Real medicine is food! How to live long away from the pharmacy? Dr. Tadeusz Oleszczuk

The expert refers to tradition – in the past, fasting before Easter lasted 40 days, and people ate fermented foods, which rebuilt the microbiota. He argues that the modern recommendation of 5 meals a day and snacking on fruit, bars, and juices leads to constant stimulation of the pancreas. When a patient switches to 2 meals, abdominal bloating disappears, concentration and sleep improve. He emphasizes that it is not calories that determine the effect, but the hormonal response to fasting. He practices this himself, but flexibly – on weekends he allows himself more freedom, and during the week he sticks to the regime.

Oleszczuk developed this protocol after years of observation, when patients reported dramatic improvement after eliminating these three groups. Many of them lost weight, pain subsided, and even breast cysts and uterine fibroids shrank. He emphasizes that it is important to eliminate not only 'sugar from the sugar bowl', but all hidden sugars in yogurts, drinks, ready meals (260 names). This simple test gives the patient agency and motivation for further changes. Effects are visible after just a few days.

The expert emphasizes that he does not treat parasites (he is not a parasitologist), but shares his own strategy. He describes that many people with chronic symptoms go to doctors for years, and parasites turn out to be the culprit, blocking the absorption of D3 and zinc. His approach is to make their life difficult on a daily basis, not just a one-time treatment. He himself uses pumpkin seeds, spices, probiotics, and sometimes a tablet every few months.

Oleszczuk has been practicing ordering extended panels for years. Thanks to this, he detects deficiencies and inflammations that escape standard diagnostics. Example: patients with breast cysts – he tests prolactin, thyroid, D3, ferritin and often finds elevated prolactin and hypothyroidism; after balancing them, cysts disappear. He urges 'not to treat the result, but the patient', but to be aware that laboratory norms are shifting and it is worth striving for optimal values from 40 years ago.

Oleszczuk emphasizes that men often think the more training, the better, while the optimum is 3 times a week. Excess exercise is additional stress for mitochondria and adrenal glands, which can intensify andropause symptoms. Along with training, you need to take care of an anti-inflammatory diet, protein and creatine supplementation (5 g/day), and adequate sleep – otherwise training alone will not be enough to raise testosterone.

Oleszczuk tells patients: 'If you already have to loosen your belt during a meal, it means something is wrong'. He also checks whether after breakfast (e.g., scrambled eggs) they feel full, but light. He emphasizes that this is a key skill – relationship with your own body, because no doctor spends 24 hours a day with us. Only on the basis of observation can you order blood tests (ferritin, D3, hormonal profile).

Oleszczuk argues that a calorie is a unit of heat that does not reflect the complexity of metabolism – the key is hormones: insulin, cortisol, leptin, ghrelin. 100 calories from a doughnut (refined carbohydrates, sugar, trans fat) will cause an insulin spike, inflammation, and fat storage, while 100 calories from a beetroot (fiber, micronutrients) works anti-inflammatory and nourishes the microbiota. Fructose, despite having an identical chemical formula to glucose (C6H12O6), does not trigger an insulin spike, yet promotes fatty liver and is addictive. In turn, 9 kcal from omega-3 works anti-inflammatory, and 9 kcal from trans fat is pro-inflammatory. In light of hormones and inflammation, the concept of calories falls apart. The expert cites his own experience with patients who, after eliminating sugar and bread, lost weight, even though they did not count calories.

Oleszczuk went deeper: insulin resistance itself is a symptom, the cause of which are three pillars – stress, highly processed food, and simple refined carbohydrates. High insulin levels act as a growth factor (anabolic), promoting the growth of glands, fibroids, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer. Additionally, there are endocrine-disrupting compounds in food and plastics. This process is reversible if the patient changes their lifestyle – then symptoms subside, and are not merely suppressed with drugs. For example, girls with PCOS after implementing an anti-inflammatory diet got pregnant naturally.

Oleszczuk cites the case of a 47-year-old man who was unsuccessfully treated by various specialists for 12 years, until finally he was diagnosed with parasites. Similarly, a 4-year history of a gynecological patient with abdominal pain ended with the detection of parasites. According to him, parasites steal zinc and D3, weakening immunity, and cause sweet hunger attacks. He recommends submitting stool samples at the time of symptom intensification (e.g., anal itching, often around full moon or new moon – which works on the imagination, but it's about cyclicity). Due to the low sensitivity of tests, he recommends sending samples to laboratories specializing in this (e.g., in Łódź).

Shifting norms means that a patient with ALT 40 U/L and vitamin D3 25 ng/ml hears that everything is fine, although both parameters indicate chronic inflammation and increased cancer risk. An analogous mechanism concerns LDL cholesterol: for 10 years it has been known that it consists of small (atherogenic) and large (harmless) particles, and the standard test does not distinguish subtypes. Statins lower LDL, but the patient may still have high triglycerides, which correlate better with cardiovascular risk. Oleszczuk believes that instead of blindly trusting norms, one should strive for values that prevailed before the obesity and metabolic disease epidemic.

When reviewing labels with patients, Oleszczuk repeatedly showed that 'natural yogurt' has sugar, glucose-fructose syrup, preservatives. Similarly with bread – patients believe they are eating healthy, while in reality they are providing empty calories and chemical additives. Similar traps concern 'fit' products, 'gluten-free' (made from cellulose and sprayed corn flour – 'like eating cotton wool'), juices 'without sugar' with added sweeteners. The only way out is to find a local, trusted producer (e.g., a baker using real sourdough and unsprayed grains) or preparing meals yourself.

Oleszczuk recommends natural methods first: stress reduction (lowers cortisol and prolactin), exercises of large muscle groups every other day (squats – directly stimulate testosterone production in the testicles), anti-inflammatory diet. If this is not enough, you need to test total and free testosterone (because only free is biologically active) and prolactin. If levels are low and symptoms persist, he proposes hormonal replacement therapy: testosterone gel, in small doses, adjusted to the results. He does not aim for the levels of a 20-year-old, but supplements the deficit by 20-30%. He also describes DHEA (biosterone) – a precursor produced by the adrenal glands, available without a prescription, from which the body itself creates estrogens and testosterone. Dosage: men start with 10 mg daily, gradually up to 50 mg; women up to 25 mg, starting from 5 mg. Effects: improved libido, energy, life initiative, better body composition.