Have you changed your diet since being diagnosed?

I avoid refined (white) foods.  I avoid anything high in estrogen because I am ER/PR+.  I read The Anti Cancer book and am trying to do as much of that diet as possible.  I eat mostly organic and all hormone free too.  I highly recommend that book if you have not read it.  I also liked Foods That Fight Cancer.  It was very informative too.

I will be entering a very strict weight loss program (Optifast) in two weeks. It involves meal replacements in the form of shakes, soups, and bars. I need to lose the weight rather quickly for several reasons: 1) I need to be at my normal weight in order to give my PS the best chance for the right size implants, and the opportunity to do any additional pocket work; and 2) I am ER+. Even though I am way past menopause, estrogen is produced in body fat.

My MO told me that the very best thing I could do right now for my overall health AND my breast cancer would be to drop this weight. She's thrilled that I'm doing the Optifast program through Kaiser.

I plan to use the next 16 weeks as sort of a "food detox" because it's really important to me to get off the "whites"......the white flour, white sugar, etc. We already avoid red meat because of my DH's kidney disease.  I have the Anti-Cancer book, and recently got my VitaMix blender.

When I get to the Transition phase (reintroducing regular foods back into the diet) they will be much as mdg just described above. (And Racy - gotta love Dr. Oz!)

I have failed at nearly every "diet" I've been on. But this time, it's different. I didn't have to do chemo or rads, so I consider this just another part of my breast cancer treatment. This will be a lifestyle change for the rest of my life.

I added more protein to my diet, mostly from meat (chicken, fish, beef), at the advice of the oncology nutritionist and it really helped me feel better.  I was surprised what a difference it made.  Now I continue to eat a lot of protein.  I also eat meat pretty much everyday.  She recommended 95 grams/day based on my size which is about 0.56g/lb. I also stopped drinking alcohol when I was diagnsosed.  I liked beer.  I think it qualifies as being part of my diet before but not after bc - lol!

Sent to the dietition at radiation center and given a few brochures saying to basically eat chicken, fish, fruit and veggies.   Also read that tho it has never been specifically proven there still is a strong belief that red meat and cancer are linked and that ham and smoked meats (lunch meat) need to be avoided.  Said our ancestors ate a lot of smoked foods w/o problem but today smoking meats is done differently.