Diet and Lifestyle
Comments
-
I laughed so hard at your post because I have been there trying to get matcha tea. I snagged a little baggie for a good price at the farmers market from a fellow selling squash.
For sprouts do continue. If your supply drys up(lol) grow one jar at a time. I just have a little row in a corner of my counter and I have a very tiny kitchen. The laundry room or a shelf anywhere would work if it is near a sink . I now have to grow more as my kids are eating them..my son even has a small handful at breakfast. I would say up to 4 cups of microgreens and sprouts are fine daily. I read that full grown greens the limit would be like 20 cups. I could never pull that off. I eat about a cup of sprouts a day and about 2 to 3 cups cooked or raw greens as well.
My husband is impressed with my health improvements and considering the McDougal program which has recipes and is whole foods with no animal products. It also recommends removing oils and consuming smaller quantities of nuts and avocado. He has some very serious health issues so I truly hope he will stick with it for a month and see improvements as I have.
0 -
ExerciseGuru, I must report back to you 🙂 I have been eating my first home-grown sprouts since Saturday. (funny, since we have a large garden and orchards and such... I have just never done this) I use DIY bottle. I sprouted mungo beans and they taste good. I made my own tray with mesh to grow microgreens, when I discovered how expensive they are. I just used a wire and mesh bought by the meter and a flower pot bowl I had at home. It's waiting for garden cress seeds.
Behold, my diy trays and bottle 😁
0 -
Jaboo
You are so awesome. I would live updates and pictures. That was so clever to diy the screens. I hope they work well for you. I may try this myself.
0 -
Waving calmly to Pi-Xi...so we shouldn't blame stress for causing cancer. That makes me feel peaceful too. Some excerpts from the study:
“Stressful life events are not associated with heightened risk of breast cancer, according to available evidence. Events studied include trauma during childhood and emotionally devastating events during adulthood such as the loss of a child. The implication is that emotional stress does not contribute to DNA damage that could lead to breast cancer, nor does it appear to be detrimental to the functioning of the parts of the immune system that may be involved in suppressing cancer.“
However, stress-related factors like social isolation and depression may impact survival by making it harder to navigate breast cancer diagnosis and treatment in an optimal fashion:
“Social isolation and depression both appear to have the potential to reduce survival. One study of breast cancer survivors reported that larger social networks were associated with better breast cancer-specific and overall survival. Several studies have reported that social isolation promotes mammary tumor growth in mouse models of breast cancer.“
It seems that support groups like BCO may help breast cancer survivors make decisions about timely and appropriate treatment and provide emotional support.
Thanks for the link Pi-Xi 🤗
0 -
Pi-Xi, I never bought the stress theory. Glad to see some research on the subject. But yes, I had seen the thing on social isolation, and apparently that is generally a bad thing in terms of mortality, cancer or otherwise. Also makes sense about depression. It can be hard to take care of yourself properly when you are depressed. So, I guess the bottomline is: go dancing! or whatever else makes you smile and gets you out among other people.
0 -
You're welcome, DearLife. Thanks for pulling the relevant passages!
Momine, I bought into the theory before I got cancer, afterward it seemed even more likely. If it interferes with sleep I can't understand why stress, especially long term stress, wouldn't cause cancer. I'd like to look further into the study design. Oh well. Dancing is never wrong!
0 -
PiXi and all,
I briefly looked at the study. It was prospective but it recruited about 3500 women and looked at events 3 years back then followed up for 15 years. Just over 100 had BC. There were not trends when adjusting for stress. I am not impressed. My personal view is that stress is complex and thus hard to quantify - physiologically over LONG periods of time. What do we measure - systolic Bp trends, cortisol levels, BSLs, IGR etc.... Then the immune response to stress is even more complex - adaptive, humoral etc again list goes on.
I have no idea whether there is a link between chronic sustained stress and chronic disease - cardiac, cancer, automimmune would be the big three, but I am certain WHAT we are presently measuring is not good enough to call it - either way.
Interesting in animal work it appears stress does influence disease.
So my simple take on it - I prefer NOT to believe stress caused my BC.
But now that I have BC I try and manage the stress in my life by sleep, regular healthy meals, exercise, time off, me time and sometimes 😊🌷🐣 learning to politely but firmly say No.
Momine - Go dancing - is a great reminder of loving and protecting our life.
0 -
Pi Xi thank you for that article ❤️❤️❤️
I definitely have wondered about how/If stress played a role in my cancer diagnosis. I went through a couple very upsetting times - one back in 2005 when my doggy almost died and then the next in 2010 when I broke up from a serious relationship. Then I went into 5.5 years of graduate school which was unbelievably stressful for me.
I discovered my breast lump in about 2011 and had it checked out (mammo and US) and it was diagnosed as a fibroadenoma - a benign, common tumor. Everything I read about it said that it could grow and could hurt. And those things did happen, especially during my menstrual cycles. But in 2017 my breast started to look strange (red and itchy) and my lymph node swelled in my armpit. That's when I went to the doctors and was diagnosed stage 4 de novo.
I had been anxious about the lump since the 2011 exam and it's hard not to beat myself up for not doing something sooner.
And of course part of the stress is that I blame myself for not knowing or being more proactive. I was scared
While I agree with Wildplaces that there are many other factors to take into consideration, I will take this current research and hold onto tightly right now just to give myself some mental breathing room.
And YES to dancing!!! I continue to dance and it makes the world a much better place.
0 -
I work with foster youth and know a fair amount about the stress/disease connection... These is a strong, dose-dependent connection between unremitting (aka/ "toxic") stress and later disease, when the toxic stress happens in childhood. There is a huge amount of data on this. You can read the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACEs Study by Dr Vincent Felliti). It is not specific to breast cancer-- but of a number of diseases, including cancer-- which do go up significantly along with childhood trauma. It's possible adult trauma has similar effects, though maybe less dramatic.
Every human being undergoes stress, loss, grief, etc. But kids don't have the skills to dial it down, relieve it, or escape from it. Which is probably why it is so much more damaging on a physiological level.
0 -
Hi Santabarbarian
it is an interesting study! And I think it is a GREAT resource to use to encourage people to take better care of the little ones - because they are sooooo susceptible, vulnerable and it breaks my heart to see any child (or human nevertheless) treated poorly.
From my understanding there is not a direct correlation of the trauma itself causing cancer.
I think more so that having experienced trauma, can lead to unhealthy lifestyle practices (like smoking or heavy substance abuse or unprotected sex leading to the contraction of a virus that can result in a vaginal-type cancer, etc etc...) that are known factors that can lead to cancer.
I just think it is all still so much a mystery. Some of the healthiest people get cancer while others continue to live in what may be considered highly polluted areas and eat an unhealthy diet and smoke - and somehow they do not get cancer!
0 -
Just chiming in with the progress of my DIY sprouting tray 💚
0 -
JaBoo,
That is great - I have to look into this. Do you start with seed or pulses? Do you have them outside or indoors. How long do they take to sprout?
Be grateful for any thoughts you have on this.
😊🌷
0 -
professional quality sprouts!!
0 -
WildPlaces, I am really very new to sprouting, so my way is just trial and error 😁 When I write new - I really mean it - I started last week! I have a large garden with flowers, veggies, berries, orchard... I have just never done sprouting before. If you look on the previous page (p. 23), there is a lot of valuable advice from the more experienced here, about the middle of the page.
I have just bought a strong wire and a mesh that is sold by the metre. Cost almost nothing - about 3€ in total. I found those brown flower pot bowls at home, in the garden shed. I made rings from the wire to fit each bowl and cut the mesh. I sewed the mesh to the wire with needle and sewing thread. One sprouting tray = one episode of Big Bang Theory 😀
I put the seeds on the mesh tray. I fill the bowl with water so that the water just barely touches the seeds. It's on my kitchen window. I put the seeds there on Tuesday.
One picture when they just started to come out - this was Wednesday.
The pictures of green sprouts above are from today (Saturday).
So really, this is just my DIY trial... The sprouting trays I found online were ridiculously expensive. I have used maybe 10%of the mesh and wire. I may make these trays as christmas gifts...
I am quite excited how it turned out. 💚 I'll wait one more day and put them in a salad. So it takes about 5-6 days till you can eat them.
0 -
JaBoo,
That sounds brilliant to me. I used to try and sprout beans as a child for science projects on wet cotton wool.
May I ask what seeds are sprouting?
I grow my own veg but have never tried sprouting - it really looks fun, thank you for the inspiration. I will read page 23!😊🌷🐣
0 -
ok, it looks like broccoli and watercress ...😊🌷
0 -
Wildplaces, it's garden cress, I hope that's the right name (Lepidium sativum). I like the taste and the smell. It's refreshing. I will be trying more seeds - I have ordered various seeds online. Am curious which taste the best 💚
0 -
Lately I've been trying to eat foods that are close to their natural state as possible. I can't do that all the time, but I'm cooking on the weekends so we have decent dinners on busy weeknights. Last week I made barley soup, yesterday I tried out a new casserole (which should last for several days), and today I'm making homemade French Onion soup and French bread to go with. Not everything we eat is vegetarian, but I find that we're eating more homemade soup and less meat.
0 -
I don't think I posted here that I bought 1 Green Pan - a 12 inch skillet to try out before I bought a whole set. I was able to stir fry with a little vinegar in the pan (instead of oil) and the food did not stick. I didn't use the highest heat which probably helped it not stick.
Hair color - I read on the EWG.org website that henna hair color is safe and without the harmful chemicals. So I bought Light Mountain - Color the Gray henna. But once I received it and read the instructions, I was overwhelmed by the lengthy process. Mix the first step with purified water and let sit for 30 minutes, Wash, towel dry, apply first step, wait 15 minutes with cap on while applying intermittent heat with a hair dryer, rinse. Mix the Step 2 and let sit for 1 hour, then apply step 2, wait 1 hour with cap on while applying intermittent heat with a hair dryer or warm towel.
I did a strand test and followed all those steps. It took several hours to follow those steps with the strands so it will take even longer to apply both steps to my whole head. I was not thrilled with the results. I am going to try another strand test because I used tap water which the instructions said not to do.
Can anyone recommend another henna with simpler instructions?
0 -
What a great thread! I just might have to try this DIY sprouting tray. 🤗🤗
I plan to read up on more from this thread and hopefully bring something constructive to chime in on. So far I can say that I really believe in “integrated therapy" - doing both the medical treatments that are right for your case AND updating your nutrition and exercise to really beat the cancer.
I found a great site - foodforbreastcancer.org that lists natural foods and whether they are recommended to beat breast cancer or not based on medical studies. I've revamped my diet (nored meat, no dairy, no processed foods, yes fruits, yes veggies, OK on fish and chicken) and have lost 15 lbs since the diagnosis. I have more to go and more to learn.
The hardest part right now is I really really want a piece of pizza but that is chock full of everything I can't have right now. I started to find some recipes for broccoli crust pizza or things like that - might test them out this weekend, along with a gluten-free dairy-free pumpkin pie recipe. I still crave the delicious foods! But I'm trying to be good and discover some workarounds when the cravings hit and I get a bit tired of the juice and salads only.
0 -
I saw the integrative medicine doctor yesterday. I am now a confirmed vegan. I had been vegan, then was wondering if maybe I should eat eggs and/or fish to up my protein intake during treatment. But nevermind, she has convinced me plant based protein is better. She also said that resistance exercise is better for fatigue, and if you're doing cardio consistency is key or it will just make you more tired. She also said it takes 2 or 3 years to become deficient in B12, and not all vegans need to supplement B12, that in areas with large vegan populations people supplement B12 based on blood tests and that is what she recommends. She also said that for someone eating plant based, D3 is the only thing you might need to supplement just because there are so few dietary sources of it.
I also checked out a copy of How Not to Die from the patient library. It makes some bold claims, some of which I plan to cross check (everything is footnoted) before I swallow what this book is saying.
0 -
Hapa - good to hear about what your integrative doc said regarding the plant-based diet. I switched to a plant-based diet over the summer after reading "How Not to Die" and "The China Study". I found the "The China Study" at the public library and it's really interesting and motivating. I take B12 (though I have not had my blood tested for vitamin levels). I plan to start taking D3 again now that winter is approaching. Yes, I don't think the almond milk I drink is fortified with vit D. I was taking all kinds of vitamins, but after reading "How Not to Die", I learned that a plant-based diet should cover all the vitamins needed except for B12 and maybe D3.
0 -
Pebbles
There are some amazing whole food cookbooks. You could make an awesome veggie pizza!
My food is some kind of saucy food poured over a mass of potatoes, squash, pasta, rice you name it.
It's very satisfying especially if you incorporate some beans.
Here are some to Google.
I like
Check out chef AJ. I have watched all over YouTube stuff. I have her books. The food is good but there are no pictures and no table of contents so points off for that as I have to dogear good recipes to repeat. For people who are very motivated to switch to a whole foods weight loss, she even has a weightloss club where she coaches people. The subscription is like 150 so not much at all.
I follow all her videos. She has delicious recipes and so satisfying. I am eating more food than ever before(all anticancer and all whole plant foods) and I lost like 10 lbs without trying or measuring. I do have to watch oils,nuts and avocados as I can't lose on that.
I also like
Forks over knives cookbook
China study cookbook
Highcarb Hannah recipes (she is a bit flaky but her recipes are awesome)
Also the McDougall website and books are packed with recipes that are simple but satisfying.
A good goal is just come up with foods you already like and veganize them. Then add some good veggies and you can't go wrong.
Focus on what you can have and make it an adventure. It took me about 4 to 8 weeks to really hang with it but I am not kidding when I say I feel better. I had pretty several fatigue from cancer treatment and this eating has made a huge difference for me in my energy level, hot flashes and even my neuropathy. I think it is because I follow a no oil added whole foods.
Also my liver markers dropped to normal after 6 weeks and my cholesterol dropped 60 points. I will have both remeasured in January but I can finally be happy and not stress so much about my health.
0 -
Just a note from my experience. I was very low on B12 last time I tried to go vegan. It messed up my health. I Look at nutrition facts.org and search for greger's B12 recommendation. I think it is better to be in the safe side rather than be deficient.
This time I decided it was worth supplementing
0 -
@exercise_guru thank you SOooo much! What great recommendations, I’m going to google them all. And I think your idea of keeping what you like and “veganize-zing” them sounds great. How good to know that maybe I could have that’s piece of pizza after all, just healthy cancer fighting pizza!
Your progress is also hugely encouraging. I really plan on seeing how nutrition can help me avoid side effects of treatment and optimally keep the cancer away. I have a long way to go still but from my heaviest, I’ve lost 20 lbs and am going through radiation now and so far not fatigued but it’s only week 1.
Weekend plan: try a new vegan recipe. If it’s successful, I’ll post it here! I’m Thai so the way I cook is to add things as needed, I just need to focus on healthy things now.
0 -
exercise_guru - I'm having a really hard time getting enough calories, and I haven't gone no oil. How are you getting enough calories? I'm already losing weight and I don't have a ton of extra, especially if I want a fat graft to round out my implants.
0 -
For not losing weight John McDougal claims that people will get to their ideal body weight and then stop losing.
This is for people eating his meal plan which is all whole foods, no added oils and low salt.
There is a lady who had BC and followed his program after chemo. Her story is very cool. YouTube wouldn't link here so I will post the title if anyone is interested.
YOUTUBE: Jessica Bowen: Stage 3 Breast Cancer
Since losing too much weight may apply to cancer patients I would suggest a few ideas.
Calorie density matters for my kiddos because little tummies need lots of quality nutrition. I have them eat avocados, ground flax,dried fruit, nuts, seeds and nut butters. I also encourage an extra serving of fruit.
For myself, I try with all my heart to add 1to4 Tbsp of ground flax daily but I can not lose weight eating that. So go for that as it is highly anti breast cancer (greger at nutrition facts.org for reference)
Also smoothies can have higher calorically density, anticancer and healthy.
Olives prepared in a healthy way would be a great addition.
0 -
I have the same problem keeping my weight up, not a vegetarian, but plant heavy diet, love smoothies you can put everything healthy in them, and with enough frozen fruit, I love berries and pineapple, tastes delicious. I just sort of by accident invented a yummy , healthy treat. I had some leftover melted dark chocolate, didn't want to waste it, so I put a big dollop of natural peanut butter, and enough Brown rice Krispy cereal to be able to scoop it out in little mounds. Chilled to firm it up. A delicious healthy treat! Dark chocolate, peanut butter, or any nut butter, and brown rice crisp cereal . Simple and so good!
0 -
Yum Today I bought the
Vegan for Everybody: Foolproof Plant-Based Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and In-Between
Apr 4, 2017
I have a book by them that is the traditional family cookbook and everything I have made in there has turned out delicious. I plan on making their chili tomorrow. They have a Vegan Fettucine that is going to get a try this week as well. This book is almost entirely a compilation of classic recipes made vegan style. The food is mostly straight forward other than the juice out of a can of garbanzo beans and a few other ingredients. If money is an issue just use up your old mayonnaise or whatever and don't worry about veganaise. That is what I did.
It's not the most simple cookbook but lots of good pictures and instructions.
0
