My Cancer Diet

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stagefree
stagefree Member Posts: 2,780
edited June 2017 in Stage IV/Metastatic Breast Cancer ONLY

I am posting as JCB51's request on some detail on my diet. 

We have had cancer in the family for so long, it has been a sad, yet teaching experience over the years. My iron levels & everything else have always been low, seeing everything spinning occasionally even before dx, so you can imagine the levels of my first couple of months of chemo-induced anemia. Oncs in my country push for nutrition as a crucial part of the treatment, rather than supplements. I have had a strong diet from the start, first visiting a dietician focused on cancer patients to sort out a plan:

First the no no's: grapefruit, pomegranate, green tea, anything fried, coke & similar, take away & packaged food of any kind, coffee, salt, sugar, anything with white flour, rice, alcohol, smoking, chocolate

meat OK'ed: lamb, sea fish & turkey only. no beef, interestingly. I avoid consuming milk (Onc said may interfere with chemo), replaced it with yoghurt

oil: only virgin olive oil  

6 meals a day (at least) in moderate portions (not to upset my pleural effusions)

09:00: dried fruit tea, 2 egg whites, 1 egg yolk boiled / omlette, cheese with no salt, whole wheat flour bread, some walnuts

11:30: fruit salad, some almonds 

13:00: meatballs/steak of lamb or turkey, salad with all colors, steamed veggies/ veggie soup, bulghur / whole wheat flour pasta

16:00: some plain homemade yoghurt (I add a teaspoon of nigella seeds not interfers with chemo, checked with onc), some nuts 

19:00: meatballs/steak of lamb or turkey, salad with all colors, steamed veggies/ veggie soup, bulghur / whole wheat flour pasta

21:30: 2 fruit, some yoghurt

It's boring, I know, but it works for me. I have a bite of chololate when I really crave for it, but stick to the diet mostly.   

Jan (JCB51), no wonder you are craving for watermelon, the white part just beneath the peel that we normally throw away is in fact what is suggested for cancer patients. Eating / juicing that both really has helped in our blood levels. 

During summer I juiced & ate cherries, cornellian cherries, blackberries, black mulberries, strawberries, damsons, grapes, peaches, nectarines, fresh pineapples (the center part especially) in HUGE amounts among everything else, mom kept showing up with a huge glass of something red at least once a day.

Consuming all fruit & veggies with peel as much as possible, after washing in apple vinegar & rinsing twice, a boiled beetroot per day, pimentos, carrots, an artichoke per day (when available), celery roots, broccoli & of course lots of tomatoes. Needless to say all is organic. Also have dried fruits occasionally.  

And finally grains, beans, chick peas, lentils, cooked with veggies / bulghur, or alone. I drink 2 lt of 8.22 PH water.

My TM's were really high close to 1000 at the start, so I have been strict with the diet so far. Planning to avoid some restrictions as TM's get lower. Interestingly I got used to consuming healthy stuff. Always pushed myself to eat no matter how yucky everything tasted after chemo, considered eating as part of my medicine. After the third chemo it got easier.  

Ebru 

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  • SPAMgirl
    SPAMgirl Member Posts: 1,470
    edited September 2012

    I need Coke for my QOL !!!

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  • bhd1
    bhd1 Member Posts: 3,874
    edited September 2012

    Great diet good for u

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  • Lemonsoda
    Lemonsoda Member Posts: 156
    edited September 2012

    Surprised at no green tea. Supposed to inhibit cancer.

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  • soleil505
    soleil505 Member Posts: 1,790
    edited September 2012

    i"m surprised about the grapefruit and you are some kind of strong woman!  I admire you greatly for sticking to this.  Bet you feel better for it.  Good food does give good eneregy.

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  • banjobanjo
    banjobanjo Member Posts: 960
    edited September 2012

    Heard about the grapefruit before but green tea?

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  • stagefree
    stagefree Member Posts: 2,780
    edited September 2012

    Spamgirl: I wasn't a coke fan before, anyway, so that has been easy to avoid :)

    Barb: Thanks..

    Lemonsoda& Banjobanjo: I was surprised too. Greentea was my favorite before, but the dietician had it at the top of the no no list for me.

    Soleil: The cancer dietician explained grapefruit & pomegranate has some stuff working on the liver which interferes with the chemo, so definitely no no.. at least in my case.

    Since I have already accepted this s*cky situation and started therapy, why not, just play along, do what they say..and it has worked for me so far. In my recent past life, I lived on chocolate & potato chips, the irony!

    Ebru 

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  • usafmom
    usafmom Member Posts: 778
    edited September 2012

    That is awesome.... I was counseled by the nurses on green tea...it can stop the effectiveness of some chemos. I used to drink green tea everyday but after my first treatment I stopped. They told me as little as one glass can reduce the effectiveness and yes green tea can ward off some cancers but no use going thru an infusion to have it not work.

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  • dbla
    dbla Member Posts: 706
    edited September 2012

    A question- how do you all feel about a glass or two of wine, preferably red, per week? I used to enjoy a glass every evening after work but limit myself now to the weekends when I am off my Xeloda. Any thoughts? I do so enjoy it with a nice meal.....

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  • steelrose
    steelrose Member Posts: 3,798
    edited September 2012

    Ebru,

    You are a good eater!!! Thank you for sharing your diet. I was happy to see so many helpings of nuts on your list. I'm a big nut eater! But I must have my coffee or grrrrrr...



    I also wonder if you enjoy wine?



    Rose.



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  • Lynn1
    Lynn1 Member Posts: 2,141
    edited September 2012

    I think it is so awesome that you can do this diet.  I really admire your dedication.  I could never stick to anything like this, but I will try to work some of your suggestions into my every day diet.  Thanks for posting all this information!

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  • Mary_123
    Mary_123 Member Posts: 51
    edited September 2012

    Stagefree,

    Both grapefruit and green tea are supposed to interfere with Tamoxifen.

    My Tamoxifen bottle in fact has a warning on grapefruit from the pharmacy. The green tea info is from a meeting with a nutritionist.

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  • stagefree
    stagefree Member Posts: 2,780
    edited September 2012

    dbla & rose: I used to enjoy great French & Napa Valley wine, until discovering it was really not compatible with my already chemo-tired (from Hodgkin's Lenfoma 20 years ago) body, so had given up that before pregnancy. At MBC dx, was warned by the oncs not to drink any alcohol, again. So I don't. I 'd rather use my cards on some great dark chocolate, if I am to avoid any restrictions on the dietWink. Rose, the cancer dietician suggested Turkish coffee over filter ones, so I do have some of that occasionally when with friends. 

    usafmom & Mary 123: It was hard to quit drinking greentea, which I enjoyed at least 2 cups per day before. Now, I have camomille & fresh ginger, linden &lemon tea with breakfast, which is OK. 

    Lynn:You are welcome!

    Ebru 

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  • banjobanjo
    banjobanjo Member Posts: 960
    edited September 2012

    Fresh ginger tea is wonderful and also peppermint.  I drink these a lot but would find it difficult to give up ordinary tea and coffee completely - I like variety.  Same with the diet - I would need to have some beef occasionally, in fact, any of the forbidden things so that I didn't feel too restricted.  I try to eat a variety of foods but am not terribly strict and I do fry food.  I also steam food but this doesn't negate the frying!  

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  • Lemonsoda
    Lemonsoda Member Posts: 156
    edited September 2012

    Hold on here! Eating a nutritious diet high in antioxidants is especially important when having chemo, as at all other times. Green tea is high in antioxidants, and drunk in large quantities by billions of people worldwide. It has no contra-indications on the packet, such as "do not consume when having chemo". I drank it throughout chemo when Stage 2 and continued to do so up to and during chemo for Stage 4. I refuse to torture myself with the idea that my cancer would not have returned if I had not done this. Every nutritionist has their own theories, but I doubt they are as well qualified as oncologists who would surely warn us if doing something as simple as having a cup of tea would scupper their best efforts! Tea is a leaf growing on a bush, a vegetable, for goodness sake. I don't think it's going to undo the effects of taxotere! If it did, I think we would all know about it! 

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  • jcb51
    jcb51 Member Posts: 382
    edited September 2012

    stagefree, I'm curious. Since sugar is already on the list of restrictions, I'm assuming even Diet Coke is not allowed. What does Coke contain or do that puts it on the list?

    Also, what about regular tea (black, orange pekoe)? Before my first cancer dx 10 yrs ago, I drank a 2-ltr bottle of Diet Coke every day. Once I was dx'd and started chemo, I couldn't stand the taste of Diet Coke, but craved anything fruity, esp lemon. I started drinking Luzienne iced tea w/ sugar and lemon and continued to drink it until I started tx for my recurrence last Jan. My taste was horribly affected and I stopped drinking it because it tasted so bad. Now that I no longer take Faslodex or Navelbine, my taste is back to normal and so far the GemZar I take has not affected my taste. I can now enjoy an occasional glass of iced tea with lemon, although it still doesn't taste as good as it used to. Is there is anything in regular tea that interferes with chemo?

    Not even dark chocolate is allowed?

    Thanks,

    Jan

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  • JeninMichigan
    JeninMichigan Member Posts: 2,974
    edited September 2012

    Contrary to the statements above, it has been studied that Green Tea is not only beneficial in antioxidant properties but also is a great assistant to Tamoxifen.

     http://carcin.oxfordjournals.org/content/27/12/2424.short

     I used a host of antioxidants during chemo and ate a diet rich in antioxidant fruits and vegetables with the exception of citrus.   

    Jennifer 

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  • 30DEBBIE
    30DEBBIE Member Posts: 105
    edited September 2012

    I found out the chemo drug bortesim ( incorrect spelling) does not work when green tea is consumers having heard that. I was shocked when I had a reoccurrence in the peritonneal wall 6 years ago and I drank green tea during tamoxofin and femara so i

    I wonder if that stopped the effectiveness of the anti- estrogen drug. Now second time around I am told to eliminate coffee, tea. Thru a nutritionist was told to avoid dairy, white foods, sugar, foods with preservatives so more home cooking, 85% raw vegetables, your plate should be 3/4 full of vegetables and 1/4 protein. Do not mix fruit with your entree food. Have a high alkaline diet as well.I am more enlighten now than my first BC occurrence.

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  • bhd1
    bhd1 Member Posts: 3,874
    edited September 2012

    hate to say it,  but in my opinion, it is all a crap shoot

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  • LuvRVing
    LuvRVing Member Posts: 4,516
    edited September 2012

    Barb - totally agree!

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  • ForestDweller
    ForestDweller Member Posts: 232
    edited September 2012

    Cornell University did a study with 745 women who had breast cancer mets and found that those who ate the most dairy and protein had a significant lower risk of death. Fruit, veggies, vitamins and red meat consumption made no difference.

    So I've been eating lots of cheese, beef, milk, etc.  It seems to work so far.  NED for close to a year.  But like others have said, it's all a crap shoot.

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  • stagefree
    stagefree Member Posts: 2,780
    edited September 2012

    Banjobanjo: I was advised to prefer ordinary tea if I really craved for some over green tea, so rarely have a cup of that myself. Beef, I was told, was aged meat compared to lamb. Cows' diet vs sheep's had great impact on the quality of their meat- for cancer patients lamb was preferred. I have Tefal actifry, which fries so little / no oil, practically providing fried taste without food soaking in oil, has been a great investment.

    Lemonsoda & JeninMichigan: I agree with you on the fact that there are studies showing greentea's benefits. I am happy for all those who get benefit from greentea.

    JCB51: Jan, I was never a Coke person, so never questioned why, but guess maybe because it has synthetic ingredients? As for chocolate, The minute my TM's are in control, it will be my first "meal of the day"! Joke aside, premium & homemade ones lacking sugar are allowed, but not the packaged ones with preservatives.

    30Debbie: Guess our docs & nutritionists have similar ideas ;)

    Bhd1&LuvRVing&ForestDweller: I had bad diet all my life, struggled with severe constipation, was mostly anemic, etc. Changing my diet solved all these. I do think occasionally like you do, that's all crap probably, since I'll die in a very short period of time anyway. But feel obliged to continue doing my part of the deal, not to feel any regrets / ifs when that time comes, for my Dh & Ds's sake. That I can be comfortable that I did EVERYTHING possible to be with them as much as I could ;)

    Love & hugs

    Ebru

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  • ForestDweller
    ForestDweller Member Posts: 232
    edited September 2012

    Stagefree, I totally agree with you about having to do what's necessary to be able to live without regrets.  I did not want to try to talk you out of your diet choices. 

    On the other hand there are those women here who are not able to follow your diet, or are confused as to what the right diet is.  I thought it might ease their mind to see that there are different studies and viewpoints about this and that no one really knows what the right or wrong foods are.

    My oncologist has only ever mentioned three things about my diet:  cook everything, eat more meat, lose a few pounds.

    I was worried about the meat so I started googling cancer diets for stage IV and came across the Cornell study.  It eased my mind.  I am also glad that you have found a diet that you can feel good about and that works for you.

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  • HLB
    HLB Member Posts: 1,760
    edited September 2012

    My uncle ran into a friend at the store and the friend was telling him about someone who cured their cancer after being given a short time to live. Well my uncle and my mom tracked them down because they own a store in the town where my uncle lives. I called thel last night and the lady had a neuroendocrine tumor of the uterus that spread to the bladder 11 years ago. It was bad and they told her 3 to 6 months. I am going up there next saturday to visit my cousins and she is going to make copies of stuff and tell me where she gets stuff, etc, and I'm going to talk to her husband. He was the one who did all the research. Basically she did it with good diet and she mentioned essiac tea as one of the things she does but I didn't get many details since I am going there. She mentioned the importance of alkaline diet. Maybe it doesn't work for everyone but it definitely works for some, so don't be saying you will die in a very short time!! I will pass on whatever info I get to anyone who wants it. I know there are no guarantees but I feel really positive having spoken with someone who did this stuff and it actually worked. I feel peaceful and like everything will be back to normal and this cancer won't get me. I'm excited to meet them and wish I didn't have to wait a week! Ebru did you find out how your scan was yet?

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  • HLB
    HLB Member Posts: 1,760
    edited September 2012

    I probably should not have said cured because the lady herself did not use that word and when I congratulated her she said well, its an ongoing thing and you're never out of the woods.

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  • Fitztwins
    Fitztwins Member Posts: 7,969
    edited September 2012

    There is a book fighting cancer with nutrition. I read it. Follow some of it.

    Generally I stay away from Soy (soin grained in our diets!), Dairy, processed foods,

    I eat hormone free beef, chicken

    I eat lots of vegies, take a multivitamin

    I drink coffee and wine and vodka. (not at the same time)

    Cool

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  • HLB
    HLB Member Posts: 1,760
    edited September 2012

    Fitz, is that the one by Patrick Quillen? I had that and it was the one book I constantly referred to. Lent it to someone and never got it back. Really a lot of good info in there! I have relaxed a little bit since my tm went down and I know my tx is working, but not very much! I'm determined to stick with NO SUGAR and lots of fruit and veggies. One thing I want to learn about is detox. I did not do that and this lady I am going to falk to said that was the first thing she did. My dad makes carrot juiice for me every day. I want to learn about detox teas and I recently read about detox baths too. With epsom and baking soda.

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  • Fitztwins
    Fitztwins Member Posts: 7,969
    edited September 2012

    Yes, that is the book. I think it was the best out there. Not really that funky. 

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  • HLB
    HLB Member Posts: 1,760
    edited September 2012

    I thought it was the best too, and that was in 2004. I had a few different books and my friend took one of the other ones and read the whole thing and highlighted things for me. She also used it to mAke food for me. She and her mom made a bunch of different healthy foods and put them all in serving size containers, labeled them and put them in my freezer so when I came home from surgery I had food for a week all ready to just warm up. Is that a great friend or what!! I think I need to get another copy of the Quillen book.

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  • kfontaine
    kfontaine Member Posts: 118
    edited October 2012

    Stagefree-

     I am pretty much following the same diet, except green tea...did not know about that one... but I will switch to chamomile tea from now on.

    I did not see chicken on the list...I have been eating the chicken- veggie fed, no hormones added, all natural chicken maybe once a week.

     The Alkalinity water, i am drinking between 7.5-8.0 right now, since I just got the machine, taking it slow.  How high were you advised to go on that???

    Oh and grapefruits, been eating about one per week....cutting those out, since  I have liver METS.

    Thanks,

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  • jcb51
    jcb51 Member Posts: 382
    edited October 2012

    Fitz and HLB, after reading your posts I googled Patrick Quillen and found his website. He has some very good info posted there and offers a lot of free info about his diet and other things. Apparently he was the head of the Cancer Treatment Center's of America's nutrition dept. for a few years.

    There are a couple of things he stresses that I've found to be wrong. First, he says cancer needs sugar to thrive and that if we cut out all sugar we will help kill our cancers (not true). Also, he says cancer cells are anaerobic (do not need oxygen to survive/cannot surive without oxygen).  He states that deep breathing adds oxygen to our blood that can keep cancer cells from thriving. This is also not true. Cancer cells can and do thrive in any amount of oxygen. They can adapt to grow in very small amounts of oxygen, but they do need a certain amount of oxygen.

    The information he offers on nutrition is well worth taking the time to read, though. I've never seen an author who offered so much free info about his book. Most of them throw you a crumb or two and make you buy the book to get more info. His book is still available on both Amazon and Ebay and I will probably buy a copy to get all of his info on nutrition and also his recipes. Here is a link to the nutrition area of his website:

    http://www.patrickquillin.com/nutritioncancer.html

    Thanks for posting the info on the book.

    Jan

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