The Cancer Naturopath

04/06/2026

One of the main things that I need to do for people with cancer for their treatment plan, is to find and treat ALL the individual root causes for their cancer. This is done through detailed questioning in the initial consultation, pathology testing, and additional information.

One of the things that I ask about for everyone is their alcohol intake, as it is a major risk factor and cause of many types of cancer, in a number of different ways:

1. Alcohol is high in carbohydrates which can feed cancer cells with the main fuel they need for energy and growth
2. High carb intake causes a number of nutrient deficiencies which are needed for optimal immune system function, tissue repair, detoxing and more
3. High carbs also reduces immune system function, which is your body’s main defence against cancer development and progression
4. Alcohol causes inflammation and oxidative damage, which can cause damage to cells and many organs including the liver, blood vessels, brain, pancreas, kidneys, immune system cells, and more, to contribute to cancer development
5. Alcohol is so toxic to the body that the liver will prioritise detoxing of alcohol over any other normal liver function of metabolism, nutrient activation, balancing hormones and neurotransmitters
6. Alcohol affects quality of sleep, which is needed for detoxing, tissue repair, and immune functions, which can in turn contribute to cancer development
7. Alcohol causes weight gain, which changes hormone levels in both males and females to increase oestrogen stimulation of hormone-driven cancers, and increases inflammation
8. And other damage and dysfunction in the body.

Of course, reducing or avoiding alcohol is even better for prevention of cancers!

The Australian government Department of Health guidelines for alcohol intake recommends that adults should not drink more than 10 standard alcoholic drinks per week, and no more than 4 drinks per day (Australian Government Department of Health, 2020).

However, independent studies find that drinking alcohol on average at LESS THAN ONE drink per day, so even at a low intake the risk of development of these 7 types of cancer are increased:

1. Breast cancer
2. Prostate
3. Colore**al
4. Oesophageal
5. Liver
6. Pharynx
7. Pancreas.

Even a moderate (not high) alcohol intake can increase the risk of the following types of cancers:

1. Lip and oral cancer
2. Larynx
3. Stomach.

The cancer risk of all these 10 cancers rose with increasing alcohol intake.

This is why alcohol consumption is just one of many possible causes of cancers.

Stay healthy!

References:

Australian Government Department of Health. (2020). Australian Alcohol Guidelines revised. Retrieved 5th June 2026 from https://www.health.gov.au/news/australian-alcohol-guidelines-revised?language=en

Dai et al., Nature Health, 2026 (Burden of Proof study)
Rumgay et al., Lancet Oncology, 2021 (global attributable burden)
Bagnardi et al., British Journal of Cancer, 2015 (site-specific dose-response)
Wang et al., Alcohol and Alcoholism, 2020 (esophageal)
McNabb et al., International Journal of Cancer, 2020 (colore**al)
Yan et al., European Journal of Epidemiology, 2022 (breast)
Hong et al., Nutrients, 2020 (prostate)

07/05/2026

Even though cancers thrive on sugar for growth and energy, artificial sweeteners are NOT a healthier or better option for anyone...

Please see my linked article below for more details.

It’s time for a reminder and an update on the topic of artificial sweeteners, and their effects on your health…

In my initial consultations with new patients, I always ask if people consume “diet” drinks such as cordials and soft drinks (“soda” in the US!), “diet” foods such as yoghurts or other similar low-calorie products. I’m trying to find all the possible root causes of all of their health issues and symptoms. Because products containing artificial sweeteners ARE a root cause for a lot of health problems.

In short, artificial sweeteners such as saccharin (E954), aspartame (951), sucralose (955), acesulphame-K (aka acesulphame potassium) (950), neotame (961) and others, typically in the additive number range of E950-969, are not healthy and should be avoided. They cause many health issues including:

1. Stimulating appetite, so you eat more and put on more weight!
2. Suppressing satiety or fullness from a meal, so you eat more and put on more weight!
3. Raising blood sugar levels and causing insulin resistance, simply because these foods and drinks TASTE sweet!
4. Causing or worsening diabetes
5. Contributing to leaky gut which in turn can trigger or worsen autoimmune conditions
6. Changing the balance of the digestive microbiome, causing dysbiosis
7. Causing many types of cancers.

Artificial sweeteners ironically cause the very things they are marketed for preventing – weight gain, diabetes, and other health issues. They are NOT a healthier option!

And artificial sweeteners do this even though they have zero calories! This is yet another reason why calories are a useless concept in the world of health and nutrition, as such chemicals can still have a profound effect on your health. I’ve been in talks and presentations from dietitians and doctors who have said that “diet” drinks are fine and ok to consume as they have no calories! If your practitioner tells you this, they haven’t read any published studies on this issue, and you should see a different practitioner!

Some recent studies are finding even more health issues with artificial sweeteners, including:

1. A 2025 study found that people who consumed the highest amounts of sweeteners experienced faster declines in thinking and memory skills (ie, Alzheimer’s Disease symptoms) compared to those who consumed the lowest amounts. The link was even stronger in people with diabetes. This study included the “sugar alcohol” sweeteners of erythritol, sorbitol, and xylitol (American Academy of Neurology, 2025; Gonçalves et. al., 2025)
2. In 2023, the International Agency on Research into Cancer (IARC), a part of the World Hoax Organisation (WHO), updated their findings on the artificial sweetener aspartame (E951) to classify it as a “Group 2b possibly carcinogenic substance”, with increased risk of liver cancer (Cancer Council, 2026).

Even so-called “natural” sweeteners are not entirely safe or healthy either! Let’s take Stevia as an example – Stevia is a natural plant native to South America. Stevia leaves can be used as a natural sweetener, but most Stevia products are a highly processed extract of the Stevia plant, appearing on ingredients lists as “steviol glycosides” or “stevioside”.

Traditionally, the natives of South America used Stevia not for its sweetness, but for its anti-fertility actions and benefits! Studies from decades ago, which I have previously referenced, have proven the effects of Stevia on preventing pregnancies by affecting fertility in both men and women for up to 6 months! Hence if you are trying to conceive, you really should avoid Stevia!

Also, because steviol glycosides have a steroidal chemical structure, they can have a hormonal effect in your body too. One of the natural hormones which stevia can interfere with is cortisol, the stress hormone. Research shows stevia inhibits sodium reabsorption in the kidneys, causing increased cortisol stress hormone levels, and increased water and sodium loss in urine, hence causing frequent urination. Other studies have shown that some people with specific genetic variants can have an even stronger effect to stevia than others.

While sugar is not healthy and is quite damaging to your body, the artificial forms as sweeteners or even so-called natural alternatives are not healthy either! They can cause similar or even worse symptoms and effects on your health.

Be aware of what you are eating, and check on product labels. Or better – don’t eat things which come in packaging with ingredient labels!

Stay healthy!

References:

American Academy of Neurology. (2025). Not so sweet: Some sugar substitutes linked to faster cognitive decline. Retrieved 7th May 2026 from https://www.aan.com/PressRoom/Home/PressRelease/5281

Cancer Council. (2026). Information sheet: Intense sweeteners and cancer risk. Retrieved 7th May 2026 from https://www.cancer.org.au/about-us/policy-and-advocacy/prevention/obesity/related-resources/intense-sweeteners-and-cancer-risk

Gonçalves, N. G., Martinez-Steele, E., Lotufo, P. A., Bensenor, I., Goulart, A. C., Barreto, S. M., Giatti, L., de Faria, C. P., Molina, M. D. C. B., Caramelli, P., Marchioni, D. M., & Suemoto, C. K. (2025). Association Between Consumption of Low- and No-Calorie Artificial Sweeteners and Cognitive Decline: An 8-Year Prospective Study. Neurology, 105(7), e214023. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000214023

27/04/2026

I’m sitting here and drinking a nice cup of tea! I’ve recently come across the French Earl Grey tea, which is a nice combination of Earl Grey tea with French vanilla flavour!

So I’m drinking tea and I come across an article about hot drinks like tea and coffee etc can potentially cause cancer – if the drinks are consumed when they are too hot. Drinks consumed above 65 degrees Celsius (149F) can cause irritation in the mouth and oesophagus, protein degradation, and cell damage, which over time can cause cancer from repeated injury.

Drinkers of "very hot" beverages had 3.7 times the risk of oesophageal cancer development compared to warm-temperature drinkers.

But you can reduce this risk! The difference can be 4-6 minutes! If you wait at least 4 minutes for the tea or coffee or hot drink to cool slightly, the temperature can drop to 60 degrees C (140F) which can dramatically reduce the risks of oral or oesophageal cancer. The time needed to wait to a reduced temperature depends on the size and volume of the cup/mug, and the ambient air temperature.

So to reduce your risks of oral or oesophageal cancer, and still enjoy a nice cuppa, wait 4-6 minutes after making the hot drink before drinking!

Stay healthy!

References:

Islami et al., International Journal of Cancer, 2019
Middleton et al., International Journal of Cancer, 2019
IARC Monograph Volume 116, 2018

26/04/2026

Cancers have known root causes. It’s not genetic or “bad luck” as some people (including doctors) believe. And the root causes can be different in each person.

And some root causes of cancer will really surprise you. Or shock you.

Many root causes of cancer are toxic chemicals, which can be in our foods, water, air, environment, and in our lifestyle.

I saw a very recent report on social media that FIFA, the world's governing body for soccer (ie, REAL football!) was banning artificial turf (ie, “astroturf”) due to claims of causing cancer. I checked this and turns out this news about FIFA wasn’t true at all. But I was already aware of the potential cancer-causing and hormone-disrupting effects of artificial turf, from reading published studies on this, so I was hoping it was true about FIFA banning it.

A study published in 2024 (Ryan-Ndegwa, 2024) found that there were a number of issues with artificial turf, including:

1. The crumb rubber filling in and underneath the artificial turf included a number of chemicals such as Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, being known cancer-causing chemicals
2. Containing heavy metals (including mercury, and carcinogenic arsenic and cadmium)
3. Containing other toxic petrochemicals, including carcinogenic benzene chemicals
4. Containing hormone-disrupting xeno-oestrogen chemicals including phthalates and BPA
5. Containing microplastics from the turf itself
6. And containing “forever chemicals” of PFAS which are associated with liver and kidney disease, impaired immune function, reproductive toxicity and cancers.

These cancer-causing chemicals were found to be a risk from skin exposure and absorption, inhalation, and ingestion.

And some soccer/football/hockey clubs and other sports, kids play parks, schools, and even family homes have artificial turf and/or with rubber filling and underlay with all of these toxic and cancer-causing chemicals. And you and your kids may have been exposed to these cancer-causing chemicals.

Warnings on artificial turf have been around for a few years, since 2019 when a US soccer coach reported 260 soccer players who had developed lymphoma (Washington State Department of Health, 2026; Whitfield, 2026), a blood cancer, most of who were goal-keepers who are more in contact with the artificial turf than other players. Other types of cancers have also been linked to exposure to chemicals in artificial turf.

Hence to prevent cancer, and even to treat existing cancer, all the root causes of the cancer development and progression must be found and treated or removed in each person. This includes identifying exposure to toxins and chemical including from artificial turf and other sources, and removing this exposure.

If you have artificial turf, or you or your children are exposed to artificial turf or rubber surfaces in their kindy, school, parks, sporting centres or at home, then you really need to consider their health and of others too, and make these places and people involved know about these major health risks of exposure to these environments. Making the parents and public know about these risks may make the councils, schools, or sporting organisations more inclined to rectify this with real grass surfaces again. Or it can turn into a legal issue as well as a health issue.

Stay healthy!

References:

Ryan-Ndegwa, S., Zamani, R., & Martins, T. (2024). Exploring the Human Health Impact of Artificial Turf Worldwide: A Systematic Review. Environmental health insights, 18, 11786302241306291. https://doi.org/10.1177/11786302241306291

Washington State Department of Health. (2026). Investigation of Reported Cancer Among Soccer Players in Washington State. Retrieved 26th April 2026 from https://doh.wa.gov/community-and-environment/schools/artificial-turf/investigation-reported-cancer-among-soccer-players

Whitfield, R. (2026). Artificial Turf and Cancer Risk: What Every Athlete and Parent Should Know. Retrieved 26th April 2026 from https://www.drrobertwhitfield.com/toxicity/soccer

09/04/2026

Many people are advised from some natural cancer groups and websites to avoid eating red meat and animal foods because of some incorrect beliefs that animal foods or meat either causes cancer or causes body acidity which also causes cancer. But animal foods and meat don’t do either of these things!

The World Hoax/Health Organisation (WHO) also lists on their website that processed meats and red meats as a “Probable” carcinogen (WHO, 2015).

So how did one of the world’s most nutrient-dense and traditional foods become labelled as cancer-causing?!

Because of a ridiculous and poor quality study published in 2011 (Chan et. al., 2011), which used statistical trickery to manipulate study data to come up with a misleading finding. For example, this study looked at the Relative Risk of red and processed meats on colon cancer, colore**al cancer and re**al cancer only. The Relative Risk is a statistical measure of the probability of an outcome between an exposed group and an unexposed/control group. In this study, the researchers found for example, that there was an 18% increase in risk between those who ate red/processed meats who got cancer vs those who didn’t eat red meats. That is what raised alarm bells and caused the useless WHO to label red meats as carcinogenic!

But Relative Risk as a statistical measurement is very misleading, and can be deliberately used in studies like this to find a preconceived outcome when there isn’t really a true outcome. Better quality studies use the Absolute Risk measurement instead.

This study found the Relative Risk of people eating red meat and getting cancers was actually just 0.0438%!! A miniscule risk, which is not statistically significant on its own. The RR of people in the control group was actually only 0.0371%, being another insignificant and miniscule risk. But the difference between the control group RR result and meat-eating cancer group was 18%, hence their insane finding that “red meat causes cancer”! Even if the risk of both groups was so close to zero!

The Absolute Risk, being the ACTUAL risk of people who eat red meats, processed meats and animal foods and getting cancer was actually only 0.0067% - no risk at all! There was also NO evidence at all in this study which proved that red meats, processed meats or animal foods actually CAUSED cancer at all! Hence why people really need to know where these ridiculous beliefs come from and why people need to do their own research, and not just believe what various websites or influencers say.

Ironically, the study also highlighted that the rise in colon and colore**al cancers has coincided with economic development and a Western diet and lifestyle! Or in other words, colon cancer is not as common in less developed countries. But meats and animal foods are not just from modern development or a new concept! We’ve been eating animal foods and meats FOREVER! They are amongst the most nutrient-dense foods we can ever eat! The study is finding other possible clues and factors for cancers which are not what they are trying to blame their findings on…

Another interesting theory in the study to explain the issues with red meats and animal foods and cancer is related to the cooking of these foods! High temperature cooking of red meats or animal foods, especially on a barbeque or flame-grilled, produces a number of possibly carcinogenic compounds called Heterocyclic Amines and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Advanced Glycation End-products and Acrylamides. Ironically, in other studies, these cooking byproducts are also produced from over-heating or baking plant-based foods too! But let’s just blame the red meat…

So is the real issue of red meats and processed meats being associated with cancer (NOTE – NOT “causing” cancer), or is it how these foods are processed or COOKED that’s really the issue?! If so, again it’s NOT the red meat which causes the cancer!

A couple of reasons why I think the idea of actually limiting or avoiding meats and animal foods in cancer is a huge risk include the following:
1. Vitamin B12, only found in animal foods, is needed for your immune system function to produce the lymphocytes which are your natural anti-cancer white blood cells! You really want to make more of these to fight cancer
2. Vitamin B12 is needed for tissue repair and healing, including from cancer surgery, or even physical organ or cell damage from chemotherapy or radiation treatments
3. Red meats are high in iron, and in my experience, 80+% of people with cancer have low iron levels and/or anaemia… and the form of iron in animal foods is much more bioavailable and usable than from plant foods
4. Red meats and animal foods have a high protein content, which is also needed for immune system function, tissue repair and healing, and many other metabolic functions too, to help against cancer and for recovery
5. Red meats and animal foods are very low in carbohydrates, which are found in much higher amounts in all plant foods. Carbs metabolise into glucose, being the main source of fuel for energy and growth and progression of cancer cells. High carbohydrate foods and diets are known to CAUSE cancer as well as feed the cancer cells!

Hence avoiding or stopping intake of red meats and animal foods can have a huge detrimental impact on your immune system function and ability to reverse cancer and recover. This is why I do NOT recommend reducing or avoiding red meat consumption, or even other animal foods (other meats, fish, eggs etc) for the prevention of cancer, or after a cancer diagnosis.

There is another ridiculous belief that animal foods need to be avoided with cancer due to an alleged acidic effect of these foods. This is also untrue and will be discussed in another article soon!

As I usually say, from my experience, there’s ALWAYS a combination of root causes and factors in the development and progression of cancer, which can be a different combination of factors in each person. It’s NEVER just the one cause to cancer development. And it’s not from red meats or animal foods, when these foods have been eaten forever and offer a lot of health benefits!

Stay healthy!

References:

Chan, D. S., Lau, R., Aune, D., Vieira, R., Greenwood, D. C., Kampman, E., & Norat, T. (2011). Red and processed meat and colore**al cancer incidence: meta-analysis of prospective studies. PloS one, 6(6), e20456. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0020456

WHO. (2015). Cancer: Carcinogenicity of the consumption of red meat and processed meat. Retrieved 9th April 2026 from https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/cancer-carcinogenicity-of-the-consumption-of-red-meat-and-processed-meat

30/03/2026

Regarding prostate cancer (and/or prostate enlargement or BPH, Benign Prostate Hypertrophy), there’s a number of things which are common beliefs for these health issues in men but which make no sense...

For example, the belief that prostate cancer is driven by the male hormone testosterone. It’s like people (including doctors) think that as only men get prostate enlargement or prostate cancer, it must be due to testosterone levels, and especially from high testosterone levels! And as such, one of the medical “treatments” (and I use this word loosely) for prostate issues is a medication to block testosterone.

But if testosterone were the cause of prostate issues and prostate cancer, then EVERY male, boy or man would develop prostate issues! Especially more so in YOUNGER men and adolescents when their testosterone is at its highest! But this doesn’t happen as is proven in many published studies (Morgantaler, 2006).

So where did this belief of testosterone being linked to prostate cancer come from?

In a 1941 study on testosterone being linked to prostate cancer, which only used 3 men (!) and one man dropped out during the study and one man was already castrated (hence likely low testosterone), the scientists gave the 2 men testosterone injections (NOTE – not natural testosterone or checking on their own levels). The authors of this study based their findings on just one non-castrated man who had high testosterone, and doctors have been making “treatment” decisions on this poor quality study ever since…

More recent studies have NOT been able to prove that testosterone levels or even testosterone therapy/injections actually cause prostate cancer! In other words, NO studies have found that testosterone causes prostate cancer or increases its incidence! Testosterone causing prostate cancer is a MYTH from 1941, which is sadly still being followed and believed by doctors and oncologists now in 2026.

In my experience, I would say that only 5% of men who have been diagnosed with an enlarged prostate or prostate cancer are actually checked to see if they have high (or low) testosterone, before they are given testosterone blocking medications or even chemotherapy or surgery! But these medications are ridiculous and can produce dangerous side effects such as erectile dysfunction and impotence, development of man-boobs, low to no libido, increased weight and changes in body fat distribution to more like a female, reduced bone density, liver and/or kidney issues, and more.

Many of these side effects are the same as having high oestrogen levels, being the main s*x hormone in females. But males are not supposed to have high levels of oestrogen, as it’s the opposite s*x hormone for male body functions! Hence this is far more likely to cause or drive prostate enlargement or prostate cancer than testosterone. And many human and animal studies DO confirm this!

Prostate stem cells are known to have oestrogen receptors, in a similar way that breast cancer cells do, and why breast cancer cells (and other female organ cancer cells) respond to oestrogen for their development and growth (Nelles, Hu & Prins, 2011; Bosland, 2005). Rat studies have shown to induce prostate cancer in 100% of male rats with exposure to oestrogen or oestrogenic chemicals.
Males are not supposed to have high levels of oestrogen! But in my clinical practice, I insist that men who have enlarged prostates or prostate cancer, or even men in their mid to late 40s for proactive preventative reasons, should get their testosterone levels checked AND oestrogen levels too. I’ve ALWAYS found high oestrogen in men with prostate issues!

Where is the high oestrogen coming from or what is causing the prostate cancer?

There’s a number of sources of oestrogens in foods, our environment, and even within our own bodies. The sources of the high oestrogens can be a combination of a number of these sources and factors, and this can be different in each man with prostate issues. Detailed testing and investigations and questioning are needed to find the root causes and factors in each man. This is what I do! In this way, I can find and treat your specific causes and factors, for a more personalised and specific treatment and preventative plan. By checking for testosterone and oestrogen levels in men, especially in the later years (say 40s-50s+) prostate cancer can even be prevented!

If you know a man with prostate issues (enlargement or prostate cancer), please let them know of this info, and/or share this with them.

If testosterone isn’t the cause of prostate issues, as it appears to be, then testosterone blocking medications won’t reverse it, but will make symptoms and side effects worse.

Stay healthy!

References:

Bosland M. C. (2005). The role of estrogens in prostate carcinogenesis: a rationale for chemoprevention. Reviews in urology, 7 Suppl 3(Suppl 3), S4–S10.

Morgentaler, A. (2006). Testosterone and Prostate Cancer: An Historical Perspective on a Modern Myth. European Urology, 50 (5), 935-939. DOI: 10.1016/j.eururo.2006.06.034.

Nelles, J. L., Hu, W. Y., & Prins, G. S. (2011). Estrogen action and prostate cancer. Expert review of endocrinology & metabolism, 6(3), 437–451. DOI: 10.1586/eem.11.20

Image - by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free.org

23/03/2026

We are going to talk about the irony of medical cancer “treatments”, and I use the word “treatment” very loosely…

If you are diagnosed with cancer, you are usually given one or more of the usual medical options for your “treatment”:

1. Chemotherapy, or chemical “therapy”, or in other words, doses of extremely toxic chemicals to try and slow down or kill the cancer cells. Unfortunately, it kills a lot of healthy cells and causes a lot of toxicity to all body organs, including to your immune system
2. Radiotherapy, or radiation “therapy”, or in other words, doses of radiation aimed at the cancer/tumour to try and kill the cancer cells. But also causes collateral damage to other cells and organs which surround or are close to the tumour too
3. Immunotherapy, or immune “therapy”, which is ironic really, in that you are typically initially given toxic chemotherapy medications to reduce (ie, to “wipe out”) your immune system’s white blood cells, then given new medications to “restart” your immune system to help it find the cancer cells again.

The irony is that all of these cancer “treatment” options can reduce or even destroy your immune system function, when your immune system is the MAIN thing which can really prevent cancer development and progression, or to kill the cancer cells!

Your immune system has several types of white blood cells, especially types of lymphocytes called cytotoxic T-cells and Natural Killer (NK) cells, whose purpose in life is to find damaged cells and cancer cells, and to kill them!

This shows the importance of improving the function of your immune system, and your white blood cells! Anything which affects your immune system function will increase the risks of cancer development and progression. And this includes the so-called cancer “treatments”. Or if you have cancer, it’s always a sign that your immune system hasn’t been working well to find and destroy the damaged cancer cells. That’s why people with cancer need more support to improve their immune system function.

There are many things which can affect the production of the white blood cells, so these causes and factors need to be found and then treated in each person, to improve your immune system function. This can then help to prevent cancer and/or treat and reverse cancer.

But all the medical “treatments” reduce your immune system function…

The other related issue with cancer is the importance of finding and treating all the root causes of cancer in each person. This is what I do for each person I see with cancer. But the medical approach to cancer is just to “treat” the symptom, which is the cancer itself, using chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. Never do doctors or oncologists ask “why?” or look into what CAUSED the cancer. If you only look at “treating” the cancer itself, especially with things which reduce immune system function, you can almost guarantee that the cancer will come back. If it doesn’t come back in the same organ or tissue, it can come back elsewhere in the body due to reduced immune function, toxicity from the chemotherapy and radiation, and from not actually addressing the root causes of it.

Hence the importance of finding and treating all the root causes of cancer and low immune system function in each person. There are many known root causes and factors for cancer development and progression, which need to be identified in each person, for a true holistic and personalised treatment approach. This can give quick symptom relief as well as long-term resolution, and long-term prevention too!

Stay healthy!

20/03/2026

Melatonin isn't just your sleep hormone.

It is a major antioxidant and offers many benefits to the prevention and development of cancers.

Hence the importance of fixing any issues you have with sleep as part of your prevention of cancer, or cancer treatment plan.

See the full details in the linked article below.

So many patients I see have sleep problems, from difficulty getting to sleep (ie, sleep onset), restless sleep, interrupted sleep, and waking up tired for the next day. Like most things, taking medications or even supplements doesn’t fix the root causes or factors which are contributing to the sleep issues in each person. And different people can have different causes and factors to their sleep issues, so a different treatment recommendation is needed.

Poor sleep quality or quantity can lead to the following health issues:
1. Low energy and fatigue
2. Poor concentration and memory
3. Mood and behaviour changes, and worse mental health symptoms
4. Low immune function
5. Poor healing and tissue repair
6. Weight gain
7. Increased inflammation
8. Changes to many metabolic hormones including increased cortisol (stress hormone), increased ghrelin (hunger hormone), decreased insulin sensitivity, decreased leptin (satiety hormone), reduced testosterone and muscle protein production
9. Increased risks of cancers, partly due to the reduced immune system function and the other effects listed here (Zamfir Chiru, Popescu & Gheorghe, 2014)
10. And more!

There are so many factors which can cause sleep issues, that I could write a book on the topic! So I won’t go into everything here! One of the main factors or things we need for optimal sleep is for our bodies to make Melatonin, which is our “sleep hormone”.

The main thing we need to make Melatonin is sun exposure! We don’t make Melatonin from being indoors, but only from being outside! We don’t have to physically be in the sun and have sun on our skin to make Melatonin, like we do to make vitamin D, but from sun exposure through your EYES! Hence we can make Melatonin from being undercover or in the shade, or even if there’s a rainy or overcast day. The more time you spend outside during the day, the more Melatonin you make.

Melatonin is made in your pineal gland during the day from sun exposure through the eyes. Melatonin is stored in this the pineal gland until the sun goes down and again your eyes are used as sensors to detect the fading light, and your eyes signal the pineal gland to start secreting the Melatonin to help tell your body it’s soon time to sleep, and keep you asleep through the night.

However there are a number of factors which can interfere with Melatonin production including:
1. Wearing of sunglasses – this can block sun exposure into the eyes and reduce Melatonin production
2. Shift work – people doing shift work don’t get enough time outside during the day
3. Nutrient deficiencies can affect the production of Melatonin, even if you get enough sun exposure
4. Thyroid function, liver function, stomach function – all are needed to be functioning well for a number of metabolic functions in order to produce Melatonin.

Hence Melatonin production and sleep issues are a WHOLE BODY issue, and cannot be fixed from taking medications or supplements alone, including from taking Melatonin supplements.

In my experience, I find that 95% of the time that people try to improve their sleep with taking Melatonin supplements, it doesn’t work. Because the root causes of the sleep issues are not being addressed. This shows the importance of finding and fixing the root causes of sleep issues, and not just trying to address the symptom of poor sleep!

Melatonin as a natural hormone or in a supplement isn’t actually a sedative and doesn’t make you tired or sleep, or bring on sleep! It’s a circadian rhythm (day/night) regulator for your body, to tell your body WHEN to sleep.

Melatonin isn’t only just your sleep hormone, but it is also a major antioxidant in your body to reduce oxidative damage! As such, it reduces oxidative damage to cells and organs, reduces damage to immune system cells, reduces inflammation, and other benefits, all of which can reduce the risks of cancer development. A number of published studies do show many people with cancers have low melatonin levels (Zamfir Chiru, Popescu & Gheorghe, 2014).

If you have troubles with sleep, such as difficulty getting to sleep, interrupted or restless sleep, poor quality sleep or if you do shift work, or if you have any health issues alongside sleep difficulties such as weight gain, low energy or fatigue, mental health issues, or even cancers, then you need to fix your sleep issues for your long-term health. I can help find all the root causes and factors which can be affecting your sleep as well as other related health conditions and symptoms!

Stay healthy!

References:

Zamfir Chiru, A. A., Popescu, C. R., & Gheorghe, D. C. (2014). Melatonin and cancer. Journal of Medicine and Life, 7(3), 373–374.