Tonijean Kulpinski is a long-term kidney cancer survivor, best-selling author, and Board-Certified Naturopathic Practitioner.
In January 2008, Tonijean was diagnosed with stage II renal cell carcinoma. She had surgery to remove the kidney, but opted out of radiation, chemotherapy, or other conventional treatment.
Tonijean leaned heavily into her faith, radically changed her diet and lifestyle, and eventually left her career as a hair colorist to help others improve their health.
In this interview, we talk about how her approach to nutrition has changed over the years, the irrational fear around fruit and sugar, our culture’s obsession with protein, oxalates, and kidney stones, and some of the confusion we see in the natural health world.
I really enjoyed this conversation with Tonijean, and I’m so glad she is using her experience to help others survive and thrive as well. Enjoy!
Watch our interview below, or listen to it on the Chris Beat Cancer podcast on iTunes or Spotify.
Show Notes
-Tonijean’s introduction to holistic health [4:05]
-The health problems before a cancer diagnosis [8:00]
-Body image, diet, and years of working in hair salons [9:17]
-The prayer that changed the direction of Tonijean’s healing [11:35]
-How Tonijean’s diet and lifestyle changed after cancer [17:29]
-Fruit, blood sugar, and dietary fat [20:37]
-The early health influences that shaped Tonijean’s journey [24:18]
-The protein obsession [27:01]
-The anti-sugar movement and fruit fear [28:40]
-Quick fixes and trends in the natural health world [33:40]
-Tonijean’s foundational approach to nutrition and healing [36:25]
-B12, vitamin C, and supplementation [40:35]
-Accepting people where they are [44:18]
-How Tonijean’s kidney cancer was discovered [46:16]
-Surgery and the decision to walk away from treatment [50:30]
-Kidney stones, oxalates, and diet [54:15]
-The role of doctors in health and wellness [57:14]
-The protein industry and protein marketing [1:02:02]
Connect with Tonijean
Facebook: Tonijean Kulpinski
Instagram: @tonijeankulpinski
Book: Let’s Heal America Now: Holistic Health Revolution by Tonijean Kulpinski
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I created a coaching program and a private online support community to help you survive and thrive through cancer. The SQUARE ONE Program contains the step-by-step strategies used by myself and many others who have healed cancer with a holistic approach using evidence-based nutrition and natural non-toxic therapies.
This Post Has 15 Comments
“Medical mafia” very correct. You have to be responsible for your health. Nutrition and lifestyle account for a lot. I am a healthy 62 going on 63 year old female, no underlying conditions, no medication- they way God intended. 99% of what I eat is what God created. Only drink water or whatever I can make in a blender. The Holy Spirit is my health coach. I am learning a lot from this…
Thank you
Hi folks, loving this discussion, it is so good to see God getting the glory for your healing and for helping others.
I am hearing some new ideas in this talk. I have been following Chris for many years, and have learned much to help me keep me well. At 89 I have no condiions except glaucoma, under control with drops, but feeling well and happy in Jesus.
I have for years wildcrafted elderberries and canned the juice, winging it, but it helped people. But it is hard to get people to understand that a simple wild berry can heal you. But after a while friends of mine who were concerned about me climbing into ditches, fighting poison ivy, and so they planted elderberries in their back yard, and now, she and I can the berries together. And because God provides it freely, I give it away. If my qt jars come back, I am glad for that, if they don’t, they don’t and I get more. God bless you for sharing what God has taught you, and for sharing the information so we can share it with others. Looking unto Jesus, Heb 12:2, Jacky Manchester great great grandma
Nice interview!
Thank you for the interview really enjoyed listening to both of you. Thank you for sharing all of your knowledge and wanting to continue to help others
It’s a good interview but she never shares exactly what she’s taking. She only makes recommendations and says she doesn’t take any drugs. But what is her regimen? And does she take bio identical hormones? Sometimes people don’t consider hormones drugs. What is her regimen besides eating fruits and vegetables?
So loved this interview. The enthusiasm, knowledge, and crediting God for the above rekindled the smoldering fire within me. Thank you Chris and Tonijean. God bless.
Hi, I really enjoyed the interview! I was wondering whether Tonijean had a nephrectomy or whether her cancer was successfully treated without needing a partial or complete removal of her kidney. Thank you.
I just realized she said she had a surgery, apologies. Was it partial nephrectomy or radical nephrectomy?
Viola, your question about surgery is one that has been one of the areas in many of Chris’s interviews that is consistently given a very brief mention by the person telling their story with the facts before the surgery and the results afterwards cloaked in secrecy. With that, I pose the following suggestion to Chris.
Hi Chris. I hope you read this and give it some consideration. As I mentioned above, many of the people you interview will briefly state that they had surgery. Sometimes it is so brief I have to replay that portion of the interview to make sure I heard it correctly. When your interviewees don’t want to talk about that part of their experience, one gets the impression that they are hiding it because it doesn’t comport with the healing message they are currently advocating. That silence detracts from the trust they want us to have in their message. Tonijean Kulpinski did it in her interview.
I have read what you say about your own surgery in the FAQs on your website. Not everyone who watches your interviews will see your comments so it would be helpful for the viewing audience, especially those who are or know someone who is contemplating surgery, to know more about the decision to proceed with surgery from those who did it.
What were the side effects of the surgery? Were other organs or tissues significantly affected by the surgery? How long did it take and what was done to overcome or heal from the surgery? Did the surgery have a positive or negative affect on the cancer? Would you make the same decision today to have surgery? Why or why not?
Those are important aspects of the healing journeys many of your guests went through. Ask them to tell us more about that. It would lend a lot of credibility to what they want us to know about them and their message.
THE NATURAL HYGIENE MOVEMENT OF THE 1800’S SET THE GROUND WORK TO CHANGE DIRECTION OF WHAT WAS THE ‘MEDICAL PROFESSION’…THIS WOULD EVENTUALLY CREATE THE AMERICAN NATURAL HYGIENE SOCIETY IN THE LATE 1800’S INTO THE 1900’S, BUT THE LEADERS OF THE NATURAL HYGIENE SOCIETY SLOWLY DIED OFF AND SOON THE NATURAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION/NHA FORMED. THE SAD PART IS THAT THE NHA TOOK THE CONCEPTS OF NATURAL HYGIENE AND ‘COMPROMISED THEM SO THEY WOULD BE MORE ‘ACCEPTABLE’ AND IT CREATED FINANCIAL REWARDS FOR THE HSA AS THEY ‘SOLD’ MORE AND MORE ‘STUFF’…SO SAD…
Hi Chris thank you so much for sharing this interview with me I found it to be really motivational and filled with lots of good information. I have been following you for many years Chris….I have alot of respect for youThank you for helping me and so many other people You are awesome! I plan on following Tonijean….thanks to you
I so grateful to you for sharing this interview, it has given me more courage and hope to work this path.
Great video..thx for both of you.
I listen intently TWICE and I plan on reading again so it can sink in great interview was good to hear everything Thanks for sharing and best wishes