Eliminate sugar completely, or...

Butterflylady2012

Since my Dx I have cut my sugar intake by probably 75%, although I still allow myself a Starbucks a few times a week.  Though what I have at Starbucks has  changed.  I tend to get the Refresher iced drinks which are about 1/2 the sugar content of all the other drinks.  Is this still too much?  How many grams should I limit myself to a day?  Should I pretty much eliminate it except for on rare occasion? Help ladies! 

mimikitty

Not sure I'll be too helpful, but I decided to cut sugar completely since my diagnosis.  I don't even allow myself the luxury of coffee anymore (  I read a lot of books on cancer and several said sugar feeds cancer so I decided to cut it out to be on the safe side, except for the sugar I can get from whole foods such as fruit.

Butterflylady2012

Hi mimikitty, you were helpful thank you.  We are both pretty young for breast cancer, I'm 43 and I see you are 41.  I have made a lot of changes, but maybe I'm pushing it even with a Starbucks on occasion. I do eat a lot of fruits now to get that sweet fix and just because they are good for me.  I'm always loved veggies, but I eat even more now.  Hardly any meat and my milk products are are pretty much eliminated now because my ILC tumor was Est+.  Thanks for helping me to rethink what I am doing.  I've read the sugar thing too, but maybe I need to take it more to heart....

mimikitty

I'm getting used to it and am starting to enjoy my new diet.  I eliminated make-up because of the chemicals too.  However, I discovered with my new diet, I don't need it so much because I believe my skin radiates more )  I don't think I've ever felt this healthy and can attribute it to the lifestyle and diet changes I've made since diagnosis.  I had a healthy lifestyle before, but now it's like healthy lifestyle on steriods!!

dipad

I heard that Stevia is a good sugar substitute to use. I have a real sweet tooth and bought a recipe book on baking with Stevia. Anyone know anything about this sugar substitute?

dlb823

Stevia is supposed to be safe, but I personally prefer Organic Agave Nectar.  My philosophy now is to only put things in my body that are health building, and I don't feel that chemical sweetners are, even if they're safe.  (JMHO...)

As far as how much sugar is okay, a couple of books that do a great job of explaining the sugar-cancer connection include Anti-Cancer, A New Way Of Life, by David Servan-Schreiber, MD, PhD; and Beating Cancer With Nutrition, by Patrick Quillin, PhD, Rd, CNS.  I highly recommend both.

I also think that for some people going cold turkey works, and some may do better cutting back more slowly.  Whichever works for you, I think the less you use, the more sicky sweet and unappealing sugar will eventually taste to you.     Deanna 

mumito

So used to not even having sugar in the house.When relatives showed up no one had any for their coffee or tea so I went and bought some for them.I no longer can tolerate eating anything sweet like baked goods or icecream.You loose all desire for these foods.

mimikitty

I second the recommendation for the Anticancer, a New Way of Life book.  I'm halfway through and so far, it's the best one I read on cancer out of the 14 I bought since I was diagnosed.  I just reserved Beating Cancer with Nutrition at my library.  Thanks Deanna for recommending!  I agree, after going without sugar for a while, you lose the taste for it.

SelenaWolf

It's not sugar that is the issue with breast cancer; it's the fact that our bodies convert everything we eat to sugar.  It's how our bodies fuel themselves.  Fruit, vegetables, grains... all of it converts to blood sugar during the digestion process so that our bodies can continue to function.  That's why the Metformin clinical trial is being done: they want to see if breast cancer cells have insulin receptors - similar to hormone receptors - that use our blood sugar to fuel themselves and if Metformin - which stabilizes blood sugars and keeps them from 'spiking' after meals - can make a difference in breast cancer recurrence.

Eliminating refined sugars from our diet is good from a weight-control aspect.  If we keep our weight down after a breast cancer diagnosis, we have a better chance of living recurrence-free.  And cutting down on refined sugars is, also, excellent to remain as healthy as possible to reduce the risk of other diseases.  But a little refined sugar now- and then - just like a little wine - is not going to increase your risk of recurrence substantially.

curveball

Stevia isn't a chemical, it's an herb which is many times sweeter than sugar.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevia