What foods are you eating to reduce recurrence?

DianaNM

OK, ladies, Amazon has the Gaia 120 bottle for half price right now. I think they are doing some price matching. Stock up!

lala1

I've been on the Gaia turmeric for about a year and half now on the advice of my holistic doc. Between that, ginger and SloMag I no longer have any issues with joint/muscle pain from Tamoxifen and they also help my hot flashes. He told me at the time not to take any turmeric other than Gaia because that company used the best ingredients.

pipers_dream

I just read some new (to me) info and had to share. I am reading Eat Right 4 Your Type by Peter D'Adamo and it's been around for awhile but I kind of dismissed it as a new diet gimmick or something, but twice in the last week I had conversation with people who are successfully treating their health holistically and one had cancer but now does not. For those who are not familiar with it, it's a book about which foods are most beneficial to your blood type and mine is A. It turns out that A's should be vegetarians for the most part, with a little fish, chicken, and turkey (and snails lol. Will talk about those in a minute.) We are the ones who should be eating soy, which I have avoided all these years due to the research about thyroid problems and such. Well not everyone has problems with soy and that may be the reason. When I first got my dx I went on the ketogenic diet for awhile and it did help b/c my blood sugar was out of control at that point but then it wasn't helping anymore and the blood type connection was probably the reason. Only type O's will have much benefit from the ketogenic diet according to D'Adamo.

But, here's the most interesting part to those of us on here--type A's and AB's (rare) are much more likely to get cancer, and esp BC, than type O's or B's--like double or triple the chances. His advice, if you do get cancer or have a lot of family history of it, is to avoid meat entirely and concentrate on these foods: soy, peanuts, lentils, wheat germ, and snails. He also mentioned lima beans, which normally do not go on a type A diet, but he said they have an amazing effect on cancer as "the lectin in them will agglutinate and destroy untold numbers of cancer cells." As soon as my fast is over I'm on them lima beans and may even seek out some snails--have never had them, but apparently they're quite powerful and will stop cells from metastasizing. Oatmeal and pineapple are also very good for us but the aforementioned foods are the most powerful cancer fighting foods. I hope this helps someone.

MelissaDallas

the main study I've seen with blood type & cancer found the only real relationship was with a particular type of pancreatic cancer:

Abstract

BACKGROUND: ABO blood type has been associated with various malignancies, including pancreatic cancer. Our aim was to study this association using data from a hospital-based tumour registry.

METHODS: From the tumour registry, we retrieved data from 15,359 cancer patients treated during 2000-2003 at the European Institute of Oncology (Milan, Italy), with defined ABO blood type. We performed a case-control analysis, comparing the distribution of ABO blood types of patients with each specific form of cancer against that of patients with other forms of cancer. We also reviewed the literature and performed a meta-analysis on the association between ABO blood group and pancreatic cancer.

RESULTS: We observed a significantly lower frequency of blood type O in patients with exocrine pancreatic cancer compared to patients with other forms of cancer (29% versus 44%; P<0.001; odds ratio (OR), 0.53; 95% confidence intervals (CI), 0.33-0.83). This association was confirmed by the meta-analysis of seven prior studies (summary relative risk, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.70-0.90). No association was found for endocrine pancreatic cancer or for cancer originating in other organs.

CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that the association between ABO blood group and cancer is limited to exocrine pancreas malignancy.

Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

yoga_girl

Dairy free, Soy free, Gluten free

Non-Dairy Frozen dessert, by SO Delicious

Coconut Milk, Mint Chip,

http://sodeliciousdairyfree.com/products/coconut-milk-frozen-desserts/mint-chip

50% of the ingredients are organic

yoga_girl

Abstract

Retinol and vitamin A derivatives influence cell differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis and play an important physiologic role in a wide range of biological processes.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25879031

In the last years, the role of CRBP-1-related retinoid signalling during cancer progression became object of several studies. CRBP-1 downregulation associates with a more malignant phenotype in breast, ovarian, and nasopharyngeal cancers. Reexpression of CRBP-1 increased retinol sensitivity and reduced viability of ovarian cancer cells in vitro. Further studies are needed to explore new therapeutic strategies aimed at restoring CRBP-1-mediated intracellular retinol trafficking and the meaning of CRBP-1 expression in cancer patients' screening for a more personalized and efficacy retinoid therapy.

*****

http://www.acidalkalinediet.com/Alkaline-Foods-Chart.htm

byHiswoundsIamhealed

Alkaline, high-fiber-diet- low in sugar (no added sugar ) and increased physical activity (walking daily to start)Organic- I use raw honey too

Moderators

Dear by HiswoundsIamhealed, Glad to see you on this forum. Hope you find some information that is helpful. The Mods

sas-schatzi

Does anyone know what happened to Falleaves?  Please, PM me Thanks sassy

shorty123

Has anyone tried or knows about Muscadine supplements.

yoga_girl

Blueberry Extract caps by Life Extension

http://www.lifeextensionvitamins.com/blexliex.html

For days when you don't want added carb calories, but do want the added benefit. Can also add to smoothie (open cap and pour in your blender, mix)

yoga_girl

shorty123

http://www.muscadinenaturals.com/

Research and talk with your Oncologist and Pharmacist regarding your specific type of breast cancer.

http://www.breastcancer.org/tips/nutrition/supplements/known/resveratrol

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1813930/

yoga_girl

Organic Stevia, in most grocery stores and health food stores, Walmart, Odd Lots/Big Lots (coffee & sugar area), Kroger chains (Kroger brand), Trader Joe's

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevia

http://www.viewpoints.com/Trader-Joes-Organic-100-Pure-Stevia-Extract-reviews

http://www.luckyvitamin.com/p-533693-pyure-organic-stevia-sweetener-80-packet-s?utm_medium=PLA&utm_source=bing_shopping&utm_campaign=Bing%20Shopping&scid=scbplp4739679

HomeMom

For a sweetener in my coffee I use raw agave syrup - it is just enough. I only drink one cup usually anyway.

I also love to make a smoothie in the morning to go - Spinach leaves, a spoon of plain greek yogurt, frozen triple berries (couple hand fulls), 1/2 banana, Almond milk, - add two of the following : wheat germ, chia seeds, turmeric, flax seed

I go more alkaline in my diet now eating more cucs, tomatoes, etc and avoiding shrimp.

pandorashealth

What do I eat? As much organic as possible, and a lot of: Watercress. Red raspberries (I had a pack-a-day habit for years!). Raw almonds, brazil nuts and black walnuts. Juiced beets/carrots/ginger/celery. Olive oil. Flaxseeds. Raw goat cheese. Pasture-raised eggs. Grass-fed butter. Sushi. Brown rice and black rice. Cayenne papper. Apples. Raw whole-grain cereal with raw honey. Whole-grain pasta in moderation. Ate a lot of mushrooms for years. Green and white teas. And (sigh) dark chocolate -- my guilty pleasure!

I pretty strongly believe that watercress is the healthiest food on the planet for BC survivors. Followed closely by organic red raspberries.

Ice cream, no matter how much I try to convince myself it's healthy if I buy the organic almond-milk one, just isn't. Makes me feel awful and has too much processed sugar.

HomeMom

I love make a spinach, Greek yogurt, raspberry, blue berry, banana, almond milk with chia seeds, wheat germ, tumeric, and flax smoothie each morning. I also read that a more alkaline diet is also good.

Fallleaves

I keep meaning to add broccoli sprouts, which are the best source of sulforaphane, which may kill not only BC cells, but BC stem cells. Johns Hopkins and the University of Michigan have both done a lot of research on it. But I had a hard time finding a good source for broccoli sprouts that wasn't expensive. Then I looked into growing them myself, but got worried I'd die of E.coli toxins from growing them wrong! Anyway, I just ran across another study about how sulforaphane is a really potent trigger of apoptosis in BC cells (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22975350 ) , so I may just have to go buy a sulforaphane supplement!

lala1

My MO has just decided that maybe he's uncomfortable with me supplementing with ground flaxseed due to it possibly having estrogenic properties. Anyone else been told to stay away from flaxseed?

marijen

Idid a search on foods that include estrogen and flax seed and flax oil are included.

lala1

thanks Marijen---I tried doing some research also and came up with articles like these...

hormonebalance.org/images/documents/Chen 04 Flaxseed plus TAM inh BCa Cell CCR

Flaxseed and Tamoxifen

I'm not totally sure I understand them. They talk about flaxseed being a phytoestrogen but then talk about these types of estrogens being a BC inhibitor. I find the same information about soy. My MO says stay away from soy but my holistic breast doctor says soy in small amounts is ok. I hate having to try to wade through all these different opinions!

pandorashealth

My MO raised a flag about eating flaxseed. I countered with a bunch of studies that show flaxseed actually slows tumor growth and reduces tumor aggressiveness. I said I was going to continue eating it, and she allowed it (probably because she knows that after I do my research I do what I think is right anyway ;-) ).

Here are some links that informed my decision, showing flaxseed can reduce Ki-67 and therefore tumor growth:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15897583

https://www.oncologynutrition.org/erfc/hot-topics/...

https://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/flaxsee...

http://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/news/20001208/m...

On the other hand, I do avoid soy because it doesn't have the lignans that flaxseed does, and because I don't think the forms of soy widely used in the U.S. are healthy.

Fallleaves

I'm a fan of flaxseed, too. I never read anything that indicated that it has anything but a protective effect. The lignans may alter the gut microbiome in a way that reduces breast cancer risk, and the ALA (alpha-linolenic acid) in flaxseed may reduce breast cancer cell growth as well (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26134471)

I usually sprinkle some on my toast in the morning, or put it in oatmeal. My mom likes it in smoothies (Homemom's smoothies sound pretty killer, BTW!) Tried throwing it into a few other things, but wasn't crazy about it in much else!

labelle

Flaxseeds are one of the things I supplement with. I've done tons of research and only found positive studies re: the use of flaxseed and estrogen positive BC.

My OC was honest enough to tell me she just didn't know enough to recommend or to not recommend I take flaxseed, or use progesterone cream or take DIM or pretty much anything else outside the standard of care. Your average OC/MO does not have the time or inclination to research these things, cannot recommend any of them w/out risking his/her job if not in private practice. Mine just said exercise is good, I need to maintain a healthy weight and supplementing with vitamin D was a good thing for me (since my gyno already said I need to do this). She made it very clear that she has not studied the use of anything outside of the drugs normally prescribed to treat cancer and has no special knowledge of such things. I think that is true of most oncologists-they are not experts on diet or supplements and their training is all about prescribing approved drugs to treat cancers and other drugs to treat the side effects of the drugs used to treat cancers. It is their job to know about these drugs, not to know about natural alternatives to these drugs.

yoga_girl

lala1

Had the same happen to me on my check up in June. My general oncologist checked with the oncology pharmacy and I was advised to stop taking the following for the same reason you identified:

flax, kelp, dong quai, red clover, resveratrol

My allopathic oncology team does not support any type of supplementation

My naturopathic team does support supplementation w/ research to back it up

abigail48

kelp has d I seem to remember, if so a natural way to get is aside from sunshine

lala1

I hate all these different opinions! Guess we should research and decide for ourselves. This is what I take with my Tamoxifen:

fish oil and baby aspirin (only twice a week due to bruising from daily) to help prevent the blood clots Tamoxifen can cause

turmeric, ginger and magnesium to ease the muscle/joint pain Tamoxifen causes

multivitamin but preferably one with the least amount of Vitamin E

Peridin-C and iCool for hot flashes

Vitamin D

Probiotic

My MO asked me to take the fish oil and aspirin as soon as I started the Tamoxifen. His suggestion for muscle pain was Osteo BiFlex which didn't touch it so I swapped to the turmeric, ginger and magnesium. He kinda balked at the turmeric but decided it was ok. The multi vitamin was his suggestion as was the iCool. My holistic doc suggested the Vitamin D and probiotic and my gyn suggested the Peridin-C. All in all I take 14 tablets a day. Sometimes I feel like all I do is pop pills but only one is a prescription (Tamoxifen) so I feel ok with that. And I agree with labelle. My MO doesn't really know alot about the different supplements. It was the holistic doc I met with you pretty much suggested the other stuff. He has a background in breast cancer so I just told him my issues and he came up with solutions. My insurance doesn't pay to see him but I plan to go to him every year or so to see if I need to tweak anything.

mysunshine48

Hi, I just started following this thread. Just want to say that I have heard over and over not to take tumeric. Not sure why. I will do some research.

I am trying to eat really healthy, although I have lost weight and do not want to lose any more. I also started walking 3 miles + a day, which uses calories. But, weight bearing exercise is important. I eat a lot of vegetables, raw, steamed and roasted, salads, fish and chicken and eggs, fruits - fresh or frozen - no canned anything. As much organic as I can find and free range chickens and eggs. Wild caught fish. I hate that it is do much more expensive, but, I guess since I cut out wine and snacks, my money is going to the healthy stuff.

I am going to go back to page one and read everything you women have written. I read several other threads and do not understand why so many women talk about not giving up alcohol and ice cream. I LOVE ice cream, but I have read too much about not eating sugar.

abigail48

I make ice cream, probably just as bad or worse. freezing organic ultra pasturized (no carageenan) half & half in an icecube tray, thawed a bit so the squares come out easily then used as icecream in various ways, on frozen raspberries & maple syrup for instance

labelle

Lots of Paleo websites have good ice cream recipes made with coconut milk and no processed sugars since neither dairy nor processed sugars are allowed on the Paleo diet.

mysunshine48

Oh, wow, that is good to know! I will look for them and add to Pinterest.