ER+ ladies, what do you eat?

FLwarrior · January 2012

Momine probably depends on the type of yogurt. A lot of yogurts are made from dairy/cow, which would still have all of the "hormone implications". It is my understanding that the animal/dairy has hormones 1.) from injections, if not organic. And 2.) the animals are milked during pregnancy when hormone rates are the highest, would also apply to organic. I like Cultured Almondmilk. The brand I buy is Amande. It contains 6 live cultures. After you open it, you need to stir it good. The texture is slightly different from the standard yogurt, but I am used to it now and don't notice it anymore. I like all of the flavors (there is only 6 or 7 flavors). The coconut flavor is very yummy! Both of the health food stores I shop at carry it. (1.49 is the regular price. Last month it was on sale BOGO free!)

FLwarrior · January 2012

Cheese...I love cheese! Sour Cream...I love sour cream! These are the two areas that I am still eating regular dairy. I know that I need to make a change in these two areas to get away from the hormone implications. What are you eating as far as cheese and sour cream? I know that there are "vegan" substitutes...I tried one of the cheeses...ahhhhh...wasn't nearly as good as real cheese.

mumito · January 2012

Cut all white flours and all sugar.Only sugar I eat is what is naturally in berries and fruit.Still eat whole grain bread but cut back on how much.Chicken and fish are my meat choices.Usually pair them with alot of varied vegetables.I like chinese food so I will eat tofu in resturants but try to cut right down on soy products.Pizza is a weakness of mine so I have tarted making my own whole wheat dough.With lots of veggies and toppings.No preserved meats anymore.

I will have a glass of red wine when ever the mood strikes. Innocent

Momine · January 2012

FLWarrior, ugh! I was afraid that dairy might generally be a bad idea, but I guess it also has to be balanced with quality of life sort of thing. As far as I know, the fat carries more hormones, at least as I understood it, so if you must indulge, low-fat is better than full fat. That, of course, kills cheese, sadly.

Mandalala · January 2012

There is a cottage cheese with 1 percent fat which could be used instead of yoghurt, but I don't know if you could find it in Greece. Of course, avocado, nuts and tahin are fatty foods as well.

Momine · January 2012

I can get 0% yogurt here, no problem, and it is tasty yogurt. It was my understanding that dairy fat and dairy generally are problematic because they either contain estrogen or trigger estrogen in the body.

Mandy1313 · January 2012

Dairy in general has estrogen in it. It is the nature of milk and it does not matter whether it is organic or not. Here is a link to a talk by a researcher at Harvard about estrogen in milk: http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2006/12.07/11-dairy.html

Basically she says that there is less estrogen in low fat dairy than in higher fat dairy; that milk from the last trimester has the highest estrogen levels; and that organic milk also contains estrogen.

I have reduced the milk, cheese, and yogurt that I eat to just a tiny amount (I never use milk at this point). But I have not been able to completely give up cheese though I am still hoping that I succeed.

Does anyone here understand the mixed messages about soy? Every time I read something, it is different.

FireKracker · January 2012

My Dr #1 said NO SOY.that was all he ever said.

Last week I went to Dr.Gastro and he told me to have a steak once in a while.I did give up beef too.He felt I needed it.So I went to Whole foods bought some chop meat.The right kind.I made a hamburger.I loveB eef and enjoyed it but as i was eating it all kinds of crazy things went through my mind.Im not sure about eating it again.

Momine · January 2012

Mandy, thanks for the link.

SheChirple · January 2012

I have to admit I have done absolutely no research or discussion on food and breast cancer.

Because of lifestyle changes I made over the last three years or so, I am pretty set in my ways. I am on a low fat, moderate carb, low sugar 1,000 - 1,200 cal a day diet. I took a quick cruise of some of the posts here, and the link someone provided. I seem to be somewhat compliant.

The only possible issue is my protein. I am on nutritionist orders to intake 75-100 g of protein daily, but I do avoid soy protein whenever possible. I get most from natural sources, but have a 35 g protein shake daily.

mdg · January 2012

I have changex my diet a lot. I don't eat any whit breads, pastas or rice unlezz we are out somewhere and there is no choice. I don't eat any chicken, eggs or beef unless it is grass fed and organic. As far as cheeses I do eat a little but only organic or hormone free. I bake using whole grain ingredients and with either honey, agave or stevia...no sugar. I avoid soybean oil so I don't eat many things that are packaged foods. We eat vegetarian meals more often now. I only cook with organic olive oil and occasionally organic butter. When we eat out I usually eat vegetarian and save my splurve for a bad dessert. I only drink wine on the weekend or special occasions now too.

pixelsupply · January 2012

Some one mentioned that green tea inhibits Tamoxifen. That is not true according to recent studies, search"green tea and tamoxifen" and a list of studies suggest it actually increased the effectiveness of tamoxifen and inhibited tumor growth. Just FYI...

I sought out alot of dietary information and found that one way to think of it is to know what makes cancer cells grow in our bodies. In our case its estrogen. Some fun facts: Estrogen is produced in our body when adrenaline turns excess fat into estorgen -- so decreasing your body fat % will help. Alcohol (as little as one serving of any type of alcohol) can increase estrogen in the body up to 300%. So being about 25 lbs overweight means limiting alcohol to once a month if even that..

An acidic environment also aids in cancer cell growth. What increases acid in the body? Dairy, meat and sugar are the culprits. Vegtables, fruits, (yes lemon in your water is not acid forming but actually is alkaline forming for your body so don't think, juice=acid just fyi) are alkaline or alkaline forming.

I have limited meat protein to once a week. Seafood serving (for idodine, omega 3s and protein) once a week. And the only diary I take in is cheese that is organic and hormone free. And limit servings of that to a few times a week.

The jury is still out for phytoestrogens such as Flaxseed and Soy, and since soy is in almost every processed food including bread (Soy Lecithin -- just look at your food labels its in everything! I just found it in my multivitamin!) I do not take soy supplements or eat soy foods such as tofu or soymilk.

I get protein from Almond Milk (there is a fantastic chocolate almond milk I add to smoothies and it has 9g of protein per serving) nuts, peanut butter, quinoa, oatmeal, buckweat (like soba noodles yum) and the few servings of animal protein I eat each week.

After a recent check up where lipids and other functions are fine, I have found I am Vitamin D deficient (have been since I was diagnosed) and also (probably due to radiation) MAY be deveoping hyperthyroidism. So am looking for increasing idodine and vitamin D intake through supplements and in the case of iodine, through food.

Each of us should look at our body weight, age, activity level and have the proper tests taken before embarking on any diet changes. That being said, something caused the cancer so eating the same as we did before the diagnosis is probably not the best path to follow...

Well my two cents...

Anita333 · January 2012

I drink a self made green juice a day (kale, carrots, celery, beets,...). Some days I also have a self made green smoothie ( some fruit, water and 2 cups of spinach)

Buy as much as possible organic veggies and fruits.

Eat organic chicken breast, fish and some organic eggs. No dairy ( http://www.amazon.com/Your-Life-Hands-Understanding-Preventing/dp/0312275617 ) , no soy, no sugar, no salt added to cooking or on the table).

Each meal includes some protein and lots of veggies. Seldom sweet potatoes, no rice, no white flour,....

Some Ezekiel bread most of the time or spelt bread made at home.

Lots of green tea and water, no alcohol, no pop.

Take vitamin K, B vitamins, calcium, CQ10, Iodine, I3C, vitamin C.

IllinoisNancy · January 2012

Hi,

Why can't we eat any sugar, cereal, pasta and potatoes??? I'm starting to think nothing is safe. I gave up alcohol and eat very little meat. What's a girl to do?

Shrek4 · January 2012

Ladies, just be careful, do not cook/bake with honey! Honey, when cooked in high temperatures, will react with proteins to cause glycation. Certain sugar, proteins and small amount of oils in the reaction will cause a cancer causing chemical called acrylamide. Most vitamins and organically active minerals get destroyed.

So, use honey to sweeten your tea/coffee/milk/shakes, use it as a dip, but never cook/bake with it!

Here's some links

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/acrylamide-in-food

http://www.ethlife.ethz.ch/archive_articles/070920-acrylamid/index_EN

exbrnxgrl · January 2012

I do what I am comfortable with. Not much of a drinker so no alcohol is easy. Always ate little red meat and now buying organic fish and chicken. Have stayed away from soy for years because, pre-meno, I had uterine fibroids. Buy my organic produce at a weekly farmers market, which is year round, local and reasonably priced. I use almond milk but do eat 0% fat Fage yogurt and some cheese. I drink 1-2 cups of coffee day but was never a soda drinker. I also drink green tea and use fruits and veggies in my juicer daily. Baked goods are my downfall and I have really cut back. This being said, if there is an occasion when I want a drink or cake or steak or whatever is "bad"' I have it and thoroughly enjoy it. My first grandchild is due in March and I've already bought the champagne. If I had to deprive myself of these pleasures once in a while I would be very unhappy and unhappiness is bad for my health.

Caryn

bcisnofun · January 2012

I like your take on things Caryn!

mkw1 · January 2012

bcisnofun: If tamoxifen and resveratrol do not combine well, what about taking arimidex at the same time as resveratrol?

Momine · January 2012

Illinois, as far as I understand it, sugar feeds our cancer. Keeping blood sugar low and steady will cut down on the "food" available for the cancer. Even one of my Greek docs, and they are usually not up on nutrition stuff, told me to go easy on sugar.

However, to keep your blood glucose low and controlled, you should not just limit sugar, but all "white carbs" and carbs in general. There is a study out showing that lower carb intake is associated with a lower recurrence rate. Here is another article about carbs and BC: http://www.examiner.com/health-in-national/breast-cancer-risk-factors-may-be-abated-by-limiting-carbohydrate-intake

Merilee · January 2012

I love this discussion. I did read someplace that the hormones in dairy & meat, (if they are not added,) get destroyed in the intestine and are not the kind that pose a risk. I will look for the article. I believe that it was on Cornells's web site which would mean Harvard is saying not to dairy and Cornell is saying yes. Also I looked at the link to Harvard and only found an article written by a reporter, not the actual study report. Anyone have a link to that? You are all so right about the conflicting info, that is why a discussion like this is so valuable. The beautiful collective mind-Yes

Part of the soy debate comes from how it is grown in this country. The seeds are soaked with a chemical to make it so when they spray round up on the soy plants they don't die from it. Yuk right? Ever notice that soy fields don't have weeds?

bcisnofun · January 2012

mkw1 - I'm not sure. They gave me a handout about supplements not to take with Tamoxifen and Resveratrol was on there. It wasn't about AI's, so I'm not sure if it translates. It's really in line with everything else - one source says it's great for you (the anti-cancer book) and another source says not to do it. Very frustrating. I can share the list of the other alleged no no supplements if anyone is interested.

Momine · January 2012

bci, yes, I would appreciate the list of no-no supplements.

Mandalala · January 2012

Here are some lists, too: http://foodforbreastcancer.com/

It gives all (?) the pros and cons in the same texts, and a conclusion for each kind of food. Not always straightening things out ... but sometimes.

Momine · January 2012

Thanks, Mandalala!

So far, my conclusion is to:

Take turmeric and fish oil capsules daily, and a baby aspirin every other day.

Cut way back on cheese and other dairy fat.

Drink green tea.

Skip red meat.

Skip "white" carbs.

Eat fruits for snacks.

Eat lots of veggies, especially from the cabbage and onion families.

Try to keep carbs at or below 150 grams a day.

I will, however, continue to drink a little red wine, have some milk in my coffee and oatmeal and I will indulge if out or on special occasions. Once I am done with the rads, I may also try the two-day a week starvation diet.

Moonflower83 · January 2012

I´m still in treatment, but I also cut down white sugar, meat ( just eat chicken and fish) and dairy.

Of course I still eat something sweet if I like to. But the benefit of chemo is that I don´t like sweets as much as I did before....When it comes to diary, I sometimes still like to eat camembert or feta, but thats it.Here we unfortunately don´t have many varieties of almond milk and its not possible to buy it in a normal market so I often use rice milk ( don´t know if thats so good?!)

Just a question about green tea. Is it true, that it reinforces the effect of radiation? I avoided green tea during chemo, but I will start radiation in a few weeks...

lulubee · January 2012

Coconut milk creamer is in lots of grocery stores now, and it is excellent in coffee.

bcisnofun · January 2012

Momine - here you go...list of alleged supplements not to take with Tamoxifen...

Aletris, Alfalfa, Androstenediol, Androstenedione, Anise, Black or blue cohosh, black tea, boron, chasteberry, deer velvet, DHEA, isoflavones or plant estrogens (Daidzen, Genistein), dong quai, fennel, flaxseed, red clover, german chamomile, ginseng, grapefruit, guggul, glucosamine, hu zhang, kudzu, licorice, milk thistle, pseudoginseng (Panex), pregnenolone, red raspberry leaf, resveratrol, saw palmetto, scarlet pimpernel, star anise, wild yam

This is from my docs office. As is the theme in this string, I'm sure there's plenty of resources that say the opposite.

best wishes everyone....

jwilco · January 2012

SheChirple - what kind of protein shake do you drink? I also have to have a higher amount of protein because years ago I had gastric bypass. The one I've been drinking while it doesn't list soy specifically in the ingredients, it does have one sentence in a different section that states it contains "some soy". It's a whey protein.

What to eat is so confusing.......

Momine · January 2012

Interesting, thanks.

Mandalala · January 2012

If dairy products are bad, and sesame seeds and tahini (according to the web page I linked to) are bad, where are we supposed to get calcium from? OK, there are fat free dairy products, but I don't like the taste. Does anyone have suggestions?

ER+ ladies, what do you eat?

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