Vitamins, supplements, foods to avoid/eat-What Do You Do?

I agree with you SpecialK. I follow alot of ServanSchreiber's thinking re foods and other lifestyle factors.  I also am influenced towards whole food/unprocessed / vegan-ish diet by a specific book by Michael Pollan (who's written so many) called: In Defense of Food. I found that this book in particular helped and continues to help me make sense of every new headline in the news about every new complentary health/food/ study. You know how one day they say "this" is good, then the next, "that" is good and "this" is not? It's very good for giving you a schema, or a prism shall we say, through which one can hopefully better evaluate, and thus make sense, of things we hear, see, read in the mass media.  The eating advice - unprocessed "real" food - is common sense.

Today, vs a year ago:

while I sometimes eat garbage (proverbially speaking) I must say I now rarely eat chicken or meat, every day nearly I eat raw cruciferous vegegtables such as broccoli or cauliflower (dipped in humous on yogurt - organic low fat - dip --a girl's gotta live after all!)  I eat low carb toast (Ezekial brand) in the AM with my green tea (which my empty stomach cannot hold without something to absorb it like dry toast). I tend to avoid bread after that. I also consume mainly black beans for my protein. Every day at lunch nearly I have a veggie burrito from TJs. Organic apple too. Should my diet have more protein? YES. Should it have more VARIETY? YES. But baby steps. I'm glad for the inc in raw vegetables, black beans (in safe cans from Eden), and green tea.

I TRY to get to the gym 3x a week, but half the time do NOT. Working on it. Hard with f/t job and kid and no other parent here but me.

I take Vitamin D supplements because my Vit D levels were "low" on the scale used by MSKCC.  I also take a daily adult aspirin, but that has more to do wtih other family cancer susceptibility (i.e. colon, etc.) and not so much because of the bc. But there it is.  I'm also on synthroid, and periodically check about the interactions of all these things and worry about it. But so far, no one seems to know or think there's anything wrong with what I'm taking. I space out my consumption of the supplements (including Tamoxifen), but....

I DO know that it might be a bad idea to take benadryl while on tamoxifen, but haven't seen anything about aspirin or synthroid.  Meanwhile here's the bc.org link to drugs that may interefere with the enzyme that helps women metabolize tamoxifen:

http://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/hormonal/serms/tamoxifen

momof3boys - I was just looking at Tumeric (Curcumin) yesterday in the health food store where I get my calcium!  I am a little surprised by the Evening Primrose Oil recommendation by your MO - does your doc not feel it might be estrogenic?  I put a link to some info from Livestrong:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/548301-does-evening-primrose-oil-cause-high-estrogen-levels/

SpecialK,I  thought Tumeric was good for us!

Hi, HVV - I'm not on Tamoxifen, I'm on Anastrozole.

I asked my MO what I should be eating in the way of an "Anti-Cancer" diet, and she told me there was no such thing, per se.

She told me to eat a variety of fresh, whole foods; stay away from anything processed or containing chemicals; to get my nutritional needs met through real food instead of supplements; to stay hydrated; and to get in exercise every day.

The goal, she said, was to eat in the best possible manner for my whole body and my overall future health, not to just concentrate on something that may or may not have "anti-cancer" properties.

I remain gluten-free after discovering that it reduced my fibromyalgia pain to almost nothing, and is most likely helping eliminate joint pain from the Anastrozole.

I do take the following supplements: Calcium, Vitamin D, Magnesium, a liquid, sublingual form of B complex, fish oil, Biotin, and a daily 81 mg aspirin.

What I don't take are antioxidants, especially Vitamins A and E. According to my MO, there is some evidence that while they may help the growth of healthy cells, they may also encourage the growth of cancer cells. 

Here's what I do, mainly on advice of a naturopath, modified a bit by myself because there's only so many pills I can swallow each day! I've listed these in order of what I think their importance is.

Vitamin D (so concerned about this that I am also going to start using the DMinder app to get sun exposure each day in addition to the supplement)

Probiotic

Melatonin

Fish oil

Flax seed

B vitamins (sometimes the complex, other times B6 and or Biotin)

Mushroom capsules

Turmeric capsules



She has also recommended, and I need to get better at taking: magnesium (have read that it is very important together with Vitamin D), Amlaplex, astralagus, CoQ10, green tea capsules. These will be my new year resolutions.



For diet, I have become gluten free after testing revealed I had inherited both genes for gluten intolerance from both parents. I already have auto-immune thyroiditis, so I don't want to have other auto-immune issues. I am doing and probably will do a higher protein diet for awhile. The naturopath recommended 25 gm protein at breakfast, then 15-20 gm protein at other meals, with all meals having protein, even snacks. This was more for blood sugar control, I think.



I am on Femara and Metformin.



I am trying to exercise 150 min. per week.



I think that covers it. I am feeling GREAT and having no issues with Femara mostly.

I do most of the supplements already mentioned, but one I don't see mentioned that I think is important is Iodoral.  It seems that many bc survivors have some degree of thyroid dysfunction -- usually on the hypothyroid (low) side, and after much research and having a complete hormones assessment done, I learned that what traditional medicine considers "normal" thyroid function, may actually be too low for optimal health.   So I take both NaturThroid (a natural thyroid stimulating hormone) and Iodoral (natural iodine supplement) -- both RX'd by my naturopathic doctor -- and I consider them a really important part of my new, anti-cancer regimen.      Deanna

Deanna,  Is loderal an iodine suppliment? I know I've been non meds for my thyroid for years, aand have wondered if an iodine suppliment would be a good thing.

Deanna, are you still on Synthroid? I've been on it for about 10 years now. I would so love to jump start my own thyroid.

I have the test run yearly, so I'm due again in February. I only have the simple test run though which I understand isn't as accurate. I'm always low side normal on that test. I will ask him about NaturThroid, but doubt he knows anything about it. The health store I go to does a variety of blood work monthly will check into that.

Raili, I never heard iron was a no no, but I do know it can build up in the body and that is bad. My husband is always anemic, and has been on iron suppliments for years, but it is closely monitored by his Dr.

Here is my list.  It has been altered and amended over the years.

green tea extract, grape seed extract, turmeric, CoQ10, vit D, vit C, magnesium, selenium, holy basil (tulsi), omega 3, glucosamine with msm and a multi vitamin.  

I take most of them 2ce a day.  I also eat a healthy diet....usually.

Re red wine...I only drink it occassionally because of the sugar.  I consider sugar to be the enemy.

vitamins i take are__

b complex

cats claw

iron

potasi

curcumin

iron

vit b6

vit b12

vit c

vit e

magnesium

vit d

bi carb soda - maple syrup

take a liver tablet for the  week that i dont have chemo.

bicarb soda and maple syrup - i dont endorse because if it was that miraculous every onc would be telling us to take it. regardless ive decided to put into my daily regime more for the mental aspect and fingers crossed it might do something for the cancer.

spoke to onc and he said it cant do me any harm.

and now thinking will take iodine.

your thoughts on bicarb soda & maple syrup appreciated, i know a lot of people without cancer are taking the bicarb by itself.

and please tell me what you believe i should include.

xx

Thanks to the person who posted the link to the list of no-no drugs to take that may interfere with my tami.  I have been on the "bottle" for 1 year 1 month, have moderate se's including hot flashes which I just read area  good sign, means tami is working.  I also take an 81mg aspirin 4x a week, vit d, fish oil, b-12 stress, and sometimes vitamin e.  I try really hard to eat better than I did before, I juice veggies and eat fruit. I have a wonderful aunt who makes  a mean cookie tray at christmas and well, I couldn't offend her by NOT taking the tray she made for me....   Had ovaries out 2 weeks ago so hoping that helps.  Here's to a healty and happy 2013!!