hol+ by Dr. Taz MD

Samantha Harris: [00:00:00] When I was. 40 and my daughters were three and six, and I was blindsided by breast cancer.

Mm.

And I could have easily stuck my head in the sand and said, oh, I just had a clear mammogram 11 days ago. I don't need to do anything about this. But I still thought it was weird 'cause I thought it was healthy.

Right. So you actually had a mammogram. And the mammogram was clear. It was. And so the journalist in me said, okay, wait a second. I need to do what I do best. I need to research. Right. And I did such a deep dive. Welcome

Dr. Taz: to Whole Plus, the podcast that embraces and tackles the holistic way, bringing it all together.

Science, research, innovations and technology, and our collective human experience. This is where science and Spirit come together. I'm Dr. Taz, your host and a double board certified medical doctor and integrative health expert, a nutritionist and an acupuncturist. I'm also the founder and CEO of whole Plus.

A digital and clinical platform where my team and I practice evidence-based holistic medicine every single day. I know and I hear all the health and wellness noise that's [00:01:00] out there. I want this show to be the one to empower you with the knowledge you need to heal. Not just your body, but your relationships, your communities, and our world.

Welcome to Whole Plus, after over 15 years practicing integrative and holistic medicine, there are some themes that keep emerging over and over again, and one of them that many of you tell me is that the journey of just getting a diagnosis, getting treatment, trying to get better, trying to put all the pieces of your health together for yourself or for your family.

Is exhausting. My next guest, Samantha Harris, has been on that journey and is here to tell us a little bit of how she navigated her own journey with breast cancer. You may know her as a four time Emmy award nominee, best known for lighting up our screens for eight unforgettable seasons as the host of Dancing With the Stars.

She also won an Emmy for her years on Entertainment. Tonight, she's been a trusted health expert on Good Morning America, Fox and Friends, the Doctors HL N's, morning [00:02:00] Express and more sharing, practical, life-changing Wellness strategies. She's a national ambassador for the world's largest breast cancer foundation, the Susan Koman Foundation, and she's on a mission to uplift, empower, and equip others to take control of their health like never before.

One step at a time. Please welcome the unstoppable Samantha Harris. All right. This is such a treat for me. I love this show, but I think I like connecting with old friends more than I might even like the show. So, Samantha, you and I have had, you know, quite a few conversations in the past about many different things.

I know you're such an advocate for health and wellness. You've been on a journey of your own, you know, and we're gonna catch up with all the different things happening with you. But what even sparked your interest? You, I know you, I used to watch you all the time Dancing with the Stars. I watched you on e news.

Like, I'm like, oh my God, I love her hair.

Samantha Harris: But anyhow, thanks. But you got the gorgeous hair.

Dr. Taz: But I spinning, I was like [00:03:00] always an admirer before we actually, you know, uh, met each other. But what got you. From TV into health and wellness and all these things.

Samantha Harris: So I always loved fitness and exercise while I was doing entertainment tonight and ET and uh, I mean e news and dancing and everything.

Uh, so I always felt like I was, oh, the healthy eater and the fitness one. Everybody asked, okay, Hey, what do you do to work out? How do you, you know, how do you get the arms? And I, I'm grateful. I'm like, thank you. But I, arms are pretty good guys. I look, Hey, good. I'm 51. I'm trying, I'm trying. Oh. Oh my God.

This is where actually the, the focus of building even more lean body mass. And we'll get into why that is even more important. Yeah. Especially when you hear the journey I've been on. But, so the crossover was this aha moment that I never wanted when I was 40 and my daughters were three and six and I was blindsided by breast cancer.

Mm.

So you're 40 year newly 40. Yeah. Newly fo I was actually, when [00:04:00] I found, so backing up a little bit, I knew that young girls, I lost my dad to colon cancer. He was just 50 at the time. And his mom was a breast cancer. Thank you. He was a, uh, she was a breast cancer survivor, thrived to 95. I thought, you know, I should get one of those mammogram things because I didn't know.

I didn't know the technical terms. Right. I just knew there's a thing that squishes your boobs and you gotta get it right when you turn 40. And I was almost 40, so I got the mammogram, but then 11 days later I was changing after a workout and I found a lump. So I was someone who breastfed, both my girls.

Uh, I really got comfortable with knowing my body and exercise was a big part of knowing how my body felt good and where my body felt off. And that's been a through line from pre-cancer to now many years afterwards where because I exercise, it allows me to get quiet and [00:05:00] understand, oh, this is a little off.

Whether it's a stomach pain or in this case a lump. I could have easily stuck my head in the sand and said, oh, I just had to clear mammogram 11 days ago. I don't need to do anything about this. But I still thought it was weird. And so I called my longtime ob, GYN. So wait, that's

Dr. Taz: an important point. 'cause we've had a lot of debate on the show about screening and scanning and all that other stuff.

So you actually had a mammogram and the mammogram was clear.

Samantha Harris: It was. What I've learned as we kind of jump ahead and I'll jump back again, what I've learned since I've now become a breast cancer advocate is that there are dense breasts, as we all know there are.

Dr. Taz: Yes.

Samantha Harris: And mammograms. And even for me, every other diagnostic test that I'll share with you in this journey missed.

A tumor that was there.

Mm.

Now I don't want to strike fear into your listeners. Right. I think what's really important is that we know our own body. We advocate for our, ourselves and our health, and [00:06:00] we push for answers. I didn't think I had cancer when I found this lump.

Right.

But I went to my OB, GYN anyway, because she was the only doctor who ever touched those and gave me that clinical exam.

Right, right, right, right, right, right. Yeah. So I thought, okay, I'll go to her and I trust her. She delivered both my kids. So, uh, she said, it's nothing. You're turning 40. It's probably glandular breasts, like to make lumps. This is what happens. Lumpy breasts. Happy 40.

Dr. Taz: And had you been described as somebody with dense breast or fibrocystic breasts prior

Samantha Harris: to this time?

No. I didn't even know what dense breasts meant. I, interesting. Okay. Like you can't see through breasts anyway. What do you mean? You know, I don't get it. No one has clear breasts. Um, so it was a, it was all new terminology to me. Yeah. So I went along my merry way, but then a month later, the lump was still there.

My inner voice was getting a little bit louder, check it out. So I went to my internist again. It wasn't supposed to be cancer. Because I'd had a clear mammogram and my OB, [00:07:00] GYN said it was nothing. But I thought I'd get a second opinion and he did the same thing. Quick clinical exam, felt around, said, you know what?

If you're worried, we'll keep an eye on it, but it's nothing. Again, went on my merry way four months after I found the initial lump, I kinda came up for air after the holidays and the new year and I went, wait a second. This is okay. This lump is still there. So if I'm gonna live with this quote, nothing lump for the rest of my life, let's maybe, I don't know, get in there and see a little more aggressively what it is.

So that's of course, oh, I found my way to an oncology center because I said I should make sure, and I think this goes with really anything that you find, please echo this or,

Dr. Taz: right,

Samantha Harris: right. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you find anything wrong with your body or something that feels off going to just a general practitioner.

Is not really the way now either go to them to get the referral so that your insurance covers it. Or if you have a PPO, [00:08:00] just go directly to the specialist who does that every single day. So I needed to find a specialist that looked at breasts every day as their focus. I didn't realize the only doctors who do that are breast oncologists, but there I was in an oncology center.

So you

Dr. Taz: hang. Mm-hmm. Hang on just a second. Yeah. So you like self-check yourself into a breast oncology center? I just, I did. Okay. So you basically checked yourself into a breast oncology center. Right. I mean, you know that most people don't do that. Most people, most people are like gonna cover up and be like, it'll go away.

It'll go away like and hide, you know, not be like, okay, I'm gonna go do this on my

Samantha Harris: own, you know? Well. I mean, I did call my OB GYN and say, Hey, I need a specialist who does this, right? Where do I go? And that's how I figured out that I was an oncologist. But yes, I did. I checked myself in. I mean, it wasn't like an inpatient center, right?

It was a breast center that did, you know, your regular yearly mammograms and all of that done stuff. But I [00:09:00] went there and this oncologist wasn't concerned. She said, look, the, I'm so grateful. She's like, you're not crazy. Yeah, there is something there, but it doesn't look like cancer. We did two ultrasounds.

We did a needle biopsy. Subsequently, we did an MRI. Nothing detected the cancer. So all of that was normal. All of that was normal. And then when we got the final pathology results from the needle biopsy, I, I distinctly, she said, you know, bring, bring your husband with you. 'cause either, you know, worst case you have the support, best case you go celebrate and have lunch together, right?

Because you're together. I said, great. So he came with me and I distinctly remember her walking in and saying, Samantha. I have good news and bad news. The good news is it's not cancer, but the bad news is I don't know what it is, so I'm gonna recommend a lumpectomy. I just wanna take it out anyway.

Mm-hmm.

So I, you know, I figured, okay, I've never had surgery in my life and I'm 40. It's pretty [00:10:00] lucky. Yep. So I guess we can do this. And my, my breasts did what they needed. They got me, my husband, and they fed my kids. So check, check, check. Got husband, check now we don't need them fed kids. Yep. I, you know, I, not that I wanted a disfiguring breast from, from the lumpectomy, which is kind of what it looked like afterwards.

Yeah. Um, which nobody kind of tells you. Right. And this is also where, so I listen to my gut, that may put me in this room with this oncologist, but this is where you really wanna go to the best. That you can find because she, in that lumpectomy surgery, listened to her gut.

Mm.

So as she was in there, and as she told me later, she said, you know, I was looking and I took out the lump, and then there was this little area of what looked like healthy tissue.

And I don't know what it was Samantha, but just somewhere in me, I needed to take a sample of that healthy tissue. So when I went to my pathology [00:11:00] appointment for the lumpectomy,

Dr. Taz: right,

Samantha Harris: I told my husband, honey, you don't actually have to even come with me now because we know it's not cancer. So I let him go and just, you know, play golf that day, I'll be honest.

Mm-hmm. And he was happily on the golf course, his happy place. And I sat in this dark basement room with the woman in the white coat drawing diagrams on a paper of a breast with dots. She said, Samantha, not only do you have ductal carcinoma in situ too. Which is breast cancer, as you know, contained within the duct.

It's kind the kind you actually want if you're gonna get it. But that little healthy sample of tissue I took, it turns out it's actually invasive ductal carcinoma.

Mm.

And as my heart sank, and I feel actually, I feel just even telling the story right now. Yeah, sure. I feel the anxiety bubbles inside as I get sort of the goosebumps.

Um, because, you know, it was [00:12:00] 2014 when I was diagnosed in that room. And yet the feeling, the anxiety, the anxiousness, the, the fear, it's still, it's there. Right. It's just stays, it's ideal. It's probably with you. Yes. So, uh, that's when my cancer journey began, and that's that pivotal moment in my health and wellness life that made me sit up and say, you know what?

I didn't realize I needed this wake up call. I,

Dr. Taz: there's so many points to that story though, that, you know, I, I think we probably stop the episode right there because simply listen. Being your own advocate are things in today's healthcare landscape that really are skills that we should be teaching our daughters, we should be passing on to other family members.

We as women, men, you know, whoever really need to be exercising because medicine today, and that's a big part of like, you know what I talk a lot about medicine [00:13:00] today is really not set up to listen. It's really not set up to listen. Yeah. It's not set up to listen to you, the patient and your intuition.

It's not set up for the doctor to have the time and space to listen to their intuition, you know, and that's. A big part of what we're missing in healing journeys and being able to catch things on patients and guide them down. So to your point, do you go to a gp? I think you go to whomever you have a relationship with that can advocate with you to get the answers that you need.

That's what I would say back, but I mean that in itself, that leg of the journey. And the other part to me that's so interesting is that you were already like a fitness guru. Health a health advocate from our generation, right? It was all about physical fitness and like, you know, all of that good stuff.

You were already that person. And so to be then handed this diagnosis probably felt defeating. You have this new diagnosis. Mm-hmm. What happens next?

Samantha Harris: Whew. You know it, [00:14:00] when you are diagnosed with anything, you have to drink from the fire hose. Right? And it is absolutely overwhelming, but. One thing that I think, first of all, having my husband at my side was, you know, we have to have a community definitely of, of strength and support.

So between him and my mom and my sister and, uh, my stepdad who, you know, having a, I realized, so I grew up with a rock and roll producing father. Oh my gosh. And my parents created one of the country's first renaissance festivals. That's a story for another time. Oh my gosh. Um, which my mom literally did until moments ago.

And now my sister runs it. Mm-hmm. Uh, but, but having a, when my dad passed at 50, uh, and my mom eventually remarried, someone she'd known since elementary school. He, it was, it's really nice to have a doctor in the, I'm sure family. So, you know, my mom is always mothers. Right. She's always in my ear. Right. And she's always, did you get that looked at?

Did you check, did you follow up? Right. I mean, I'll have blood work done and then I'll for or an MRI and weeks will [00:15:00] go by. She's like, did you ever find out about that? Wow. Oh, you know what, no, I got busy. Yeah. And I forgot. Yeah. So even with the lump, having. My mom in my ear and then my stepdad in her ear, you know, get it checked out by another doctor.

It just, it was really helpful to have that support network. But as I was trying to drink from the fire hose, yes, and learn everything, you know that cancer v as we call it, trying to learn everything that we po, I didn't even know there were so many different types of oncologists. I thought you're an oncologist, not a surgical oncologist or a medical or a radiation oncologist.

There's so many different specialties. Then of course, the reconstructive surgeon, right? And so building my team and figuring out my own treatment plan. Do I do another lumpectomy followed by radiation, which is one protocol, or either a single or bilateral mastectomy. Do I do one stage or two stage reconstruction, right?

There are all of these questions. Do I do chemo? Do I do radiation? Do I go on endocrine therapy? Oh my God. It was so overwhelming. It's exhausting. It. It was, I mean, you almost feel like you [00:16:00] don't even have time to be the patient because you're having to be a full-time researcher

Dr. Taz: and you're going to all these different appointments.

Right? Like it's an appointment for each one of these specialists.

Samantha Harris: Right. And also, the other biggest advice I have, which I show shared at the beginning was I found the lump. I went to the OB GYN, then I went to the internist, then I went to the oncologist. That was essentially three opinions on the same lump.

So the same thing came here. Now I have a diagnosis. I saw three surgical oncologists within a week. I saw two reconstruction surgeons and to radiation oncologists. Over the next couple of weeks, I even took my pathology slides, which you have to go and literally pick them up in person. And I delivered them to a different hospital system so their pathologists could also look at them.

Because I realized we were basing all of the treatment plan. On the one pathology interpretation, everybody agreed on that pathology, but I just thought that's a good point. I never thought of that. Yeah. Like

Dr. Taz: [00:17:00] everything's being based on the interpretation from one specialist to the next specialist to the next specialist, right.

But if anyone's opinion changes, then that changes everything,

Samantha Harris: right? So completely. Wow. And, and of course it's dizzying gathering that much information, right? And so how do you then decipher And especially that's why like the three rule, you know, it's like, okay, I need my roof fixed. I can rule one guy come and a second guy.

I have the three rule as well. So yeah. So that really, so funny. That served me well here. Obviously I only did two with the reconstruction surgeons on the radiation oncologist, but it was very helpful, right? So long story longer, I looked at all my options. I also. Spoke to as many cancer survivors as I could.

What was your path? What treatment option for surgery especially did you choose at the beginning? And that was very beneficial. So for me, and again, this is such a personal decision. Mm-hmm. If you are listening to this and thinking, oh, I have [00:18:00] to do exactly what Samantha did. No, please do not. Right. Like gather the information and we did pro and cons lists.

We figured it out. And it was such a sigh of relief when you come up with the treatment plan because the decision making process is almost as bad as getting the diagnosis. Oh, totally.

Dr. Taz: A hundred percent. And I think, you know, I think about so many patients that I've seen and they've been on that journey.

Mm. They say this exact same thing you do, you've just, you know, painted in so much more detail. I wish there was a way, you know, as I'm listening to you, I'm like, I wish there was a way, like you had an advocate and the advocate went and like got everything together for you. Right. And it's literally like.

Not to like simplify this, but it's literally like, do you want this, this, or this? Mm-hmm. And kind of could explain back to you everything. Well see now we

Samantha Harris: can, we just, we just feed it all into chatt T and ai. Oh, there we go. We've got ai. And would you like me to make a colorful visual PF for you? Yes, I would

Dr. Taz: click.

Oh my gosh. So true. I'm just learning all of this. Too exciting. [00:19:00] I have too. It's actually, uh, it is exciting. Yeah. You have to be

Samantha Harris: careful though. You do have to be careful with that. You have to be careful

Dr. Taz: and remember, AI only knows so much and they're not always a hundred percent right. So you do have to be careful that Correct.

But anyhow, so yes.

Samantha Harris: So, uh, so yeah, so the journey was overwhelming, of course. Uh, and so helping me make that decision was really talking to these other survivors. And so for me, the turning point to go with a bilateral mastectomy with two stage reconstruction came from the women I spoke to. Who either, again, I, I, I, I'm sharing with you guys.

I'm not trying to sway. This is good. Any, anyway. Yeah. I spoke to some women who chose the lumpectomy with radiation. Now granted, that's what my grandmother did. She had one lumpectomy, the rounds of radiation in her sixties, lived to 95 with no other issues, no other medication, nothing. I don't recall what stage she was.

Um, for me, which we eventually found out after my mastectomy and the, uh, sentinel [00:20:00] node biopsy, which is when they take out the gatekeeper node, that lymph node, if it is positive with breast cancer, then they take out more. In my case, it was, and I had 11 lymph nodes out, so I was restaged from stage two, uh, to a, to stage two B.

Mm-hmm. Uh, because of that. But it's possible to have that and be. You know, lived in 95, right? Like my grandma,

right?

But I did speak to some women who kept, they went in, they had the lumpectomy and they didn't get clear margins, and then they had to go in and have another one and eventually ended up just getting mastectomy.

Anyway. I actually know quite a few people who had that happen. I had women who had a bilateral mastectomy and found cancer on the other side that they didn't even know was there. So to me, that was. The difference between having a, a unilateral mastectomy and a double. I thought if I'm going to go in, let's go ahead and make sure that I'm either clear on the other side or if there was cancer, we take it out at that point.

And for symmetry, [00:21:00] it's very hard if you have a unilateral mastectomy to get the symmetry with your other breasts. So, uh, and look, I, like I said, I breastfed both my kids, right? They were saggy, they were low, right? They were floppy. So my daughter says, why are

Dr. Taz: they pointing down

Samantha Harris: exactly. Thanks,

gravity.

Anyhow, so nice. So nice. I know. So now they're kind of Bolton and they're not moving, and they're gonna be there and I'm gonna be, you know, a hundred with really, really nice boobs. Um, there we go. Also at the same time, for anyone listening, please never say to any cancer patient who's going through a breast cancer journey, Hey, but you get a free boob job because lemme tell you it's not what you want.

Right. And they don't look the same as if you actually had just an augmentation. Right, right. Good point. Yeah.

Dr. Taz: Well, okay, so again, you're an advocate, you pursue your health, they find, you know, stage two B cancer, like you're saying, you make these decisions. I'm hearing a lot again that I'm hoping the listeners are, and [00:22:00] the viewers are catching onto like.

Build your team, build community support, build additional advocates other than just you, so that in those moments when it's dark and scary or those type of things, you're able to make the decisions you need to make, right? Mm-hmm. And then I think the other part, I don't hear a lot of people talking about talk to other patients who've been down a similar journey,

Samantha Harris: you know?

And there, and there are, so people say, oh, I don't have anyone. I'm, I'm afraid to let people know in my network of people around me or my community, I don't want, I hear that a lot. I don't wanna, I don't want people to know what's going on, or they say, I don't have anybody. But here's what's awesome. There are some wonderful charities.

One is actually called Immerman Angels. Mm. And, uh, I'm, I, I'm giving an extra boost to it because it was started by a, a man named Johnny Immerman who had testicular cancer when he was. Maybe late teens, definitely early twenties at the latest. But his brother, his big brother was one of my best friends in college.

Oh, and that's just a total coincidence. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But what's really, and it's [00:23:00] grown to be a hu really. Broad, prolific in terms of, uh, its reach, uh, charity, but it's a nonprofit. So immerman angels that will match you based on what type, type of cancer you have. Any cancer, not just breast, any, whatever type of cancer you have and the staging and the exact type, like within breast cancer, you could have, you know, like mine, hormone positive.

Mm-hmm. And her two negative, you could be triple positive, but then they find people in your area who have gone on the journey, who have chosen, that's in, chosen to be basically mentors. Mm-hmm. I love that. So you don't have to, if you don't wanna share with your friends, friends at work, or your, you know, community or neighbors, you have that opportunity because talking to someone who's been on the journey is very different.

Then even having the best supporter in your spouse or your sister or your mother, because they've walked the path and there's something to be said about that. I think that's so great. Erman

Dr. Taz: Angels.

Samantha Harris: Erman Angels. Yeah. That's way

Dr. Taz: everybody caught that. I think that's such [00:24:00] a, such a need. All right. So you make the decision, you do the double mastectomy

Samantha Harris: mm-hmm.

With

Dr. Taz: radiation and I, uh,

Samantha Harris: no. Two. No. So I chose, so the two treatment options are either lumpectomy with radiation mm-hmm. Or single or double mastectomy. And then depending on your staging, how aggressive it is. Uh, there's also something called the Oncotype score. Yes. Which helps, uh, you determine how effective chemo would be.

Then there's the discussion potentially of radiation and chemo. So I did have all of those conversations. Uh, I ultimately chose not to do either chemo or radiation. Okay. I came to those decisions. Again, I'm not encouraging that people. Don't do those. You have to talk to your doctor. You have to figure out what's right for you.

And I was also at a very different place then than I am now. I'm very grateful that I made those choices, even though as I'm kind of teaser, spoil, spoiler alert, I had a recurrence. Yeah. Um, [00:25:00] yet I am still very happy that I made those choices. So chemo was on the table with four rounds, which when in the oncology world, no big deal.

Right. You know, you'll just breeze through it. This is, you know, you're so healthy, otherwise it's not and athletic and everything, you're gonna bounce back. No big deal. Four rounds of chemo. And I had two medical oncologists that are still on my team today. One is much more of a researcher. He wrote the forward to my book.

He's known as the father of Herceptin, which for those who are her two positive with breast cancer, they oftentimes are on the ME medicine. Called her the, uh, Herceptin. Um, and he, but he's in the lab or speaking. All the time. Right. Dr. Dennis Laman, he's amazing. Uh, and he's the head of, uh, oncology hematology at UCLA, so it's hard.

He's only in clinic once a week. Yeah. So I have another incredible medical oncologist who is also on my team. So, but both of them agreed that I was in their words, quote in a gray area for chemo, but four [00:26:00] rounds, it's no big deal. But you decide, I'm like, I'm the patient. The doctor's supposed to tell me what I'm supposed to do, right.

What do you mean? I decide. Right, right. So it was scary and frustrating, I'm sure. Uh, again, pro and cons list. And I ultimately chose not to go through chemo. Uh, when it came to radiation, one radiation oncologist said, you need it. Without it, you have a 20% chance of local recurrence. Now, again, teaser. I had a local recurrence.

Mm-hmm. Would that radiation that I ultimately chose not to do, taking care of that recurrence ever happening. We will never know. Mm. I'm still confident that I chose not to do radiation, uh, because then my second opinion, radiation oncologist said, oh, well, yes, those statistics exist for 20% recurrence, but those are based on old data.

See, there's some new data. This was now in 2014, you know, way back then, but there was new data at that point that had just come out from two of the esteemed ca cancer centers, MD Anderson and Sloan Kettering. Yep. That [00:27:00] took tumor size into consideration with radiation. She said, your tumor size is very small.

You can have radiation if you want it, but it's actually we're showing through these studies, it's not going to benefit. I thought, well then I'm not doing why I do it. Right. I'm not doing radiation, and I will say in the 11 years since my diagnosis, radiation oncology has come. Even further where they can pinpoint even more.

I mean, one of my fears was because I had an an, uh, relative in law who was a breast cancer survivor. It metastasized and she had had radiation and when it had metastasized, it went to her lung. And there was a, a big fear that when you radiate the breast over the lungs or, or with a heart, mine was not on the heart side, but that it can lead to other issues there, other

cancer.

Right. Yeah. Um, I, I, I love Dr. Jen Simmons, who I know you've had as a guest who's a fug. Yeah, she's

Dr. Taz: incredible.

Samantha Harris: Former surgical. I have to listen to

Dr. Taz: that

Samantha Harris: episode. It's a good one. [00:28:00] She's amazing. I've had her on my podcast too. I just love her. And she, you know, Dr. Jen talks about, you know, she's a former surgical oncologist Yes.

Who is now a functional oncologist. We need more of them. Mm-hmm. So if you're listening and you're an oncologist, please go into the functional space for all of us survivors. Yeah. But you know, she talks about radiation, uh, and the outcomes and cancer deaths. Breast cancer deaths that come from, and not just from radiation, but from the breast cancer deaths that come from complications that lead to heart disease.

Uh, and people dying from say, heart disease, right? But they're not racked up to, oh, that was a ca, breast cancer death. They survived breast cancer only to die of heart disease. But actually it was the breast cancer treatments that actually led to, that led to the heart, heart disease. Right. So they are a statistic for heart disease.

Right. But well, so it's really, it's a nuanced right area. Right. We're getting better about it [00:29:00] all. But back to the radiation, it has gotten much better. It is much more pinpointed now, and that's, we're really going to the best radiation oncologist you possibly can who can really make sure those beams are.

Only getting that very small area. That's encouraging. Yeah. So,

Dr. Taz: well where, so where did that leave you? You know, the whole journey is what, a year, 18 months? Yeah. Yeah. So that was, I, I ended up 18 years. I went

Samantha Harris: on, I mean, I kind of feel like, well, it was seven and a half years in some ways because I was on endocrine therapy, so, right.

Uh, an, an estrogen blocker, uh, that, you know, there are kind of different endocrine therapies. If you are postmenopausal, you automatically go on an aromatase inhibitor, which is considered, you know, called an ai. Mm-hmm. Uh, if you are pre premenopausal, then they, and you decide they want to put you on an ai.

Right. You have to first shut down. Ovaries. So you go on another type of medication to do that. Uh, thankfully I didn't have to do that, and I did just a straight up endocrine blocker that everyone's very [00:30:00] familiar with. Cult tamoxifen. I was on it for seven and a half years. Yes, I had some major menopausal symptoms.

The night sweats were so kind of debilitating where I would wake up and everything was drenched. And I was awakened many times in the night and I tried acupuncture and I tried all these things and I eventually just kinda learned to live with it. And, and then I got a, oh my gosh. And then after almost a decade with these night sweats, because they continued even after I went off of tamoxifen, uh, as well as, uh, by the way, the brain fog got really bad at the time.

I had to stop taking it in the morning and I switched to evening. Mm-hmm. Uh, that actually helped with the brain fog, but now I'm in the, all the perimenopausal and menopausal transition. So symptoms, so the. The brain fog is super fun, especially for someone who does live television. Right. I'm sure it's great when you have no idea what you're gonna say, what you say next.

Yes. Um, so there's that. Uh, so, but um, so the, those, but I got a, one of those cooling bed toppers. Right. And obviously that has a higher price point. And so I [00:31:00] was grateful that I had, you know, kind of been able to afford that. Right. But it was a game changer because after all these years now sleeping on it, I don't have night sweats.

Amazing. It's like,

Dr. Taz: it's just a bed

Samantha Harris: topper. Guys. Don't worry about everything else. Just get a cooling bed topper. Just get a cooling bed topper. And when I was in recovery, it was great having a, after this recurrence, which I know we'll go into being in the recovery bed for for three weeks. Yeah. Being able, 'cause it can heat and cool.

Yeah. So I could be like cozy. Oh, that's amazing. It was nice. Yeah. Anyway, uh, so, but. Recovery. Once I got past the surgical recoveries, then it was kind of coming up for air and I was confounded because I had no, after all the genetic testing that you go through automatically when you have breast cancer and there is a breast and colon genetic link.

And since my dad died of colon cancer, I had no genetic link and I didn't understand what this was all about. You had [00:32:00] no

Dr. Taz: genetic link, no genetic link, even with your grandmother's history and stuff like that. None

Samantha Harris: interesting. And they say, well, she was postmenopausal. You were premenopausal. So we actually don't even link those two.

Mm-hmm. But also, we now have done, at that time, I had done, I think it was 80 genetic tests since there, I, since then I've been retested because there are more genetic tests. And I did a panel that I think had 150. Mm-hmm. Still no genetic link. I've been a national ambassador for Susan g Komen. Mm-hmm. The nation's largest breast cancer foundation, uh, for since my diagnosis and when I learned back in 2014 from them.

Only five to 10% of breast cancers are actually genetic.

Dr. Taz: Wow.

Samantha Harris: It blew my mind

Dr. Taz: because that's the language everybody has kind of implanted on their brain. You're only at risk if you have a family history, if there's a genetic link, right? Not true.

Samantha Harris: Not true. Not true at all. And so the journalist in me said, okay, wait a second.

I need to do what I do best. I need to research. Right. And [00:33:00] I did such a deep dive. I was just immersed in all the research I possibly could find. Yeah. Why are one in eight women. It is on the rise. And younger and younger. Younger is the such a concern. Twenties such a concern where you would think, okay, well let's see.

I don't need a mammogram till I'm 40. And breast cancer is that old lady disease. No. Right. Like you just said, twenties and thirties. Right. Why are one on eight women getting diagnosed? Why younger and younger? And so with all that research, it's what you live and breathe. But I didn't know back in 2014, I'm sure.

Yes. And it's what we put in on and around our body that leads to these genetic switches. And I know I said it's not a genetic disease, but we have DNA strands that basically. Yep. They flip. Yeah. It's, it's, I love, I don't remember who said it, um, and probably lots of people, but it's, it's the, there's a loaded gun and it's, you know, epigenetics is the study of how the things in, on and around your body [00:34:00] affect your health outcomes.

So you have the loaded gun you have within yourself, maybe the precursors to a breast cancer or a heart disease or a diabetes, but it is the epigenetic, the lifestyle factors that pull the trigger. So I never thought, 'cause I thought I was healthy. Right. Right. I

Dr. Taz: mean, I was, I feel so lucky. I was, this is something, by the way, I hear all the time, like, I'm doing everything right.

How did this happen? Right. I hear that over and over again.

Samantha Harris: I was exercising every day. Like crazy, like a maniac. I loved, I mean, and I didn't like do it because I had, I mean, I did it because I had to, but I did it because I actually learned to love it for, by the way, a girl who did not like to exercise and dragged my butt to the gym at Northwestern University and was like, I don't wanna walk across campus in the freezing bowl to go to the gym.

Right. Um, and then I came to LA and I was like, oh, I can be outside. I can hike, I can walk, I can there. And then I discovered classes and like, oh, fitness classes are so fun and [00:35:00] energetic. So I, I really developed for anyone listening who's like, I hate exercise. Sure, I'll walk my dog. But that's about it.

You can actually learn to really enjoy it. And it's because of the mood boosting, right? The, the release of the serotonin and dopamine

Dr. Taz: and all the good things, all

Samantha Harris: this good feeling hormones, like Yeah, gimme more, you kind of look

Dr. Taz: good.

Samantha Harris: And, and I kind of, I kind of think of exercise like sex. Yeah. There are just some days you just kind of don't feel up to it.

Mm-hmm. But you do it anyway. And you never regret doing it. Right? You're like, oh man, I had sex with my husband today. That really sucked. No, stays just

Dr. Taz: here, by the way. Right.

Samantha Harris: Don't tell. Um, there are no days I don't wanna have. No, but you know those, those, and you're never disappointed. Same thing with the gym.

You're like, I am, or, and I, I say the gym is sort of the generic term. I'm going to move my body however that is. Right. And maybe I'm lethargic and I don't feel like moving my body. But then I do, and I'm never regretful and I always feel [00:36:00] better. Yeah. So the epigenetics. So I'm looking at it and I, I'm exercising and I'm eating healthfully.

Okay. By the way, my eating healthfully was non-fat, low fat, everything. Right? Snack wells and red vines and oh my gosh. And then Turkey bacon up the wazoo. Yeah. I would bring it to, to work. Actually, I would keep it in the work fridge and I would sink up the entire po. I felt so bad for everyone. I would sink up the entire kitchen at these different shows that I worked at, right?

Because I was making, and I could exactly fit seven strips of Turkey bacon in the toaster convection oven. Okay. Because I thought I needed as much protein as possible. Right. So I was eating animal protein. Minnesota girl grew up with cows like breakfast, lunch and dinner, and Turkey bacon. I mean, my God, how bad in process is.

Yeah. And now I know the nitrates, everything. You don't eat that. But I was eating all these things. I thought egg white SI thought were, you know, that was great. So fat free, processed low. Lots of [00:37:00] animal. Lots of animal, okay. Yes. And I mean, I was eating my yogurt, but it was fruit flavored. Probably had high fructose corn syrup and food coloring in it.

Mm-hmm. Right. And by the way, those were the, the brands that had the breast cancer ribbon on it. So of course it must be great. And they must be doing such nice things for breast cancer research. Right. Pink washing. So, so anyhow, so there was that, and then I was sitting in a makeup chair every day for these TE television shows.

Not ever thinking for a moment. What are the ingredients that I'm being shellacked with so that I have this, you know, perfect hair that's not gonna move makeup that's gonna last through sweat and hot lights all day long for a 12 hour shoot. And they were chemical bombs that had endocrine disruptors and carcinogens and neurotoxins in them.

Mindfulness, stress busting things that wasn't even on my radar. It was a go, go, go [00:38:00] world. Take every possible job that I could get because it was feast or famine. So, right. You know, while I was hosting Dancing With the Stars, I was also working full-time hosting, you know, the Entertainment Tonight Show from Time Square.

Oh my gosh. While I had a 21 month old trying to do the mom things in any of my downtime, you know, doing eight shows a week on Broadway, it was doing hits on Good Morning America Live, you know, the getting on the makeup chair at four 30 in the morning. I didn't wanna say no 'cause I'd as a little girl in Minnesota growing up, like, that's what you wanted.

And it was a dream. Yeah. I mean, I, I wouldn't give all of that up. I just wish

Dr. Taz: you

Samantha Harris: took better care of yourself. I wish I had the tools then. Yeah. I wish I had cleaner makeup and skincare. I wish that I had had moments where I just took a nice deep breath and tapped into the mindfulness rather than being in the makeup chair while eating my Turkey bacon while looking on my phone and going over show notes.

And I didn't understand the balance that was [00:39:00] necessary. And so when I, I

Dr. Taz: think today, not, you know, not to interrupt you, but I think please, to this day. We're still struggling with that. We're still struggling with what is balance? How do you do it all? How do you take care of your health? How do you, you know, because I don't think the answer is to not pursue your dream, you know?

Totally. I don't, that's like live off the grid and never do anything. I don't, I don't, don't think the answer for all of us to, you know, be back on the farmstead and make our own bread and our own jams and like, I don't think that's the answer. I think if we've got a dream or a vision or a mission, we should be going for it and after it.

But I think it's that like, how do we help ourselves and other women take care of themselves better? You know?

Samantha Harris: So when I did that deep dive Yeah. And I realized and came back up for air from that of, okay, it's what's in, on and around our body. And then there was all of this overwhelm over the la Then there was all this overwhelm over the many years after I [00:40:00] discovered, okay, I need to change how I'm eating, how I'm exercising, how I'm approaching my skincare and makeup and cleaning supplies.

Oh, and toxic relationships, and I need to bust my stress. And then there was the pressure of doing all of that, making a 180 and doing it overnight. Right? And

Dr. Taz: that's stressful too. That

Samantha Harris: adds a lot of terrible stress, right? And yes, I did make some slow, meaningful changes that led to profound health outcomes.

I. Sadly, it took me being smacked with a recurrence 10 years after my initial diagnosis. Okay. So we,

Dr. Taz: we've alluded to that a few times. Yeah. Let's talk about that. So, you know, diagnosed at 40, you go down this journey, you learn a lot, you jump into the health and wellness world, you start understanding this connection between the planet, environmental health, your emotions, what you're eating, drinking all that stuff, and health and cancer risk and epigenetics and all these things that, you know, that [00:41:00] we're sinking our teeth into.

So why a recurrence? So, and at what age?

Samantha Harris: So I was 50. Okay. Um, you know, I jump ba jumping back a moment. You know, I, my book Your Healthiest Healthy came out in 2018. I went back after that to school and became a certified health coach. Okay. I had been a certified trainer, so I, I taught group fitness in my early days in la uh, but I never was certified.

But in 2012, I got certified as a trainer and I had been on the cover of like, before that, like 10 different fitness magazines from Shape to Women's Running, muscle and Fitness, hers. But I wanted, I'm always about education. Mm-hmm. And I, and science. Mm-hmm. And I wanted the street cred to go along with.

It's cool to be on the magazine cover. Right. But if I have nothing to back it up when people are interviewing me to ask what I do, then I'm just sharing a bunch of BS basically. Right. So, you know, then I went back to school and became a certified trainer. Then I went back to school and I became a certified health coach.

And it was a year [00:42:00] long program. It wasn't like, some people

Dr. Taz: know this about you.

Samantha Harris: Do,

Dr. Taz: do you guys know she's a certified health coach and a certified trainer? I don't, I don't, I don't think people know this about you. Woo-hoo. Northwestern girl, apparently always on the quest pulling those, uh, skills right back out of the back.

Well, and I tell you, it is a lot

Samantha Harris: harder to try to study for an exam, I'm sure, uh, when you're not in your, you know, teens and twenties. Yeah. I was like, oh, tap into that muscle. Right. That is wake up muscle. Right. Um, but then, so I went back and I, I had this recurrence at 50, and again, very similar story to the first time I found a lump.

And this lump gave me more pause because it was in the exact location of my initial tumor.

Dr. Taz: Stop. And it was

Samantha Harris: tiny. Yeah, it was smaller than the size of a pee. So again, echoing, know your body, recognize changes, be an ideal body weight. This is

Dr. Taz: post mastectomy.

Samantha Harris: This is post mastectomy. So what's very cool, so people think, oh gosh, how am I ever gonna find Right.

If I have a recurrence? And [00:43:00] the thing to know, and this is another thing I can, I'm gonna give credit to Dr. Jen Simmons. 'cause she really, we have a, a Instagram live we did, that's pinned in my Instagram reels that we did after my recurrence because there were so many questions being fired at me. And I had a lot of answers.

But I brought her on because I also wanted someone who's steeped in the science right. And uh, obviously an oncologist to answer. And what she had explained was that, um, so of course all the breast tissue is gone, but you can never get a hundred percent of it. So what I didn't know, and they don't really tell you, is 5% of.

People who have mastectomy have a, a local recurrence. Wow. And my location, Dr. Christie Funk, another wonderful mm-hmm. Uh, expert you had on. And I also had a private conversation after my recurrence. And what she explained to me is Samantha, where your tumor was initially it was right up against the skin, so it was on the inner quadrant right next to my sternum.

Mm-hmm. But right up against the skin. And even though the surgeon who performed on you is one of the best in the world and very skilled, [00:44:00] it's virtually impossible to get every microscopic cell unless they took, literally cut out all the skin and sewed you back together there as well. And so, had your tumor been smack in the middle of your breast surrounded by breast tissue, you know what?

You probably wouldn't have had a recurrence. But because of the location, and this actually made me feel much better because. Everything that I had been doing, changing to a plant-based, you know, clean nutrient-dense diet, beginning to add, and it's still a struggle, but working on my mindfulness and my meditation and breath work, changing how I'm approaching exercise and the type of exercise I'm doing right, mitigating the toxins in on around my body.

Obviously changing up my skincare and my makeup, all of those things. At first, I wanted to throw it to the wind when I was diagnosed with my recurrence at 50 because I found this lump. Same story. Now, my oncology team feeling. It's saying it's [00:45:00] nothing. And finally after three of my different doctors saw me and said it was nothing, one ordered an ultrasound.

So it's like the same journey as 10 years ago, same journey. And that ultrasound said it wasn't anything. Oh. And so I pushed, they said, well, we'll see you another six months and we'll do another ultrasound. I said, nah, let's see me in three months. So I had consecutive three month ultrasounds until one ultrasound came back.

Now, almost a year later, saying the shape of that tiny little lump has changed. The size is the same, but now that it's changed shape. So this is thankfully where my journey changes from the initial journey where no diagnostics showed anything. This, uh, needle biopsy showed that it changed shape. So. Uh, I'm sorry.

The ultrasound showed that it changed shape. So we ordered a biopsy this time where the last time the biopsy didn't say cancer. This time the biopsy did say you have a recurrence. Um, we took the tumor out. I had surgery and [00:46:00] we found out that it was all of the exact same biomarkers as the initials. So we knew with, pretty much with certainty this is a local, regional recurrence.

And yes, it probably came because of those microscopic cells that were right up against the skin that we just couldn't get. Got it. And where I wanted to throw everything out the window that I, I was like, well, what, you know what I'm going, why doing all this, I'm gonna sit on the couch and eat my bon bonds, right.

I'm gonna stop exercising and give me as much processed food as possible and meat. Right. And then I went, wait a second. 'cause I made all those changes for all those years. It was the tiniest little tumor that came back. It was incredibly slow growing. So the way it was behaving. It was probably because of all the changes I had made.

Right. And it took 10 years and it took 10. That's a very long time. Right. And after 10 years, thank God, because of course my biggest concern was that it had metastasized. And I was so grateful after I had a CT to find out that it had not, and that's how we knew [00:47:00] after the, you know, that we were just, everything was good.

So, but what I realized though, in, again, all of that overwhelm of I need to now change every single thing to become a hundred percent toxin free 100% of the time in every part of my life. If that's your modality that you're going to try to pursue, you're going to 100% fail.

Mm.

It's not sustainable and it's not attainable, and life needs wiggle room.

And so I realized I needed to be 10% toxic, and that's become my philosophy to live 10% toxic. It's not saying everything in my life is toxic. You start with something simple, which is an assessment, an awareness. Where in my life am I toxic? So before cancer, when it came to my makeup and my skincare, I was probably eight and 90% toxic.

When it came to my food, I was probably [00:48:00] 50, 60% toxic when it came to my stress busting mindfulness breath work, I was a hundred percent toxic. Hundred percent toxic. Yeah. There was nothing that was, well, maybe 90, 95% because I would go for walks or hikes and then I was in nature and that actually helped bring down the cortisol levels.

That's a lot of toxic, it's a lot of You were toxic. I was toxic. You know, the pathways, the clearing pathways, they were probably toxic and, and really backed up. So when I realized that. With this recurrence, and what I'm sharing now is this 10% toxic philosophy, which is we, we don't have to be toxin free.

We just have to make those efforts to reduce the toxins in all these areas of our life in slow, methodical ways that lead to change and not lead by fear and lead by, you know, thriver ship and lead by, right? So, uh, and to not scare people off, right? So it's not about restriction, it's [00:49:00] about reduction.

Dr. Taz: And it's about redirection a little bit too, right?

Like, just trying to redirect. But I think where people really, thanks for that third R. There you go. I love Al, I'm a journalist. I love alliteration. So, anyhow, but I think, you know, everyone thinks they're all in or they're all out and, you know, if they don't get, again, it's that perfect score on the report card.

Mm-hmm. If they don't get like straight A's, then what's the point? Mm-hmm. But light, I just had this conversation with a patient yesterday. Life is meant to be enjoyed. If you wanna have a glass of wine, have a glass of wine, well there shouldn't be all this noise around. Is it okay to have this glass of wine?

Is it okay to take a spoon of this dessert? Like, there shouldn't be that much energy around all of that. But I think, you know, where people really get tripped up is like, I don't know how to start this journey. And I don't know what the, like the side rails are, like, what are the boundaries? You know? Right.

So if you, if someone's listened to your. Story that you've shared with us today. Maybe they're on a [00:50:00] similar path or maybe they're like, Hey, I wanna get ahead of this. If you had one place for them to start, what? Where would you tell them to start?

Samantha Harris: Take a breath. Take a breath. Everything that you've done to this point is going to not be undone today.

And every step you take to reduce the toxic burden is a step in the right direction. So. Take a breath. I mean, even with say a diagnosis of any sort, do you feel like you need all the answers right now? Right. Take a breath. You didn't get that diagnosis overnight. It took the perfect storm of a variety of things over the many years to lead to this.

And the, the only caveat I'll say is if you have a very, very aggressive cancer, that's where you might wanna move a little bit faster to make those decisions. But 80% of breast cancer patients, and I know this isn't only about breast cancer, [00:51:00] this is a lesson where breast health is overall health. Mm-hmm.

The changes you make to affect everything. Yeah. So, so if you are looking to avoid, maybe you have ca breast cancer in your family, or you just, you know, it's too many women are getting it, you're like, I wanna avoid breast cancer as much as I possibly can. Small, manageable steps, but the changes you make to reduce risk of breast cancer or you've.

Had a cancer and you're looking to reduce recurrence, those changes you make aren't just going to help reduce your risk of breast cancer because breast health is all overall health. Those changes are also going to reduce your risk of other chronic diseases, type two diabetes, heart disease, neurodegenerative disorders, it's all connected.

And even autoimmune disorders.

Dr. Taz: Yeah. 'cause it's definitely all connected at the end of the day. And I think one health change. It's a domino. Mm-hmm. Right. Really helps like make the next health change, right. Easier, more efficient, faster to do. So it's, it's really beautiful. I go back to the human bodies very beautiful in a [00:52:00] way that when we treat it correctly, it kind of does what it's supposed to do.

For sure. But I think one thing I've heard in your story that I, I definitely wanna call out, is that there is something to the power of your intuition and your inner knowing, because you're gonna get a lot of information, whether it's from me or from others or from you. You're gonna get a lot of data.

But I think when you do take a breath, then you kind of get the answers you need and you get the direction you need of what you need to do first and what you need to do second, and what you need to do third. And it takes away sort of this frenetic like energy around, oh my God, oh my God. I like, I have to do all this stuff and I have to change my whole fridge and I have to change all my makeup and do all this like.

Take a breath. What makes the most sense for you? Somebody sitting in the hair and makeup chair, you know, for, for months on end, maybe hair and makeup products is the place to begin. Right? Well, and even

Samantha Harris: smaller. Let's get really micro here because again, we, especially when it comes to our [00:53:00] beauty products, we ladies like to spend a lot of money on it, correct?

Yes. And you're not going to dump out your entire drawer or bag overnight, right? So here's what you do. Skin is the biggest organ, so I like to recommend we change our foundation or whatever you're putting. Maybe it's a BB cream, whatever it is, it. And your skin. And your skin cream change that first. Then maybe you change your mascara or your eyeshadow, your lip gloss.

I like to go for lips, especially 'cause you're eating it as well. Mm-hmm. Maybe ingesting a little bit more than you realize form of food. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Uh, and then when it comes to food, so some really easy swaps because people, that's where people get really scared, right. You're gonna tell 'em, you're gonna take away my, whatever, your favorite product, you know, food is right.

No, just make some simple changes. So. Where can you be more plant forward? We know that a plant-based foundation is key for no matter if you wanna be keto or you, which by the way, is not highly recommended for long periods of time. Yeah. Um, but you wanna [00:54:00] be vegetarian, vegan, you wanna be an omnivore or a carnivore.

But start with a plant-based foundation where, so when you sit down to a snack or a meal, where can you get more veggies? Ideally move towards organic as much as possible. But where can you get more veggies in, more nuts, seeds, legumes and beans. That's number one. But even more micro than that, just start opening your fridge and your pantry.

Turn boxes and packages around what has high fructose corn syrup. Mm-hmm. Literally, that's good place to start. Just start there. That's really micro and change up. What is the high fructose corn syrup ingredients in your home? There are so many great swaps and you won't even notice a taste differential.

Where can you switch to organic frozen's a great economical way to go, especially with fruit. I'm a big smoothie fan because I can get Me too. Yeah, right. You get to so much in there, it's so easy. Yeah. It's just so easy. You put, you put the greens, you put the bean, whatever you easy, you put the [00:55:00] flax and the chi and you know, you get all these, this a good plant-based protein powder, so you get all of that stuff.

Um, when it, so that's where, you know, high fructose corn syrup when it comes to the food and more veggies and plant-based foods when it comes to the skincare, starting with your foundation and your creams when it comes to mindfulness and stress busting. I'm not saying you gotta sit cross like on the floor for an hour and just go, Hmm, I don't see you doing that.

No, I don't. Sorry. And by the way, I'm, I'm still quite down to 10% toxic when it comes to my stress busting, but. Micro moments. You pull into that parking space and you turn off the ignition. Once those windows are up, have you ever noticed just how silent it's?

Mm-hmm.

Take a moment. Take three deep belly breaths.

Find moments in your day to get some deep breaths. Close your eyes. Tap into washing the dishes. Mindfulness. How does the water feel with the warmth? Do you feel the suds? [00:56:00] What smells do you just, when you're taking a walk with the dog, do you hear the birds or are you so busy in your head? That you're not hitting the hearing, the pitter-patter of your dog's feet.

Those things make a huge difference. And they're small, really manageable ways to reach your healthiest healthy life. I would love to say you can snap a finger and be your healthiest, healthy overnight. I'm still on a journey. 11 years in think we all

Dr. Taz: are. I'm on a journey. I mean, I may know a lot, but the personal healing journey is a journey.

You know, it's, and it's always like, how can I be a little bit better this year, this week, this day? What can I bring in? You know? And it's not about these hard regimens and I think a lot of people are kind of locked into that. So you've turned all of this experience into a platform. Yeah. You mentioned it.

Yes. Yes. Tell us a little bit about that.

Samantha Harris: So your healthiest healthy as a brand and a podcast came from. My book that came out in 2018, and I am so, you know, I was so happy it came out as a number [00:57:00] one Amazon bestseller across multiple categories. It has great celebrity endorsements from Chris Jenner to Christina Applegate to Dr.

Drew. Amazing. But I think for me, the fact that Dr. Dennis Slamon, the father of Herceptin, wrote the Forward is, I get, look, I've interviewed everyone from, you know, Sandra Bullock, to Lady Gaga, to Hugh Jackman and George Clooney. I. Geek out and fan girl. When I'm interviewing these medical and wellness experts, I love it because they help transform our wellbeing.

And so, uh, that's where I and I get nerdy with the science. So the book itself, the, the title of your Healthy Is Healthy came out because I got diagnosed with cancer and I thought I was healthy.

Healthy, right?

So I've had to level up to my healthiest healthy, and then I went on this deep dive and did all this research and all this science, and it's really a, a foundation for many different ways to.

Tackle all the, and you don't even have to read it from cover to cover. You're like, I just wanna address food. And so there's that [00:58:00] nutrition factor. Mm-hmm. You know, chapter or I just, I'm, I was diagnosed with something, I don't even know where to start with a medical team. So there's a whole medical mojo chapter and like how to stack your doc squad and Right.

That and then, uh, so then Your Healthiest Healthy was born as, as the brand. And I did, I do Your Healthiest Healthy retreat. Amazing. So I take group to Utah every year, and this year we're actually even branching out. I'm taking everyone to Zion as well for a day. Oh, fun. Okay. So I do, it's, it's hiking. It's, it's, it's so much fun.

And I coach throughout the whole process. And then your Healthiest Healthy podcast, which you've been on, and it's just, yes, I have, I, um, I just, I, you know, I love talking to people and so I bring on the best of the best experts and we chat and I have some session, some episodes that are just coaching sessions.

And again, the philosophy of 10% toxic to get to your healthiest healthy. Really is about the wiggle room and knowing that you can thrive. Still find the [00:59:00] joy in your life.

Dr. Taz: I think that's so amazing. It's been so fun knowing you and watching your journey over these years. I don't know how long we've known each other, but I know we've had lots of conversations.

We've watched our teenagers grow up now. Yes. Watched our teenagers grow up getting

Samantha Harris: too close to going to college. Oh, I know.

Dr. Taz: But it's been, it's been really incredible. When you pull back and look ahead now, 'cause I'm in the space too. Mm-hmm. You know, what are you. What are you hoping to create in the next 10 years?

Samantha Harris: Hmm. Well, I think that, uh, you know, really one of the most fulfilling things that I have is the one-to-one touch that I have through social media. Mm-hmm. And, uh, I'm really active on my Instagram. And so every breast cancer survivor who reaches out, I get back to, and many of them I have ongoing back and forth conversations with.

You know, they'll type a question and I'll leave. Like, you know, I, I am a little verbose, so I will leave like a five minute Yeah. Message back. Yeah. Uh, but I, I really like having those conversations and being able to help women who are in the position that I was in [01:00:00] to not. Be so afraid of the changes that can be made to take even better control of your wellness.

Um, I even have, you know, free guides like my Clean beauty guide. So people, you, if you're listening or watching, just send me a DM that says Clean Beauty and what's your Instagram handle? Just so folks

Dr. Taz: know,

Samantha Harris: oh, Samantha Harris tv. You know, since I was in television. Yes, you were for so long. So Samantha Harris tv both on Instagram and Facebook.

So DM me through either, but you, if you send me a DM that says, so that's a direct message. My mom's like, what's a DM? Direct message. So just personally she'd be like, IDK. Yeah, right, exactly. So just message me, uh, clean Beauty and I will send you the PDF that I vetted. So I did a show where we shot 65 episodes in three weeks of a game show.

And this was, uh, after my, my diagnosis and I just a couple years back and I said to my, my glam team, who are my good friends who've been with me forever. Right, right, right. Nothing is coming through this door that isn't. Completely free of any harmful [01:01:00] toxins. You know, EWG verified, like really clean. So that wa they were all up for the challenge.

So I vetted so many different brands because we had a budget that we could buy a lot of product and then a lot of brands sent stuff. So I was able to really test out a lot. So I put together this list of hair and makeup and skincare and whatever. So that's clean beauty. And then, because we just talked about how much we love smoothies, I have a a a a 50 page recipe guide of smoothies and more.

Okay. So if you DM the word smoothie, you get that guide. I mean, I just like sharing love. I like sharing six

Dr. Taz: tools to really begin this journey somewhere. It doesn't matter where you start, just start somewhere.

Samantha Harris: Because as you said, it's a domino effect. Right? And the more you start to. Embrace it, the easier it becomes and also the more excited you get, you know, and like sleep's something we didn't even talk about and people who are like, look, watching you see I have a, you know.

Mm-hmm. A tracker ring as you do as well. And, and it's just, it's eyeopening. Right. I, I have a whole episode on biohacking, so the [01:02:00] sleep trackers, the continual glucose monitors. Monitors, which I think are, yes. Wow.

Dr. Taz: But to me, those are like, you kind of graduate into that stuff you do, right? Yeah. You don't start there.

Don't start there. Please don't start there. I don't think that's a starting point. I think people get so overwhelmed sometimes with, with all the data. But you know, I think your journey is incredible. Hopefully if you're out there listening or watching us and you're going through your own health journey, I think, you know, some of these principles apply.

It doesn't matter what the particular diagnosis is. Mm-hmm. But these principles apply in terms of building teams and advocacy and community and all this other stuff. So, you know, I really feel privileged that you chose to share your story with us. It's been a good one. I do wanna ask you one more question.

You know, we talk a lot on this show about bringing all the determinants of health together, how they matter on a healing journey. I wanna know what makes you whole. Mm.

Samantha Harris: That's a great question. Um, I mean, for me, just living my purpose, which [01:03:00] is to live in alignment with the healthiest life I can, but also to embrace experiences.

So I feel whole, gosh, I don't think I feel more whole than when I'm either by an ocean or in the mountains hiking in nature, in nature. Yeah. Either way. Yeah. The third line there is nature. Mm-hmm. I just, uh, you know, you said, uh, um, mentioned earlier about, you know, really being able to have that self-reflection.

Right. And you know, whether it's for. Something that might be going on in your body and it's a health diagnosis, or even just figuring out what your next step is in your career. Or maybe you're in a relationship that is not serving you, but getting in nature, getting quiet, right? Turning off the headphones, not necessarily listening to music while you're walking, or hiking or sitting by an ocean or whatever.

You can, if it's a forest, I don't care. But get into nature because when you get quiet with yourself [01:04:00] is where the real answers come.

Dr. Taz: I couldn't agree more. So what makes you whole is nature. It's. Silence. Silence that nature offers to give you answers. That's powerful.

Samantha Harris: It's It is. It is powerful. I didn't think about it that way, but it is.

Dr. Taz: That is super powerful, and that explains your drive throughout your entire journey and what you're doing now. That's incredible. Thank you. Well, thank you so much for joining me today. Everyone else watching and listening, thank you for joining us for this episode of Whole Plus. Remember, we post new episodes every week.

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