Dairy!

Pixie, the only thing I stay away from mostly is too much soy. Soy is in a lot of foods though. My take from onc is "some" soy is okay just not a steady diet of it. As for dairy, I rarely have milk , but always drink 2%. As for cheese, I don't really restrict my self there. I think exercising and keeping weight down will be of the most benefit of the ER/PR positive survivors. Try the lowfat ice cream if you're a fan of ice cream, it isn't bad at all.

Shelly

Before dx I was a dairy addict. I loved milk, cheese, ice cream, yogurt and ate A LOT of it. IF it is true that dairy promotes ER+ cancer, then I am not at all surprised that I have it. For years I have suffered irritable bowel type symptoms, but never connected it with my dairy habits. About 2 months before dx, I started experiencing terrible heartburn and reflux after eating cottage cheese and other high fat dairy, so I reduced my dairy consumption and switched to lactaid milk and felt SOOOOO much better. Apparently I developed some lactose intolerance as I got older. Then came my cancer dx and I learned about the possible connection between ER+ and dairy so I switched again to almond milk and I have just a little cheese or spoonful of ice cream occasionally as a treat. I have to admit, this change in diet was made easier for me because dairy now makes me feel so crappy, otherwise I don't know if I could have accomplished such an extreme change. In the American diet, cheese is in everything!

Now that I'm reading labels, there's a lot more soy in processed foods than I realized too. My dietician said soy lecithin is an emulsifier which is in everything and that's ok, but watch how much soy protein I eat. The frozen chicken tv dinners I like for work ALL have soy protein added! So now I'm weaning myself off frozen dinners and cooking more. I was also told try to limit red meat to one serving per week. I am avoiding flaxseed, which supposedly has high estrogen like soy.

I really do love cheese; but have cut down quite a bit. I learned that cheese from grass-fed cows or sheep (not grain fed) is healthier. Gouda and jarlsburg cheese from the Netherlands fall into that category. There is very little lactose in them either. My only other dairy is plain yogurt from grass-fed cows. I've started substituting light. coconut milk for regular milk in recipes. It's probably a healthier. way of eating even if I weren't 10% ER +.

I, too, love dairy.  My day wasn't complete unless I had a couple of glasses of skim milk.  But...my dietician said there was a lot of cow estrogen even in skim milk, and I should limit myself to no more than a glass a day. 

So I just stopped buying skim milk.  I do eat cheese occasionally, and yogurt.  I don't particularly like the "pretend" milks--almond, soy, whatever--but my husband does, and he uses it on his morning cereal.

My estrogen-receptor percentage is almost 100%, so whatever I can do to wring out the estrogen and keep it out, I'll do. 

Yes, I'm still eating chicken, pork & fish, but sticking to the one serving of beef a week. I'm trying to make healthier choices, my biggest problem is lowering my sugar intake. I'm trying to be less of a couch potato too, but weather in PA is not making that easy.

I don't know if yogurt falls into the same category--it might not--but my dietician was clear that fluid milk, even from cows who were not given added hormones, contains natural estrogens from the cow herself. 

Moo. 

Pixiepixie- I grew up in UK, I think they may be only country using the stones n pounds way for weight. 14 lbs = 1 stone right?. I was 58 and post menopausal -still it came back. Perhaps ovary removal for younger women may be worth considering

Anyway to add to others here. I have cut most dairy out except yogurt. I will also say so many other foods contain estrogen - red meats , even some vegetables. Try as much organic as you can. I avoided soy when on chemo but my current MO said soy OK.(He is of Asian culture). The hardest is ice cream and cheese but since both have lots of fat they are not good regardless. Weight control is essential and low fat. Cut sugars too. I use Stevia. There are a bunch of other threads on diet here also.

I read somewhere that dairy accounts for up to 80% of all our dietary estrogen. Because, as debiann posted above, cows are usually milked when their estrogen levels are high, during and after pregnancy. I'm gradually weaning myself, literally, off of animal milk products, yogurt included.

On the other hand, I don't avoid soy or plant estrogens. I don't think the science is there that says they cause cancer growth, and they may even help fight it, by blocking the estrogen receptors in cancer cells so the cells can't uptake real estrogen.

mary625- yes, I heard there is OK soy and not OK- I just need to determine which are less troublesome.

Debiann- yes, I grew up on a farm and cows were put in or out of the milking barn determined on which were w/calf or not. I don't believe back in the 1959-60 that adding hormones to cow feed was available. These days hormones and antibiotics are regularly added. Little are developing breasts at much younger ages too.

Just came across an interesting article from Harvard talking about hormone levels in different types of milk and from different countries.

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/2006/12.07/11-dairy.html

It sure is a challenge trying to make smart but doable food choices. For now, I feel pretty OK about eating yogurt made from grass-fed milk (Maple Hill Creamery or making my own) and having small amounts of cheese from grass-fed cows which usually means cheese from other countries. Since I don't plan to give up all dairy, I figure this is the healthiest way. Considering I used to drink a couple glasses of milk a day and eat a fair amount of ice cream, it's a good compromise for me.

http://maplehillcreamery.com

I take calcium supplements and try to eat foods high in calcium like broccoli and kale. I also found I love unsweetened vanilla almond milk which has more calcium than regular milk. The only thing I really miss is ice cream, but since I'm also trying to decrease my sugar intake and watch my weight, its a no no for so many reasons.

Thanks labelle, those ice creams look good, have you tasted any?

Raw cruciferous veggies are not so good for your thyroid, but cooked, I believe they are fine. I eaten tons of cruciferous veggies since switching to a Paleo diet about a year ago and my thyroid meds dosages have actually been lowered since I made the change. So my thyroid doesn't mind them.

Canned coconut milk has 0 mg of cholesterol per the can I'm reading, although it does have plenty of fat. As a Paleo eater I just don't worry about those things. The fat in coconut milk is on my list of good fats, and I tend to believe it is the chemicals, sugars and carbs we consume that cause most of our ills.

I too, can live without ice cream, so I haven't tried any of those recipes, but I've seen them and thought, "If I were keen on ice cream, I'd try them" as they look pretty good and easy enough to make.

Non-dairy eating countries like Japan do have lower BC rates (dairy on not a frequent ingredient in oriental diets) but who is to say if dairy is the reason. They also eat more soy, drink more green tea, are less likely to be overweight and tend to be more physically active, so it's hard to point at any one thing and say this is why these cultures have less BC.

Gemma, there are many other ways to get calcium, including supplements. I eat sardines and spinach, for example.

Also, because I get my calcium levels tested regularly, I can tell you that my calcium intake is fine, although I eat extremely little dairy.