SOY

STEPHANIE0721

HAS ANYONE WHO IS ER+ BEEN TOLD NO SOY?  THE ONC TOLD ME NO FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES DURING CHEMO WHICH I THOUGHT WAS STRANGE. I EAT LOW FAT/LOW SUGAR HIGH PROTEIN BARS AS SNACKS.  THEY ARE SOY BASED.  ALSO MY PROTEIN POWDER LISTS SOY AS THE 3RD INGREDIENT WITH WHEY BEING THE PRIMARY INGREDIENT.  MY CONCERN IS THAT AS I HAVE TO BE ON A HIGH PROTEIN DIET (FOR OTHER REASONS NOT BECAUSE OF B/C) THAT MY OPTIONS ARE GOING TO BE SEVERLY LIMITED WITHOUT SOME TYPE OF SOY "ALLOWED".  ANY THOUGHTS???

STEPHANIE

Mamita49

Yes, indeed, that is strange, no fruits and veggies ? What kind of doc is that ? Its the opposite, lots of fruits/veggies to keep your body healthy and strong. I had NO side effects, and I believe part of it is because I ate tons of fruits every morning ( At least 8-10 fruits is a blender with water with Quercetin....) 

The soy is right, you MUST avoid soy, but like everything, moderation is the key word.

Soy is not good for ER + woman.

Good luck 

STEPHANIE0721

THANKS FOR THE INFO, CAROL.

WHAT IS QUERCETIN?

STEPHANIE

nelia48

When I had my chemo, I was told about the fresh fruits and veggies, too.  But I was told it was because of the chance of infection.  Fruits and veggies are handled so much, and the ones that come from the ground, in the ground or close to it are most vulnerable to germs, viruses, etc.  At your lowest point in your chemo cycle, we are so apt to catch these diseases.  Mine didn't say absolutely NO fruits or veggies.  But they did say to wash them good, steam the veggies, etc. 

It isn't because of soy or that you are estrogin +.  It's more a precautionary thing so you don't come down with infections your body can't fight!

pip57

I was told the same thing as Nelia.  I did eat a lot of watermelon as you can clean the rind well before cutting into it.  For protein, I ate boiled chicken breasts and hard boiled (organic) eggs.

hollyann

No fresh fruits and veggies of your white count goes down too low (known as neutropenia)......Because of the risk of bacterial infections........As for the soy...If you are ER+ then you need to avoid soy because of the estrogen factor...Soy is high in estrogen......WHey protein would be a better alternative for soy portein as it does not produce estrogen........

STEPHANIE0721

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR ALL THE GOOD INFO AND ADVICE.  MAYBE I'LL JUST USE FROZEN FRUIT ON MY LOW WBC DAYS TO BE SAFE!  I KNEW I COULD GET THE ANSWERS I NEEDED HERE!

STEPHANIE

Mouser

I was also appalled the first time i heard about the no-fruits and veggies advice, from a friend having chemo for lymphoma. It is because of the risk of contamination. Once cooked, veggies and fruits are fine. But even home-grown raw is out!

A friend of mine who also has bc has talked with someone whose research is actually in the area of soy and breast cancer. So this is 2nd hand, and the research is on rats -- still, it's about as good info as there is on this subject (which is very actively being studied).

Anyway, the researcher's take is: soybeans, tofu and other natural soy products are fine -- but we really need to avoid those soy supplements where they take out some parts and include mostly the "active" fractions, like isoflavenoids, because those are the parts that are high in phyoestrogens.

Remember, all the interest in soy started because cultures where people eat a lot of soy have LOW rates of breast cancer. So i'll keep eating edamame and tofu as part of my diet -- tho maybe not as my exclusive source of protein ...

dlb823

Stephanie  ~  There seems to be a lot of controversy re. soy, even amongst the top breast cancer docs.  UCLA, where I've been treated, says it's fine -- in moderation.  The one big exception is soy protein isolate -- the kind of soy that's used in soy protein powders, and energy bars.  The reason is, this type of soy has been modified, so is no longer as safe for us.

Due to the controversy, I've personally found myself avoiding most soy anyway -- just to be sure.  On the other hand, I've never been a big soy eater, so it hasn't been a big loss to me.  I did use soy protein, and I've switched to whey.  Other than that, if there's a bit of soy in a nutritional supplement, for example, I don't stress over it, because I don't think any one thing will trigger a recurrence any more than any one thing caused most of us to develop bc in the first place.  

Just the way I choose to look at it ~   Deanna

pip57

I have never really understood the leap that says soy is good for us because other cultures that eat soy have lower bc risk.  There are a lot of things that differ between our cultures.  Some also eat a lot of rice.  But we don't jump to assume we should also eat a lot of rice.  

For me, soy is out.  Soy is also one of the crops that is most genetically modified with pesticides.  It is also refined so much that it hardly recognizes the original soy bean when they are done with it. 

ajlive

Hi everyone!  I really been checking the labels for soy content.  I can not believe how many products have soy in it.  Even tuna packed in water has soy.  There is no way you can totally take it out of your diet unless you turn into a vegetarian.  Moderation.....

kellyless

My onc said that I could have fresh fruits and veggies as long as my white count stayed up, and the Neulasta did indeed keep it high enough - and the nutritionist said to eat lots of them as long as I wasn't neutropenic.  Even tho my tumor was a triple negative, my onc said to go "light" on the soy, not eat lots of it. 

Poppy

I was told about both and I think fruits/vegetables that you have to peel are safer than ones you don't. As for soy, everyone has to make the decision on how far to take that caution. For me, I just avoid soy based products (like soy milk) but don't go nuts trying to eliminate it completely.

flash

My nutritionist wanted a lot of fruits and veggies BUT she also said avoid the fresh UNLESS they were absolutely "clean."   Her definition of clean was : knowing where they were grown to prevent e coli, washing them 5 minutes with veggie wash, being sure all utensils, hands were absolutely sanitary, including washing the knife as you cut so there is no cross contamination from the area it touches if there is a rind.

 she suggested if any doubt, use cooked or canned fruit/veggies. There have been cases of women with compromised immune systems ending up in the hospital because of infections from the unclean fruit/veggies.

hollyann

Stephanie, sweetie, please take off the caps key...You are shouting....Thank you!......

KerryMac

I was just told to wash any raw fruit or vege that I ate - mostly because of other people picking them up in the supermarket and the risk of infection. As for soy and flaxseeds, I am avoiding them too. As others have said, once you start reading labels it is horrifying how much soy is in things....