ER + : Foods To Avoid

This is an interesting article about soy and bc: http://www.cancer.org/cancer/news/expertvoices/pos...

Personally, I think the link was very overblown. As the article above states, the concern has mostly come from studies on laboratory animals, and humans metabolize soy differently than mice and rats.

This is also interesting: "A recent study looked at soy consumption in the diets of more than 9,000 breast cancer survivors who were participating in 3 studies of eating habits and other lifestyle factors after breast cancer. Two of the studies were from the U.S. and 1 was from China. Women from both the U.S. and China who consumed 10 mg/day or more of soy had a 25% lower risk of breast cancer recurrence. These protective associations were slightly stronger in women with ER-negative tumors. In women with ER-positive tumors, the associations also seemed protective (though not strongly so) for women regardless of whether they were taking tamoxifen or not."

I love guinea pigs, too! They're so adorable. We used to raise them when I was growing up. I've since developed an allergy to them, though.

Salaam artista- Jahn,

Although I find think it's good to avoid estrogen rich foods in general (soy protein isolate is in many things), if you consume it once in a while, you should be fine. For instance, I used to drink quite a bit of soy milk (chocolate!) and chose to eliminate that, but will eat tofu occasionally. For me, being conscious of what I eat, rather than being compulsive, is what keeps me from stressing about diet, and less stress is good! I hope your recovery is going well.

Khodafez,

Caryn

Hi Artista:

I've been silently following your story, and admiring "Mooshy" from afar. Is she feeling better now?

You may be interested in this post from BC.org's Think Pink Live Green blog:

http://community.breastcancer.org/livegreen/the-so...

BarredOwl

Hi Artista,

Thanks for your post - I am 100% ER positive, and have been very confused about the whole soy argument. I ate lots of soy products before my dx, thinking I was being healthy, then wondered if it contributed to the BC.

After talking with my MO and doing lots of my own reading, I have started again to eat 2 -3 servings/week of whole soy food (tofu, edamame). I completely avoid soy supplements, like you find in protein powders and energy bars, because like others have said, they are way too concentrated. My MO said that whole soy food is beneficial because it is a lean protein source, which is better than fatty animal protein. I stay away from processed foods with soy additives like soy lecithin, soybean oil, etc. (although I agree with everyone that occasional consumption is not a big deal).

Other things I do, given my ER+ status: like someone mentioned, I avoid grapefruit because it can interfere with my tamoxifen. This is a bummer because I love grapefruit. I have eliminated most red meat - I will treat myself maybe once a month to a small steak or burger, if it is organic/grass-fed/hormone free. I eat chicken a little more frequently, but again, only organic/hormone free. My protein sources are mostly fish, beans/legumes, nuts, quinoa, and the occasional tofu/edamame. I do also eat lowfat organic dairy (yogurt, cheese) every day. I minimize foods with added sugar, and eat lots of organic fruit and veggies. Oh and because of alcohol's link to recurrence, I limit it to one 1-2 glasses of wine per month (a treat during a nice dinner with friends).

It has taken me months to get myself in a good groove with my diet, so don't be too hard on yourself. I made the changes progressively, or I would have been overwhelmed. If I go out for a meal occasionally with friends and splurge, I don't beat myself up. I enjoy it and then get back to my normal routine.

I do really like the Think Pink Live Green blog that Barred Owl posted. Lots of good info on there. And I agree with you - what's with the tiny print for those of us who actually want to read food labels? Drives me crazy! Best wishes!

Hi Artista:

Sounds like Mooshy is in good hands, even if you must miss her.

I was advised not to drive until my drains were out. They came out after six days, but I didn't drive until I felt ready, and then I started with short outings first.

BarredOwl

I am not avoiding soy completely, though I don't eat it very often at all. I do now avoid soy protein isolate altogether, however.

MidLifeCrisis, one starting point to see if a food product has soy protein concentrate is to look at the protein level. i.e. a friend had some granola that was labeled as being super high in protein. How is that possible? I scanned the ingredients--soy protein!

peggy.. thanks. I was scanning something yesterday and saw "soy lecithin"... that was not mentioned in either article. I guess soy is soy, but one of the articles reference that although the jury is still out on the whole soy & estrogen issue, it was prudent to steer away from the concentrated forms (isolate). What is and where does "lecithin" fall? I will have to do some digging...

At the same token, I am trying not to go too crazy with my food choices. I feel like I pretty much subscribe to the 80/20 diet where I eat clean 80% of the time ... but sometimes it feels hard to know what is even "clean" anymore. I surely wish labels weren't so transparent and the food industry would not be so damn wishy-washy about what's in our foods. They have gotten themselves into a mess they are unwilling to admit, nevermind do anything about.

k so my ER+ was 100%. What are the stats for recurrence in regards to this? Can you help me?

Hello I'm Wendy and new to the cancer this being diagnosed June 1 . I'm 51 and am 100 er+. My oncologist called it the slutty cancer (I have a new oncologist) so here we go. I have had almost no treatment all summer then my surgeon figured something should happen so they put me on Tamoxifen been two months now. I did loose 10 pounds but I do work out everyday and lead a pretty active lifestyle. Also I went to a nature path in my more panicky state and he purschribed metformin . Supposed to help the tamoxifen work? Anyway that's why I lost weight according to my new oncologist. I feel like such a yoyo but it helps reading others experiences a lot.

I checked with my ND and she said that a little grapefruit is unlikely to interfere with tamoxifen, FWIW.

im not sure if I posted this here or not already but the medical nutritionist gave me this link. She likes this one because it has the science to support each item.

http://cancer.ucsf.edu/_docs/crc/nutrition_breast....

Wendy3:  "the slutty cancer" ???   Seriously??   I too am 100% ER positive,, but I have never heard it called that.