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Plant-Based & Vegan - support & recipes

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  • kayak2
    kayak2 Member Posts: 9,028

    Can't get enough of Dr. Greger. Great speaker, great evidence-based data on the benefits of a plant-based diet. Well worth your time to view the 55 min video below.

    https://nutritionfacts.org/video/uprooting-the-lea...



  • kayak2
    kayak2 Member Posts: 9,028

    Hi Wrenn: I've got the audio version of How Not to Die on reserve at my local library, but am still 8th on the list, so it will be a while, but I can't wait to listen to it during my many hours on the road. Just watched Dr. Greger's 3 min video on the more recent evidence-based data that fish oil is no longer considered to be a heart-healthy supplement, since it was based on flawed reasoning: "Advice to eat oily fish, or take fish oil, to lower risk of heart disease, stroke, or mortality is no longer supported by the balance of available evidence". If anyone wants the link I can try to post it.


  • PatsyKB
    PatsyKB Member Posts: 211

    Echoing wrenn’s recommendation to buy a copy of How Not to Die if it fits into the budget. The beauty of the hardcover version is it’s always handy, dogeared and highlighted, papers and notes sticking out between pages.

    I confess that I also downloaded it so that I can more easily access it anywhere and search for keywords swiftly. I do go overboard in enthusiasm sometimes!

  • kayak2
    kayak2 Member Posts: 9,028

    Here are two 3 - 4 min videos about fish oil.

    https://nutritionfacts.org/video/is-fish-oil-just-... https://nutritionfacts.org/2018/07/12/the-eskimo-m...

    Also, I can't remember if it is Dr. Greger or Dr. Fuhrman who said that eating a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast every day is equivalent to taking a statin.

  • PatsyKB
    PatsyKB Member Posts: 211

    Kayak2 - you can get the book on eBay cheap! You won’t regret it. I can’t imagine being able to process the massive amount of information in the book by just listening to it. Check today on eBay - lots of used copies available.

    image

  • keepmovin
    keepmovin Member Posts: 25

    I became a full-fledged Vegan about a week after being diagnosed May 16th. Love eating this way, lost about 17 lbs and feel good but tired. Chemo starts next Friday. Anything I should be sure to eat or avoid? Thanks in advance

  • kayak2
    kayak2 Member Posts: 9,028

    Wrenn and Patsy: I found Dr. Greger & some of the other nutrition gurus like T. Colin Campbell, Drs. Fuhrman, Esselstyn, McDougall, Neil Bernard, Goldhamer & others, when I discovered a wonderful reversing diabetes (pre-diabetes in my case) online docu-series a few months ago. After listening to dozens of lectures by them and many others, with more or less the same basic message (go plant based) & subscribing to Dr. Greger's free newsletter, I feel I've grasped the basics (having successfully met my main goal of reversing pre-diabetes, with the added bonus of losing 15 lbs and lowering cholesterol by 30 points). Hope to continue the downward trend of those numbers, with fewer dietary lapses when I occasionally eat out with others. I had the worst (most unhealthy) breakfast I've eaten in a very long time - nothing remotely vegan about it - a platter of eggs, pancakes, bacon & sausage, I'm embarrassed to admit (but it was tasty) and now I can do without those things for a VERY VERY long time! I may follow your advice, though, and purchase the book after listening to the audiobook, but I did purchased a few "must haves" in the past and found myself not referring back to them. Since my e-mail is bombarded daily with invitations to other free docuseries on diet or other life-style subjects to the point of being over-whelming at times, (since each lecture is only usually available for 48 hours), I figured that the audiobook would be best, since I am in the car a lot and can listen then. I made up for yesterday's breakfast fiasco with a simple lunch salad today using some wonderful juicy homegrown tomatoes that someone gave me, and adding some pieces of avocado, S&P, and a small handful of walnut pieces thrown in. Heavenly!

  • GoKale4320
    GoKale4320 Member Posts: 580

    Keepmovin - congrats on your conversion to plant-based! I would think that will help you get through chemo. When I was in the midst of chemo, I found that vegetables tasted much better than anything else. I am not exaggerating. I would suggest keep doing what you're doing. You'll hear your medical team tell you to drink lots of water - that's very beneficial. I found that I enjoyed plain seltzer water more than tap water. I also liked Crystal Light lemonade (not advocating this since it contains artificial sweetener and just not healthy, but sometimes I just needed it). Just take it as it comes, make substitutions if something doesn't taste right. Don't beat yourself up if you end up making a few unhealthy choices. Once you're done with chemo, you will bounce back and can pick up where you left off.

  • moth
    moth Member Posts: 3,293

    keepmovin - hi & welcome!

    I'm looking at your chemo & looks like herceptin and taxol. Taxol for me didn't have huge implications for appetite though it gave me a metallic taste in my mouth and I couldn't really taste most foods for about 4 out of 7 days (I was having 12 weekly treatments). Herceptin from what I hear is notorious for causing gastric upset and especially diarrhea though some people experience constipation as well or alternating. I'd consider sticking to things that you know have not been rough on your tummy and keeping the same level of fiber you're already used to, and then adjust as needed.

    Other than that, I'd say try to keep your weight constant during chemo. Eat enough calories to stay stable and try to keep things balanced. Your body will need nutrients to repair all the damage chemo does. https://foodforbreastcancer.com/ has some tips for specific foods during chemo

    I too found sparkling water easier to drink that plain.

    Btw, the premeds for taxol made me super sleepy. I started bringing something with caffeine to sip on during treatment. Mind you, once I started icing for neuropathy, I was less drowsy lol.

  • Warrior2018
    Warrior2018 Member Posts: 212

    Thank you ladies for sharing all of that interesting information. I love researching and finding new vegan recommendations.

    This morning I made tofu scramble. I think this is the best seasoning mix I’ve found. https://www.phoneybaloneys.com/

    I love the coconut bacon as well and threw in a bit of that to the scramble along with some orange peppers and hot sauce.

    Happy Friday Everyone! Smile

  • PatsyKB
    PatsyKB Member Posts: 211

    keepmoving - you might want to check out these two cancer-specific cookbooks. Not vegan, but really good and well researched and they do both contain lots of animal-free dishes. Of course, you can amend and edit as you wish.
    “Cooking Through Cancer Treatment to Recovery,” Rebecca Katz’s “Cancer Fighting Kitchen.” Rebecca Katz’s blog Conntecting the Dots.

    For vegan fare without the attention to cancer treatment, what to eat when and for what treatment or nutrient depletiaon, etc, but just great vegan recipes:my favorite go to blog Minimalist Baker, the Forks Over Knives Cookbook as well as the FOK app and website, and Dustin Harder’s book Simply Vegan.
  • PatsyKB
    PatsyKB Member Posts: 211

    imagewrenn is right, kayak: Dr. Greger isn't a die hard strict anything and he acknowledges that having something you just WANT (like a piece of pepperoni pizza) is okay. I am keeping that in mind this weekend, as we are in Seattle away from home to help prepare for and attend a family wedding. Have to make compromises all over the place but I'll survive.

    Good news:the wedding reception is a pot luck taco bar. My daughter is making a rice based casserole (I won't think about the sour cream, cheese and white rice as I have a little) and MY contribution is a big batch of vegan taco filling that is to die for. Just made it last night at my sister's house with the help of the bridegroom's young kids who tasted it and pronounced it “Perfect!" https://minimalistbaker.com/10-minute-raw-vegan-taco-meat/

  • hapa
    hapa Member Posts: 613

    keepmovin - good luck with your new diet on chemo. I had the worst diet on chemo, I blame the steroids. I went to taco bell twice in one day - two hours apart, same drive thru cashier of course and she had this "weren't you just here" look on her face - because I was so freaking hungry and nothing seemed to satisfy. I ate stuff that I hadn't touched in years, like McDonalds. Even just aside from the cravings and extreme hunger, it was hard to stick to vegan eating because my nutritional needs had changed. I ate some greek yogurt because my stomach didn't seem to be digesting anything for a while and I needed more protein. I'm still eating eggs for the protein and will probably continue through recovery from surgery. I intend to get back to vegan (or at least mostly vegan) eating when my body is healed.

  • moth
    moth Member Posts: 3,293

    If anyone is looking for a plant-based yogurt alternative, I like the Daiya https://daiyafoods.com/our-foods/greek-yogurt-alte...

    It is fortified with cultures. I had the plain Greek one a lot during AC.

  • moth
    moth Member Posts: 3,293

    Also, if you're having real junk food cravings, many chains across North America have been launching Beyond Meat & Impossible Foods burgers. In Canada A&W is the largest chain to offer the Beyond Meat burger.

    I'm not familiar with chain restaurants in the US but according to one article, some places to try to find the Beyond Meat : White Castle, Umami Burger, TGI Fridays and Bareburger

    It's not health food but it scratches the junk food burger itch without cruelty to animals.

  • GoKale4320
    GoKale4320 Member Posts: 580

    https://www.drweil.com/blog/health-tips/should-you...

    This link from Dr. Andrew Weil talks about Spirulina -green/blue algae, and the short answer is no. I have read about spirulina in other articles so I was curious about Dr. Weil's opinion.

  • PatsyKB
    PatsyKB Member Posts: 211

    Thanks for that, moth. I’ll try it.

    Another good non dairy yogurt is Forager brand Cashewgurt. Personally, I like the plain variety (I add my own flavors, fruits, spices). https://www.foragerproject.com/cashewgurt/

  • keepmovin
    keepmovin Member Posts: 25

    Thanks to all for the support and helpful suggestions. I became a bc patient and Vegan about 90 days ago. I have learned a lot about both. This board is a lot of help! Port install on Monday and 1st Chemo is Friday. My healthy diet is really helping me to stay positive about these next steps. Onward

  • moth
    moth Member Posts: 3,293

    Happy Meatless Monday!

    What's for dinner today at your place?

    I'm thinking of these baked falafels. https://www.forksoverknives.com/recipes/baked-fala...


  • GoKale4320
    GoKale4320 Member Posts: 580

    That falafel recipe looks great, Moth. Lately, I have enjoyed a simple Quinoa, black bean and salsa mix that I wrap up in a tortilla. Last night I experimented with mushrooms and sauerkraut on bread (my new version of a rueben - "hold pretty much everything"). I don't recommend it.

    I love sauerkraut, though. Today for lunch I had steamed kale, red onion, brussel sprouts, and sauerkraut with ground flax seed on top, spiced with tummeric, black pepper and garlic powder. Tomorrow I might have the same thing but also add some canned beets with vinegar. I love those bowls you can get a restaurant with lots of different things in it.

  • NVDobie
    NVDobie Member Posts: 122

    Made this last night, yummy. I added cauliflower on top of broccoli, removed tomato because acid reflux, just love whie bean soup.

    http://www.veggiejam.com/english/veggie-loaded-white-bean-soup/

    image

  • PatsyKB
    PatsyKB Member Posts: 211

    We had these Middle Eastern Chickpea Burgers from Rebecca Katz’s cookbook “The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen. There’s a definite resemblance to the falafels you were planning, moth! Very tasty, served with a salad. Husband had his on a bun.
    https://www.rebeccakatz.com/recipe-box/middle-eastern-chickpea-burgers

    I made a big batch awhile back and froze most of them for later use (individually wrapped). We just flew home from Seattle today so I needed something quick and easy

    Note: They are VERY fragile and prone to falling apart so if you do this, don’t try reheating them in a skillet. Mine crumbled but I just put it on top of my salad. Better to wrap them individually in foil, or in packs of 2 or 3 and reheat in the oven.

  • Egads007
    Egads007 Member Posts: 474

    Stepping into pant based territory from the paleo village posting something I think you gals might be interested in.

    Found a great sale on cauliflower, so I bought 6 big heads of it. We dragged out the food processors and pulverized it all down to cauli-rice. Now, cauliflower up here in Canada can get really expensive (once saw it for 7.99 a head…ugggg) so when I saw it at 1.29 I jumped all over it.....had to fight off two old ladies, thank god for the gym :)))

    The wonderful thing about cauliflower is that it can be riced and frozen flat pack for future use. Six heads gave me 5 extra large and two large ziplock bags o' the stuff. Flat packed takes up less room in the freezer. Simply defrost, steam, mash, fry, add to baking or casseroles, whatever...just darned convenient and freezes beautifully raw. I made a delish cilantro lime cauli-rice a few days ago, very easy having a freezer stash to latch onto.

    The only problem....well, it makes a helluva mess when processing. We find bits of it in our hair right out onto the front lawn :))) Worth the clean up for the convenience!

    Here's my haul:

    image

    This works with broccoli, but would advise to use stalks only (which I save for this purpose).....the florets tend to mush with freezing. The stalks make a nice low carb nutritious alternative as does the cauliflower.

  • moth
    moth Member Posts: 3,293

    wrenn, I posted some vegan ice cream recipes somewhere...but I don't think they were in this thread. This board is too large sometimes lol.

    If you haven't tried it yet, you might like the Dole Whip recipe : http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2015/05/copycat-dol...


  • exercise_guru
    exercise_guru Member Posts: 333

    I read Dr. Gregard about neuropathy and a complete vegan whole based based diet. I also have over the roof liver enzymes from chemo and hormone issues from the oophrectomy so I hope to use who foods to help with that.

    .I also have a goal to eat broccoli sprouts daily (very easy and cheap,my kids love them) and 2 to 4 tablespoo of ground flaxseed to get 24 grams daily based on the hopkins study (trying to find the recipe they used) and mushrooms as they have a strong study for breast health.

    Right now I am just working on menus and what to pack to take to work so I welcome recipes and suggestions.

    I am also working on vegan menus that my kids can toss meat in like bowl night,tortilla night, noodle night ,buns potato bar., stir fry night,

    I would welcome suggestions for both.



  • keepmovin
    keepmovin Member Posts: 25

    Hi exerciseguru- can you tell me more about Dr. Gregard? I haven’t heard of her/him. I am worried about neuropathy and looking for anything that can ward that off. I start chemo tomorrow.

    You might want to check out a cookbook called Plant Powered Families by Dreena Burton. Lots of kid friendly recipes.

    I hope this helps and that you are doing well

  • moth
    moth Member Posts: 3,293

    keepmovin, I suggest you join the weekly taxol group to chat about your chemo. I don't think diet helped much with that - but icing helped me significantly. There are also some supplements that some MOs & centers recommend. Again, that thread has lots of details.



  • exercise_guru
    exercise_guru Member Posts: 333

    There is an outstanding webinar on the homepage of this site that was just posted this week HERE. There is not a lot of good preventing measure but there is good information with regards to icing your hands and feet during Chemo. It isn't ASCO approved so you may or may not get help and support during infusions. I did ice my mouth during Chemo and it prevented mouth sores from developing.

    Not to further burden you during treatment but I decided to go on a whole foods vegan diet because of neuropathy that has lasted over two years now. I came accross this link which has nothing to do with chemo induced nueropathy but I am quite desperate to find relief so I figure it can't hurt.


    Here is the link to Greger Michael Greger, M.D. FACLM NutritionFacts.org

    He has some awesome videos on nutrition that are short, well researched and very interesting based on a whole food diet. During Chemo I ate foods and consumed a lot of glutothionine I also followed Valter Longo and fasted for my chemo cycles. Here is the link and link to that if anyone is interested. They have actually developed a fasting mimicking kit called Prolon but it didn't exist during my chemo. If it had I would have done it for all of my chemo cycles even though it is $250 each time. I water fasted for 48 hours before and 24 hours after so a total of 4 days. He wrote a facinating book on longevity and fasting effects on the body but was careful not to go into the chemo research too much as the ASCO comunity gets very agitated about diet and chemo research. But the studies for both rat models and the 5 year study in humans was very good and you can google for more thorough information on fasting and Chemo with longo's words in the search. They are also doing a long term study with a mimicking fasting kit for chemo patients but its in process so no research has been published. One thing I did gather from the book is that the steriods are not ideal. They push the blood glucose up and that counteracts the chemo effects. My MO during treatment was rigid and unflexible about fasting and about steriods so I did the steroids but fasted without telling him.

    The Longevity Diet: Discover the New Science Behind Stem Cell Activation and Regeneration to Slow Aging, Fight Disease, and Optimize Weight


    I didn't eat a high antioxidant whole foods vegan diet during chemo so I can't speak to that ( I wish I had) but I developed longterm neuropathy so I am not sure any of my advice is useful. I also have pretty high liver markers that went up two years after Chemo . They did a catscan and believe it is fatty liver so I plan on eating whole food vegan because the science is pretty clear on improving that as well. From my post you would think I ate quite a crappy diet before this but didn't. Its difficult to predict how our bodies will respond to treatment and surgeries.


    I have since learned from Greggers site that Brussel sprouts and beets and garlic support the liver but I am not sure I could have ate those during chemo. If I did I wouldn't eat them until 24 hours after. I did drink a ton of water to try to get the chemo out of my system.

    Hopefully I didn't derail the thread to much. I wish I had known about the incredible benefits of a whole foods vegan diet and I would have started it much sooner. I was eating a paleo diet with a lot of vegetables prior to now.

  • moth
    moth Member Posts: 3,293

    Hello lovely gentle people,

    re the cauliflower currently in abundance in many markets now - thanks Egads for the ricing & freezing tip!

    I'm in love with this recipe: Whole Roasted "cheezy" cauliflower http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-recipe/cheesy-...

    though the last few times we made it we make florets instead of roasting whole - more surface area to get topping on, easier to dredge in the topping and it roasts faster. But for presentation, the whole one does look very nice....

    bonus - it calls for turmeric & garam masala so you get a bit of your healthy spice (spices are part of Dr Greger's daily dozen)

  • PatsyKB
    PatsyKB Member Posts: 211

    Last night’s dinner: Company Rice and Beans (from Jane Brody's "Good Food Book") - https://www.google.com/amp/s/recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail-amp.asp%3frecipe=332040 Thi is a longtime family-favorite and a particular favorite is my husband’s. (We've been eating this since the 1980s!). A couple of notes: 1. I always use 2 kinds of beans because it’s more fun. Last night before I used canellini and black beans. But kidney, black eyed peas, garbanzos, pintos, adzukis are all great. 2. Most of the time I serve it with brown rice but I also love it with kamut. 3. I either skip or use a very small amount of cheese, if any. 4. Some diced avocado on top is excellent.

    We had it with an outstanding salad of baby arugula, spinach, butter lettuce, peppers, pea sprouts and finely chopped cauliflower. Heaven!



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