Bread

The healthy fats to eat are olive oil and nut oils also eating nuts are healthy.  And fish oil.  I keep a mixture of almonds, walnuts and pecans in the fridge, all unsalted, for an afternoon snack.

About the bread, I can't find any either without soy, I'm hoping it's a small amount of it in there.  What do people do who are allergic to soy?  They can't eat bread?  Adding soy to almost all foods and detergents now, is over the top.  

Yes, Rudy's bread is delicious, but I just found out that all their bread will contain soy soon.  I'm so disappointed since it took me a year to find some without soy.  Now I need to search again.

Any ideas!

Thanks Doreen for the resource.  I, who failed at breadmaker bread will try it!  You all are right, all bread, crackers, etc. almost all of our food contains soy.  I have tried being really diligent but read the other day "avoid soy supplements, but do not become a fanatic where food is concerned."  I have been told pretty much the same thing about flax.  I can't eliminate all the soy, flax and phytoestrogens in my diet so I try not to worry about it too much.

I have a question that doesn't just involve bread.  I am stuggling with eating since I'm not sure what is safe to eat.  I am estogen positive with 4 positive lymph nodes and afraid anything I eat might be harmful.  I have lost 20 pounds since I just eat fruit and vegetables.  Is it safe to eat dairy?  Is it safe to eat meat?  I need recipes that I will feel confiident that it won't harm me.  Does anyone else feel this way/   What do you eat?

Tobi

Tobi, Good question.  My oncolgist actually said that the experts think that there may be a direct correlation between the use of hormones in animals and BC - with BC on the rise.  Nobody is sure however, and in the meantime we must all try to stay healthy.  It is more expensive but you may want to try organic dairy and meat products, that way you will not be ingesting unnecessary hormones. I have switched to organic milk, and chicken - but I was thinking I should try to eat more organically, especially with meat and dairy products, and your post has made me start thinking about this again. You need to stay strong.  I was wondering if you are taking vitamins to help out...  There have been some studies that suggest that vitamin D may be especially helpful in preventing cancer. I have found that especially since starting tamoxifen that I feel better when I take my vitamins. Thanks for your question.

I am not an expert on this but I follow Jane Plant's book 'Your life is in your hands' which is written by a woman whose cancer stopped coming back (after five recurrences) only once she changed her diet (as well as made other lifestyle changes)'.  According to her no dairy is allowed and I have now given this up completely.  I do miss cheese and butter but otherwise it is not too bad.  I live in the UK and have noticed that in America soy seems to be disapproved of.  However, in Jane Plant's book she recommends soya products for breast cancer survivors and her theory is that plant oestrogens are mild and it is better if they attach to the hormone receptors than our own (or chemically produced) much stronger and more damaging oestrogens.  Another argument she uses is that Asian women eat a lot of soya all their lives and have much lower incidence of breast cancer (and on average live longer if they do get breast cancer).  However, I have read some postings which disagree with this and are worth looking up.

I have ordered but not yet read the book on flax oil and cottage cheese protocol by Johanna Budwig.  I have read up on it on the internet and it sounds promising but don't know how to resolve the conflict with the Plant's diet which does not allow any dairy.  Apparently Johanna Budwig insists that flax has to be taken with cottage cheese and nothing else.

Finally, I use bread making machine that is very simple to use and enables me to control what goes into the bread I eat.  I have omitted all sugar/honey from the recepties which did not have detrimental effect on the quality of bread and can set the timer for the bread to be done first thing in the morning.  The only difficulty is how to resist eating too much of it but that is another story.

I am still relatively new to bc and am learning and experimenting with food.  For breakfast I make oats porridge which you can make with either just water or mixture of water and soya milk (depending if you are consuming soya).  To that I add some nuts and chopped fruit and it keeps the hunger away all morning.  At work it is more difficult and it varies depending on how organised I am on any given day.  I bring a selection of fruit and vegebales at the beginning of the week and make salads at work.  I bring home made bread which I eat with various vegetarian spreads (still finding out about them as I was a big cheese/meat eater before) like hummus, olive and almond pate (chopped up green olive, almonds and olive oil).  I definitely need to expand on my repertoire for food that can be taken away.  In the evening I cook vegetarian curries, organic chicken, fish, stir fries with lots of garlic, onion, broccoli.  I have bought a cook book that goes with Jane Plant's book but am still just reading rather than cooking with it.  I have also bought another book which was recommended on this site 'Beating cancer with nutrition' and hopefully I will find out more.  One dish I cook all the time is fish in foil with onion, garlic, ginger and olive oil.  To that I add white wine if I have any but just a dash is enough (rice wine is also very good in this).  I seal the foil parcel, cook it closed for 20 mins.  I than open the parcel and put it back in the oven to crisp up the skin.  This is delicious and good enough to serve at a dinner party.  You can serve this with boiled potatoes and swiss chard (or spinach/bak choi or any other green leafy vegetable) with olive oil (and if you can risk more garlicky breath more garlic).  What I still struggle with is giving up sweets.  Going back to bread I cannot recommend using bread making machine enough as you can order organic flour on the net and add all kinds of nuts and seets that make the bread tasty and nutritious.

Ah, sweets are difficult.  I am eating much, much less than before but struggle with that one.  As I have given up dairy my choice of sweets is very limited but there are still some irresistible cakes out there.  I mainly try not to have them in the house.

Tobi, nuts are very callorific and olive oil has as many callories as lard (it's just much better for you). Bread is allowed as long as it is healthy variety etc.

What about pasta? There are healthier pastas on the market lately, which aren't just nasty enriched, bleached, white uselessness. They have protein and fiber, etc. And what about brown rice and other grains, like quinoa? Seems like you could do those with the lean meats, fruits, and veggies.

Of course, I've got a way to go in weaning myself and our family off of what I think might best be termed "Carnival Foods." We moved a couple of years ago, and I got lazy... But my new health status certainly provides motivation!

What is wrong with flax? I thought it was healthy. Is it some sort of "phytoestrogen"? We certainly have enough NATURAL hormones to blame - those injected into animals and those taken by us and those that then stay in our fat cells and are released over time. I can't help but see the phytoestrogen thing as being similar to when people refused to eat avocadoes because they contained so much "fat."

AccidentalTourist - you have given me some good ideas. Fish in foil sounds yummy. What sort of fish do you like to use?

After researching, I have cut down the red meat to almost nothing (organic, grass-fed beef should be fine) and even cut chicken down, eating more veggies and fish. Omega 3 oils found in fish, olive oil, flaxseed and other things is the "healthy" fat. Most of what we get in our regular diet is omega 6 oils which are also needed but should be balanced with omega 3s and are not unless you make an effort to do so. Chicken has less saturated fat than beef but if fed corn just like cows, your omega 6 fats will be out of whack by eating chicken too. For snacks I eat fruit (dried or regular) and nuts--sometimes celery and peanut butter. Curry is also good for you so I have been making that which is actually fun as I hadn't before. Also am making my own bread with a breadmaker.

Sugar is a problem so it is out--the only dessert we have is dark chocolate where the coco percentage is 70% or higher. Also wine is bad in excess of a glass per day so I have cut it down to 2 glasses a week or so. Fun, huh?

Exercise is also critical to avoiding recurrence from what I have read. 20-30 mins a day roughly... 

For those of you who use a bread maker, can you recommend a good one?  After a fruitless search to find bread without soy, I researched breadmakers online.  There are some inexpensive ones, but they seem to get bad reviews.  The Zojirushi brand gets rave reviews but is over $200. 

Doreen,  I would be interested in making whole grain breads since I'm trying to stay away from white flour, sugar, etc.  Does the cookbook have such recipes?  If so, I may order it as it's relatively inexpensive.

Doreen - Thanks so much for all of the information.  I think I will purchase the book.  It's a lot cheaper than a breadmaker! 

Rayhope