Marik’s Cancer & Metabolic Healing Playbook

Effective Treatments using Diet, Repurposed Drugs and Nutraceuticals

Welcome to Marik’s Cancer & Metabolic Healing Playbook — a practical, science-driven exploration of metabolic therapies using diet, repurposed pharmaceuticals, and targeted nutraceuticals.

I am Paul Marik, MD

Previously board certified in Internal Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, Neurocritical Care, and Nutrition Science, with over three decades in academic medicine, more than 500 peer-reviewed publications, and a long-standing interest in translational physiology and metabolic therapeutics. Post COVID I have been drawn to one central question:

Can we modify disease by modifying metabolism?

This Substack is my attempt to answer that question in a structured, transparent, and clinically grounded way. I have absolutely no conflict of interest and therefore each Substack is Science based and based on the best available evidence. Each Substack is fully referenced mostly from peer-reviewed literature.

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Why Metabolism?

Many of the most challenging chronic illnesses of our time share a common thread: metabolic dysfunction.

Cancer cells rewire energy production.
Metabolic syndrome reflects insulin resistance and mitochondrial stress.
Neurodegenerative diseases show impaired glucose utilization and bioenergetic decline.
Depression increasingly appears linked to inflammatory–metabolic signaling.

If metabolism is upstream of disease expression, then rational metabolic interventions may modify disease trajectory.

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Phase I: Metabolic Approaches to Cancer

The initial focus of this Substack will be metabolic treatments for cancer, integrating:

• Nutritional strategies (carbohydrate modulation, fasting-mimicking strategies, metabolic flexibility)

• Repurposed drugs targeting bioenergetic pathways

• Nutraceuticals with mechanistic and translational rationale

• Cyclic and adaptive dosing strategies to reduce resistance

• Biomarker-guided monitoring

The goal is not magical thinking, but mechanistic reasoning grounded in physiology.

We will examine:

• AMPK–mTOR modulation

• Mitochondrial targeting

• Glycolytic suppression

• Insulin/IGF signaling

• Tumor microenvironment modulation

• Circadian and immune support

Where evidence exists, I will present it.
Where uncertainty remains, I will state it clearly.

This is not a substitute for oncologic care. It is an adjunctive, physiology-informed framework.

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Phase II: Beyond Cancer — An Integrative Metabolic Model of Chronic Disease

Following the oncology focus, we will expand into an integrative metabolic approach to:

• Metabolic syndrome

• Insulin resistance

• Dementia and cognitive decline

• Depression and neuroinflammation

• Cardiometabolic disease

• Chronic inflammatory states

Modern chronic disease is rarely a single-pathway disorder. It is network dysfunction.

The metabolic lens allows us to move from symptom suppression toward upstream correction.

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What This Substack Will Provide

• Practical protocols and dosing frameworks

• Mechanistic deep dives

• Critical appraisal of repurposed drugs

• Nutraceutical evidence reviews

• Clinical implementation strategies

• Risk–benefit discussions

• Resistance mitigation strategies

• Biomarker monitoring guides

Everything will be written with clinicians, scientifically literate readers, and serious patients in mind.

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Principles of This Platform

1. Mechanism matters.

2. Evidence hierarchy matters.

3. Safety matters.

4. Intellectual honesty matters.

5. Science evolves.

Medicine advances not by dogma but by disciplined curiosity.

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The Mission

To provide a rational, transparent, physiology-based framework for metabolic therapeutics — grounded in science, practical in application, and open to refinement.

If you are interested in:

• Repurposed drugs

• Nutraceutical strategy

• Metabolic oncology

• Integrative chronic disease management

• Or the evolving interface between metabolism and medicine

Welcome.

This is the Playbook.

A Personal Note

Over the past year, changes in my professional role and reimbursement structure at IMA have significantly reduced my income. At the same time, my commitment to researching, writing, and teaching has only deepened.

In addition, because of my publicly expressed views during the COVID era, I was stripped of all my medical credentials and am therefore no longer able to practice as a physician. This has represented a profound professional transition and loss of income.

Launching this Substack is therefore both a continuation of my life’s work and a practical necessity. To dedicate the time required for rigorous analysis, protocol development, and independent medical scholarship, I must supplement my income outside traditional institutional structures.

If you choose to subscribe, you are not simply accessing written content — you are helping sustain independent medical thinking, open scientific dialogue, and the continued exploration of metabolic approaches that may not always receive conventional academic attention.

I am sincerely grateful for your readership, your trust, and your support.

— Paul Marik

Caution to Patients

The subsequent Substack’s are based on the strongest scientific evidence currently available. Patients should review the information critically, verify the credibility of the underlying data, and discuss all treatment decisions with their healthcare provider and trusted health advocates. Any treatment plan must be developed with a licensed clinician and aligned with the patient’s goals, values, and clinical condition.

Patients should explicitly avoid interventions that lack biological plausibility, credible evidence, or scientific validation. Treatments promoted as “alternative,” “integrative,” or “natural” but unsupported by rigorous data primarily serve the interests of those who sell them—not patients.

Many of the therapies discussed involve the use of repurposed medications prescribed off-label. Off-label prescribing is a routine, legal, and evidence-based component of medical practice; however, it means that the drug has not been formally approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the specific indication discussed. As in all areas of active scientific inquiry, some recommendations may be debated, and regulatory agencies or professional organizations may adopt positions that differ from those presented here.

These documents are provided solely for educational purposes. They are not peer-reviewed publications and do not constitute individualized medical advice. The author assumes no responsibility or liability for the use or misuse of this material. No assurances regarding benefit, safety, or outcomes can be made. Any reliance on the information contained within these Substack’s is entirely at the reader’s own risk.