What Are the Most Important Pieces of Information Women Need to Know About Cancer?
15 Dec 2025 · 12 min
Podcast episode (JJ Virgin, Jan 25, 2021) responding to a listener question: “What are the most important pieces of information women need to know about cancer?” The host JJ Virgin interviews Dr. Leigh Erin Connealy, an integrative medicine physician who emphasizes prevention (stress management, diet, environment, hormone disruption), expanded blood testing and biomarkers (CRP, adrenal function, quantitative HCG, hemoglobin A1C, vitamin D), and advanced screening options (liquid biopsy/ circulating tumor cells via RGCC, thermography, ultrasound alongside mammography). The episode also contains multiple sponsor ads (Wayfair, Earth Breeze, Corona, Monarch, Dick’s, Toyota) and other podcast plugs.
Chapters
Hey, J.J. here. Can you believe how fast the holidays are knocking at the door this year? One minute it's pumpkin spice season, the next you're getting your guest room ready and wondering where their wrapping paper went. And that's when I turned to Wayfair. From bedding and towels to holiday decor and last minute stocking stuffers, Wayfair has everything you need to get your home and holidays together fast. And for way less. With Wayfair, I know I can refresh my guest room in no time. Maybe I'll add a soft new comforter or a few holiday throw pillows. With Wayfair, it's so easy and everything arrives super fast. Plus, there's free shipping for any order over $35 easy and total peace of mind. So whether you're hosting, gifting, or just adding those final festive touches, Wayfair has your back. And when the holidays wind down, Wayfair has everything you need to tuck it all neatly away. Smart storage solutions for every room from the kitchen to the closet. Get organized, refreshed and ready for the holidays. For way less head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. Wayfair Every style, every home. That's W-A-Y-F-A-I R.com hey, it's JJ here. You know, I've been talking about environmental toxins forever, and laundry detergent is a sneaky one. A lot of them contain harsh chemicals like dyes, preservatives, and even UV brighteners. Those brighteners don't actually clean anything. They just coat fabric so your eyes think things look whiter or brighter. That's more chemicals I don't want on my family sheets or skin. And if you've got sensitive skin or allergies around the house, this can be a big problem. That's what got my attention about Earth Breeze. It looks like a dryer sheet, but it's actually laundry detergent. You toss one in the washer and that's it. No pouring, no mess, and no heavy plastic jug. Their packaging is lightweight cardboard, which helps reduce plastic waste. And if you choose the fragrance free option, it's gentle, hypoallergenic, non irritating, and non sensitizing. I really like how simple it is and how fresh and clean everything comes out without those unnecessary chemicals. Right now you can try Earth Breeze for up to 40% off with free gifts@earthbreeze.com virgin that's earthbreeze.com virgin for up to 40% off plus free gifts on.
Your first order this episode is brought to you by Corona. When you're on a beach with an ice cold Corona in hand, how can you not feel centered? But did you know you can get that vibe anywhere? That's because weather after work, at barbecues or at a bar with just a squeeze of lime, Corona brings you La Playa mentality. Because while we all want the beach life, paradise doesn't always have palm trees. Corona La Playa awaits. Get yours@ordercorona.com Relax responsibly. Corona Extra beer imported by Crown Import.
Chicago, IL what are the most important pieces of information women need to know about cancer? This is JJ Virgin, four time New York Times bestselling author, celebrity nutrition expert, and Fitness hall of Famer. I've been on a lifelong quest for answers to the toppest health questions, and now I'm sharing what I found with you. Welcome to Ask the Health Expert. John from Facebook asks, what are the most important pieces of information women need to know about cancer? Hey, it's J.J. and I've got my longtime pal and integrative medicine pioneer Dr. Leigh Erin Kenneally with me to answer this question. In fact, she runs the largest integrative medical clinic in North America and it's visited by patients from all over the world. There's 47,000 patients and growing. And she was named one of the top 50 integrative doctors in the country. And her true passion is cancer. She wrote the book the Cancer Revolution and is a go to expert on integrative cancer treatments. We'll be right back. Stay with me.
Hey, it's J.J. here. Now let's be honest. The holidays are basically a financial ambush. Travel, hosting gifts, surprise holiday school things. Suddenly you're wondering how December turned into a spending spree. If you want to keep your finances under control this holiday season, you need to be using Monarch. It's rated the Wall Street Journal's best budgeting app of 2025. Monarch is the all in one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean interface on your laptop or your phone. What really grabbed my attention is how fast those little holiday expenses pile up with Monarch. Seeing everything in one place makes it a lot harder to accidentally overspend. And honestly, I appreciate anything that keeps me from starting January with a money hangover. You'll love exploring the holiday spending category. Imagine how good it will feel to actually see what's happening before your credit card statement does that whole dramatic reveal thing. Monarch basically shows you exactly where the money is going in real time, and that Level of clarity could change everything, right? Don't let financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use the code virgin@monarch.com in your browser for half off your first year. That's 50% off your first year@monarch.com with code Virgin.
The holidays are almost here, but there's still time to score great gifts at Dick's Sporting Goods. Find everyone's must have gifts from Nike, FP movement, Adidas and more. Need your gifts fast? Stop by your local Dick's or shop Dick's.com for fast shipping, curbside pickup or same day delivery. Every holiday starts at Dick's.
Well, when it comes to cancer, women need to focus on prevention. One out of two people are getting diagnosed with cancer, and it's not just for cancer, but all diseases. And we can prevent illness through optimizing many factors of our life. And I'd say the first thing is stress. Women are caretakers. They're taking care of their family, they're taking care of their self. They're taking care of a loved one. They maybe take care of someone at work. And stress, I will tell you, is probably the biggest, most influential factor in women's health and in men's health. Trauma has existed in probably 70% of the population. Then you add stress. Stress creates this environment. It creates acidity, low oxygen increase for the cells to make free radicals. So stress is a killer and it has to be addressed. And unfortunately, there's not out there that much out there to really teach patients how to not be stressed. Then you look at our food. Our food is unfortunately very contaminated. Even if you buy whole foods organic, probably the best ideal thing is to grow your garden, which takes time and energy. But I would tell people that the most important thing is what you put on your fork and what you put in your mouth every day. I always tell people that every cell is being made properly or improperly depending on what you eat. So if you eat Oreo cookies, you're not going to make good cells. If you eat organic foods like zucchini and celery and romaine and good grass fed beef, then those are going to make good healthy cells. Environment, the environment is polluted. Everything we drink, eat, breathe, or put in our skin is going into our body. And we are very, very polluted environment. So that means that we need to constantly think about purifying our body. So you kind of have to go through a checklist of, you know, everything that you are exposed to in your day. And we need to really think about purification. And we can go into detail In a later talk, Hormones, Hormones. We are, all of us have hormones. Men and women have the same hormones, but different levels. Women's hormones are constantly changing. And because of the environment, we have something called xenoestrogens. Xeno is the Greek word for foreign estrogens. They wreak outrageous havoc in our body. And they're in plastics, they're in, unfortunately, there's birth control pills. There's hormones in all the chemicals that we're ingesting every day and they create havoc. So hormones are the natural drug to your body. And even 25 year olds today have imbalanced hormones. The other very important pieces of information that we have available, the CDC recommends that we have a pap and a mammogram and a colonoscopy. But that is just not enough. So I believe in very specific cancer testing, blood testing that can be done with any lab. It's not esoteric and we can look and see at what the blood is telling us. Then I recommend that we make sure, like the top three things, if you have inflammation, see reactive protein, that's a precursor to all diseases. If you have low adrenals, adrenals are your stress glands and they affect the entire immune system. Then quantitative HCG is a hormone of malignancy. Yes, it's a hormone of pregnancy, but it's also a hormone of malignancy. Then we have hemoglobin A1C. Hemoglobin A1C is a reflection of your blood sugar over 90 days. If your sugar's high, you have an environment for cancer. If you're low in vitamin D, vitamin D influences 3,000 genes in your body. Very important in prevention of cancer. Now, one of my favorite things for early detection is liquid biopsy. You can actually look for circulating tumor cells. So if a woman has breast cyst, it'd be a good idea to check for circulating tumor cells. It's a liquid biopsy and it's done by rgcc. Then the other test that I recommend as an alternative or a combination is thermography. Thermography of the breast or the whole body can tell you breasts are not vascular, typically. So if you do a thermography with very specific machines, you can look at the vascularity. If the vascularity is high, there's probably a problem. Women are on consternation about mammograms, mammogram radiation. Unfortunately, for every thousand women tested, three women are safe. So it's something that we have to look at and use in combination. Plus, mammograms don't diagnose all the pathology, unfortunately, so we have to use a combination of mammography, ultrasound and thermography.
This is JJ with Ask the Health Expert. I do this five times a week, so make sure you never miss a show by going to subscribetojay.com.
Toyota THON is on, so stop by your local Toyota dealer and test drive.
A stylish new Camry or sleek and.
Capable Corolla with great financing and lease.
Options available to qualified customers.
Visit buyatoyota.com for more toy Yoga let's go places.
Hello listeners, this is Anne Boeckle, author, blogger and creator of the podcast what Should I Read next? Since 2016, I've been helping readers bring more joy and delight into their reading lives. Every week I take all things books and reading with a guest and guide them in discovering their next read. They share three books they love, one book they don't, and what they've been reading lately, and I recommend three titles they may enjoy reading Next. Guests have said our conversations are like therapy, troubleshooting issues that have plagued their reading lives for years and possibly the rest of their lives as well. And of course, recommending books that meet the moment. Whether they are looking for deep introspection to spur or encourage a life change or a frothy page turner to help them escape the stresses of work, school, everything, you'll learn something about yourself as a reader and you'll definitely walk away confident to choose your next read, with a whole list of new books and authors to try. So join us each Tuesday for what Should I Read Next? Subscribe now wherever you're listening to this podcast and Visit our website whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com to find out more.
More from JJ


Healthy Revisit: Heavily Meditated - Transforming Your Emotional Landscape with Dave Asprey






