155. Taylor Dukes: How She Beat Cancer with Functional Medicine

Summary

Podcast Summary: Episode 155. Taylor Dukes: How She Beat Cancer with Functional Medicine

Introduction

In Episode 155 of The Ultimate Human podcast, host Gary Brecka engages in a profound conversation with Taylor Dukes, a functional medicine practitioner who overcame a daunting cancer diagnosis through integrative and holistic approaches. This episode delves deep into Taylor's personal journey, the functional medicine strategies she employed, and her mission to empower others to lead healthier, more fulfilling lives.

Taylor's Personal Journey

Taylor Dukes begins by recounting her life before cancer: a thriving functional medicine practice, a loving family with two children, and meeting her life partner. However, her seemingly perfect life took an unexpected turn when she discovered a massive brain tumor in her right frontal lobe during a routine health scan, despite having no symptoms.

Taylor Dukes [00:00]: "Life was good. I have a thriving functional medicine practice of my own at this point... I got the curveball of my life."

The diagnosis was a shock, as she had always been healthy and active. Taylor highlights how this experience reshaped her career trajectory from predicting mortality in the life insurance industry to dedicating her life to helping others achieve optimal health.

Integrative and Functional Medicine Approach

Gary and Taylor discuss the philosophy behind functional medicine, emphasizing the integration of conventional and holistic practices for the best outcomes.

Taylor Dukes [00:37]: "I just felt led to take an integrative approach. I like saying integrative because you take the best of the conventional, the best of the holistic, and you integrate the two for the best possible outcome."

Taylor's approach involved comprehensive lifestyle changes, including diet modification, eliminating toxins, and strengthening her immune system. She underscores the importance of viewing diseases like cancer as a result of metabolically sick cells that can potentially be healed.

Practical Steps and Therapies

Taylor details the specific therapies and lifestyle adjustments she implemented to combat her brain tumor:

1. Dietary Changes and Ketosis:

   • Transitioned to a ketogenic diet, emphasizing high-quality fats and moderate protein.
   • Focused on whole foods, avoiding processed items and inflammatory oils.

2. Supplementation and Therapies:

   • High-dose vitamin C (up to 75 grams).
   • Methylene blue infusions and oral drops.
   • Red light therapy using a neuronic helmet from Germany.
   • Hyperbaric oxygen therapy and ozone therapy.
   • Continuous glucose monitoring (CGMs) to maintain ketosis.

Taylor Dukes [23:28]: "I did high dose vitamin C. I had to work my way up to like, 75 grams... I did methylene blue infusions."

3. Parasite and Toxin Cleansing:
   • Conducted thorough testing and treatments for parasites, heavy metals, and mycotoxins.
   • Used pharmaceuticals like ivermectin and herbal remedies to eliminate infections.

Taylor Dukes [28:18]: "I tested positive for parasites in stool... I did ivermectin, I did all sorts of mabendazole."

4. Mindset and Stress Reduction:
   • Emphasized the role of mindset in healing, avoiding identification solely as a cancer patient.
   • Practiced deep breathing, meditation, prayer, and journaling to manage stress.
   • Underwent biofeedback and EMDR therapy for emotional trauma.

Taylor Dukes [25:06]: "Deep breathing, you know, my infrared sauna is super calming for me... grounding time outside."

Mindset and Emotional Health

Taylor highlights the critical role of mindset in her healing process. She maintained a proactive and hopeful outlook, refusing to let fear dictate her decisions. This positive mindset, combined with comprehensive functional medicine therapies, was instrumental in her recovery.

Taylor Dukes [20:14]: "I am doing so many things to prevent cancer from coming back because I am cancer free. But my mindset, I live life like I'm healed too."

Building a Community and Ongoing Mission

Post-recovery, Taylor founded an online community, Taylor Dukes Wellness, to support like-minded individuals, particularly moms, in adopting healthier lifestyles. She emphasizes practical, budget-friendly healthy swaps and educates her community on gut health, stress management, and holistic wellness practices.

Taylor Dukes [46:24]: "It starts with moms for our next generation... get them out in sunshine and fresh air."

She also launched her own line of clean supplements and wellness products, ensuring they are free from artificial flavors and additives, aligning with her mission to provide accessible health solutions.

Taylor Dukes [50:35]: "We flavor ours with organic fruit juice powder... no food dyes, no chemicals."

Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Taylor Dukes' story is a testament to the power of integrative and functional medicine in overcoming severe health challenges. Her holistic approach—encompassing diet, supplementation, toxin elimination, and mindset—offers a blueprint for those seeking to enhance their health and longevity. By fostering a supportive community and providing practical health solutions, Taylor continues to inspire and empower others to become their ultimate selves.

Taylor Dukes [57:08]: "Spiritually for me that's having a relationship with God... physically, eating healthy food, sleeping, managing our stress... emotionally, having purpose and community."

Notable Quotes:

• Taylor Dukes [00:37]: "I just felt led to take an integrative approach..."
• Taylor Dukes [20:14]: "I am doing so many things to prevent cancer from coming back because I am cancer free."
• Taylor Dukes [28:18]: "I tested positive for parasites in stool... I did ivermectin."
• Taylor Dukes [46:24]: "It starts with moms for our next generation..."
• Taylor Dukes [57:08]: "Spiritually for me that's having a relationship with God..."

Connecting with Taylor Dukes

For those inspired by Taylor Dukes' journey and eager to learn more, you can connect with her on Instagram at @taylordukeswellness or explore her products at Shop Dukes Wellness.

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This summary captures the essence of Episode 155, providing insights into Taylor Dukes' transformative journey and the functional medicine strategies that empowered her to overcome cancer.

Transcript

[Taylor Dukes]

Life was good. I have a thriving functional medicine practice of my own at this point. I've met the man of my dreams, we have two children, and I got the curveball of my life. So I did the scan and they found a massive brain tumor in my right frontal lobe. And I'm like, what? You've got to be kidding. Because I have no symptoms.

[Gary Brecker]

So now you're in for the journey of a lifetime.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah.

[Gary Brecker]

So tell me about that journey.

[Taylor Dukes]

I knew that I probably needed to get it out, but I was also like, okay, if this has been growing for years, same thing with functional medicine. A disease doesn't just happen overnight. It's drops in the bucket over time that lead to the full blown manifestation of a disease and symptoms.

[Gary Brecker]

All cancer is a healthy cell that became metabolically sick. Why do we believe that healthy cells can become metabolically sick, but we don't believe that metabolically sick cells can become healthy?

[Taylor Dukes]

I knew enough about the body that I wasn't just going to like jump to surgery and fear, and I just felt led to take an integrative approach. I like saying integrative because you take the best of the conventional, the best of the holistic, and you integrate the two for the best possible outcome.

[Gary Brecker]

We need to start thinking about being in service to the body and that everything that's going to enter your body from now on has got to be in service to you. Before your surgery, did the tumor actually shrink?

[Taylor Dukes]

It did. It was a miracle, which.

[Gary Brecker]

So to give the people that are listening to this hope, can you give me a little more detail about what you did on this journey?

[Taylor Dukes]

I think mindset is so huge and I think so many people hear the word cancer and it's a death sentence. Getting into your question of what I did is.

[Gary Brecker]

Ultimate human. Hey, guys, welcome back to the Ultimate Human podcast. I'm your host, Gary Brecker, human biologist, where we go down the road of everything anti aging, biohacking, longevity, and everything in between. And today's guest is going to be really, really impactful for you because of the journey that she's had and now the mission that she's on. You know that I always say that I believe the most impactful people in the world and, and by far and large, the most impactful people I've ever had on my podcast are always those people that have solved a major problem in their life. And when they solve this problem, it puts them on a path to God's purpose for them. And, and they go fulfilling their purpose with passion and a level of Commitment that is unmatched by anyone else in the industry. And sometimes they're practitioners, sometimes they're scientists, sometimes they're soccer moms and dads that just solve the problem in their life. And their level of passion and commitment goes beyond anything that you've ever seen. And today's guest is no. No stranger to that. So welcome to the podcast, Taylor Dukes.

[Taylor Dukes]

Thank you for having me. I'm so honored to be here.

[Gary Brecker]

I really. I've read about your story, and, you know, I've been watching you online, and of, you know, we. We just walked around the biohacking lab here for a while. We, like all my guests, we start running the podcast before the podcast starts.

[Taylor Dukes]

You know, it is next level.

[Gary Brecker]

And my team's like, say that on the. Say that on the podcast. Say that on the podcast. But I would really love for my audience to. To get to know you for those that. That don't know you, and for you to talk a little bit about your journey, because I gotta say, your journey is one of the most unique, sadly, that, you know, we've had on this podcast. But I think it's going to inspire people with a lot of hope.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah. So I always say that people get into kind of the integrative, functional medicine world because they're sick or they're smart. You know, you're sick or they're smart people like you are sick. But most people, and a lot of my colleagues, you know, that are functional medicine providers, they're sick, and then the. The conventional medical model fails them, and that's kind of how they go on their own and do research. And so I was sick. That was my story. I was, you know, a nursing major straight out of tcu, and I had the opportunity.

[Gary Brecker]

Texas Christian.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah. Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas.

[Gary Brecker]

Go, Christians. Yeah.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yes. Let's go.

[Gary Brecker]

Thank you, Jes. Been a lot of Jesus on the podcast lately.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah, well, I think God's doing something. He's waking people up. There's a lot coming to light. It's really cool to see.

[Gary Brecker]

I think it's a spiritual shift in this country. I totally agree with you.

[Taylor Dukes]

So I went to tcu, and I had the opportunity to go on medical mission trips abroad, and it was an incredible experience, but I got really sick. So I spent time in Africa and Ecuador, and I ended up getting flown back from Ecuador to the States sooner than I had planned because I had all these mysterious symptoms. And so here I am, a nurse, and my whole job is to advocate for patients. And I can't Even advocate for myself. And so I was going from doctor to specialist. You know, they're like, try this medicine.

[Gary Brecker]

What kind of symptoms were you having?

[Taylor Dukes]

So my hair was falling out, I had joint pain. And let me just back up. I was never the sick kid. So to me, it seemed like everything happened overnight. But then when I look back, it was drops in the bucket that led to full blown manifestation symptoms.

[Gary Brecker]

Okay.

[Taylor Dukes]

But I was having really bad joint pain, super inflamed. I had full body rashes, acne. I'd never had acne in my life. So tired, like, I would just lay in bed. And I was the go go girl. I've always had energy and been super athletic, but I was really sick. And so I was going the rheumatologist for my joint pain, you know, the gastro for my stomach. And they were all like, here, try this pill. Try this prescription. We'll do a colonoscopy. And nobody really had answers. And so it wasn't until my mom, she kind of. I was raised in a very healthy home, and we always kind of go back to our roots, you know, And. And so my mom was like, taylor, this is not you. You've never been the sick kid. And so she really encouraged me to go to kind of an integrative, functional medicine doctor. And at the time I thought, this is woo woo. This is so out there. I didn't learn any of this in nursing school, but I was so desperate that I was willing to do anything. And so she talked to me about my diet. She asked me if I was a C section baby. She kind of traced the whole line. You know, when you went to Africa, were you given a lot of shots? And so she really took back. Took me back and looked at the whole timeline. And so that ended up changing my life, my health, which changed the trajectory of my career. So after I had healed and, you know, gotten off meds, times and places.

[Gary Brecker]

So what essentially, what. What did you do to heal? When you say, after I healed, how did you go on that journey?

[Taylor Dukes]

So we looked at my diet. We completely turned around my diet. And, you know, here she was asking me, like, you know, do you eat gluten? Do you eat this? And to me, I'm like, well, yeah, I always have. You know, I partied in college, but I never.

[Gary Brecker]

Gluten's the least of my concerns.

[Taylor Dukes]

I was going to Waterburger.

[Gary Brecker]

Jack Daniels.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah, exactly. And so for me, I was like, I've always eaten this way and I've never been sick, so it can't be the food, but man, was I wrong. And so she, you know, I had a lot of parasites from living abroad. I had heavy metal toxicity.

[Gary Brecker]

Wow. Because I was thinking mold, mycotoxin. Heavy metal parasite.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah, exactly.

[Gary Brecker]

I'm actually doing a paraprood cleanse right now.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yes. And everyone should. It's something that other countries do it. We deworm our pets. But why aren't we talking about in humans? Because parasites suppress our immune system.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah. God forgive it. You talk about ivermectin and.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah.

[Gary Brecker]

Why?

[Taylor Dukes]

Why wasn't so taboo. Yeah, yeah. I did all that for, you know, treatment. And so anyway, she really helped support my immune system. I also gone through a lot of stress and trauma personally in my personal life that affects our immune system. And so it was just the perfect storm. But, yeah, so she changed my diet. She started talking about what was in my environment, what chemicals I was using in and on my body. And so I just really cleaned up my entire lifestyle. And I was also doing a lot of high intensity interval training prior to getting sick because that's just, you know, what you do, you go to cycling classes and orange theory.

[Gary Brecker]

VO2 max. I mean.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah.

[Gary Brecker]

High intensity interval drinks. Great for you.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yes, yes. But at that time, since I was sick and my adrenals were tanked, you know, that was just adding another stress layer to the body and I was gaining weight. So it was just like this never ending cortisol bomb.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah.

[Taylor Dukes]

So anyway, so she basically. Yeah, she just changed my life. And I was like, this helped me so much. How can I use my medical degree or my nursing degree to go help others? So that's when I went back to nurse practitioner school and I worked for Amy Myers as her nurse for years and kind of got my feet on the ground. And functional medicine, you know, learning protocol calls and testing and treating all of those things.

[Gary Brecker]

Wow, that's so awesome. But then you had a monumentous.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yes, chef.

[Gary Brecker]

Right. I mean, people think that's the journey. That was not the journey.

[Taylor Dukes]

That was healing 1.0.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah, that was healing 1.0. And this is what really maybe sparked you to really go more of a functional medicine route right in your life. Because, you know, what's really interesting is I love this, this, this term lifestyle medicine, it's becoming more invoke. I still don't hear the term that much, your functional medicine. And I think lifestyle medicine is. Is the medicine where you modify the. The modifiable risk factors right. Before you even intervene with any kind of even supplements or pharmaceuticals or synthetics or chemicals or modalities or anything. You, you, you change the, the lifestyle. Because, you know, my background in, in big data, we realized that the reason why the majority of people are not living longer, healthier, happier, more fulfilling lives were because of what we called modifiable risk factors. And, and that's essentially what started your career. Which is amazing because given the time frame of that, you know, that's, this practitioner was ahead of their time. I mean, that's outside the box.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah.

[Gary Brecker]

To really start thinking about gluten, sleep, stress, relationships, you know, all of these things that are, that are, that are the basic foundational principles of, of optimal health. Before, like you said, I went to every traditional doctor.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah.

[Gary Brecker]

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[Taylor Dukes]

Book and he's incredible.

[Gary Brecker]

I've probably read them all. So now you're in this world and this is what is super fascinating. To me. Yeah. So pick up the story from there.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah. So life was good. I'd met the man of my dreams. He was an Air Force pilot. We have two children. I have a thriving functional medicine practice of my own at this point. I founded a wellness center with a partner. And I don't know if you're familiar with the Pernuvo Full Body MRI company.

[Gary Brecker]

Very familiar.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah. So I'm trying to put.

[Gary Brecker]

I'm trying to actually bring them to the Middle east right now because I love it. I'm a huge fan.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah. So they reached out and they said, hey, you know, we're getting a location in Texas near you, and we would love to give you a full body preventative scan. And I'm like, all right, cool. I'm healthy, you know, 2020. This is 2022.

[Gary Brecker]

2022.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah. So, wow. Two and a half years ago.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah. So not too long ago. And I got the curveball of my life. And so I did the scan, you know, took the picture, put on the scrubs, and I was called and told that they found a massive brain tumor in my right frontal lobe. And I'm like, what? You've got to be kidding. This is the wrong person, because I have no symptoms, so it was a shock, to say the least. But I did, in fact, have a huge brain tumor.

[Gary Brecker]

Wow. And you said it was the size of a plum.

[Taylor Dukes]

It was the size of a plum.

[Gary Brecker]

How did it displace that much gray matter? And you were having no symptoms?

[Taylor Dukes]

Truly, I can't even explain it, because from a medical perspective, I mean, the brain is so symptoms, like 1 millimeter shift, you can have symptoms in your brain. So literally, it's a God thing. I don't have no explanation because it's truly beyond my comprehending.

[Gary Brecker]

Did you see this image yourself? I mean, did your heart just drop?

[Taylor Dukes]

It did. I'll never forget. We were headed to the museum with my children, and I remember opening the app, and I actually didn't get a phone call. I actually have to back it up. I opened up the app because I'm the practitioner. I'm the one who saw it first. No one had told me. So it said abnormal finding. And I look and it said nervous system. And I'm like, that's weird. So I went to go look at it, and it was a huge picture, and it does not take a radiologist or a trained medical professional. I'll show you after.

[Gary Brecker]

Okay.

[Taylor Dukes]

I mean, it is huge. It's this huge white mass.

[Gary Brecker]

Wow.

[Taylor Dukes]

So, yeah. And then I ended up calling and they confirmed that it was in fact me. And yeah, the craziest thing was I had no symptoms. And so I was a little bit in disbelief, like surely this is the wrong person. And they messed up charts.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, they saw that after.

[Taylor Dukes]

Follow up and meeting with a local neurosurgeon several days later, it was there. Yeah.

[Gary Brecker]

Okay, so now you're in for the journey of a lifetime.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah.

[Gary Brecker]

Right. So tell me about that journey.

[Taylor Dukes]

So when I first got diagnosed, you know, I had a 10 month old at the time and a 3 year old. And so it was scary as I'll get out, you know. And as much as I know about integrative and functional medicine, at this point, I know nothing about cancer. Now I feel like I have my PhD.

[Gary Brecker]

Right, right, right.

[Taylor Dukes]

I do too.

[Gary Brecker]

Just because of all the people I've worked with.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yes. And it's only increasing. That's the hard thing. And so I slowed down and I prayed and I said, okay, God, like this isn't a surprise to you, you know, this, you know, the number of my days, but like what do I do? And I didn't freak out, I didn't make decisions in fear. I wasn't reactive. And I, I knew that I probably needed to get it out, but I was also like, okay, this has been growing for years. Same thing with functional medicine symptoms. A disease doesn't just happen overnight. It's drops in the bucket over time that lead to the full blown manifestation of a disease and symptoms. And so I knew enough about the body that I wasn't just going to like jump to surgery and fear. Um, and I just felt led to take an integrative approach. And so I started doing research and reading books and contacting integrative cancer clinics. And you know, it was also hard. We had to execute a living will. I had to make a lot of decisions as a mom and a wife and a business owner. Like I had to get my husband access to all my business stuff because I'm like, what if something happens?

[Gary Brecker]

Right.

[Taylor Dukes]

So there was the life part of me that was trying to figure things out. And I also am so blessed because most people that have a brain tumor, they have a seizure, they wake up in the emergency room, they get the next call on call. Neurosurgeon, you don't have time to research, pray. I mean it's like you don't pack bags, you don't send an out office email. It's, it's go time. And so for me I'm like, okay, God, thank You for giving me this information. I just want to, like, walk this journey. Well, yeah, so I ended up going to Hope for Cancer. It's a holistic cancer center in Mexico. I went to the Cancer center for Healing in California in Irvine, and I did everything from hyperbaric oxygen, red light beds, methylene blue, curcumin, IVs, high dose vitamin C. I mean, you name it, I've done it.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah.

[Taylor Dukes]

And so I spent five months prior to surgery. I did end up getting brain surgery, doing research, getting second opinions.

[Gary Brecker]

Now, did you go down and stay down there?

[Taylor Dukes]

I did for a couple weeks.

[Gary Brecker]

Now, a lot of these you can do here, you can do, you can do hyperbarics, turmeric, methylene blue. Yeah, you could do. I mean, I have all this stuff.

[Taylor Dukes]

I just need to come to your place. I'm like, where were you when I went through all of this?

[Gary Brecker]

You know, and, you know, and, and I, I actually want to go down this, this, this cancer bandwagon. I mean, obviously I'm, I'm not licensed to practice medicine. I'm, I'm a human biologist, and I, I emphasize that all the time, but I have found myself in the middle of so many clients with cancer lately, it is mind numbing. This morning, I was in the, in the sauna right before you got here, on the phone with my CFO and my attorney. And my attorney at the end of the call said, hey, do you have an extra few minutes? I got something personal I want to talk to you about. And he says, listen, I have a very good friend just diagnosed with stage four metastatic colon cancer. It's in the, you know, the liver and the lymph, and he's already got a colostomy bag. You know, the day that he found out, last night, I flew in from Scottsdale because my best friend of 35 years is in the Mayo Clinic Oncology center. He's in the ICU now. 30, 35 years, he's been my best friend. We were lifeguards. We were 19 years old, stage four metastatic colon cancer. And it spread to all of the lethal three Ls, the lymph, the liver and the lungs. And I was in the room and, you know, around his mom, my wife Sage was there, you know, when Mayo came in and said the hard things to him. And they, they, this is not even 24 hours old, but basically 10 year survival, 0, 5 year survival, 2%. Right now we're, we're talking about prolonging your life, not saving your life. Massive chemotherapy, radiation, colonectomy colostomy bag, you know, the whole nine yards. And so I went out to provide him an alternative. And I said, first of all, it's good that you're hearing this from Mayo. And Mayo's done, for the record, an excellent job of keeping, keeping him alive. He was septic, you know, that would have died if it was not times.

[Taylor Dukes]

And places for conventional intervention.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah, exactly. But what was astounding, my wife did a post about this and she tagged the Mayo Clinic is when we walked in there, he's in the ICU for cancer treatment. And he had jello with red dye 40 in it, like sugar free Jello Seagram soda, which was, you know, I spun the can around him like 54 grams of sugar and pureed applesauce. And that was poison choices of what to eat. And so I've now got him with a naturopathic oncologist, interventional radiologist, a full blown medical oncologist. I'm surrounding him with an entire team. I have a, a cancer, a cancer chef basically is a clean keto chef.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yep.

[Gary Brecker]

Then we're going to migrate him to really nutrient dense microgreens. I'm shipping him a red life therapy bed. He's going into hyperbaric oxygen therapy. He's doing, he's going to do methylene blue. He's going to do regular EB O2 ozone. Yeah, yeah, the Eboo ozone. And he's going to do high dose vitamin C. And I've got his permission to allow me to share his story in real time. And my intention is to be a part of the team that saves his life over the next six to 10 months. And we're just going to bring everybody along on this story. And I have a community called the VIP Ultimate Humans. And what I've decided that I'm going to do is be really vulnerable and transparent with this community and take people from my own community that had mold, mycotoxins, metals, parasites, pathogens, viruses. And we're going to bring them up on stage. I'm going to match them with a functional practitioner including, you know, and then I'll be a part of the case, not making medical decisions. And we are going to start telling the stories of the miracle of the human body in real time to give people hope. And that's why people need that interested in your story. And that's, and that's why I also love the, a lot of the practical information that you put out that goes viral. Just what I call lateral shifts where you show food choices and things like that. So I don't mean to interrupt your story with my own personal story, but it is just astounding to me how often, you know, this is happening, you know, very close relative to Dana White's. You know, I finished Dana White's Journey and, you know, he called me and said, they're diagnosed stage four colon cancer. It's metastatic. She is, by the way, cancer free now five years later with non conventional therapies. And so to give the people that are listening to this hope, because everybody knows somebody with cancer.

[Taylor Dukes]

Oh, for sure. And it's only increasing, sadly.

[Gary Brecker]

It's one in five. It's one in five now.

[Taylor Dukes]

It's crazy, right?

[Gary Brecker]

It's, it's mind numbing to me that 50% of us are going to develop cancer at some point in our lifetime. And I think when we, when you, when you boil it down to its simplest form, right, and say, what is cancer? So first of all, it's not something that happens to us. It's something that happens within us. All cancer is a healthy cell that became metabolically sick.

[Taylor Dukes]

Right.

[Gary Brecker]

So why do we believe that healthy cells can become metabolically sick, but we don't believe that metabolically sick cells can become healthy? Right. Yeah. So can you give me a little more detail about what you did on this journey? And then I want to get to what you're doing right now.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah.

[Gary Brecker]

I mean, if you're okay with that.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah, everything's fair game. But I will also say I love what you spoke to too. Before I get into some of the practical, I think mindset is so huge, and I think so many people hear the word cancer and it's a death sentence, you know, And I see, like, I see it so clearly. A doctor speaks this over you. You look up on Google, you feel like your days are numbered. You start believing that, you start doing treatment, you lose your hair, then you identify as a cancer patient, you know, and it's, it's this spiral. And so I will also say mindset is everything. No man knows the number of your days. I mean, you're pretty good at statistics and prognosis, life expectancy, but who says you can't change those? Modifiable risk factors. Modifiable risk factors. And so I also think mindset is so huge. Like I am doing so many things to prevent cancer from coming back because I am cancer free. But my mindset, I live life like I'm healed too. I can't tell my body I'm sick all the time. And I don't say My cancer diagnosis, because that comes a part of my identity. I say the cancer something that affected me, that God's used, and it has a purpose, but I don't take it on as my identity. And so I think. But mindset is important. You know, I've had doctors speak over me, how long I'm going to live. And quite frankly, I'm not a statistic. And I'm not your average American that's eating your average American diet, doing the average American treatments.

[Gary Brecker]

Right.

[Taylor Dukes]

I am being proactive. When you mentioned ketosis, I think that is the way to go to get into a metabolic therapeutic state for ketosis, because cancer loves sugar, so we have to cut off its food source. That first and foremost. And then we also have to look at and what getting into your question of what I did is what could have stressed the immune system? Because at any given point in time, we all have circulating tumor cells. But the way it got made our body is that our immune system, when it's working and strong, it will go take care of those circulating tumor cells. However, when your immune system is suppressed, that's when cancer cells proliferate, go rogue, and a full tumor forms. And so people always kind of freak out when they.

[Gary Brecker]

I would say, like, the circulating tumor cells is like stage zero.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah.

[Gary Brecker]

You know, because, you know, even stage one right now is, you know, we say we have stage one, two, three, four. You know, even stage one right now is. That's where it's already set up as a disease. Right, Right. I mean, that's where the thief has already broken into your house and taking all your stuff. Right. It'd be nice to. To. To, you know, arrest them before they've done any damage.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah, you gotta be proactive, not reactive. Like, oh, shoot, it's here. It's like, so everything you're doing is proactive. Right. Like, don't wait until you get a diagnosis. And I think people always hear my story and they kind of freak out a little bit because they're like, wait, you're this health and wellness person that we follow, and you have this whole brand and you got cancer.

[Gary Brecker]

Right.

[Taylor Dukes]

But what I always like to remind people, especially you can't live in fear. You know, like, we do have to be more proactive with how toxic our society and environment is. So we can't just, like, be flippant about how we live our life. We have to be super mindful and conscious of all the lifestyle choices and diet and things that we do. But I think for me, like, I was really sick and people forget that. And so when I was sick and got into functional medicine, that's when the tumor started growing.

[Gary Brecker]

Yes.

[Taylor Dukes]

So when you look back on my timeline, all these oncologists and all these traditional doctors and neurosurgeons were saying, well, it's probably been growing eight to 10 years. And it dawned on me. I'm like, that's when I was sick. So it's crazy to look back on.

[Gary Brecker]

The timeline, you probably saved your own life without realizing it.

[Taylor Dukes]

I mean, it's crazy.

[Gary Brecker]

At least slowed its growth and progression.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Gary Brecker]

So. So more specifically, you, when you said I did red light, you died in full body red light therapy multiple days a week. Were you doing like, high dose vitamin C, iv?

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah.

[Gary Brecker]

Did you put yourself into ketosis?

[Taylor Dukes]

I did. And I was like, I knew a lot about nutrition, and that's the hard thing. For me, I was already really healthy. So to feel like I had to take it off, up a notch was like, whoa, yeah, what does this look like? But I treated healing like a job for a period of time, especially during those five months before brain surgery. And I was like, you know what? It'd be so cool if we could shrink this brain tumor. But if anything, I'm just preparing my body to be strong going into a brain surgery.

[Gary Brecker]

Right.

[Taylor Dukes]

And so for me, I did high dose vitamin C. I had to work my way up to like, 75 grams.

[Gary Brecker]

Grams? Yep.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yep.

[Gary Brecker]

You started like, 25 grams.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah. And then worked our way up. I did methylene blue infusions. I did methylene blue before doing a red light helmet, like 30 minutes before I activated. Yeah. I did oral. So I do, like, my methylene blue drops. Thirty minutes later, I'd put on my red light helmet.

[Gary Brecker]

Great.

[Taylor Dukes]

I did molecular.

[Gary Brecker]

Is that a neuronic helmet? Do you remember the.

[Taylor Dukes]

It's from Germany.

[Gary Brecker]

Okay, great.

[Taylor Dukes]

So I did that. So we, you and I were offline, talking about therapy, stacking, because you got to. To be efficient, you know, you can't just all day do everything.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah.

[Taylor Dukes]

So I would sit at my desk, I check emails. I do my method trampoline blue. I'd put on my red light helmet. I'd do my molecular hydrogen oxygen. I have a hyperbaric chamber, you know, like a soft. I do. I have a soft chamber. I've gotten so claustrophobic, though, so I haven't used it as much, but I.

[Gary Brecker]

Had to get one of mine.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah. Seriously, I sat in there earlier and I could do that.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah.

[Taylor Dukes]

But, yeah, I did everything that you can imagine. Got into ketosis. I was checking not just ketones, but gki, glucose, ketone index, pricking my finger. I mean, it was, I did everything. I was taking so many supplements.

[Gary Brecker]

The CGMs.

[Taylor Dukes]

I did CGMs. Yeah.

[Gary Brecker]

Okay.

[Taylor Dukes]

And then I, yeah, I'm just thinking like, what else did I do? I did, I mean, a lot of stuff for nervous system and stress and.

[Gary Brecker]

Diet wise when you put yourself into ketosis. So. Because I, I always remind people there's dirty keto diets, there's clean keto diets, just like there's dirty vegetarian diets.

[Taylor Dukes]

Right?

[Gary Brecker]

Vegetarians can have, you know, processed plant burgers, you know, doritos, pasta, Mac and cheese. So I mean, there's dirty vegetarian diets. Like there's 30 keto diets. When you were putting yourself in ketosis, what kind of, what kind of fats were you using?

[Taylor Dukes]

So really high quality fats. And that's when people. And I actually had a hard time in ketosis because I was doing lower carb, but I was doing too much protein.

[Gary Brecker]

Right.

[Taylor Dukes]

So I realized I had to do a lot more healthy fat. So I was doing olive oil shots, avocado, macadamia nuts, and I really had to up my fat like it was. I had to consciously make an effort.

[Gary Brecker]

It's hard to get 75% of your caloric intake from fat, which is really a keto diet. Most people think the keto diet is a high protein, low carb diet. That's not, they think it's like cottage.

[Taylor Dukes]

Cheese and T bone steaks.

[Gary Brecker]

Right, right, right. And I mean, and you can have a ribeye steak on there, but, but fatty ribeye. But you also, you're right, you need to have.

[Taylor Dukes]

It's more moderate protein. It's very moderate quality protein. That was, that's another big thing, like wild caught fish, grass fed meat. And then I would do, you know, greens, like really low carb vegetables.

[Gary Brecker]

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[Taylor Dukes]

I did. And for me, you know, I was living abroad, so it made a lot of sense. And another thing, and I will say, drops in the bucket, it was the perfect storm for me. You know, the parasites was a huge contributing factor. I tested positive for parasites in stool. I actually, this is crazy. And for anyone listening that think parasites are woo woo, and they're like, yeah, but we don't live in a third world country.

[Gary Brecker]

Absolutely.

[Taylor Dukes]

No, no, we do. Wear more pets. Like you can have exposure. And so one thing that I have to say specifically about parasites is so when I got diagnosed, I did all the lab testing you could ever imagine on myself, you know, because I had practitioners. But I'm like, I'm gonna cast the net. What are we missing here? And I actually found I was blood positive, serum positive for a parasite called Toxoplasma gondi that the International Journal of cancer and the American Cancer Society link to brain tumors in middle aged people way. Yes.

[Gary Brecker]

And so because of the outgassing of.

[Taylor Dukes]

These or you know, it suppresses the immune system. So parasites, we want to talk parasites, they suppress the immune system. And so again with cancer, we want to do anything to boost our immune system and decrease inflammation, boost immunity. And so parasites suppress the immune system because they're a foreign invader, you know. And so for me, I did ivermectin, I did all sorts of mabendazole, bendazole, I even did alenia. I did all sorts of, I actually did pharmaceuticals. I think there are times and places.

[Gary Brecker]

For it or something.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah. Antivirals. But for me specifically, I, so I did that. But then I also have done a lot of herbs and so, you know, you can just do quarterly. Like my kids, I'm like, all right, kids, it's April, we're deworming.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Taylor Dukes]

And so it's, it's really, the idea is like not over cleansing because to be honest, even in the functional medicine world I thought it was a little overkill. Cuz I would test people for parasites and I. And they're really hard to detect on testing. But I. Frequency scans. I've done stool tests, blood tests, and it is consistently popular.

[Gary Brecker]

The frequency scans can pick it up. I find that those are actually very good, very good at picking those up. Which is why I'm also a believer in. And frequency to, you know, address them.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yes.

[Gary Brecker]

Like that, that hocap machine that we have is transdermal ozone. But it also has a rife, you know, frequency in it.

[Taylor Dukes]

I've done a lot of rice.

[Gary Brecker]

Have you done a lot of rife too?

[Taylor Dukes]

A lot.

[Gary Brecker]

It's so good because I think, you know, you can empower people as well because, you know, so I, I sat and had the conversation with my friend this, this weekend with my wife, his mother. And you know, he's, he's in the bed in the icu. We're hoping he's going to get discharged in the next few days. And I said, you know, we're going to come at this, you know, very differently. We have a team that's going to address your cancer. There's an interventional radiologist, there's a naturopathic oncologist, and there's an oncologist. And these people are qualified to practice that medicine. But then we have another team that's just caring for the host, just caring for you. Who's, who's making your meals, how, you know, what are you eating, what are you laying in? We need to start thinking about being in service to the body and that everything that's Going to enter your body from now on has got to be in service to you. The water you drink has to be intentional. The air you breathe has to be intentional. Meaning let's. Let's filter the air and make sure that we're not getting mold spores or getting, you know, pet dander things. You know, the bed you're sleeping in, the. The. The modalities that you're going to use, you know, all of these things are caring for the host. Because I don't think there's any, you know, law that says you have to be sick and emaciated and lose your hair and be, you know, sarcopenic and all of these things when you're going through treatment. You know, the majority of the clients of mine that have gone through that, the journey was not that horrific for.

[Taylor Dukes]

Them because you can do a lot of things to support your journey along the way.

[Gary Brecker]

Do a lot of things. So were you doing anything to. I mean, obviously you're conscious of your diet. And before your surgery, did the tumor actually shrink?

[Taylor Dukes]

It did, yes. It was a miracle.

[Gary Brecker]

That's so amazing.

[Taylor Dukes]

Which is insane. Yes. Because when I got the radiology reports, that is incredible.

[Gary Brecker]

Mean, first of all, was, you're like neurologist, like, what in the.

[Taylor Dukes]

So I'm the coolest neurosurgeon. He's actually in. I flew to Arizona for my brain surgery. He's at Barrows Neurological. Chris Smith, if anyone needs a recommendation. And he believes in ketones.

[Gary Brecker]

I was literally just there.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah. So he. He operates in Scottsdale and in Phoenix, and we stayed in Scottsdale for me to recover. But he believes in metabolic ketosis. You know, he doesn't have the time to talk about all these things that stress the immune system because he's saving lives and doing brain surgery. But, yeah, I mean, he's all in. And he's like. He's the one that told me, I don't want you doing. Cause mine was stage three, so it was stage four is the most aggressive. So it wasn't like this, you know, little tiny growing thing. It was a beast that we needed to get out of there. So I'm grateful. And that's what I also want people to hear me say. I think it's easy to hear all the stuff that we talk about and think that it's all holistic. And I always say, I like saying integrative because you take the best of the conventional, the best of the holistic, and you integrate the two for the best possible outcome.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah, I agree. I mean, just changing Your diet alone is not going to save your life, you know?

[Taylor Dukes]

Right. And there are times and places for acute care. You know, let's get someone out of the acute flare of ulcerative colitis. And you sometimes have to get the steroids and get the iron infusion, but then you have to figure out what caused the inflammation and caused the immune system to go rogue. Not just with cancer, with anything. Autoimmune disease. And so everyone was shocked, and it was truly a miracle. But I'm so glad I still did surgery to get the remainder out. And so I have a huge hole in my brain. I'm still normal. You wouldn't know, right?

[Gary Brecker]

Didn't even, like, when I first saw you, I'm like, this chick's got a holder brain for sure. No, just. No, not at all.

[Taylor Dukes]

Even people that knew me, you know, they're like, you're still the same Taylor. Even 24 hours. I mean, the whole thing's a miracle.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah.

[Taylor Dukes]

And I didn't have any deficits. And I was walking six hours after brain surgery. I was, like, giving him orders. I'm like, get this catheter out. I'm ready to get up and get ambulating.

[Gary Brecker]

You are? Wow.

[Taylor Dukes]

And then I was. I went home straight from ICU 24 hours after surgery. And so I really think everything I did.

[Gary Brecker]

So they went through the temporal side right here. Okay.

[Taylor Dukes]

I have a huge scar right here.

[Gary Brecker]

Well, yeah. So nobody sees it. Yeah.

[Taylor Dukes]

And so he's the one that said, you know, traditional oncology. And that's something else. You know, when people are like, oh, my gosh, but you did integrative stuff with cancer. Isn't cancer scary? And for me, I'm like, well, no, because traditional only offers chemo surgery and radiation, and the integrative side offers all these other therapies and diet. And as a mom that wants to see her kids live a long life, like, why would. Wouldn't I do anything and everything? And so for me, I didn't just do what traditional offered me. I did all the other things, too. But instead of doing chemo and radiation, that's where I'm still doing things to prevent recurrence. And my neurosurgeon said, like, I want you to get into ketosis. I want you to keep focusing on everything you're doing with your immune system.

[Gary Brecker]

So no chemo, no radiation. And now post surgery images are good.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah. I just had a scan three weeks.

[Gary Brecker]

Ago, and he got. I mean, was it encapsulated? How did he get clean margins?

[Taylor Dukes]

So he just probably took a little bit more around. And I love that you're asking that question. You're so educated. Because most people think that a brain tumor is sitting on top of your brain, but it really, it infiltrates the brain tissue.

[Gary Brecker]

And so it was brain tissue.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yes. And so it was healthy brain tissue. And so it was the right side of my brain. I was spared any symptoms. I definitely struggled with sensory overload after brain surgery. So that's where I, like, I had my higher dose mat, and, you know, I'd have to take a brain. I saw that. And that thing saved my life. After brain surgery, I mean, I would just, I would need to go low sensory. I'd go lay in my closet and just lay on that. And it was so calming, really. But yeah, I didn't have any deficits.

[Gary Brecker]

You know what was crazy? I put it on the sleep setting the other day. They, they, they sent me one to evaluate, and I was, I was watching the Super Bowl.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah.

[Gary Brecker]

And so I just was like, you know, I might as well give this thing a whirl right now. Set. I said, like, for the, for the sleep setting. And I woke up in the middle of the third quarter. It was a good game to miss anyway, because it was too much this year, the Eagles, and I won my bet because I had, the Eagles had to score 24 points. So, so thank you. Higher dose because I passed out and woke up and I was like, no, it's a game.

[Taylor Dukes]

And that's the one thing that, like, would help me if I'd have a restless night. I struggled with insomnia. That was really hard. And I did have Lyme disease. And so I'm working on that right now. But the Lyme was re triggered and activated with the brain surgery. And so, like, talk about nervous system dysregulation. So I didn't have any deficits after surgery.

[Gary Brecker]

Like, mime is another difficult one, and it's a beast. I am convinced that it has to be coming from potentially other sources than a tick, for sure. And, and, and the reason why I believe that is I, I'm, I, I, I've also seen so many clients that have had chronic Lyme and then because of its capacity to retreat into the dorsal root ganglion, hide, not be active, you know, not have a viral load that's high enough for you to trigger an IGM response. So. Excuse me. So when you do Lyme testing, very often it's like, oh, it's in remission. It's like, oh, you also had MONAC 8th grade and that's in remission. And you don't have that same bar, but. But lime is really.

[Taylor Dukes]

Could be reactivated.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah. I think it almost doesn't behave like a typical virus.

[Taylor Dukes]

It's a spirochet, so it like burrows in tissues.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah.

[Taylor Dukes]

And I honestly, I was hospitalized for a tick bite years and years ago. But the body is also amazing, you know, like, we can keep these things at bay. And. Yeah, just because you have chickenpox as a kid doesn't mean you're gonna get shingles. You know, like, there's a lot we.

[Gary Brecker]

Can do to always become ebv, but.

[Taylor Dukes]

Right.

[Gary Brecker]

But when you see people with repeated EBV flares, there's something going on. Yeah, there's something going on.

[Taylor Dukes]

And also stress.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah.

[Taylor Dukes]

That can trigger a lot of people don't. Don't give stress enough credit for the havoc that it can wreak on.

[Gary Brecker]

I totally agree with you. And I think that, you know, one. In my opinion, one of the greatest sort of theories or philosophical approaches to aging now that's emerging is, is this whole concept of immuno fatigue. And you know, when the immune system gets busy on too many fronts. Right. Because most people think it's just protecting us from, from, from pathogens. Which it is. Right. I mean, it's, it's. You get influenza, it's going to mount an immune response. But the majority of the immune system's role is to police ourself. Right. The circulating tumor cells, like you're talking about senescent cells, and you know, protect us and, and, and protect us and also police the parts of us that are not working. Right. And so when you, when it's. When it's fighting on too many fronts and, you know, it gets run down and you know, stress is one of those things that I love analogy of, you know, it just puts a few more things in the bucket and pretty soon it overflows. It overflows. But it's never just a one thing.

[Taylor Dukes]

No.

[Gary Brecker]

Right. So when you say I. I love it when, when you know, you go to your doctor and they're like, well, you got to reduce your stress. And it's like, well, what. What does that look like? Get divorced, not talk to my kids and quit my job. Because those are the three things that stress me out. My marriage, my kids, and my job. So, um. And I mean that. Tongue in cheek, guys. But so talk about some of the. This stress reducing techniques that you did. You needed a pulse electromagnetic field.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah.

[Gary Brecker]

Did you do any kind of like.

[Taylor Dukes]

Biofeedback or I did, I did biofeedback again. I had had some trauma in my life, so I did some EMDR for that.

[Gary Brecker]

That's really good.

[Taylor Dukes]

And yeah, some emotional release stuff. And I think that also the thing is, I think we've normalized stress our society, everybody's over committed and busy and stress and not normalize it.

[Gary Brecker]

We've glorified it. Yes, like take the hill. Sleep is for losers, you know?

[Taylor Dukes]

Yes. Like do more, be more, hustle hard, otherwise you fail.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah.

[Taylor Dukes]

And talk about the nervous system being in the parasympathetic state, which is the rest and digest and calm is like hardly ever. And so really practical stuff like deep breathing. You know, my infrared sauna is super calming for me. For me, prayer, you know, having quiet time, journaling, grounding time outside. A lot of these things are free when it, it comes to stress relief and Epsom salt bath. But for me also, practically, you know, I was hustling. I was a mom of a 10 month old, a 3 year old. I owned a private practice, I had a wellness center. And so for me, I had to stop and reevaluate every commitment in my life. What matters and what really mattered to me is being the mom that I've always wanted to be. And that meant not just for here and now, but long term. I think we're so focused on here and now and what can I get done. But I'm like, I want to be there for those milestones, so what do I need to step away from? And so I ended up closing down my private practice. I had thousands of people on the wait list. It was thriving. I had multiple practitioners. But. But if I can't help myself and take care of myself, what's the point of helping everyone else?

[Gary Brecker]

God bless you for that. That is, that is amazing.

[Taylor Dukes]

It was hard. But then I also stepped away from the wellness center, you know, and I just really had to just restructure my life. So practically I had to get stuff off my plate that I don't want to say it no longer served me. I mean, it was amazing. It gave me so much purpose. I worked so hard to be in that place. But they were stressors at the end of the day that pulled me away from my healing and my family.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah. And so you really just focused on your healing journey.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah, yeah. And. But you know, the practical stuff, like getting my sunshine and fresh air, that's free grounding, putting my feet in the grass for 10 minutes every, every morning, taking it up some salt bath, you know, just simple Stuff that people forget about.

[Gary Brecker]

I totally agree with you. You know, I, it's, you know, I got lots of fancy equipment in my, in my unit, but I always tell people, listen, you don't have to, you don't have to spend 100 grand on a red light bed. Just take your shirt off, expose your skin to sunlight. You know, let something get into your eyes. Let it, let it be your circadian rhythm. You know, you can, you can force the reset of these things with tranquilitics like sleep medication. But because we regulate our lighting and we regulate our temperature and you know, we, we can make it the surface of the sun at 1 o'clock in the morning if we want. You know, that's not ancestrally like how, how our body was designed. It wasn't designed to be in sync with fluorescent lighting. It was designed to be in sync with the rise and fall, the sun.

[Taylor Dukes]

Right.

[Gary Brecker]

And, and very often I, I have a, a client too that was suffering from very, very severe tinnitus. Tonight is so severe that he was really on a regular basis contemplating take, taking his own life. And, and one of the things that we did for him when he, I had him actually come here and move in with me for a short period of time was just the simple things go to. I forced him to go to bed at the same time each night and wake up at the same time each morning. My wife and daughter actually took shifts sleeping in his room here the house, because we're, you know, concerned about him and, and just that consistency of like sunlight in the morning, grounding in the morning, breath, breath work, dimming the lights at night, red light in the room in the evenings, just over several weeks starts to tell the body, this is when we wake up, this is when we go to bed, this is when we wake up. Some sense of normalcy. I think we're, we're such circadian creatures that we crave that routine. Right.

[Taylor Dukes]

And getting back to basics, we over complicate it.

[Gary Brecker]

It. Yeah. And so you also talk a lot about gut health and I think when we talk about gut health, I mean, obviously I think majority of us would agree gut's important, but why is it important and how do we care for it? And for people that have had lifelong gut disruption, like, where's a place for them to start?

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah. So the gut really is the gateway to health and it does not get enough attention. It truly is. I have seen in practice over the years, once the gut is healed, so many other things fall into place. You know, we, we chase skin issues we chase hormonal issues and, and it's like if you really fix the gut, so many of these other things are secondary. And so I think obviously eating a clean diet, focusing on whole foods, getting away from all the process, the seed oils, the sugar, that's a very practical place to start managing stress. That's huge. You know, the gut brain access is so important. A lot of our neurotransmitters are made in our gut. It's the second brain. And so obviously the, the things, you know, managing stress, sleeping, eating healthy, drinking clean water. But if people have all of those things down, I usually find it's helpful to do stool testing because usually there's either. Yes, yes, and good old poop test, because it is, it's once you identify the bacteria, you know, some people you could guess and try certain gut healing supplements and digestive enzymes. But I find I'm a really big fan of test. Don't guess when you don't know what's going on.

[Gary Brecker]

I'm a huge fan.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yes. And so is it dysbiosis? Is there imbalanced bacteria that need needs to be treated? Is it a lack of a certain strain? You know, do you need pancreatic enzymes? Maybe it's parasites. So once you can address kind of those imbalances, I find that's really helpful.

[Gary Brecker]

You know, I'm all about optimizing performance and lately I've been using the ion weighted vest during my workouts and it's been a game changer. It isn't your average weighted vest. It's designed to fit like a second skin, activating your core, improving blood flow, and even helping you with recovery while you train. What I love most is that the weight is perfectly distributed. It doesn't pull on your shoulders or throw off your alignment. Whether I'm doing strength training or cardio or just taking a walk, I'm burning more calories, building muscle, and pushing my endurance even further. If you're serious about leveling up your training and unlocking your full potential, check out the ion weighted [e-mail] that's a I O-N-Com and you can use code ultimate for 10 off and start training smarter today. Now let's get back to the ultimate human podcast. Yeah, we did this. I did a three day gut challenge was super, super simple. We just meals that were like heavy in, in fermented vegetables. And so we did three days of meals with all these folks and we did, you know, clean water and, and some, some supplementation, basic supplementation pre pro and post postbiotics, and some. Some gut supplements that were relatively basic. Like, of all the challenges I've ever had, like, of, you know, the water fasting challenges, 10,000 step cold plunge. Of all the challenges I've ever had, we, we not only had the most number of participants, but it was the most overwhelming amount of inbound communication from people about how it changed their life.

[Taylor Dukes]

Amazing.

[Gary Brecker]

Oh, my God. My, my. And it was relatively simple. I'm not talking about demonstrative changes in people's lives, but, like, people telling us about how their skin cleared up, how they started sleeping over, ringing went away in their ears, how they stopped bloating, their. They went in and their hormones were balanced on their next test. And it is just astounding to me the, the amount of gateways that leave the gut and lead to other chronic symptoms that are presenting themselves as disease pathology, dysfunction. You know, when we get back to the basics and start fixing the gut. So, so what are some things that people. What do you. I mean, I know, I know you have a supplement line and you have your TW wellness. Yeah, okay. Yeah, so. Or TD Wellness.

[Taylor Dukes]

We have an online community, but then we also have, like, supplements, electrolytes and protein.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I mean, I want to talk about, like, your online community and, you know, some of the supplements, like, how. How did you derive them? I also love the fact that you're a mom and a lot and you, you're very transparent about what you do with your kids when they're sick, what you do with your kids when they're stressed, when they can't sleep. And so for, for really active moms that don't have a functional medicine background.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah.

[Gary Brecker]

Where do they start with their kids? Diet, supplementation, these sorts of things. What are some practical steps that every mom should be taking to just elevate the welfare?

[Taylor Dukes]

I think that's such a good question, and it really does. It starts with moms for our next generation. And I feel like a lot of people trying to get into this world, there's so much information, you get inundated and overwhelmed. And so I just say, silence the noise. Find a few good people that you trust, you know, listen to them, learn from them, but also don't feel like because you can't do this big radical change that you're never going to be able to do anything. So again, it's starting with the basics. You know, they're little people, too. Like, get them out in sunshine and fresh air. You know, a lot of moms are so overwhelmed, they can't find time for themselves, let alone their kids. And so I'm like, come on, kids, we're going outside. We're grounding my kids. They call it bare barefooting.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah, yeah, barefooting.

[Taylor Dukes]

Also bring them along with you. Have them drink a little.

[Gary Brecker]

Which is so crazy, is that's how I grew up. You know, I actually saw someone talking about it on Instagram this morning when I was in my red light bed, and it freaked me out because I am the last generation that's going to grow up knowing what it's not like to be connected.

[Taylor Dukes]

Right, Right.

[Gary Brecker]

So we didn't have iPhone, we didn't have the Internet. You know, we didn't have iPads. And when I think of, like, all this stuff, they're like, yeah, I got my kids to take their shoes off, touch the. The surface of the earth. Went out and grounded this morning, like nine hours a day.

[Taylor Dukes]

I went to the creek and played. Like, I came home when the sun was going down.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah. I didn't start wearing clothes, so I was like nine, you know, like, because I grew up on a farm. And so you. You. You actually bring the kids along on this journey.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah, Right.

[Gary Brecker]

So they.

[Taylor Dukes]

And I would say just like moms, like, we have the power to feed our children. You know, they don't know what things are. And it's never too late to start. So clean up the snack in the pantry, get rid of inflammatory oils, get rid of the sugar. Hard and fast rule. In our family, we can budge when we go to birthday parties, you know, our kids, we're here enjoying Miami. We had a little, you know, sorbet at dinner last night. That's a trick for them. Hard and fast rule. We do no food dice in our home, and our kids know it. And. And it's. It's one of those things.

[Gary Brecker]

Food dies.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah. Okay, so we don't do food diet.

[Gary Brecker]

I've actually seen some. I mean, by the way, I'm gonna. I'm gonna give the whole audience I'll tell you how to get in touch with Taylor and find her on social media at the end of the podcast. But one of the things I love that she does, and I do some of these too, but not. Not as well as she does, is she shows you these lateral shifts.

[Taylor Dukes]

The swaps.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah, the swaps. I call them lateral shifts, but the swaps, you know, like Oreos for this, you know, crackers for this, Doritos for this. And she gives you practical brands. I actually did a little research and sleuthing around. And the majority of her swaps are, are dollar cost neutral, like, or very slight increases in cost. Like, it's not like you're going from a $2 option to a $15 option, going from a $2 option to a$2.50 option, which was really cool. And I was deeply appreciative of that, because I think a lot of times there's just not good practical information on. All right, listen, I'm a busy mom. I got to walk into the grocery store. Just tell me what to do. And I love that. So I was actually even looking at the Eminem swap, and, and the, the one I, I, I looked up, the one that you swapped.

[Taylor Dukes]

Probably unreal snack.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah, yeah. And they're good, too.

[Taylor Dukes]

Dang.

[Gary Brecker]

They actually are. Really? They're actually colored with, like, beaches and spirulina and, like, blueberry. And one was, like, grapeseed peel. And I was like, this is amazing. I didn't know candies could do this.

[Taylor Dukes]

But a lot of countries have outlawed it. And so it's like, this is the one thing. And my kids know, like, my sons play baseball, and they're like, yeah, we don't drink Gatorade. We just drink mom's electrolytes, and they're cool with it, you know? Know.

[Gary Brecker]

And by the way, they're great. And what are your electrolytes made from?

[Taylor Dukes]

They're made from organic coconut water. And then we, of course, do sodium, potassium, and magnesium.

[Gary Brecker]

So is it, is it a liquid, or is it.

[Taylor Dukes]

It's just a powder like you put into, like, a water bottle. Just, like, we would shake it up. But one thing for me, too, is when we were formulating these, I was like, how, how do we want to set ours apart? And so I love a lot of brands out there. There are a lot of great brands on the market. But for us personally, I didn't want a bunch of natural flavors, a bunch of chemicals, so I, we flavor ours with organic fruit juice powder. So, like, for our strawberry lemonade, it's organic strawberry powder and then some lemon extract, and then you get the pretty red color, you know, no food dyes. No, no, not even beet juice to enhance it. It's just pretty like, guava. Grapefruit is derived from, you know, the citrus of the grapefruit and the guava fruit. And so. And it's no sugar. I think there might be one gram of sugar in the strawberry lemonade just because the strawberry.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah.

[Taylor Dukes]

But yeah, so we formulated it of just, like, we wanted to just be super clean no chemicals, just flavors from, you know, the things that are here on Earth.

[Gary Brecker]

Right. That's so that's.

[Taylor Dukes]

But my kids are cool with it. They know, like, and we try to educate them. We don't try to shame, you know, they've had donuts, they've gone to birthday parties. They live their lives, but they know that we make healthier decisions and, and we don't view it as a control thing. We really try to educate them. Like, we don't have food diets because they're not good for us in our brains. And we want to be strong and healthy and so our kids from a young age, like, you could ask my kid, you know, do you drink gator? And he's like, no, sir. They have food. Dyson.

[Gary Brecker]

Really?

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah.

[Gary Brecker]

That's so awesome. I should throw them on the podcast. I, I had my nieces on the podcast a few, few months ago.

[Taylor Dukes]

I haven't listened, but I saw clips and I'm like, so cute.

[Gary Brecker]

And it went crazy viral. My, for a while my team was like, I don't know if this is on brand. I'm like, no, this is great. Let's, let's throw it out there. And Malia wanted to do it. I'll give Malia credit.

[Taylor Dukes]

I love it.

[Gary Brecker]

And, and they were, they were just so attentive and alert and, and, and engaged. I mean, even I was sitting there interviewing him. Like, you guys are really smart and, and, but they talked about like from a kid's perspective and if you're, if you're a mom or dad and you've got young kids and, and you, you want them to be educated like her kids or like my brother and sister in laws watch that podcast because they feel super empowered.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yes.

[Gary Brecker]

And they were really happy about it.

[Taylor Dukes]

They're passionate about it.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah, they're passionate about it. And she's like, you know, they bring their, their grapes in their, you know, their own little snack bags and when the candies and cookies and pastries and pies and brownies and all are being passed around, they're having their own snacks and they're fine with it.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah.

[Gary Brecker]

And it's, it's kind of like they're, they're, they're individuality, you know, and, and, and it doesn't, they don't feel like they're missing out. And other kids don't tease them. They actually feel like, you know, I'm, I'm an individual. This is my thing that I do. And what's really interesting is they even talked about how their friends get really curious. Well, why don't my parents have me do that? I want to do that, too. And. And so it has kind of the opposite of there's a shift. I. I thought, you know, and. And there's a replacement for all of these things. You can take Doritos and have masa chips.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah. We do homemade pizza nights. Like, my kids aren't deprived. And that's where I think that's a power struggle. Like, we can't protect our kids forever.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah.

[Taylor Dukes]

But we can't empower them to make healthy choices, especially while they're living with us, and to understand why and to see how they feel, you know, And I think sometimes, you know, I have mom friends. I'm really blessed. I have a great, healthy community of mom friends. So when we go to birthday parties, it's like, don't worry. I made the simple mills cake and I did the buttercream frosting. Homemade, you know, and you're like, thank you.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah, yeah.

[Taylor Dukes]

But it's also cool to let our kids live. And, you know, and sometimes if they have something, they're like, that hurt my tummy. And it's like, yeah, you know, this is why we make healthy choices. But I think there's a movement happening, too, and people want to feel good, and they want to boost their kids immune systems and the amount of kids that are, you know, medicated with adhd. And it's like, well, if I was having Fruit Loops for breakfast, I'd probably have brain fog, too. And then kids are bouncing off the walls, and so we have to think about blood sugar for kids, too, and setting them up for success and.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah.

[Taylor Dukes]

And kids don't know to say, like, I have brain fog, but they'll be. They'll be hyper, you know, and so empowering them to see, like, this is how. This is why we do this. And so they don't feel like they're being controlled, but they feel empowered, like you said.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah, no, I think that's. I think that's so important, and I think the best thing that you can do is you can educate your kids so that they can be, you know, independent. You give them that independence and. And, you know, like, your kids could probably go into a grocery store and figure out what is that. That. Yeah, that they. That they want to eat. So, you know, now in your. Is. Is your practice active? I mean, are you. Okay, so you're retired?

[Taylor Dukes]

I say I retired, but that's why I started my online community, because I have all these people asking and the same thing. With the formulating of things, you know, with the protein powder, it's like people are always asking me, so I'm like, well, why don't we just go and kind of create our own and what do I like on the market? And what would I change? And so that's kind of the inspiration for a lot of the things that we're formulating. Like we have a healthy lemonade, no sugar. Remember country time lemonade?

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah, yeah, remember.

[Taylor Dukes]

So we're just doing Tang.

[Gary Brecker]

That's how, that's how bad my childhood was. Tang was like, that was awful.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah, we're just creating healthier products like a healthy hot chocolate, no sugar. We sweeten it with monk fruit, you know. And so I want my kids to have these normal experiences. Experiences. But anyway, I was, I would be asked about, you know, these products. And that was kind of where the cancer journey was a blessing. It pivoted me to kind of get creative with my career.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah.

[Taylor Dukes]

And then again, people are always asking and I don't work with people anymore one on one. But we have a community where they get access to functional medicine lab testing. I have nurse practitioners that do consults. So we can help people and equip them, but we don't, you know, prescribe or diagnose or anything.

[Gary Brecker]

Right. No, that's, that's so awesome. Well, so tell my community how they can find you.

[Taylor Dukes]

Well, on Instagram, I like educating. That's like my mission, you know, it's just equipping people with information. Healthy swaps. I've shared my whole cancer journey and that's just at Taylor Dukes Wellness. And then we have all of our products at Shop Dukes. D U K E S Wellness.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah, wellness on, on Instagram. And your community, it's a paid community.

[Taylor Dukes]

Yeah, it's just 39amonth. It's like no strings attached. Cancel if you want, but it, it creates. I do live calls, you know, once a month with just them to answer questions. They get to pick my brain. And then it's really beautiful. There's this community of people all over that have connected, like minded moms. Usually most of them are moms answering, you know, what'd you do for your kid for this? And so it's really neat. We bring on guest experts and then, yeah, my, all my products are [e-mail] dukeswellness.com that's amazing.

[Gary Brecker]

So I, I, I wind down all my podcasts by asking my guests the same question. Then we're going to go into my, I have a VIP community too. So when the podcast is over, we're going to go into the, the VIP room and I'll just allow them to ask the direct questions because I, I really believe in building this community because I don't think that we can make a real change in the world just by putting out information. I think you have to affect the habits of people's lives, right? I mean if you, if, if you want to lose weight, you have to adopt the habits of somebody who's interested in losing weight.

[Taylor Dukes]

Right?

[Gary Brecker]

Just, it's not just enough to have a goal to lose weight and, and I want to do something very similar to what you're doing and that is build a community. Hundreds of thousands of like minded, highly educated people that can go out and empower other people to make changes in their life. And that's, that's how we do it. I, in fact, I think the day of the celebrity influencer and the online influencer are over, if not severely numbered. If you aren't building a community, I.

[Taylor Dukes]

Don'T agree with that.

[Gary Brecker]

In service to, and allowing a place.

[Taylor Dukes]

Where like minded people, you know, you can't go and do all these meetups, but you can foster a place and I love that you do that.

[Gary Brecker]

Yeah, yeah, we did the same thing and I, and I encourage all my peers in my, you know, and in the industry to do the same thing because people are looking for guidance and you know, and a like minded community to spend, spend time with and it's, it's really empowering to do that. So, so here's the question.

[Taylor Dukes]

You ready? Okay, I'm ready. Let's fire it away.

[Gary Brecker]

What is it? What does it mean to you to be an ultimate human?

[Taylor Dukes]

I think it's a loaded question and I think it's not a simple answer, but I would say if I could break it down, there's the spiritual, the physical, and then kind of the mental, emotional. So spiritually for me that's having a relationship with God and I'm so thankful that I have that relationship with him and the hope beyond my circumstances, going through what I've walked through, like if I didn't have the hope of heaven and I'm facing a cancer diagnosis at 33, that's hard, you know, and that's where my peace comes from and my joy and my hope. And so I think spiritually that's going to look different for everybody. But that's for me personally, I think that's so, so important to know your God given purpose and your gifts.

[Gary Brecker]

Couldn't agree with you more.

[Taylor Dukes]

And Then physically, of course, everything we've talked about, you know, eating healthy food, sleeping, getting back to the basics, people overcomplicate health. And I have all the fancy, not, not anything like Gary, let's be clear. But I have a bunch of these modalities and people, what gadget should I buy? And I say we have to get back to the basics when it comes to our physical health. We have to eat healthy, we have to move our body, we have to get sleep, manage our stress. So there's a lot of things physically we can be doing. And then lastly, I would say just emotionally and mentally, you know, do you have purpose, community? Do you have like minded people around you cheering you on and being with you in the heart? You know, and then are you managing your stress and are you doing. And this kind of comes back to spiritually too. Like, are you doing something that fulfills you? Especially if you're working because you're spending way too much time during your life working. And if you're not doing something that gives you purpose, that you're using your gifts, I feel like mentally and emotionally you're going to be stressed and empty.

[Gary Brecker]

I totally, totally agree with you. Wow, Taylor, it's been amazing. 1,000%. I'm gonna have you back on the podcast. I love following your journey. My community is going to love you. You're sweet. You ready to go into the ultimate human VIP community? Let's go. Fire it up. And if you're interested in becoming an ultimate human vip, just go to the ultimate human dot com. You can sign up there, join my VIP community. You can cancel at any time. This is where we pour ourselves into you guys. We answer your questions. I open up live Q and A's. I always give them access to my guests. We're going to bring in functional medicine practitioners that do cases. We do Q&As, we do challenges, we do all kinds of things together. And we're even planning our first big experience together as a community. So head over to the ultimatehuman.com and sign up to join my ultimate human VIP community. Until next time, that's just science.