What foods are you eating to reduce recurrence?

Gully, clean eating and a healthy BMI are definitely worthy goals, with or without cancer, and if this diet helps with that, great!

Sophie, so glad you just posted because for a couple of months just before dx, I also was craving sugar.  Normally, I enjoy the occasional really yummy dessert thing, but live very happily without sugar fixes.  Right after surgery, my sugar craving was gone.  Not sure, of course, if it wasn't all psychological, but I tell you, I have my antennae out for a return of the sugar gimme's. 

All that said, I wonder if others had this experience, and if it did (as I suspect) indicate that nasty little cells were getting hungry?

Sophie, there is no credible evidence that an alkaline diet does anything. Your body has a very effective mechanism for keeping your PH staple. Dropping the PH lower than normal is usually a sign of disease.

However, it is thought that inflammation is generally a bad thing and that it is good to avoid foods that promote inflammation. I have noticed that the alkaline diets going around are also low in inflammation-promoting foods, so it may be beneficial from that angle.

There is also evidence to suggest (not prove, but certainly suggest) that it may be helpful to keep blood glucose low and staple, i.e. avoid crazy spikes like the ones you would get from eating a lot of pasta or honey or even fruit in one sitting. It is in any event a good idea as we age to keep glucose controlled, so I aim to do that.

Melissa is correct that all carbs are converted to glucose by your digestive system, so although pure sugar (or honey etc.) will convert quickly and cause a spike, to keep glucose staple, you have to be mindful of carbs generally. I used myfitnesspal for a while to count carbs, and aimed to keep my carb intake around 150-175 grams a day. It also helps greatly to get exercise.

Although I'm all for eating healthier, feeling healthier and being healthier by whatever means works for you, as an historian, I have to point out that the premise behind the paleo diet is faulty.  Perhaps little evidence exists for cancer and heart disease in the paleolithic-era remains found, but that is just a small sampling of the culture, as a whole.  How many of these remains have been found?  What percentage of the total population did they represent?

One article I read stated that the high infant mortality rate in paleolithic society's "skews" the average lifespan of this culture.  True enough.  If one could survive childhood (I think the age of 15 was bandied about), one could like well into one's 50's or 60's.  It was possible and there is archeological evidence that many did.  But the fact remains: we know very little about such societies and their dietary norms because there is such limited evidence.  Sure, some evidence exists, but it is so very slim that to make such a sweeping assumption that all ancient paleolithic societies ate the same way or ate only a certain way is misleading and disingenious.  Fossilized plant evidence is rare - or non-existant - because plants decay much, much faster than bones do, so we really don't know how much - or how little - plant vegetation paleolithic societies actually ate.  We know that they didn't eat raw grains because raw grains are indigestible; it wasn't until the emergence of milling that these cultures able to consume grains.  And, if fact, new evidence suggests that ancient societies were involved in processing plant starches and grains nearly 30,000 years earlier that previous thought. 

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/10/08/1006993107.abstracthttp://e-a-a.org/tea/archive/TEA_36_WINTER_2011_2012/rep5_36.pdf

So, it's entirely possible that paleolithic man did, indeed, eat grains and plant starches.

Moreover, paleolithic people did not have access to the variety of choices that we have today.  It's all well and good to structure our diets to get the best, possible health benefit, but paleolithic societies had to eat what was available and that list included wild game (very rare today), including rodents, lizards and snakes, bone marrow, grubs and beetles and other insects, organ meat such as brains, eyes, and tongues; leaves and tree bark.  They ate when there was abundant food, they starved when there wasn't.   Our perception of early societies eating plentiful meat (which, I might add, was eaten raw as well as cooked) is, largely, a myth.

So, while I don't argue that what is being called the "paleo" diet today may be healthier in terms of lowering exposure to too many refined foods (including flour, sugar, and salt), I would hesitate to call it a "paleo" diet.  I would even tentatively state that much of what is included on today's "paleo" diet would be unrecognizable by our paleolithic ancestors as food.  In addition, the paleolithic diet has it's dangers: too much protein (over 40%) can cause serious health risks, such as chronic intestinal irritation (constipation, diarrhea and gas), weight gain (excess calories from protein can be stored as fat), increase in liver enzymes, nutritional deficiency, and - possibly - kidney issues (although more data is needed).

I guess what I'm driving at is that calling it a "paleo" diet is a misnomer.  Call it for what it is, a fad diet that will have it's day... much like the Atkins Diet.  And the designers of such diets will, always, make a killing off them.  Just eat in a healthy manner, in moderation, and keeping portion sizes in control and avoid those things that don't make you feel good about what you are eating.

Corky, cool! I eat all of those regularly, garlic daily.

Several years ago I read The Maker's Diet.

I followed much of the plan in the book and felt much healthier and lost some weight that had refused to leave. But the major benefit I gained was in just looking at food simply. If God made it I can eat it.

God didn't make Doritos or Twinkies. Lol. Bummer.

I don't have to count calories or carbs or anything else. Just eat good, whole food. Organic when possible.

I personally don't do white potatoes and if/when I have pasta I use a special low-carb brand. I only use Ezekiel bread.

I was doing great on this plan plus exercise and was the healthiest I'd ever felt. Then my dad got sick and I took care of everyone but me. Now I'm focusing back on eating this way again, because it IS a plan that can be maintained. Not a "diet" but a way of life.

Corky, sort of the same here, although I did not use a specific plan. I really just replaced most white carbs with extra veggies. So instead of a piece of fish, some veggies and rice or potato, I have a piece of fish with a double or triple serving of veggies and salad. For fat I have olive oil. When I do eat bread or rice, I stick to high-fibre, brown ones. It works well for me. First I lost the extra 15 pounds I had been lugging around for years, and after that my weight has remained staple.

Twohobbies, I think that is an important point. It seems that, just from a weight loss and/or maintenance POV, it really varies a lot what works for people.

hey,

I want to incorporate turmeric in my diet. Any suggestions for recipes or its use?

Butterfley, you can buy turmeric in capsules. Otherwise, curry powder is mostly turmeric. You can make your own curry powder with a lot of turmeric and use it in various foods. I also lightly toast almonds with turmeric and other spices and eat those for snacks.

Hi ladies,

I have been following this thread and lurking because it is so hard for me to post. For the last 5 years I have gradually become fully organic. I was at various points vegan, raw vegan, vegetarian and then modified paleo. I took all the right supplements, exercised regularly saw a holistic nutritionist. I use no toxic chemicals in my skin care. Make my own products, use crystal deodorant, cosmetics are few and paraben free and..,,tada.... I still got breast cancer. Oh did I add, I juiced and did green smoothies. I still do most of these things except I love my meat, but it is organic, free range and grass fed.

So that is to say that it is important to limit the toxins we ingest, there are environmental factors bigger than us at play here. But I agree we should watch whAt we eat and if your cancer is e+ then I believe you should stay away from soy and it's derivatives which Knocks out most processed food.

Sorry if I'm rambling. I do believe in eating right but there is so much conflicting info out there.... Did I mention I went grain free too. 😄😄😄

I just cooked up my second batch of dried hen of the woods mushroom. said to have anti-tumor properties. I found it wild & dried it under a full spectrum light to maximize vitamin D content. 40% protein: tibetans call it "sa sha" or earth meat. I think with the third batch I'll grind it up to a powder

quite off as to the protein though I have seen other figures I think. today gary was talking about the benefits of magnesium

Ladies, have you come across any human studies on use of Flax Seeds in ER+ bc? My MO is against it, but there are so many articles on the internet supporting the use. Also, Flax Seeds and Tamoxifen? Did any of you got ok from medical doctors on this? Thanks