optimal Hydration under-the-counter filter] (they also do a great countertop version).

• Sküma is another brand I love and much more affordable!

• In the US: Aquatru is an excellent alternative.

Once you switch, you’ll never go back - the taste, the hydration, the peace of mind are unmatched.

3. Bed by 11, no phone after 9

Sleep isn’t just another health habit, it’s the foundation that everything else sits on. Without it, detox, hormone balance, mental health, and immunity all unravel.

Blue light (from phones, laptops, TV) is one of the biggest disruptors. It tricks your brain into thinking it’s still daylight, shutting down melatonin production. That’s why I recommend:

• Putting your phone away at 9pm.

• Getting blue-light blocking glasses for the evening (brands like Bon Charge are great).

• Keeping your bedroom cool, dark, and ideally phone-free.

Think of it this way: every hour of sleep before midnight counts almost double in terms of recovery. Protect it like your life depends on it.

4. Add in one detox habit

This doesn’t need to be complicated. Pick one and do it consistently - that’s how you’ll notice the difference. One of the most overlooked foundations is detox. Why? Because every single day we’re exposed to chemicals, pesticides, heavy metals, microplastics and endocrine-disrupting compounds that our bodies were never designed to process in the volumes we face today. Supporting detox isn’t a “nice to have,” it’s essential if you want clear skin, balanced hormones, steady energy and a brain that actually switches on. That doesn’t mean complicated protocols — just one daily detox habit, done consistently, can make a profound difference.

• Nettle tea (link) – deeply mineralising, supports kidneys and natural detox.

• Dandelion tea (link) – supports liver detox pathways.

• Saunas – powerful for sweating out heavy metals, boosting circulation and lymph. I have this one at home from Therasage, although you can use one in your gym!

• Coffee enemas – a more advanced one, but incredibly effective for stimulating glutathione and liver detox.

• Dry brushing or lymphatic massage – simple, quick, and great for daily lymph movement.

• Magnesium – helps with regularity, which is one of your body’s key detox methods.

The key: don’t do all of them. Start with one, see how it feels, and let it become part of your baseline routine.

5. 45 minutes outside daily

It sounds obvious, but most people aren’t even hitting this. Modern life keeps us indoors, sedentary, and disconnected. Research shows that spending time outdoors - even just walking - has profound impacts:

• Natural light into your eyes sets your circadian rhythm, which improves sleep, mood, and hormones.

• Vitamin D from sunlight supports immunity, mood, and bone health (deficiency is linked to anxiety, depression, and fatigue).

• Walking outside reduces stress hormones and boosts creativity.

So think of your daily walk as non-negotiable medicine. If you can, combine it with nature (park, fields, water) for a double hit.

6. Write down 3 habits holding you back

This one is deceptively powerful. We often chase new habits without confronting the ones that are sabotaging us.

Here’s what I get clients to do:

• Write down 3 habits that aren’t serving you.

• Each month, cut one out.

It could be late-night scrolling, skipping meals, processed food, too much caffeine, negative self-talk, alcohol - whatever you know is dragging you down.

When you remove what drains you, you make space for habits that actually nourish you. Momentum builds fast, and the clarity you gain from subtraction is often more powerful than any supplement or protocol.

Final thought

Wellness isn’t about doing everything. It’s about choosing the few foundations that compound over time. Multivitamins. Clean water. Sleep. Daily movement. Gentle detox. Honest reflection.

Start with one, and let it build.

Magnesium is one of those supplements I’ve had in my stack for years. I’ve rotated through citrate, glycinate, malate, oxide (wouldn’t recommend that one), and while they’ve all supported me in some way, nothing has touched Magnesium L-Threonate.

It’s the only form proven to cross the blood–brain barrier, which means it doesn’t just calm your muscles - it calms your mind. The difference I’ve felt in sleep and cognition has been profound:

• Falling asleep quicker, without that restless “wired-tired” feeling

• Vivid, restorative dream sleep

• And waking up clear-headed, sharper, more switched on

I honestly think this is one of those “where has this been all my life?” supplements. If sleep feels fragile for you, or you’re juggling a lot cognitively, it’s worth trying. It’s not hypey, it’s not glamorous and it works. The two recommendations I would suggest are:

Momentous Mag "L’threonate

Or if you like a powder in water - try Life Extensions Powder.

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2. Strength Training: Longevity’s Best Kept Secret

This week I’ve been reflecting on how much we overcomplicate wellness. We’ll buy the powders, the adaptogens, the latest superfood blends… and yet one of the most powerful longevity tools is just picking up something heavy and putting it down again.

Strength training has been my anchor lately. And I keep coming back to the simple truth: muscle is medicine. I’ve started working with a PT again and it’s been such a shift. Instead of just moving through exercises on autopilot, we’ve been focusing on muscle–mind connection - slowing down, feeling the contraction, and actually training my body to switch on the right muscles.

The benefits I’ve personally seen…

• It stabilises blood sugar (which in turn supports hormones, energy, and skin) - your muscles are a glucose sponge, meaning they pull it out the blood and stop your insulin spiking so much.

• Protects bone density (especially crucial for women moving towards midlife and beyond)

• Improves mitochondrial health (translation: more energy at the deepest cellular level)

• And maybe most importantly, it makes you resilient. Physically, emotionally, metabolically.

It’s not about chasing an aesthetic. It’s about being able to move well, age well, and protect the body you live in. There’s a quiet confidence that comes from feeling strong that no supplement can replicate.

3. London Water: Why This Article Shook Me

The Independent published a piece this week on PFAS “forever chemicals” in London’s tap water and I can’t stop thinking about it you can read it here.

Samples from Harrow, Heathrow and Battersea were tested and found to contain PFOA and PFOS which are chemicals linked to cancer, fertility issues, and liver damage. The levels in London’s water exceeded Sweden’s safe limits by over 550%.

The problem with these chemicals is that they’re cumulative. You don’t drink one glass of water and get sick. You drink thousands of glasses over a decade and only then does the body start to show the cracks. And in the meantime, no one warns us.

The technology to filter PFAS exists. Other countries have stricter standards. But here, it’s brushed off as “within limits.” Limits which are often outdated, confusing and far too generous.

This won’t be fixed by the government - but we can control our inputs. If you live in London (or any city, really), a good water filter is not optional. Forget wellness fads - what you put in your glass every day matters more than any “biohack.”

I would recommend Skuma - you can use my discount code and link.

I feel so passionately about this that if you use my code, I’ll send you back the commission I make from it - you get £20 off with my code, and I get £50 - so DM me on Instagram saying you bought the filter and I’ll send you the £50 back! Which means you get £70 off the price - making it around £320 - this is WELL WORTH IT IT FOR WATER YOU DRINK EVERYDAY.

Anyway to summarise…

Wellness so often gets sold to us as the shiny thing - the new supplement, the new hack, the new ritual. But what this week has reminded me is that the most powerful shifts usually come from the unglamorous basics: better sleep, building strength, clean water. And yes you will need to buy something for the clean water, but let me tell you it’s bloody worth it.

It’s not complicated, but it is foundational. And when you get the foundations right, everything else flows.

Here’s to boring consistency, small upgrades that matter, and the kind of wellness that actually makes you feel well.

See you next month for another pour,

Katie x