In this episode, Cheryl interviews Dr. Christo Frangopoulos about how certain lifestyle factors related to cancer. Most people overlook one of the most powerful tools in preventing cancer: movement. Dr. Christo Frangopoulos reveals surprising facts about how simple lifestyle shifts, like breaking up sedentary time, can drastically cut your risk of cancer and boost your body’s ability to fight it. If you’re tired of just hearing “eat healthy and exercise,” this episode uncovers actionable strategies backed by the latest science to enhance your health span.

Discover why sitting is just as dangerous as smoking when it comes to cancer risk, and learn the practical tips to make movement a seamless part of your day. From how often to get up during work hours to the science of muscle-derived anti-cancer proteins called myokines, Dr. Christo shares insights that can change your approach to health.

We break down the true impact of sedentary behavior, the science behind autophagy and muscle contraction, and the critical role sleep plays in cellular repair and cancer prevention.You’ll also uncover: the truth about alcohol’s relationship with cancer, the importance of inflammation markers like CRP, and why maintaining consistent sleep and circadian rhythms is crucial for lowering risk.

This episode is perfect for anyone looking to take control, whether you’re battling family history or just want to live longer healthier lives.Dr. Christo Frangopoulos is an anesthesiologist, lifestyle medicine expert, and personal trainer known for integrating science-backed strategies to improve health outcomes across the U.S.

His insights on cancer prevention through lifestyle modifications are revolutionary yet accessible, making this a must-listen for health-conscious individuals and medical professionals alike.

Don’t miss this opportunity to turn simple daily habits into potent cancer-fighting tools. Your health journey starts with the right knowledge and this episode delivers it. Hit play now and learn how to reframe your lifestyle for longevity and resilience.

Visit Dr. Frangopoulos at AltasMD360.com

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Episode transcript:

Cheryl McColgan (00:00)
Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of HealNurshGrow and today I’m really excited to be joined by Dr. Christo Frangopoulos and he is kindly letting me shorten his name to Dr. Chris or Chris, but he will introduce himself here in a moment. And why I really wanted to have Dr. Frangopoulos on today is because he is a board certified anesthesiologist. He’s also a lifestyle medicine doctor and he’s a personal trainer. So, you know, those are all things if you’re a listener to this podcast that I am super excited about and that I love to chat about.

take it from here and just introduce yourself and share with people what you’re all about and what you’re here to talk about today.

Christo (00:35)
Wonderful. Well, I just wanna say thank you so much for having me. This is an honor and I really hope we can reach at least a few people out there to make a difference with the information I’m going to be sharing with Cheryl. As Cheryl said, my name is Christof Rangaples. It’s much easier just to say Chris. I am an anesthesiologist for about a decade now. I have also got board certified in lifestyle medicine and a certified personal trainer and a lot of what I do

is share information that’s evidence-based and science-backed that can optimize people’s lifestyle. As a physician, I travel the country, I’m certified in about 10 different states, and the problem of healthcare is it’s everywhere. And the state of our nation can really utilize a change in how we attack our health.

And I think lifestyle medicine offers so many great tools and it’s super helpful. It’s not overly complicated and can make a huge difference.

Cheryl McColgan (01:39)
It’s so nice to have a doctor on that really appreciates that because I think so often, you we have more of a sick care system than health care system. And I’m sure that we’ll get into that a little bit more. But the fact that you are trained in lifestyle medicine, that you recognize the significance and the importance of it, I think is a huge step in the right direction for the medical field. So I’m so glad that you’re kind of promoting that and you have all that information on your website, all your good programs and continuing education. So I think that will be a huge benefit to the medical community. But one of the things that you’re

Christo (01:49)
Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Cheryl McColgan (02:09)
particularly interested when your team reached out is around cancer. And some people that know me personally or know some of my work and some of my writing will know that I have a lot of cancer in my family. And it’s a big reason that I do a lot of the things that I do in my health and my life. So what what have you how did you become interested in cancer specifically? And then let’s start with like what your number one top lifestyle change people can do to prevent cancer.

Christo (02:39)
Sure. So as an anesthesiologist, you can imagine we see every sort of surgery from something simple to very complicated cancer cases. And over my years, I’ve seen a lot of cancer surgeries and how they’ve affected.

their families, their communities, and it really is a, it’s something that every one of us have experience with, whether it’s yourself or a family member or a friend or a coworker, we are all affected by cancer and it is everywhere. But the truth of the matter is a lot of lifestyle change can actually make a huge difference in our cancer rates across the country.

And most people probably don’t know this, but only about five to 10 % of cancers are from inherited gene mutations. Okay, so the other 90 % are often attributed to either a lifestyle or environmental exposures. So, you know, a lot of people think they’re destined to get cancer because their family member has a cancer or whatnot. That is a small chunk of cancer.

It is actually our lifestyle and environmental exposures that can affect getting cancer, how we respond to cancer, and the aftermath of that, either being successful in treatment or not. And there’s a lot of things we can do for it.

Cheryl McColgan (04:12)
Yeah, just to drive that point home, share that we were talking before we started recording and Dr. Christo was just kindly asking me if there was any, you know, thing to avoid around cancer because I had said that it’s a lot in my family and it’s been a while and it’s always going to be hard. But my dad, when I was around, he was one of the first runners in the running boom, always going to the health food store, did all these super healthy lifestyle behaviors before this was really popular. And so was quite shocking, you know, when he ended up having these multiple cancer diagnosis later in

But as a young man, he, we lived in the south, we live in Louisiana, and this is in the 70s before a lot of OSHA things and whatever, and he worked in chemical plants. And he was a chemist by trade. you know, so I’m pretty fully convinced that for him, it was those environmental factors that you spoke of. So in addition to being in an environment like that, that’s kind of an obvious situation. What are maybe some things that aren’t as obvious that people might be exposed to that they can limit in order to prevent cancer?

Christo (05:10)
Yeah, and not to scare anyone right now, but it’s kind of what we’re doing. We’re being sedentary, we’re sitting down right now. it is, sedentary behavior is ubiquitous in our culture, right? It’s how we do work every day. A lot of people sit at their desks in the office and there’s sometimes little movement. Well, we know a lot of things, what are causes of cancer and actually sedentary behavior.

Even if you meet all of the activity guidelines, sedentary behavior itself is an independent risk factor for getting cancer. Of course, there’s a bunch of numbers with these, but it’s something that a lot of people don’t even think about. And an easy solution is trying to get up and get moving every so often. For myself, am I stuck at an office or in an operating room case, in their long cases, I make sure I’m getting up.

every single hour on the hour, something I can remember just to get moving. And we’ll talk more in depth about this, but movement itself is as a prevention for not only cancer, but a number of other things. But yes, sedentary behavior is a big one that we really don’t think about very much. And a lot of us are exposed to that.

Cheryl McColgan (06:27)
Yeah, and I just want to I kind of want to build on something that you said just to make it super clear for people because I know this information, but if this is the first time somebody’s hearing it, they might not understand it. So I think the recommendation right now is correct me if I’m wrong, because I know you’ll know the right answer to this. It’s like 150 minutes per week of physical activity for most adults. Right. But you’re I think what you’re saying is, OK, say you do that. You go to the gym and you do your 150 minutes. That’s not the end. It’s actually been that eight hours that you’re sitting at your desk is still putting that on top

Christo (06:45)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yep.

Yes.

Yes, so you are correct. It is 100, so the physical activity guidelines is 150 to 300 minutes of moderate intensity activity per week. It could also be 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous intensity activity or a combination of both knowing that one minute of vigorous intensity activity is equal to two minutes of moderate intensity activity. All that being aside.

150 minutes of moderate activity per week is the goal. It’s something easy to remember. But yes, this sedentary behavior is independent of that. So if you’re going to the gym and you’re hitting all your marks, it doesn’t give you license so much to go home and be a cash potato the rest of the day. And that’s kind of the idea here. When we look at all of these different factors, it really comes down to getting your blood flowing.

No, it’s more than that, that’s simplistic explanation. But the simple answer is get your butt up, get moving, get your blood flowing, and it’s something that we have to make it habitual. And again, we have such a sedentary lifestyle, it doesn’t mean we’re not doing anything, it just means that we’re sitting at a chair at the office, we’re at the desk all day, we’re typing on the computer. It’s just how our lives are built.

So we therefore have to change the environment around us to make sure that we aren’t so sedentary. And there’s a number of things that we can do for that.

Cheryl McColgan (08:30)
So what would be some of your favorite tips for people? mean, I think you mentioned saying getting up on the hour, everybody has a cell phone nowadays, so setting alarms or using apps. What are some other things besides that that people might do to kind of combat this sedentary behavior?

Christo (08:36)
Yeah. Yeah.

Sure, so that’s a big one for me. It’s something very easy to remember. On the hour, every hour, get up and get moving. Now if you’re at the office or if you’re somewhere where you’re not at home, make sure you are going to the restroom that’s farthest away from you, using the kitchen or water fountain that’s not close to you, walking up and down the stairs just to get moving. It doesn’t have to be difficult. It doesn’t have to be

You know, I have to meet these marks. The simple answer is just get up, get moving, incorporate it into your day that’s seamless. That’s something that easy to remember for you. Maybe it’s you have a favorite coffee station at the office, whatever may be, just try to make it make sure that you’re able to incorporate as much movement as you can.

Cheryl McColgan (09:37)
I think that’s really clear. So we want people to go to the gym. We want them to be strength training so they can prevent sarcopenia, maintain their muscle mass. That’s all great for metabolic health, but we also just need people to just get out of the chair from their desk or away from the TV and just move

Christo (09:44)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

one of the most simple things that we can be doing to prevent cancer. And of course, there is more to

exercise in cancer prevention. We’re talking about sedentary behavior, but it also can go from light to moderate activity, vagus activity, and then meeting the guidelines. They all have their unique benefits, and we can talk about that if you’d like.

But the sedentary behavior I think is just one of the most more shocking ones that people just may not know about

Cheryl McColgan (10:18)
Yes, totally agree with that statement from just getting moving because I think like I said before, people think they go to the gym and that’s good enough. That’s not that’s not the end of the story. But you did touch on one I would like to maybe chat about a little bit more. And that was the use of exercise maybe in a different way. So I was very focused on fasting for a while when Dr. Urashimo I’m going to mess up his name. I’ll put it in the show notes. But you know, when they first kind of discovered a Toshi back in 2016, and I learned about fast.

Christo (10:35)
Yeah.

You

Cheryl McColgan (10:47)
And

I was very focused on that for a while. But now that I’ve gotten older, my bigger concern is maintaining muscle mass as I get over the age of 50. And so I’ve kind of stopped that because I also learned that exercise actually promotes autophagy really strongly. And maybe I’ll just have you actually talk about autophagy in a more scientific way so that people understand its relation to cancer. So maybe if you could talk about that with exercise, that would be awesome.

Christo (11:13)
Yeah, so I think how I relate this is something called myokines. When we exercise, you get our bodies moving and our muscles are contracting, they release something called myokines into the bloodstream. The simple answer is myokines are anti-cancer proteins. And the more we contract our muscles, the more these anti-cancer agents are moving around our bloodstream and

not only are we able to more effectively kill cancer cells, it is something that’s going to...