What foods are you eating to reduce recurrence?

Interesting that Vitamin E would be recommended. The first thing my oncologist told me was to take a multivitamin with the LEAST amount of Vit E in it. He said if at all possible he'd rather I not go anywhere near Vitamin E. He said the same thing about soy. Anyone told the same by their doc?

Mine also said no soy and no flax for ER+ PR+, and eat meats and dairy from animals not given growth hormones. I take a multi and fish oils in the morning, calcium with D and K in the evening. I eat low sugar/low glycemic, lots of veggies, nuts, berries, meats and good fats like avocados. I drink lots of reverse osmosis water everyday and exercise 45 mins to 1 hr 5 to 6 days a week. I avoid preservatives, most dairy and dyes since I am sensitive to them. I went to a naturopathic doctor who tested me for sensitivites to things that cause inflammation in my body. I read somewhere that inflammation is the precursor to many diseases and as a bonus, since I gave up the stuff I was sensitive to, I was able to get off all 3 allergy medications I was on.

Interesting about the Vitamin D.  I take my big dose in the morning, but my calcium has 500 units in it, and I take that at night.

Hmmm....my MO just said stay away from Vit E as it promotes estrogen. I'll have to ask more when I see him again.

I've been using magnesium for awhile. It helps me with restless leg syndrome, heart palpitations, and regularity....not so sure if it helps me with sleep. I do take it before bed but I am still a restless sleeper. Don't know if I'd be worse without it. And it seems to be helping with some hip pain. Although I have been working out and going to a chiropractor as well as getting monthly massages. Who knows what's really helping. But I do notice the heart palpitations if I stop taking it regularly.

I take my D3 and calcium separately, keeps the size of the pills down, I also prefer calcium carbonate to calcium citrate for the same reason. D3 needs to go through the liver and kidneys anyway, as i understand it, before it is able to help with calcium absorption in the intestines. (I already have osteoporosis and had to speak with the pharmacist at the cancer centre before getting my first Arimidex RX).

Kathy

I'm really sold on the benefit of taking magnesium. I started half a year ago ro help with horrible nighttime leg cramps and I got immediate relief. And now that I found out it helps with calcium absorption, that's even better.. I take 250 mg in the evening.

lala1....how do you take your turmeric and ginger?

Nash54---I take a 550mg capsule of Gaia Turmeric (my holistic doc said this was the best kind) every day along with a 550mg capsule of ginger (he said any brand is ok). My doc said I could take up to 3 a day but I started with 1 and that works for me. Give it a couple of weeks to kick in to see if it works before you up the dose.

lala1...thanks I keep hearing so many good things about turmeric and then I hear it's not good to take if you are e+p+....I guess it mimics estrogen or something. It's all very confusing. But I really want to avoid the SE's of Fermara...ie joint pain if at all possible.

Thanks Hopeful82014....you would think the medical community could agree on at least one thing!

For those who are interested in the question of turmeric and phytoestrogens, this is what my MO passed on to me from her sources:

"I often have patients add turmeric to their daily smoothies…

Here are a couple of relevant links from Sloan Kettering:

http://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/herb/turmeric
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20798532

1) Most things made from plants have phytoestrogens in them, or put more precisely, contain chemicals that act in varying ways as naturally-occurring estrogen-like substances (but are not themselves estrogens)

2) It's not really that concerning in the course of normal dietary consumption (beans, broccoli etc) and may even be beneficial (flax, whole grains)

3) We are not always sure if these chemicals act as estrogen receptor agonists, antagonists or modifiers

4) Bench-level & mouse testing on the constituents is contradictory and the animals get higher doses of isolated constituent then would ever be possible in the course of normal life

5) The concern starts with concentrated extracts of any of these substances (soy is probably the best example), because many of these constituents may become more strongly estrogenic with purification (eg soy isoflavones)

6) Even if we see "estrogenic" effects in a dish in the lab, we cannot presume to know the effect in a whole person. Many naturally occurring substances have an interesting bimodality in action, acting one way at low doses and another at high (seems curcumin does this too, according to the paper Ken sent)

... I truly do not fuss about phytoestrogens from unprocessed foods and spices consumed in normal dietary quantities. Turmeric the spice has a 5000+ year historical precedence of safety, I am completely fine if it's used the way it has been in India for that time: culinary amounts, cooked in a bit of oil or ghee before becoming part of a dish. (Black pepper added to increase bioavailability to taste.)

I DO fuss about highly refined products including soy and concentrated extracts (curcumin). Never been a fan of indiscriminate use of curcumin, I do not agree w/the fashionable "curcumin supplements for everybody for anything." We don't know enough about how curcumin acts in high doses, over the long term. Curcumin also tends to be among the most contaminated of supplements (bugs, pesticides, heavy metals).

Bottom line: enjoy the curry, don't take the capsule."

I hope this helps. If you disagree, feel free to follow your own mind.

You're welcome, Momine. I'm glad it was useful. Take care.

Thanks for the recipe yogagirl!. I LOVE 3 bean salad! 😃

I just found this great website with recipes for cancer survivors and lots of other good resources:

www.cookforyourlife.org

Hopeful82014,

I noticed that you are undergoing neoadjuvant treatment with Femera. I also had neoadjuvant therapy but with Arimidex. It is so unusual to see those who don't go directly to surgery on this site. I'd be very interested in hearing the details of your treatment plan if you don't mind sharing, that is. I see you are scheduled for a lumpectomy. I wish I could say that I responded well to the therapy and was able to have a lumpectomy, but as you can see from my signature it didn't work out for me. When I first started down that road, I felt like a freak and had no one to compare notes with, so didn't really seek out help from this site until later. It's nice to see others who are going that route so I know I wasn't the only one. I hope things are going well for you so far!