E8 - Dr. Ruth Heidrich - Chewing up Cancer Spitting Out Iron

Mended Paths Podcast

Hello Path Menders, Some of you may be familiar with the amazing Dr. Ruth Heidrich, PH.D as she was featured in the most excellent documentary "Forks Over Knives." She was 47 when, despite being a marathoner and daily runner for 14 years with what she considered a "healthy" diet, she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer that had spread to her lung and bones. Luckily, she was fortunate to connect with Dr. John McDougall who was running a study on the effects of diet on breast cancer. Within weeks she was seeing amazing results from her new low fat vegan diet. Beating such a terrible diagnosis is high achievement enough. But for Dr. Ruth, this was just the beginning. She wanted to prove that this diet - this lifestyle - was so powerful, not only would she chew up and cure her cancer, she would spit our Iron. While still recovering from her mastectomy, she began training and went on to finish 6 Ironman Triathlons. At the time it was considered possible to only do one of these per year, due to the recovery time needed from such a strenuous competition. Dr. Ruth did 4 in the first year of competing! In addition to racing, Dr. Ruth has her PH.D. in Nutrition and Exercise Physiology and has written 4 books so far: "A Race for Life," "Lifelong Running," "Senior Fitness," and, the e-book "The CHEF Cook/Rawbook." She answers questions through her website ruthheidrich.com and is co-host of a weekly talk show in her native Hawaii. She can also be found on her Facebook page. In this show we discuss (show notes): • Background - from "healthy" marathon runner to cancer diagnosis (01:08) • Joining Dr. John McDougall's Breast Cancer & Diet Research Study (7:51) • How changing her diet was received by others (11:50) • (Almost) Nothing can stop her from running (12:59) • Post-surgery downtime brings opportunities (14:59) • Chewing up cancer and spitting out iron (17:49) • But who only wants to do one Ironman? (21:00) • Becoming an author of four books (so far) (25:29) • Prioritizing exercise (33:47) • On sexual health (35:28) • On aging (36:33) • On moderation (38:46) • "You can't be a prophet in your own hometown" (40:19) • A 5K warm up and bias in reporting (43:59) • Continued relationship with Dr. McDougall (47:33) If you’ve enjoyed the show, please share on your favorite social media and rate on the iTunes and Stitcher! We’d also love to hear from you; leave a comment or email us at [e-mail]. Wishing you the Best of Health, Chadwick