The Spencer Lodge Podcast
#393: "I Gave Myself Cancer" | Dave Catudal on Stress, Health & The Power of the Mind
Published: 13 April 2026 at 06:00 Europe/London
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Episode notes
This episode explores the connection between mind and body, the truth about stress and illness, and why Dave believes: "You either make yourself sick… or you make yourself healthy."
In this episode, Spencer sits down with Dave Catudal, a serial entrepreneur, health coach, and supplement formulator whose life has been shaped by loss, resilience, and a relentless pursuit of understanding the human body.
After watching his younger brother battle leukemia for six years and losing his father to cancer at just 46, Dave's life took a destructive turn. However, those same experiences became the foundation of his mission: to understand how the body heals and why so many people fall ill in the first place.
When Dave was diagnosed with cancer himself at 23, he wasn't shocked. He believed years of stress, trauma, and negative thinking had played a role in his illness.
From hitting rock bottom in Los Angeles, living in a garage and sleeping on a massage table, to building multiple businesses in the health and wellness space, Dave's journey is a powerful story of transformation.
In this conversation, Dave breaks down the fundamentals of health that many people overlook, including nervous system regulation, gut health, sleep, stress, and the hidden impact of modern lifestyles.
Timestamps:
00:00 – How Dave believes he gave himself cancer
02:46 – His brother's leukemia, his father's death, and a family shaped by illness
05:30 – Remembering his father Pierre: the man behind the legend
08:05 – What actually causes cancer? The mind-body connection explained
09:26 – The most powerful memory of his father (a story you won't forget)
12:08 – Regret, absence, and channeling grief into becoming your best self
16:25 – What he would say to his father if he walked in today
17:12 – The manifestation trap: why fixating on outcomes holds you back
21:36 – Stress as the number one trigger of illness — the science explained
24:08 – Information overload vs. real health education
27:44 – Why belief systems can be the most powerful medicine
30:34 – The three pillars every modern human needs to get right
34:01 – Why are we living longer despite living worse?
36:26 – Sleep decoded: deep sleep vs. REM and why that extra hour changes everything
41:31 – REM Plus: the supplement built for the overstimulated modern human
44:17 – Dubai vs. LA vs. Montreal: where entrepreneurs actually thrive
48:04 – From landscaping at 19 to supplements in Dubai: the full entrepreneurial journey
52:18 – His most costly business failure and what it taught him
54:28 – For Us: the two-product system taking Dubai by storm
58:35 – How to build a brand with a vibe you cannot pay for
01:01:31 – The single most important pillar of health (and the free tool to fix it)
01:03:19 – Dave's three daily non-negotiables
01:04:17 – Rock bottom: sleeping on a massage table in West Hollywood
01:07:26 – What he wants to be remembered for
01:10:39 – Why he calls himself an entrepreneur, not a supplement guy
01:11:26 – Quickfire: the habits aging you fastest, what to ban from modern life, and more
01:15:57 – The time he spent five nights in jail
01:16:52 – Will today's kids live shorter lives?
01:20:25 – The power of tribe: why who you surround yourself with is everything
01:20:25 – Peptides explained: what they are, how they work, and when to use them
01:23:46 – The Coke Zero debate: is the dose really the poison?
01:25:37 – The meaning of life, in one word
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