July 1, 2025 • 29 mins
Hormones, we all have them.
- Testosterone
- Progesterone
- Estrogen
- Melatonin
- Cortisol
- Oxytocin
They act as our bodies' chemical messengers, sending signals into our bloodstream and tissues for functions such as our metabolism, sleep cycles, mood, reproduction and more.
In this episode of the Believe Big podcast, host Ivelisse Page invites Dr. Halie Schoff, a functional chiropractor and integrative health practitioner, to discuss the link between hormones and cancer.
They review actionable tips to naturally balance hormone levels, such as incorporating daylight exposure and red light therapy. Dr. Schoff elaborates on the DUTCH test as a comprehensive method for hormone testing and evaluates the pros and cons of bioidentical hormones.
The conversation also covers the risks associated with birth control pills, natural alternatives for menstrual and birth control management, and highlights the importance of gut and liver health. They conclude with stress management tips and emphasize the impact of a clean, non-toxic environment on hormonal health.
Learn more about Dr. Halie Schoff:
Suggested Resources:
- The Mito Red Light
- JOOVV Red Light Therapy
- The AVA Wearables
- TempDrop - fertility tracking
- Natural Cycles
- Branch Basics - Toss the Toxins
- Clearly Filtered Water Filters - Believe Big Affiliate Link
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ivelisse Page (00:06):
Hi, I'm Ivelisse Page and thanks for listening to
the Believe Big podcast, theshow where we take a deep dive
into your healing with healthexperts, integrative
practitioners biblical faithleaders, and cancer thrivers
from around the globe.
(00:34):
Welcome to today's episode onthe Believe Big podcast.
My name is Ivelisse Page, andit's always an honor to spend
this time with you.
Today we have my friend, Dr.
Halie Schoff back on the show toanswer questions on a topic we
get asked about, a lot, hormonesand cancer.
Today we are going to hear sometips that you can incorporate
(00:56):
today to manage your hormonelevels naturally.
Dr.
Halie Schoff is a licensed andpracticing functional
chiropractor, integrative healthpractitioner, and podcaster with
a master's in Applied ClinicalNutrition.
She is a former collegiateathlete who has a passion for
(01:16):
teaching people how to bridgethe gap between fitness and
holistic health, with a focus onwomen's hormones and gut health,
Dr.
Halie has helped hundreds ofpeople all over the world regain
their health through lifestyle,optimal diet, movement and
functional practices.
Welcome back to the show, Halie!
Dr. Halie Schoff (01:37):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's an honor to be back for mysecond time.
I'm really excited to have thisconversation today.
Ivelisse Page (01:44):
We love having you on.
We always get a great responseand questions from people who
listened to your podcast, theone about detoxifying the body.
So I'm really excited to diveinto today on hormones, cuz
that's another topic as Imentioned that we get a lot of
questions about.
But before we get into thatwould love to hear what your
latest, favorite health tip is.
(02:05):
I know last time you sharedabout reconnecting with nature
and that's a non-negotiable foryou.
Dr. Halie Schoff (02:11):
Totally.
So this one I think would beprobably getting some form of
daylight exposure, but now thatwe had gone through the
wintertime, it's getting alittle bit brighter in the
mornings, now.
I've done a lot of red lighttherapy over the wintertime to
supplement what I wouldn't begetting from the sunrise, but I
would say that has been just acomplete change in my mood and
(02:33):
my energy, my productivity.
And then especially if I comparethat with a cold plunge or cold
exposure in the morning, Ireally notice that there's a
really cool combination ofalertness and just the hormetic
stress on the body in a good waythat kind of primes it.
So that's been my current go-tothing that I'm loving.
I'm still getting outside everyday.
I still take the dog out for awalk, whether I use red light
therapy or not.
(02:54):
But with those dark morningswhen it's dark at 6:00, 6:30,
it's just, it's nice to seesomething stimulating that
emulates that early morningsunrise that really just makes
us feel so good.
Ivelisse Page (03:05):
Yeah, I completely agree.
I've been using ours as well.
We have one, and it is sohelpful.
There's so many benefits to itbesides your mood and energy, as
you know, with muscle recovery.
Dr. Halie Schoff (03:16):
And even cancer.
They're saying there's so manycool things for like immune
system function and I use itprimarily for mood and skin
health, like collagenproduction, anti-inflammatory,
mitochondria health.
There's so many cool things.
Ivelisse Page (03:29):
Yes.
I have the Mito Red.
I've also used the JUUVV in thepast as well, which is also
great.
But, we're gonna have them on totalk about that in an upcoming
episode.
So I'm glad you mentioned thatbecause it is such a, great tool
to have in your toolbox whetheryou have cancer or not.
So let's get into it, can youshare with us what you know
about the link between ourhormones and cancer risk?
Dr. Halie Schoff (03:52):
Yeah, that's a really good question because I
think a lot of people, when theyhear prostate cancer or breast
cancer, it's like weautomatically assume that it's a
hormonal.
In a lot of cases, it seems tobe that it is.
So that's what we'll talk about.
But in some cases it's not.
So in the case of, my mom'scase, she was triple negative,
so estrogen negative,progesterone negative, no
(04:15):
hormone involvement.
So that was kind of interestingto me.
I thought that's what it alwaysis.
So there are certain caseswhere, of course it's something
else driving.
But in the majority of breastcancers, I believe majority of
them are, I don't know the exactpercentage are estrogen driven.
Some can be progesterone.
And what's really cool is toreally talk about this because
(04:36):
estrogen, because of that, canget a bad rap where people are
like, oh, estrogen is horrible,we don't want any estrogen.
You do, because estrogen,especially as we age, is what
helps keep your skin plump.
It keeps our feminine featuresalive, our curves that make
women, women.
It really helps with bonestructure and really keeping
your bones nice and strong.
There's so many great benefitsto estrogen and I think that
(04:58):
estrogen gets a bad rap, andwhere that can become negative
for certain cancers is notnecessarily the hormone estrogen
itself.
It's more detoxificationpathways.
So when we look at something, Irun a lot of DUTCH tests, which
DUTCH just stands for driedurine test for comprehensive
hormones.
And a lot of people get confusedthinking that DUTCH is a stool
(05:18):
test.
And stool tests are completelyseparate.
So DUTCH is a hormone test thatwe test through urine.
And what's cool about that isbecause if you just got standard
blood labs done from just aconventional practice, you're
usually just gonna see what thathormone is.
And the problem also with thattoo, is that's what that hormone
is at that snapshot in time.
Whereas our hormones truly arefluctuating throughout the day,
(05:41):
they're not, they don't stay atthat set point.
And even male hormones are thesame.
Testosterone is highest atcertain points in the day, and
it's lower at certain points inthe day.
Cortisol is fluctuatingthroughout the day and so are
estrogen and progesterone, andso that's why I really like
taking something a little bitmore comprehensive because
you're able to get a weightedaverage and therefore get a
little bit more accurate of arepresentation of what your
(06:03):
hormones truly look like.
I tell people it's similar to ifyou are just like one of those
cameras that are on, like thehighways that take a picture.
You might say, oh, I was drivingon the highway today, but I
don't see my car.
it's not on that highwaypicture, because that was
literally only a snapshot intime.
It's not a continuous timelapse, right?
Whereas the DUTCH is a morecomprehensive test, is more of a
time lapse showing, okay, theseare not just one sample, but
(06:25):
it's multiple, so let's take anaverage and be able to weigh
that out.
So that's obviously a plus.
Ivelisse Page (06:30):
I wanted just to say for those people who aren't
familiar with the DUTCH test,and I had one done and I
completely agree that a bloodtest just simply just takes
where you are right at thatmoment.
And especially for femalehormones, if you're in the
middle of your cycle or beforeor after, or your levels will be
completely different.
So explain to them how a Dutchtest works differently than a
(06:51):
blood test?
Dr. Halie Schoff (06:52):
Yes.
Great question.
So blood tests, you just go andget a blood draw and within 24
to 48 hours you have just theprintout or PDF of your results.
DUTCH test is cool because itcomes with four different
samples.
There is an overnight sample, sotechnically five if you wake up
in the middle of the night.
I like to do mine all in oneday.
You can split it up into twodays, like an afternoon and one
(07:13):
day finish in the following.
I do it like as soon as I wakeup in the morning, I take my
first sample, about an hour ortwo later you're taking sample
number two.
So it's really seeing thatwaking cortisol.
And then later in the day, inthe afternoon evening, you're
taking two more samples.
So with each of those samples,you are getting your hormone
count, you're getting themetabolites, you're getting your
cortisol, you're getting all ofthat information.
(07:35):
And it's just dries on theselittle um, oh, I forget what,
just like paper, uh, that you'dpee on strips and then you just
let it You mail it back to thelab.
It's easy.
And then it does take a littlebit longer for the results to
come.
I usually see them anywhere fromtwo to four weeks.
But in terms of what yourresults will look like I've
looked at blood and I've lookedat DUTCH side by side, same
(07:56):
person, taken pretty quickly orclosely together, and they're
completely different.
I've seen estrogen completelyhigh on a blood lab and it's
completely tanked on a Dutchtest, and their detox pathways
are all messed up.
And we would never get that withthe blood.
So I think blood can definitelybe a helpful starting point.
I don't mean to say any of thisto deter you from getting any
type of standard labs.
(08:16):
I think they can stilldefinitely be helpful, but if
you feel like you didn't get anyanswers from it, there are other
options.
There's other options in termsof taking a little bit deeper
look underneath the hood to seeis there's something missing
that we weren't able to take alook at.
And that's I think what's reallynice about the DUTCH test or any
comprehensive hormone.
That's just the one that I tendto be partial to.
Ivelisse Page (08:37):
Yeah.
And I think it's also veryimportant for women who are in
their perimenopausal ormenopausal season of life where
they're not getting a cycle.
And I wanted to ask you thisquestion cuz I've heard
positives and negatives aboutbioidentical hormones.
What are your thoughts on those?
Dr. Halie Schoff (08:53):
I don't know if I really have a firm thought.
There's a lot of people that Iwork with that go on
bioidenticals for variousreasons.
Maybe they just need a littlebit more symptom relief.
The herbs are more naturalthings that we're doing.
It's not happening as quickly,so they need something a little
bit quicker.
I'm not necessarily againstbioidenticals.
I think with bioidenticals itbecomes even more important that
you test and monitor to makesure, okay, if you're taking an
(09:16):
estrogen, you just really wannamake sure that it's being
detoxified correctly because, itcan get outta hand and you not
have any idea until some otherthings kind of start creeping
up, which is what we're talkingabout today, in terms of, can
hormones lead to this stuff?
And that's not to say if you goon hormone replacement therapy
or bioidenticals, that it willbe a negative cascade or you
(09:37):
will be detoxifying themincorrectly.
But it's just, you just wannamake sure that if you do go on
it that you're taking that extraprecaution.
I guess moral of the story isI'm not against it by any means.
I think it's very so case bycase dependent and you just
really wanna make sure thatyou're properly monitoring it.
Ivelisse Page (09:53):
And I've heard that there's so many different
factors that go into it as faras, do you have a personal
cancer history like myself.
It's really a no for me, justbecause of that.
Do you have a uterus or not havea uterus?
Do you have your ovaries or nothave your ovaries?
It's so many different factorsthat are involved, and I'm glad
you said that because it reallyneeds to be individualized,
(10:13):
monitored by a functional doctorthat really knows this side of
health.
And so I know for me, for thosewho are listening, there are
natural ways and we're gonna getinto some of those that you can
balance your hormones anddetoxify and things like that.
So things that I added, I wasgetting hot flashes and night
(10:33):
sweats and all those fun thingsthat you get once you start
hitting menopause.
And conventional doctors willsay, Hey, it's just a part of
life.
You just have to of go throughit.
And you don't have to sufferthrough that.
And there are so many incrediblethings that you can do.
And just a few things that Idid.
Acupuncture was huge for me.
It stopped the hot flashes andit really helped to regulate my
(10:55):
hormones and to help medetoxify.
I actually incorporated yourcaster oil packs that you
mentioned in our detox segment.
And I do that almost every dayand that I've seen a huge
difference as well.
And then my exercise, I thinkadding that every single day.
I was doing it three times aweek, but adding it every single
(11:15):
day and doing some kind ofweight, really has also helped.
And then my doctor gave me anatural supplement that has also
helped.
So many wonderful things thatyou can do and I am symptom free
and thankfully I'm doing great.
I've got great energy and I'mnot suffering through what
typical women are sufferingthrough when they're going
through this season of theirlife.
Dr. Halie Schoff (11:36):
Absolutely.
Ivelisse Page (11:37):
And so for those women who aren't in this season
yet, there are a lot of youngwomen, women your age that are
childbearing age and tell usabout birth control pills and
how you help women findalternatives to that and why.
Dr. Halie Schoff (11:50):
Oh goodness.
Do you have an hour?
Ivelisse Page (11:53):
I know.
I know it's not a simple answer,but.
Dr. Halie Schoff (11:55):
It's okay.
It's just something I'm reallypassionate about.
So birth control is great tohave access for birth control
prevention.
However, I don't think that aswomen we are educated on other
ways, or we aren't given properinformed consent.
And by informed consent, I meanrisks, alternatives, and
benefits to treatment.
And that could goes for anythingI give informed consent anytime
(12:17):
I do a natural or holisticprotocol with somebody.
So informed consent shouldabsolutely be consistent across
medication use, especially birthcontrol, because it is a type
one carcinogen, which is ironic.
We're going on it to balance ourhormones and it's truthfully not
doing that because it's aBand-Aid solution.
It's simply shutting down yourhormone production.
So your body's relying onsynthetic hormones.
(12:38):
So the period you get on it isnot an actual bleed, it's a
withdrawal bleed.
And in terms of the nutrientdepletions, the stress that it
causes your liver, the damagethat it can do to your
intestinal permeability in yourgut, so it can cause leaky gut,
the mood.
Things that it can cause arevery scary.
Some people have more benignsymptoms than others, but some
people truly do feel likethey're a completely different
(13:00):
person and they feel crazy andthey have no explanation as to
why.
Some feel more emotional or moreanxiety.
I mean, the mood, The moodsymptoms can range.
Weight gain is possible.
I really like educating womenon, okay, here's what the birth
control does, and if you'retrying to be on it to balance
your hormones, here's some otherroot cause reasons that could be
(13:20):
off, and so here's how we solveit.
Or if you're on it for solelybirth prevention, fine, but
here's the risks and thebenefits.
But here's also some othernatural family planning or,
there's so many wearables andapps today.
We've been using that forprobably over five, six years,
and it's really not ascomplicated as I feel like they
want you to think that it is.
(13:41):
It's, it just comes down to alittle bit more knowing your
body.
But I think that's a pricelessthing to be able to learn.
So many people are out of touchand out of tune with how their
body works, that they're scaredto use these other natural
methods, in terms of birthcontrol because, we don't know
our bodies.
And I think that's a really coolthing, as a practitioner, I love
teaching people about theirbodies.
I love helping people step intoknowing their body a little bit
(14:04):
better.
So yeah, coming off of birthcontrol was a journey of my own.
And it was something that I knewthat we wanted to have kids
someday.
I didn't wanna have any issuesand I just wanted to heal my
hormones naturally.
And so now I've transformed, myhealth into kind of my identity
is that, and now I help so manypeople with that, which is
honestly really rewarding.
I really enjoy it and I feelquite outspoken about it a lot
(14:26):
of times, but for a good reason.
I think that this is becoming areally big trend in a good way
of people just waking up to thefact that there's other options
and I think that's great.
Ivelisse Page (14:35):
Yes.
And I completely agree.
When we first got married,goodness, 30 years ago, this was
before I was on this healthjourney, I was on birth control
and I turned from someone who'snormally up and happy and
interested to lethargic and justI had no interest.
I was just somber.
And I'm like, this is not me.
(14:56):
Then they switched me onto alower one and I'm like, why?
And I'm like, no, I'm going offof it.
And so we found alternativemethods.
What are your top naturalalternative message?
You mentioned like an app andthings that you use, so what's
the one you use and what are saytwo others, that young women can
look into?
Dr. Halie Schoff (15:12):
So I first started using the AVA Band, so
that was a band that you'd weararound your wrist at night.
I wore that for probably two,two and a half years.
I liked it, but then when theband started breaking I'd have
to get like a new band becausethere was nothing wrong with the
sensor, but it was more the banditself.
I just started looking intoother options, right?
I wanna be able to give peoplemultiple options.
(15:33):
I wanted to try things.
So then I moved to the Tempdrop,which I really like.
It's a little bit better of aprice point, which I understand
sometimes that's a barrier forpeople.
So that was a huge bonus.
I really like that I get alittle bit more in depth sleep
data.
I've been wearing that for, oh,not quite a year yet, but I'm
really liking that one.
Natural Cycles is another one.
I don't have personal experiencewith that, but you don't
(15:56):
necessarily even have to get awearable, like I'm talking about
with these different things.
You can simply take your basalbody temperature first thing in
the morning and plug it intovarious free apps.
There's Flo, there's Clue,there's even on a health app of
the iPhone.
And what you're looking foressentially is, you're looking
for cervical mucus changesaround the time of mid cycle,
(16:16):
around ovulation.
And then you're looking forthose increase in temperatures
to confirm that you've ovulated.
So that's simply how you can doit on your own.
If you're a little apprehensiveabout doing it on your own, I
think the apps and the wearablesare great and there's tons of
resources out there to help younavigate this kind of uncharted
water If you've never beenfamiliar or ever heard of this
(16:38):
kind of stuff before.
But those are personally, I'dsay the, at least the top two
that I've used.
And then I've heard great thingsabout Natural Cycle.
I believe it syncs with, the,what's it called, Aura Ring.
so that's pretty interesting.
I've wore a WHOOP for a while,not for cycle tracking purposes,
but I know that if you do wear aWHOOP, I think they're getting
into a little bit more of cycletracking, which is cool.
Ivelisse Page (16:58):
That's awesome.
Are there any other things thatyou've heard of, IUDs or natural
condoms that you would recommendthat would be safe for women to
use?
Dr. Halie Schoff (17:08):
I'd say so like a non-hormonal IUD would be
like a copper IUD and I tend tonot recommend against, but I
guess the informed consent withthat is essentially the way that
it works is the copper producesmicro doses of inflammation in
the pelvis and the cervix to beable to kill sperm.
So essentially the mechanism ofhow it works is micro amounts of
inflammation, and we know theinflammation leads to disease
(17:31):
especially long term.
So for that reason, I don't likeit.
Ivelisse Page (17:33):
Yes.
Dr. Halie Schoff (17:33):
Especially if you have painful periods or
anything, a history of that,it's gonna make it worse.
And then the other alternativeto that would be something like
the Mirena, which I reallyhaven't seen anybody have a
great experience on that.
In the sense of they generallydon't get a bleed.
They say you can ovulate on it,but I don't understand how
that's possible.
I haven't seen that to be thecase with probably hundreds of
people that have been on it thatI've worked with.
(17:55):
And you're not getting a bleedwith it, which might be nice
because you don't have a bleed,but that's a really vital aspect
that we have to our health, thatwe should be doing every single
month to be able to cleartissue.
Because again, when tissue's notshedding, when it should be any,
it can cause for mutationbuildup and all those things.
Not saying it's gonna causecancer, but it doesn't lead to
(18:15):
optimal health when donelong-term.
You can get non-toxic condoms.
That's a great solution.
There's a lot of good ones.
There's plenty of them onAmazon.
That's a a great solution aswell.
Ivelisse Page (18:26):
That's great.
So why do our hormones getdisrupted?
Dr. Halie Schoff (18:30):
Ooh, stress, I think being like the big
overarching picture becausestress can be environmental
toxins.
Stress can be mental andemotional stress.
Stress can be physical.
It could be we're overexercising or we're under moving
or we're at not a healthy bodyweight for where we should be,
or we're eating inflammatoryfoods or we're not eating enough
(18:50):
of the right things, or we'reeating too much of things that
we shouldn't.
Really we're probably so sick ofhearing stress causes
everything, but when we look atstress and we see what it can
cause, it could be things inyour environment, it could be
the stress, it could be you notsleeping properly.
All of those, especially when ina perfect cascade together
really love to wreak havoc onour hormones.
Ivelisse Page (19:10):
Yes.
And so let's go through somenatural ways to balance these
hormones and I always just feellike prevention is so important.
And sometimes people feel like,that's just the way life is.
I don't sleep through the night,or I can't get this weight off
and there's nothing I can doabout it.
And they give up.
But, I encourage those that arelistening there are so many
(19:30):
things that you can do that canwake up your system and can help
you detoxify and can help youbalance your hormones naturally.
And so let's go through a few ofthose if in the remaining time
that we have left.
Dr. Halie Schoff (19:43):
Absolutely.
I think some of the importantthings you wanna think about is,
when I think about hormonehealth, I think about liver
health and I think about guthealth because hormones, they
have a root cause for whythey're off.
And it's not just, oh, yourestrogen's just low.
It's, or your estrogen's toohigh.
If your estrogen's too high.
Are you pooping regularly?
Do you, are you eating probioticrich foods?
(20:04):
Are you eating foods that canhelp support your liver?
Like cruciferous vegetables,carrots, taking like artichokes
and leafy greens, arugula, allthose different things that are
really great for simulating theliver, dandelion tea.
Those are some obviously greatwhole food sources and being
able to clean up yourenvironment.
So really minimize the toxins,which we live in a toxic world,
(20:27):
that kind of is what it is, butit's all about what we can
control.
So I'd say the biggest thingsyou wanna focus on first is your
water, making sure your water'sfiltered and clean.
Then from there, you wearclothes every day, okay, can you
get a better detergent?
That is not something that Iwalk by in our neighborhood and
Nick, my husband and I can justsmell the detergents outside
(20:48):
people's houses and it gives usan instant headache.
We personally use Branch Basics.
We really like it.
We use it for everything.
And that's, I think why it'sconvenient.
We get to concentrate.
We use it for our bathroom, allpurpose, laundry, it's just very
easy.
So that's our personal go-to.
So when you're thinking ofmaking these clean swaps for
your hormones and for health andfor disease prevention, just
(21:09):
look at what you use the mostand then you can trickle down.
Then you go to personal careproducts, lotions, the stuff
you're using the most.
The things that you're using foryour makeup that you may be used
twice a month.
Don't worry about switchingthose until you maybe run out of
what you currently have.
Look at kind of the big picturesfirst, the soaps, the shampoos,
the conditioners, the lotions,the sprays, the deodorants,
(21:30):
especially deodorant for hormonehealth because we're putting it
in an area that is very close tobreast tissue.
It's very close to the biggestnetwork of lymph flow nodes,
which is in our axillary, ourarmpit.
So just looking at those simplethings first, and hopefully if
you're listening to this, maybeyou've heard before, maybe
you're on that journey, maybeyou're not.
But this is a good reminder tocontinue on that journey or get
(21:53):
started a little bit more oncleaning out some of those
swaps.
And then I'd say my last mostunderrated, but most important
would be find ways to balanceyour stress.
So I'm very big into meditation.
I've seen it work wonders formyself.
I can feel the difference and Ican see the difference with my
hormones.
I think any form of stressmanagement, whether you like to
go out for a walk, you like tojust be with your dog, you be
(22:15):
with your spouse, call somebodythat you love, journal,
meditate, whatever that form ofactivity that is that gets you
out of that sympathetic mode, iscrucial for balancing hormones,
and I'd say that's people'sprobably least favorite cause
it's not as fun, it's not assexy.
I say it's fun.
I say, let's make meditation funagain.
I say, let's make it greatbecause it's so important.
(22:36):
But it's not the fancysupplement.
It's not the fancy castor oilpack.
It's not the wearable thatpeople can wear where it's whoa,
this is cool.
It's one of those things whereit's oh, I have to meditate.
Maybe you don't have thatmindset, but when I say stress,
people kind of like roll theireyes and they're like, yeah,
whatever lady.
I'll try But it's, it really isone of the most powerful things
that we can do.
Ivelisse Page (22:55):
I know a huge difference when I have my quiet
time in the morning and havethat time of prayer and
meditation and the times when Iwait till later in the day, it's
just a completely different day.
It's like your whole mindsetshifts.
Dr. Halie Schoff (23:08):
Totally.
Ivelisse Page (23:08):
And so having that routine like, drinking a
glass of water with a little bitof lemon juice or good filtered
water first thing in, in themorning before your coffee.
I think it's just those simplethings that gets your body into
a state of, okay, I'm, balancednow, let's get on with our day.
But I think that's huge.
And you can be closing your eyesand praying or meditating and
(23:32):
just taking deep breaths.
Yep.
The importance of deepbreathing.
Yep.
That many of us don't take deepbreaths throughout the day we're
rushing through.
So a hundred percent, Icompletely agree with that.
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care together.
Ivelisse Page (25:17):
Going back to your filtered water, I think
this is one aspect that a lot ofpeople are confused about and
some people know, yeah, I needto have filtered water, but then
they're drinking from plasticwater bottles or plastic
containers and even though theysay BPA free.
What are your thoughts on thatand what are the best sources of
filtered water for you that youfound?
Dr. Halie Schoff (25:36):
I really try to avoid plastic like the plague
because there's, BPA stands forbisphenol A, so because it's
bisphenol A free, but it's stillplastic, it still contains other
bisphenols, BP X, Y, Z.
So it's not completely non-toxiclike they want you to think like
it's great that there's not bpa,but it's, there's still other
stuff, so it doesn't come riskfree.
(25:57):
If I'm in a place where a cleanfiltered water out of a water
bottle is my only optioncompared to tap water from a
dirty place.
I probably am gonna pick theplastic water bottle.
In terms of what I'm trying todo daily, it's a glass,
stainless steel are my go-tos.
In terms of filtration, we use afew different things.
we use Berkey.
(26:17):
We have a water distiller thatI'll remineralize.
I just got the clearly filteredpitcher, especially cuz that's
so much easier when we'retraveling driving somewhere in
the car.
I've heard really great thingsabout that.
It's a little bit moreaffordable than something like
the Berkey and it's like theBrita on steroids, so it's
similar.
It looks like that, but it'sfiltering out 200 plus
contaminants.
(26:37):
So I really like it.
I think it's got a really greatprice point.
And then, the clearly filteredtravel water bottles are
amazing.
We used those when we weretraveling a few weeks ago.
I'm gonna use the one I'mtraveling again.
Cuz I feel like that's what allI am is on the go.
And it's great.
It's just even though you mightbe putting your water bottle in
a airport, the one where youstick it under the thing and it
says filtered, but it's notreally filtered.
(26:58):
It might just be filtering outchlorine so it tastes better.
That's my go-to.
Most of our body is water, so ifyou do anything trying to get
clean water is I'd say one ofthe most important things that,
that we can do.
Ivelisse Page (27:11):
We could do a whole segment and we need maybe
have you back to talk about justwater in itself.
Because it is, and sometimes youthink, I filter my water for
cooking.
But then think about the waterthat you're showering with.
And that you're watering yourgarden with, and we have a whole
home water filtration system.
When we built our house, it, itjust transformed the peace of
(27:32):
mind knowing that our water getsrid of all of those things.
And then we have a Berkey is agreat solution for the office or
if you're an apartment or we'vesent them to our kids because,
no matter where they are youknow that they're going to have
good access to, to clean water.
But I'm really grateful for thetips that you shared because I
(27:53):
really don't want people to beoverwhelmed.
There is a lot we could do awhole week seminar on just
hormone health balancing.
Dr. Halie Schoff (28:00):
Oh yeah.
Ivelisse Page (28:00):
Detoxing.
The important thing is to startsomewhere, not to give up and
just say, okay, I'm gonna focuson this one thing.
And then once I have that inthere, then I'm gonna add on,
like you said, the personal careproducts.
And then I'm gonna work onstress management or, whatever.
But I just encourage those whoare listening, take on what you
heard today and think about whatthree things can I change today
(28:24):
that's gonna be most beneficialfor my health.
And I just encourage you guys todo that.
But thank you so much, Dr.
Halie for being on with us andsharing your insight and
knowledge with all of us here atBelieve Big.
Dr. Halie Schoff (28:37):
Thank you so much for having me back.
I love your mission.
I love everything that you allare doing, and, I'm honored to
be back and happy to come backanytime you need me.
Thank you.
Ivelisse Page (28:53):
If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to
help support our podcast, pleasesubscribe and share it with
others.
Be sure to visit believebig.orgto access the show notes and
discover our bonus content.
Thanks again and keep BelievingBig!
Hi, I'm Ivelisse Page and thanks for listening to
the Believe Big podcast, theshow where we take a deep dive
into your healing with healthexperts, integrative
practitioners biblical faithleaders, and cancer thrivers
from around the globe.
(00:34):
Welcome to today's episode onthe Believe Big podcast.
My name is Ivelisse Page, andit's always an honor to spend
this time with you.
Today we have my friend, Dr.
Halie Schoff back on the show toanswer questions on a topic we
get asked about, a lot, hormonesand cancer.
Today we are going to hear sometips that you can incorporate
(00:56):
today to manage your hormonelevels naturally.
Dr.
Halie Schoff is a licensed andpracticing functional
chiropractor, integrative healthpractitioner, and podcaster with
a master's in Applied ClinicalNutrition.
She is a former collegiateathlete who has a passion for
(01:16):
teaching people how to bridgethe gap between fitness and
holistic health, with a focus onwomen's hormones and gut health,
Dr.
Halie has helped hundreds ofpeople all over the world regain
their health through lifestyle,optimal diet, movement and
functional practices.
Welcome back to the show, Halie!
Dr. Halie Schoff (01:37):
Thank you so much for having me.
It's an honor to be back for mysecond time.
I'm really excited to have thisconversation today.
Ivelisse Page (01:44):
We love having you on.
We always get a great responseand questions from people who
listened to your podcast, theone about detoxifying the body.
So I'm really excited to diveinto today on hormones, cuz
that's another topic as Imentioned that we get a lot of
questions about.
But before we get into thatwould love to hear what your
latest, favorite health tip is.
(02:05):
I know last time you sharedabout reconnecting with nature
and that's a non-negotiable foryou.
Dr. Halie Schoff (02:11):
Totally.
So this one I think would beprobably getting some form of
daylight exposure, but now thatwe had gone through the
wintertime, it's getting alittle bit brighter in the
mornings, now.
I've done a lot of red lighttherapy over the wintertime to
supplement what I wouldn't begetting from the sunrise, but I
would say that has been just acomplete change in my mood and
(02:33):
my energy, my productivity.
And then especially if I comparethat with a cold plunge or cold
exposure in the morning, Ireally notice that there's a
really cool combination ofalertness and just the hormetic
stress on the body in a good waythat kind of primes it.
So that's been my current go-tothing that I'm loving.
I'm still getting outside everyday.
I still take the dog out for awalk, whether I use red light
therapy or not.
(02:54):
But with those dark morningswhen it's dark at 6:00, 6:30,
it's just, it's nice to seesomething stimulating that
emulates that early morningsunrise that really just makes
us feel so good.
Ivelisse Page (03:05):
Yeah, I completely agree.
I've been using ours as well.
We have one, and it is sohelpful.
There's so many benefits to itbesides your mood and energy, as
you know, with muscle recovery.
Dr. Halie Schoff (03:16):
And even cancer.
They're saying there's so manycool things for like immune
system function and I use itprimarily for mood and skin
health, like collagenproduction, anti-inflammatory,
mitochondria health.
There's so many cool things.
Ivelisse Page (03:29):
Yes.
I have the Mito Red.
I've also used the JUUVV in thepast as well, which is also
great.
But, we're gonna have them on totalk about that in an upcoming
episode.
So I'm glad you mentioned thatbecause it is such a, great tool
to have in your toolbox whetheryou have cancer or not.
So let's get into it, can youshare with us what you know
about the link between ourhormones and cancer risk?
Dr. Halie Schoff (03:52):
Yeah, that's a really good question because I
think a lot of people, when theyhear prostate cancer or breast
cancer, it's like weautomatically assume that it's a
hormonal.
In a lot of cases, it seems tobe that it is.
So that's what we'll talk about.
But in some cases it's not.
So in the case of, my mom'scase, she was triple negative,
so estrogen negative,progesterone negative, no
(04:15):
hormone involvement.
So that was kind of interestingto me.
I thought that's what it alwaysis.
So there are certain caseswhere, of course it's something
else driving.
But in the majority of breastcancers, I believe majority of
them are, I don't know the exactpercentage are estrogen driven.
Some can be progesterone.
And what's really cool is toreally talk about this because
(04:36):
estrogen, because of that, canget a bad rap where people are
like, oh, estrogen is horrible,we don't want any estrogen.
You do, because estrogen,especially as we age, is what
helps keep your skin plump.
It keeps our feminine featuresalive, our curves that make
women, women.
It really helps with bonestructure and really keeping
your bones nice and strong.
There's so many great benefitsto estrogen and I think that
(04:58):
estrogen gets a bad rap, andwhere that can become negative
for certain cancers is notnecessarily the hormone estrogen
itself.
It's more detoxificationpathways.
So when we look at something, Irun a lot of DUTCH tests, which
DUTCH just stands for driedurine test for comprehensive
hormones.
And a lot of people get confusedthinking that DUTCH is a stool
(05:18):
test.
And stool tests are completelyseparate.
So DUTCH is a hormone test thatwe test through urine.
And what's cool about that isbecause if you just got standard
blood labs done from just aconventional practice, you're
usually just gonna see what thathormone is.
And the problem also with thattoo, is that's what that hormone
is at that snapshot in time.
Whereas our hormones truly arefluctuating throughout the day,
(05:41):
they're not, they don't stay atthat set point.
And even male hormones are thesame.
Testosterone is highest atcertain points in the day, and
it's lower at certain points inthe day.
Cortisol is fluctuatingthroughout the day and so are
estrogen and progesterone, andso that's why I really like
taking something a little bitmore comprehensive because
you're able to get a weightedaverage and therefore get a
little bit more accurate of arepresentation of what your
(06:03):
hormones truly look like.
I tell people it's similar to ifyou are just like one of those
cameras that are on, like thehighways that take a picture.
You might say, oh, I was drivingon the highway today, but I
don't see my car.
it's not on that highwaypicture, because that was
literally only a snapshot intime.
It's not a continuous timelapse, right?
Whereas the DUTCH is a morecomprehensive test, is more of a
time lapse showing, okay, theseare not just one sample, but
(06:25):
it's multiple, so let's take anaverage and be able to weigh
that out.
So that's obviously a plus.
Ivelisse Page (06:30):
I wanted just to say for those people who aren't
familiar with the DUTCH test,and I had one done and I
completely agree that a bloodtest just simply just takes
where you are right at thatmoment.
And especially for femalehormones, if you're in the
middle of your cycle or beforeor after, or your levels will be
completely different.
So explain to them how a Dutchtest works differently than a
(06:51):
blood test?
Dr. Halie Schoff (06:52):
Yes.
Great question.
So blood tests, you just go andget a blood draw and within 24
to 48 hours you have just theprintout or PDF of your results.
DUTCH test is cool because itcomes with four different
samples.
There is an overnight sample, sotechnically five if you wake up
in the middle of the night.
I like to do mine all in oneday.
You can split it up into twodays, like an afternoon and one
(07:13):
day finish in the following.
I do it like as soon as I wakeup in the morning, I take my
first sample, about an hour ortwo later you're taking sample
number two.
So it's really seeing thatwaking cortisol.
And then later in the day, inthe afternoon evening, you're
taking two more samples.
So with each of those samples,you are getting your hormone
count, you're getting themetabolites, you're getting your
cortisol, you're getting all ofthat information.
(07:35):
And it's just dries on theselittle um, oh, I forget what,
just like paper, uh, that you'dpee on strips and then you just
let it You mail it back to thelab.
It's easy.
And then it does take a littlebit longer for the results to
come.
I usually see them anywhere fromtwo to four weeks.
But in terms of what yourresults will look like I've
looked at blood and I've lookedat DUTCH side by side, same
(07:56):
person, taken pretty quickly orclosely together, and they're
completely different.
I've seen estrogen completelyhigh on a blood lab and it's
completely tanked on a Dutchtest, and their detox pathways
are all messed up.
And we would never get that withthe blood.
So I think blood can definitelybe a helpful starting point.
I don't mean to say any of thisto deter you from getting any
type of standard labs.
(08:16):
I think they can stilldefinitely be helpful, but if
you feel like you didn't get anyanswers from it, there are other
options.
There's other options in termsof taking a little bit deeper
look underneath the hood to seeis there's something missing
that we weren't able to take alook at.
And that's I think what's reallynice about the DUTCH test or any
comprehensive hormone.
That's just the one that I tendto be partial to.
Ivelisse Page (08:37):
Yeah.
And I think it's also veryimportant for women who are in
their perimenopausal ormenopausal season of life where
they're not getting a cycle.
And I wanted to ask you thisquestion cuz I've heard
positives and negatives aboutbioidentical hormones.
What are your thoughts on those?
Dr. Halie Schoff (08:53):
I don't know if I really have a firm thought.
There's a lot of people that Iwork with that go on
bioidenticals for variousreasons.
Maybe they just need a littlebit more symptom relief.
The herbs are more naturalthings that we're doing.
It's not happening as quickly,so they need something a little
bit quicker.
I'm not necessarily againstbioidenticals.
I think with bioidenticals itbecomes even more important that
you test and monitor to makesure, okay, if you're taking an
(09:16):
estrogen, you just really wannamake sure that it's being
detoxified correctly because, itcan get outta hand and you not
have any idea until some otherthings kind of start creeping
up, which is what we're talkingabout today, in terms of, can
hormones lead to this stuff?
And that's not to say if you goon hormone replacement therapy
or bioidenticals, that it willbe a negative cascade or you
(09:37):
will be detoxifying themincorrectly.
But it's just, you just wannamake sure that if you do go on
it that you're taking that extraprecaution.
I guess moral of the story isI'm not against it by any means.
I think it's very so case bycase dependent and you just
really wanna make sure thatyou're properly monitoring it.
Ivelisse Page (09:53):
And I've heard that there's so many different
factors that go into it as faras, do you have a personal
cancer history like myself.
It's really a no for me, justbecause of that.
Do you have a uterus or not havea uterus?
Do you have your ovaries or nothave your ovaries?
It's so many different factorsthat are involved, and I'm glad
you said that because it reallyneeds to be individualized,
(10:13):
monitored by a functional doctorthat really knows this side of
health.
And so I know for me, for thosewho are listening, there are
natural ways and we're gonna getinto some of those that you can
balance your hormones anddetoxify and things like that.
So things that I added, I wasgetting hot flashes and night
(10:33):
sweats and all those fun thingsthat you get once you start
hitting menopause.
And conventional doctors willsay, Hey, it's just a part of
life.
You just have to of go throughit.
And you don't have to sufferthrough that.
And there are so many incrediblethings that you can do.
And just a few things that Idid.
Acupuncture was huge for me.
It stopped the hot flashes andit really helped to regulate my
(10:55):
hormones and to help medetoxify.
I actually incorporated yourcaster oil packs that you
mentioned in our detox segment.
And I do that almost every dayand that I've seen a huge
difference as well.
And then my exercise, I thinkadding that every single day.
I was doing it three times aweek, but adding it every single
(11:15):
day and doing some kind ofweight, really has also helped.
And then my doctor gave me anatural supplement that has also
helped.
So many wonderful things thatyou can do and I am symptom free
and thankfully I'm doing great.
I've got great energy and I'mnot suffering through what
typical women are sufferingthrough when they're going
through this season of theirlife.
Dr. Halie Schoff (11:36):
Absolutely.
Ivelisse Page (11:37):
And so for those women who aren't in this season
yet, there are a lot of youngwomen, women your age that are
childbearing age and tell usabout birth control pills and
how you help women findalternatives to that and why.
Dr. Halie Schoff (11:50):
Oh goodness.
Do you have an hour?
Ivelisse Page (11:53):
I know.
I know it's not a simple answer,but.
Dr. Halie Schoff (11:55):
It's okay.
It's just something I'm reallypassionate about.
So birth control is great tohave access for birth control
prevention.
However, I don't think that aswomen we are educated on other
ways, or we aren't given properinformed consent.
And by informed consent, I meanrisks, alternatives, and
benefits to treatment.
And that could goes for anythingI give informed consent anytime
(12:17):
I do a natural or holisticprotocol with somebody.
So informed consent shouldabsolutely be consistent across
medication use, especially birthcontrol, because it is a type
one carcinogen, which is ironic.
We're going on it to balance ourhormones and it's truthfully not
doing that because it's aBand-Aid solution.
It's simply shutting down yourhormone production.
So your body's relying onsynthetic hormones.
(12:38):
So the period you get on it isnot an actual bleed, it's a
withdrawal bleed.
And in terms of the nutrientdepletions, the stress that it
causes your liver, the damagethat it can do to your
intestinal permeability in yourgut, so it can cause leaky gut,
the mood.
Things that it can cause arevery scary.
Some people have more benignsymptoms than others, but some
people truly do feel likethey're a completely different
(13:00):
person and they feel crazy andthey have no explanation as to
why.
Some feel more emotional or moreanxiety.
I mean, the mood, The moodsymptoms can range.
Weight gain is possible.
I really like educating womenon, okay, here's what the birth
control does, and if you'retrying to be on it to balance
your hormones, here's some otherroot cause reasons that could be
(13:20):
off, and so here's how we solveit.
Or if you're on it for solelybirth prevention, fine, but
here's the risks and thebenefits.
But here's also some othernatural family planning or,
there's so many wearables andapps today.
We've been using that forprobably over five, six years,
and it's really not ascomplicated as I feel like they
want you to think that it is.
(13:41):
It's, it just comes down to alittle bit more knowing your
body.
But I think that's a pricelessthing to be able to learn.
So many people are out of touchand out of tune with how their
body works, that they're scaredto use these other natural
methods, in terms of birthcontrol because, we don't know
our bodies.
And I think that's a really coolthing, as a practitioner, I love
teaching people about theirbodies.
I love helping people step intoknowing their body a little bit
(14:04):
better.
So yeah, coming off of birthcontrol was a journey of my own.
And it was something that I knewthat we wanted to have kids
someday.
I didn't wanna have any issuesand I just wanted to heal my
hormones naturally.
And so now I've transformed, myhealth into kind of my identity
is that, and now I help so manypeople with that, which is
honestly really rewarding.
I really enjoy it and I feelquite outspoken about it a lot
(14:26):
of times, but for a good reason.
I think that this is becoming areally big trend in a good way
of people just waking up to thefact that there's other options
and I think that's great.
Ivelisse Page (14:35):
Yes.
And I completely agree.
When we first got married,goodness, 30 years ago, this was
before I was on this healthjourney, I was on birth control
and I turned from someone who'snormally up and happy and
interested to lethargic and justI had no interest.
I was just somber.
And I'm like, this is not me.
(14:56):
Then they switched me onto alower one and I'm like, why?
And I'm like, no, I'm going offof it.
And so we found alternativemethods.
What are your top naturalalternative message?
You mentioned like an app andthings that you use, so what's
the one you use and what are saytwo others, that young women can
look into?
Dr. Halie Schoff (15:12):
So I first started using the AVA Band, so
that was a band that you'd weararound your wrist at night.
I wore that for probably two,two and a half years.
I liked it, but then when theband started breaking I'd have
to get like a new band becausethere was nothing wrong with the
sensor, but it was more the banditself.
I just started looking intoother options, right?
I wanna be able to give peoplemultiple options.
(15:33):
I wanted to try things.
So then I moved to the Tempdrop,which I really like.
It's a little bit better of aprice point, which I understand
sometimes that's a barrier forpeople.
So that was a huge bonus.
I really like that I get alittle bit more in depth sleep
data.
I've been wearing that for, oh,not quite a year yet, but I'm
really liking that one.
Natural Cycles is another one.
I don't have personal experiencewith that, but you don't
(15:56):
necessarily even have to get awearable, like I'm talking about
with these different things.
You can simply take your basalbody temperature first thing in
the morning and plug it intovarious free apps.
There's Flo, there's Clue,there's even on a health app of
the iPhone.
And what you're looking foressentially is, you're looking
for cervical mucus changesaround the time of mid cycle,
(16:16):
around ovulation.
And then you're looking forthose increase in temperatures
to confirm that you've ovulated.
So that's simply how you can doit on your own.
If you're a little apprehensiveabout doing it on your own, I
think the apps and the wearablesare great and there's tons of
resources out there to help younavigate this kind of uncharted
water If you've never beenfamiliar or ever heard of this
(16:38):
kind of stuff before.
But those are personally, I'dsay the, at least the top two
that I've used.
And then I've heard great thingsabout Natural Cycle.
I believe it syncs with, the,what's it called, Aura Ring.
so that's pretty interesting.
I've wore a WHOOP for a while,not for cycle tracking purposes,
but I know that if you do wear aWHOOP, I think they're getting
into a little bit more of cycletracking, which is cool.
Ivelisse Page (16:58):
That's awesome.
Are there any other things thatyou've heard of, IUDs or natural
condoms that you would recommendthat would be safe for women to
use?
Dr. Halie Schoff (17:08):
I'd say so like a non-hormonal IUD would be
like a copper IUD and I tend tonot recommend against, but I
guess the informed consent withthat is essentially the way that
it works is the copper producesmicro doses of inflammation in
the pelvis and the cervix to beable to kill sperm.
So essentially the mechanism ofhow it works is micro amounts of
inflammation, and we know theinflammation leads to disease
(17:31):
especially long term.
So for that reason, I don't likeit.
Ivelisse Page (17:33):
Yes.
Dr. Halie Schoff (17:33):
Especially if you have painful periods or
anything, a history of that,it's gonna make it worse.
And then the other alternativeto that would be something like
the Mirena, which I reallyhaven't seen anybody have a
great experience on that.
In the sense of they generallydon't get a bleed.
They say you can ovulate on it,but I don't understand how
that's possible.
I haven't seen that to be thecase with probably hundreds of
people that have been on it thatI've worked with.
(17:55):
And you're not getting a bleedwith it, which might be nice
because you don't have a bleed,but that's a really vital aspect
that we have to our health, thatwe should be doing every single
month to be able to cleartissue.
Because again, when tissue's notshedding, when it should be any,
it can cause for mutationbuildup and all those things.
Not saying it's gonna causecancer, but it doesn't lead to
(18:15):
optimal health when donelong-term.
You can get non-toxic condoms.
That's a great solution.
There's a lot of good ones.
There's plenty of them onAmazon.
That's a a great solution aswell.
Ivelisse Page (18:26):
That's great.
So why do our hormones getdisrupted?
Dr. Halie Schoff (18:30):
Ooh, stress, I think being like the big
overarching picture becausestress can be environmental
toxins.
Stress can be mental andemotional stress.
Stress can be physical.
It could be we're overexercising or we're under moving
or we're at not a healthy bodyweight for where we should be,
or we're eating inflammatoryfoods or we're not eating enough
(18:50):
of the right things, or we'reeating too much of things that
we shouldn't.
Really we're probably so sick ofhearing stress causes
everything, but when we look atstress and we see what it can
cause, it could be things inyour environment, it could be
the stress, it could be you notsleeping properly.
All of those, especially when ina perfect cascade together
really love to wreak havoc onour hormones.
Ivelisse Page (19:10):
Yes.
And so let's go through somenatural ways to balance these
hormones and I always just feellike prevention is so important.
And sometimes people feel like,that's just the way life is.
I don't sleep through the night,or I can't get this weight off
and there's nothing I can doabout it.
And they give up.
But, I encourage those that arelistening there are so many
(19:30):
things that you can do that canwake up your system and can help
you detoxify and can help youbalance your hormones naturally.
And so let's go through a few ofthose if in the remaining time
that we have left.
Dr. Halie Schoff (19:43):
Absolutely.
I think some of the importantthings you wanna think about is,
when I think about hormonehealth, I think about liver
health and I think about guthealth because hormones, they
have a root cause for whythey're off.
And it's not just, oh, yourestrogen's just low.
It's, or your estrogen's toohigh.
If your estrogen's too high.
Are you pooping regularly?
Do you, are you eating probioticrich foods?
(20:04):
Are you eating foods that canhelp support your liver?
Like cruciferous vegetables,carrots, taking like artichokes
and leafy greens, arugula, allthose different things that are
really great for simulating theliver, dandelion tea.
Those are some obviously greatwhole food sources and being
able to clean up yourenvironment.
So really minimize the toxins,which we live in a toxic world,
(20:27):
that kind of is what it is, butit's all about what we can
control.
So I'd say the biggest thingsyou wanna focus on first is your
water, making sure your water'sfiltered and clean.
Then from there, you wearclothes every day, okay, can you
get a better detergent?
That is not something that Iwalk by in our neighborhood and
Nick, my husband and I can justsmell the detergents outside
(20:48):
people's houses and it gives usan instant headache.
We personally use Branch Basics.
We really like it.
We use it for everything.
And that's, I think why it'sconvenient.
We get to concentrate.
We use it for our bathroom, allpurpose, laundry, it's just very
easy.
So that's our personal go-to.
So when you're thinking ofmaking these clean swaps for
your hormones and for health andfor disease prevention, just
(21:09):
look at what you use the mostand then you can trickle down.
Then you go to personal careproducts, lotions, the stuff
you're using the most.
The things that you're using foryour makeup that you may be used
twice a month.
Don't worry about switchingthose until you maybe run out of
what you currently have.
Look at kind of the big picturesfirst, the soaps, the shampoos,
the conditioners, the lotions,the sprays, the deodorants,
(21:30):
especially deodorant for hormonehealth because we're putting it
in an area that is very close tobreast tissue.
It's very close to the biggestnetwork of lymph flow nodes,
which is in our axillary, ourarmpit.
So just looking at those simplethings first, and hopefully if
you're listening to this, maybeyou've heard before, maybe
you're on that journey, maybeyou're not.
But this is a good reminder tocontinue on that journey or get
(21:53):
started a little bit more oncleaning out some of those
swaps.
And then I'd say my last mostunderrated, but most important
would be find ways to balanceyour stress.
So I'm very big into meditation.
I've seen it work wonders formyself.
I can feel the difference and Ican see the difference with my
hormones.
I think any form of stressmanagement, whether you like to
go out for a walk, you like tojust be with your dog, you be
(22:15):
with your spouse, call somebodythat you love, journal,
meditate, whatever that form ofactivity that is that gets you
out of that sympathetic mode, iscrucial for balancing hormones,
and I'd say that's people'sprobably least favorite cause
it's not as fun, it's not assexy.
I say it's fun.
I say, let's make meditation funagain.
I say, let's make it greatbecause it's so important.
(22:36):
But it's not the fancysupplement.
It's not the fancy castor oilpack.
It's not the wearable thatpeople can wear where it's whoa,
this is cool.
It's one of those things whereit's oh, I have to meditate.
Maybe you don't have thatmindset, but when I say stress,
people kind of like roll theireyes and they're like, yeah,
whatever lady.
I'll try But it's, it really isone of the most powerful things
that we can do.
Ivelisse Page (22:55):
I know a huge difference when I have my quiet
time in the morning and havethat time of prayer and
meditation and the times when Iwait till later in the day, it's
just a completely different day.
It's like your whole mindsetshifts.
Dr. Halie Schoff (23:08):
Totally.
Ivelisse Page (23:08):
And so having that routine like, drinking a
glass of water with a little bitof lemon juice or good filtered
water first thing in, in themorning before your coffee.
I think it's just those simplethings that gets your body into
a state of, okay, I'm, balancednow, let's get on with our day.
But I think that's huge.
And you can be closing your eyesand praying or meditating and
(23:32):
just taking deep breaths.
Yep.
The importance of deepbreathing.
Yep.
That many of us don't take deepbreaths throughout the day we're
rushing through.
So a hundred percent, Icompletely agree with that.
Believe Big (23:43):
What if one day could shift everything you
thought you knew about cancercare?
Join us on Saturday, September13th, 2025 for the Believe Big
Integrative Cancer Symposium,live in Towson, Maryland, or
from the comfort of your homewith virtual access.
This powerful one day event runsfrom 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM and
(24:06):
features some of the leadingvoices in integrative oncology:
Dr.
Steve Rallis, Jen Nolan ofRemission Nutrition, Dr.
Lucas Tims and Dr.
Derek Guillory of Root CausesMedical Clinic, Dr.
Michelle Niesley of Chemo andCrayons, and our very own
Ivelisse Page.
You'll walk away with real worldstrategies on therapies like
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mistletoe, IV nutrienttreatments, anti-inflammatory
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Let's redefine what's possibleand advance the future of cancer
(25:15):
care together.
Ivelisse Page (25:17):
Going back to your filtered water, I think
this is one aspect that a lot ofpeople are confused about and
some people know, yeah, I needto have filtered water, but then
they're drinking from plasticwater bottles or plastic
containers and even though theysay BPA free.
What are your thoughts on thatand what are the best sources of
filtered water for you that youfound?
Dr. Halie Schoff (25:36):
I really try to avoid plastic like the plague
because there's, BPA stands forbisphenol A, so because it's
bisphenol A free, but it's stillplastic, it still contains other
bisphenols, BP X, Y, Z.
So it's not completely non-toxiclike they want you to think like
it's great that there's not bpa,but it's, there's still other
stuff, so it doesn't come riskfree.
(25:57):
If I'm in a place where a cleanfiltered water out of a water
bottle is my only optioncompared to tap water from a
dirty place.
I probably am gonna pick theplastic water bottle.
In terms of what I'm trying todo daily, it's a glass,
stainless steel are my go-tos.
In terms of filtration, we use afew different things.
we use Berkey.
(26:17):
We have a water distiller thatI'll remineralize.
I just got the clearly filteredpitcher, especially cuz that's
so much easier when we'retraveling driving somewhere in
the car.
I've heard really great thingsabout that.
It's a little bit moreaffordable than something like
the Berkey and it's like theBrita on steroids, so it's
similar.
It looks like that, but it'sfiltering out 200 plus
contaminants.
(26:37):
So I really like it.
I think it's got a really greatprice point.
And then, the clearly filteredtravel water bottles are
amazing.
We used those when we weretraveling a few weeks ago.
I'm gonna use the one I'mtraveling again.
Cuz I feel like that's what allI am is on the go.
And it's great.
It's just even though you mightbe putting your water bottle in
a airport, the one where youstick it under the thing and it
says filtered, but it's notreally filtered.
(26:58):
It might just be filtering outchlorine so it tastes better.
That's my go-to.
Most of our body is water, so ifyou do anything trying to get
clean water is I'd say one ofthe most important things that,
that we can do.
Ivelisse Page (27:11):
We could do a whole segment and we need maybe
have you back to talk about justwater in itself.
Because it is, and sometimes youthink, I filter my water for
cooking.
But then think about the waterthat you're showering with.
And that you're watering yourgarden with, and we have a whole
home water filtration system.
When we built our house, it, itjust transformed the peace of
(27:32):
mind knowing that our water getsrid of all of those things.
And then we have a Berkey is agreat solution for the office or
if you're an apartment or we'vesent them to our kids because,
no matter where they are youknow that they're going to have
good access to, to clean water.
But I'm really grateful for thetips that you shared because I
(27:53):
really don't want people to beoverwhelmed.
There is a lot we could do awhole week seminar on just
hormone health balancing.
Dr. Halie Schoff (28:00):
Oh yeah.
Ivelisse Page (28:00):
Detoxing.
The important thing is to startsomewhere, not to give up and
just say, okay, I'm gonna focuson this one thing.
And then once I have that inthere, then I'm gonna add on,
like you said, the personal careproducts.
And then I'm gonna work onstress management or, whatever.
But I just encourage those whoare listening, take on what you
heard today and think about whatthree things can I change today
(28:24):
that's gonna be most beneficialfor my health.
And I just encourage you guys todo that.
But thank you so much, Dr.
Halie for being on with us andsharing your insight and
knowledge with all of us here atBelieve Big.
Dr. Halie Schoff (28:37):
Thank you so much for having me back.
I love your mission.
I love everything that you allare doing, and, I'm honored to
be back and happy to come backanytime you need me.
Thank you.
Ivelisse Page (28:53):
If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to
help support our podcast, pleasesubscribe and share it with
others.
Be sure to visit believebig.orgto access the show notes and
discover our bonus content.
Thanks again and keep BelievingBig!
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