Empowering Women with Cancer: An Interview with Caroline Justich, Founder of Be accepted

Inspirational and cancer-defying, Caroline Justich is the founder of Be accepted, Home of the smart 8, an initiative for women diagnosed with cancer. Founded in cooperation with the European Society of Radiology, the program offers a magazine and online platform focused on building a bridge between western medicine and complementary evidence-based methods to support therapy, life quality and recovery.

A central piece of the ‘smart 8’ is nutrition; inspired by Caroline’s transformative relationship with sugar and nutrition after receiving her diagnosis. She intently focused on learning to fuel her body to feel stronger and outsmart cancer.

Now, strengthened with the latest know-how and expertise of leading experts in the western and complementary medical world, Be accepted supports other women navigating their journey with cancer from the first shock of a diagnosis through to treatment and aftercare.

Congratulations on launching Be accepted. What motivated you to create this platform?

In 2016, I received a stage 4 breast cancer diagnosis, and doctors said I had three months left to live. I immediately shifted my mindset and way of life, including my nutrition. I actively chose to accept my situation and began visualizing my goal. This was the moment I discovered Dr Coy’s diet plan and nutritional concept for cancer patients. Shifting my preconceived ideas about food, I began following his suggestions.

Without a doubt, this was one of the reasons my body reacted so well to the therapies. Now, after 6 years, I can still handle regular medical treatments very well. I’m convinced that remaining physically and emotionally fit truly gave me an advantage in allowing my body to heal and to continue living my life with ongoing maintenance therapies.

As I spoke with other women about their cancer diagnosis experience, I realized it is crucial to have resources in place to help deal with the initial shock and establish the right mindset to move forward.

A patient’s radiologist also plays a big role in dealing with a diagnosis. The way in which a radiologist breaks the news to a patient can strongly impact the patient’s journey, especially their mindset and willingness to actively participate in the healing process. Therefore, I knew this had to be a central part of Be accepted from the very beginning. Which is why I initiated a collaboration with the European Society of Radiology to offer tools for radiologists to provide patients with actionable next steps starting from the moment of diagnosis.

I wanted to provide women with a platform combining all the resources backed by scientific evidence, saving them valuable time and energy.

And so, Be accepted was born. All the information is filtered, summarized, and cited by scientific evidence and credible sources – in a positive and easily-understandable language for patients.

I like to think of it as a guide for the self-aware patient to support them from the moment of diagnosis through to remission. It opens the world of scientifically supported resources for all patients and supplies access to the best expertise of western medicine and complementary medicine.

Has your knowledge of nutrition and food changed since being diagnosed with cancer?

Yes, 100%.

The changes to my diet and applying the smart 8 (a combination of eight principles integral to a successful healing process) allowed me to receive more chemotherapy than my doctor initially planned.

I felt incredibly strong and fit, I felt better than I did before I started the therapies. It was surprising to everyone; even my liver surgeon was shocked that my metastasis altogether ceased activity. He said he had never seen this happen before, because it’s impossible for chemotherapy to work that well.

One of the key principles of Be accepted is nutrition. When I exchanged my old eating habits for new ones, I couldn’t believe how energised I felt. I hardly felt tired from the chemotherapy and did not feel the ‘normal sick-feeling’ symptoms – except once when I cheated. I realised how addicting sugar could be – it’s horrible, a sugar-craving.

But once your sense of taste recovers and the cravings subside, food begins tasting differently. Even the common side effects of chemotherapy, such as a metallic taste in food, mucositis, and skin issues, weren’t massive problems for me.

What aspects of Dr Coy’s nutritional concept helped you in your journey with cancer?

A friend initially introduced me to his nutritional concept. My family and friends helped me follow his ‘action plan’ as I began implementing his diet plan into my daily life, which was a challenge initially. The ‘green, yellow, red light’ food lists were the most helpful piece – they made it easy to create a clear shopping list for my grocery runs.

How did you meet Dr Johannes Coy?

I knew I wanted Dr Coy to be a part of Be accepted, and usually, I’m very straightforward, but I didn’t dare email him directly! He’s such a big name in the cancer world, and I felt I owed him so much. So, Judith Tscheppe, our editor, reached out to him, saying that I changed my diet according to his nutrition plan and the result of my stage 4 cancer diagnosis is now a fantastic success story. Within the next thirty minutes, we scheduled a zoom call and found our interests and views aligned in many ways.

How did you react when you first heard about “healthy sugars”?

I couldn’t believe it. When I changed my diet, I cut out classic sugars completely and tried using other alternative sugars/sweeteners. Unfortunately, these alternatives, such as erythritol, gave me diarrhoea, which is horrible when undergoing chemotherapy. And stevia I couldn’t use for baking as it was too sweet.

I remember receiving my first order of Dr Coy’s Sugar Mixture, the Tagatose & Galactose Mix, and I was fascinated. The taste, usability, and benefits are simply amazing. Dr Coy’s sugars helped make the changes to my diet sustainable since I could still have a sweet treat.

Do the advanced early detection technologies and nutrition research available today give you hope for the future?

Technically, I was too young to fall into the age bracket to be considered for early breast cancer screening, but I do have a lot of hope.

Science and technology are moving so fast these days. You have to be patient with your mindset to accept new ideas. Ultimately, the goal is to live healthily as long as possible and investing in your physical and mental well-being with nutrition and supplements is essential. Countless studies prove this is what truly makes a difference in your health.

Nutrition really enables you to enjoy life to the fullest, even when living with a disease.

For anyone recently diagnosed with cancer, what would you want them to know?

Visit our Be accepted website and know that you’ll find everything you need to support your healing process in the best possible way. A whole community is ready to support you!

I know how important it is to have access to clear, evidence-based information and at Be accepted, we make this extensive knowledge and network available to you, saving you time and energy.

Our platform is centred around eight principles, called the Smart 8. These highlight the core benefits of our materials and help focus your energy on the areas which require the most attention.

I believe the first step for anyone facing a cancer diagnosis is to accept the situation and decide how to act. Take control of your initial reactions and reach out for support in creating your own game plan towards recovery.