Diet and Lifestyle
Comments
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Wildplaces, okay with me to put up the old title of this thread. It would be wonderful if you could post some of the links you saved from time to time. Thanks for taking the lead on this!
Moth, Momine and Warrior, I am with you on the importance of exercise. The research is overwhelmingly conclusive that exercise reduces the chance of recurrence. Before diagnosis, I exercised about 3 days a week but I have doubled it now and feel better. I listen to podcasts or music on my iPod.
Lucy, table tennis 🏓 can be a vigorous workout! With walking, the trick is to walk briskly. I alternate between 30 minute cardio workouts on my elliptical machine and hour long brisk walks.
I do need to watch carbs to lose weight. instead of “being on a diet" which I hate, I looked for habits I could change. First to go was sandwiches for lunch. Now it's salads, or maybe an open face sandwich with one piece of bread. I also gave up my happy hour habit, picked up from years of boating. So instead of a glass of wine (or 2) and a salty snack, I have a cut up apple and a glass of cranberry juice with soda water. Not sexy, but it works for me as a substitute. And an apple a day keeps the onco away!
I think it's all about substituting healthy habits for bad ones. It takes about eight weeks to form a new habit so persistence is important. https://jamesclear.com/new-habit
Wildplaces I will post some baking tips soon. Don't want to tempt everyone with cookie porn! I love dessert but I only have a tiny piece of chocolate now, and not every day. The risk of carrying extra fat scares me waaay too much.
Today's dessert:
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Momine - you are the one who lead on this - I kept fighting with my iPad - going " where has my happy place thread gone?!"
DearLife - you are spot on - I asked because I have an 8 year old ... and I have been trying to bake -I will pm you - no hurry!
Moth, I am sold on exercise ( and wondering - how good am I really at estimating portions?? Will get back to you on this) - hard not to be when some studies show up to a 50% decrease in recurrence rates. My fav go to, in days where nothing fits in, is this YouTube - Jane Fonda Cardio work out Level 1 or 2 ( if I post the link a video will pop up and take half a page ( Heidihill post it a while back). It's gentle - take 20 minutes, gets my heart rate up and 😊 includes some of the arm exercises warrior posted on her link - I found that great thank you !!!!
Lucy - I just bought a table tennis table - I can not play but plan on taking it up as something to do with my son when he gets back from school. Love the soup - I sometimes use turkey instead of chicken - it's cheap and apparently they are specific in what they eat - can't ref that but these birds are hard to overfeed..
😊🌷
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Yes Momine, it is indeed your thread. Thanks for resurrecting it. I am fine with changing or keeping the title, either way.
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Lucy, I am a walker too. I can't jog because of some back problems, doctor's orders. But I walked all the way through treatment. Even in the hospital after the BMX, I walked the corridors. Once I was done with treatment, I started weight work as well. At the moment, I continue walking and do 45-60 minutes of light weights, squats, crunches, a bit of yoga etc.
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Momine,
Let me see how good is my memory. Ouch...What I have learned from you? How to make oatmeal pancakes, how to add lemon juice, olive oil, and blitz handfuls of parsley or coriander to make a dressing, now was it you that told me I can keep cooked chickpeas in the freezer for further dips and salads?? And did we talk about polenta? See ...I don't remember the links - I remember the earthy life practiced pieces.
Warrior or Amelia - see, not that good of a memory - one of you had a version of the banana bread that was not chockful of cal....
More tomorrow - have a great dayladies and be well 😊🌷🐣
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I am trying to remember which one had the Hong Kong tea collection and talked of jasmine tea and those beautiful pearls....I will get back to you on that.
And where is RedemptiveS? And her great book
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Must have been Amelia with the banana bread....I have one but not the one that was shared.
And where’s Cupcake too? I had to search for DearLife just to find this thread
In the meantime- here’s a list of some juice and smoothie recipes that was shared previously: http://fitlife.tv/8-anti-cancer-juice-and-smoothie-recipes/nutrition/
Happy weekend all!
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Mods, would it be possible for you to use some of that money that BCO has been collecting in the name of improving the site to have your tech people make it so that a whole thread does not disappear when the person who started it decides to take her marbles and go home?
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Sara I agree with you that BCO should make a technological change so all of us who have contributed don't lose our research, comments and vital information when one person leaves a thread.
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I agree too. There was a lot of meaningful, useful info in that thread and it was one of the most active on BCO.
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Warrior - I love the smoothies/juice recipes - I must have missed it before - thank you!
Here is a paper that sums the effects of spices on cancer - I find it fascinating to be honest.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC49974...
I liked Anticancer A new way of life by David Servan Schreiber - and follow some of this
http://www.anticancerbook.com/post/Turmeric-and-bl...
Sara - I don't think HapB understood the whole thread will be wiped out - or if she did she probably did not process it - but yes it would have been nice to keep some of the conversation. What made it good is that HapB believe in it and worked very hard to post. 😊
Hopefully if everyone keeps contributing and we keep it on the front page - it will flow - but I agree it will be hard without HapB enthusiasm
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Moth - you had some great stuff on nutrition - if you get a chance please repost. 😊🌷
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banana or zucchini bread!
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
cinnamon (optional)
Mix dry ingredients together and add to:
1 big ripe banana or 1 grated and strained zucchini
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Minimum 5 Tbl maple syrup (real recipe calls for 1/4 cup sugar but I’m always trying to use the minimum with still a sweet outcome - especially with zucchini)
1 tsp vanilla
Mix all together. Add walnuts or dried berries or butterscotch chips (or not!)
Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes.
I bake by smell- and it’s a small loaf so keep an eye on it from 25 minutes onwards!
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Awesome Amelia! 👏🏻 Thank you.
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WildPlaces, the article on spices was very interesting. When I was diagnosed, I bought a big bottle of curcumin capsules but have been afraid to take it after reading more. There has been much debate over the years on BCO about the pros and cons of curcumin supplements, and the role of phytoestrogens, especially with ER+ breast cancer.
Today I found a very clear summary on an old thread. This is from a MO who was asked about curcumin and spoke with her colleagues. Here is her explanation (credit to Hopeful82014 who obtained the response):
“ 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."https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/79/topics/827489?page=2
Of course, others may have a different opinion, but I am comfortable with this explanation. I am going to ditch the capsules and try the root in cooking.
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I think I posted something about ground flax. Flax is good but needs to be sourced from areas where there is no heavy metal contamination in the soil as it leeches it up. I use this Northern Edge organic flax, grown in Saskatchewan where the soils don't have cadmium etc... https://www.finlandiahealthstore.com/northern-edge...
I also posted something about soy and tofu. Most of the soy grown in North America & imported into North America is fed to livestock animals.
It is easy to find organic soy & tofu products for humans. Soy consumption is not harmful for breast cancer patients & may be helpful."Soy products have not been found to increase breast cancer recurrence and may actually reduce it.
Although randomized trials would be necessary to confirm that soy intake truly reduces breast cancer recurrence, there is sufficient evidence to at least conclude that soy products need not be avoided. Regardless of whether soy independently reduces recurrence, increasing dietary soy intake may help facilitate weight management if soy products replace higher-calorie sources of protein such as meat." http://www.cmaj.ca/content/189/7/E268
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Thank you for that explanation DearLife. I feel like I need to be reminded that the simple things really are what’s best and that we should get our nutrients from the whole food instead of supplements. I’ve been adding some turmeric to my juices and have frozen some as well. I have found that it gets moldy very quickly.
One link that was a basis for some of what was discussed previously is about how cancer can seen as a metabolic disease:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3941741/
This article made a profound impression on me and is a reason why I strive to elimate sugar and/or high glycemic foods. This is a glycemic index chart:
https://universityhealthnews.com/daily/nutrition/glycemic-index-chart/
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Hello all, I thought I would mention a tasty dessert recipe. I accidentally bought light instead of the full fat coconut milk in the can and it still worked out well. Dr. Hyman has a ton of yummy recipes. I got his books through three library and coppied out sooner recipes that sounded good. Here is the link:
http://drhyman.com/blog/2015/04/10/healing-meals-s...
For that banana bread recipe something you may want to try is instead of flour use oatmeal flour (oatmeal ground up). May not raise as much, but gets rid of the gluten.
I have been doing this in my banana muffin recipe and other than being smaller still yummy. 0 -
Vampeyes, ditto on the oatmeal flour. Have been substituting for years and works really well! Most of the time I bake with oat bran as it is high in fiber.
Instead of tofu I use organic tempeh which is higher in protein and I like the texture better. I also use organic Miso for soups. I am triple negative so I eat soy about twice a week.
These crepes are a favourite breakfast treat:
Mocha Crepes:
1 cup brewed coffee, cooled to room temperature
2 large org. eggs
3/4 cup oat flour (I use oat bran)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt (which I omit)
Whisk all ingredients together until no lumps or put in blender. The batter should be thin.
Heat 8 - 10 inches greased skillet over medium heat. I use cold pressed organic coconut oil. Pour 1/4 cup batter into pan and quickly lift skillet off burner. Put it back on and cook for 1 minute. Flip and cook for another 30 sec. or until edges begin to darken. I am too lazy and just make one big crepe with half of the amount of batter, cook it for 2-3 minutes and cut it in pieces:)
The original recipe serves 8. Top with banana, berries, 8 tbsp. of almond butter and drizzle with maple syrup (optional). We just eat it with fresh berries.
Original recipe serving:
251 calories, 9 g protein, 14 g total fat (3g sat. fat), 27 g total carbohydrates (9g of sugars, 5g of fiber), 95 mg sodium
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for plant based diet info
Forks Over Knives - documentary, recipes, articles https://www.forksoverknives.com/Nutrition Facts - https://nutritionfacts.org/
Dr Greger's daily dozen https://nutritionfacts.org/video/dr-gregers-daily-...
How Not to Die book https://nutritionfacts.org/book/
How Not to Die Cookbook https://nutritionfacts.org/cookbook/
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Moth just to clarify, you would use 1 cup of oat bran instead of oat flour? How do you get the bread to rise like for does? I miss big muffins. Lol
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My yummy recipe for Carrot raisin muffins:
Dry ingredients: Whisk together 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour; 1T baking powder; 1t baking soda; 1t cinnamon; 1/2 t salt; 1T Brown sugar (or skip the sugar)
Beat together 1 egg; 2 T canola (or similar) oil
Add 1/2 cup orange juice; 8 oz crushed pineapple (in own juice) to egg/oil mixture
Beat dry ingredients into liquid by hand.
Add 1 cup grated carrot and as many raisins as you want; the recipe calls for 1/4 cup but I always use at least a cupful.
Makes 12 muffins that keep well in the refrigerator and taste great warmed up.
Bake at 350 for 24 minutes.
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We are really glad this thread is back, and on track. We're so sorry that it was deleted, but happy to see the new iteration.
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Hi everyone,
I haven't posted on BCO in almost a year, and this thread is one of the first I came upon. Ironically, the reason I took a break from BCO was because I went back to school to become a holistic health coach. Between kids, house, work and school, something had to give! Anyway, I read through the posts and it looks like I missed good info on a previous thread.
I am truly not trying to solicit with my following questions, rather I sincerely would appreciate any thoughts you would like to offer. I have decided that I have a passion for wanting to help others who are actively receiving treatment, or who are post treatment, to bring about lifestyle changes that will positively impact their health. I am currently creating a workshop for holistically managing the side effects of treatment and medications. I can look back on my experience and think about how I would have been better off if I would have known, for example, that acupuncture can help with nausea. But, my cancer center did not educate me on complementary therapies. As each of us has such individual experiences, and I attempt to provide education and inspiration to others, I'm wondering what would you would like ( or would have liked) to receive before/during/after treatment that was not available to you? For example, stress management, emotional support, referral to financial resources....any, all, or other things?
BCO is a fantastic resource and support, but I'm hoping to provide local, one to one or small group assistance. I'm just looking for more ideas of what would be helpful to others. Thank you!!!
Also, a resource you may want to check out, if you're not already familiar with it...
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Vampeyes and Whirlaway, thanks for the recipes. I love pannacotta and will try it with coconut milk. As for crepes and muffins, I think you can make oat flour by whirling oats in the food processor, right? I need to learn how different flours work in baking.
Great links Moth. I have been trying recipes from the How Not to Die cookbook. So far, they are tasty and easy too.
Warrior, I read the research article about metabolic causes of cancer and the benefits of ketosis. Complex to understand the biology but convincing nonetheless. I can see why people are passionate about the ketogenic diet. There are so many different dietary approaches, but they all seem to agree that keeping weight down is critical to prevent recurrence. I wonder if exercise works because it also affects metabolism, like ketosis.
WildTulip, I hope you get more feedback on what people felt was missing during treatment. I would have appreciated better nutrition advice. What I received from the Cancer Centre was too generic and not well presented in a workshop I attended. Also, neither the doctors nor nurses advised me to exercise during treatment. I learned this from BCO and it kept almost all side effects at bay. Maybe it's because I didn't have chemo, but I had no fatigue from the surgery or radiation and so far, I have no problems with the AI. I do think daily exercise was a key factor.
I would like to say a few words about Anthony Bourdain. He understood that food brings people together from around the world and our discussions on this thread are doing just that. Although he said “the body is not a temple, but a funhouse" I think we can create a “fun temple" by sharing healthy diet ideas. I will miss him.
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Dearlife, I came to the same conclusion re supplements. There are probably some exceptions, but in general, it is better to get a wide variety of proper nutrients through regular meals than it is to try to get the same nutrients in pill form. As for phytoestrogens, I also agree. Most foods that are considered healthful contain phytoestrogens. If we were to avoid all phytoestrogens, we would have very little to eat.
As for Bourdain, I agree with him. No reason to live like nuns. It is perfectly possible to eat a healthy diet AND enjoy good food. In fact, I think it is very important to enjoy and appreciate your meals, preferably in the company of others.
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You guys are awesome.
Thanks, Momine, for lending your name as "OP" for this resurrected thread. Now don't go home with your marbles.
Or at least let us know beforehand so we can back up posts/pages. I had heard of Kate Spade but not of Bourdain before. They both seemed so fun-loving. So sad.
On ketosis, I agree that it may be useful for weight loss where a healthy weight is good for us. But no long term studies have been done on the ketogenic diet and how it may relate to heart disease or other chronic diseases in the long-run. As for cancer, there are so many animal studies where they put the animals on a high fat diet to promote tumor growth. My own take is that excessive anything (fat, carbs, protein, even water) can't be good. I've been lucky to have been able to stay close to my college weight (bmi 18.5) trying to be vegetarian but never succeeding, until my 40s when I became hypothyroid, but still never overweight. The past 10+ years have been a challenge weight-wise. On the one hand I started losing weight rapidly the year before my diagnosis (cachexia due to metastasis) and then gained it all back and more with chemo, steroids and AIs. Losing it again involved intermittent fasting, portion reduction and lots of fruit, vegetables (phytoestrogens!) and exercise. I still have about 3 kilos to go, although I'll be happy if I just maintain and chalk it up to being 60.
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Heidi, I am pretty sure I lost most of my marbles during treatment, so no worries there :P
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Moth - thank you for reposting those resources - bought How not to die - I like it. I put flax seeds in my granola for which I use a Gordon Ramsay recipe. Love the forks over knives site.
Totally on board with food over supplements - Vit C is probably the most known example - ample work that lemon juice is infinitely better absorbed than a capsule. Hence the horridly expensive IV option, and probably not a long term solution.
Heidihill - 😊 yes excess water may lead to hyponatremia, and at very low serum sodium concentrations we see a range of problems of which the least fun is fitting. You posted that Jane video on Cadio on the exercise thread - it is my go to when I am away and don't have time.
I have worked the w/end so I will catch up slowly. This was my salad at lunch trying to recover.
DearLife - I will send you a proper message tomorrow - you are spot on and made me smile 😊🌷
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DearLife- I never thought about exercise in comparison with keto. Good thoughts. I can see how the two can mimick each other.
Heidi- one study that was brought up before and that I’m not sure if I have a link still, is the comparison of BMI for pre and post menopausal women. I believe the one article was a “BMI paradox” where it was actually better for premenopausal women to have a slightly higher BMI. This was a controversial article that was shared but it made me wonder....
Overall I don’t think fat is “bad”. I’ve learned more about fat by learning about the keto diet. I wouldn’t say I focus solely on being in Ketosis but I do try to eliminate sugar as much as possible. I started about 3 weeks ago and haven’t had a cheat day or anything. No processed food, no bread, no added sugar. In the first few days, I tried to add the fat requirements but it is pretty impossible for me and like you mentioned, I’m not going to add unnecessary fat. That seems crazy. I’m going for healthy not a fad diet or anything. I do use the MCT oil or some cocoa butter in my coffee. I use nut butters a lot and avacado, walnut and olive oil when cooking or salad dressings. I’ve lost weight and feel good and finally got the ok from PS to exercise!
This is why I’ve loved this thread. I don’t think any one diet is more right than others. Although I’ve been vegan for years, I don’t think it’s the only way to eat or live. I think my diet should constantly evolve and adapt.
It’s a learning process. So thank you to all for sharing.
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