Anybody radically change their diet after breast cancer?
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Hi Minnesota neighbor!
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responded to your pm :-)
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We are practically neighbors. I am sending you a PM (private message).
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Oh yea. I have been diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. Fortunally, I found it early.
I have been gluten free for some time now so getting rid of sugar was an easy request. My only love was potatoes and yams. My oncologist said no more foods that convert to sugar so they are out.
My breakfast omelet has more veggies in now and I just ordered a slow cold pressed masticating juicer. I am not a greens fan but will buy kale, collard greens, and spinach for my juice. My niece uses Figs to sweeten her juice and smoothies. Great idea. NO MORE SUGAR FOR ME0 -
I want to change my diet. I am a bit overwhelmed with figuring out all of the changes, but am at least ready to start doing some baby steps.
I'm still figuring out my goals.
1) IF - I was doing intermittent fasting 17 / 7 pre-diagnosis. I want to get back to at least 16 / 8
2) cut out Dr Pepper again
3) at least 10 cups of water per day
4) 3 servings of veggies per day - right now I am closer to 2
5) 2 servings of fruits per day
6) at least 30 grams of protein from non-meat sources each day - haven't figured out how to do this yet
7) wild caught salmon or black cod at least once a week
8) limit or cut out sugary treats, snacks, etc
9) exercise at least 30 min at least 5x per week (cardiac)
10) start doing strength type exercises
11) eat more "whole" foods and less "refined" foods - still figuring this out
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Great tips from some, as well as goals. Keep it up!
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Dorothy, good for you for making some changes. Little things can make a big difference, particularly drinking plenty of water.
I made a radical change to my diet at the beginning of this year and started a thread called “Keto” if you are interested, pop over and have a look.
My advice is don’t try to do too much at once.. achievable goals is the way to go, and try reading nutritional panels on foods - you will be surprised how much toxic rubbish processed foods contain
All the best
Jackie.
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My weight is healthy and stable. My diet, pre-diagnosis, was pretty good and I was getting 3-6 hours a week of exercise, including cardio, strength, and balance. Right now I'm still in treatment and am not very concerned about my diet. I'd love to get back to working out but right now don't have the stamina to do much more than stroll in the neighborhood and do my floor-based abs/core work.
When I get back to eating and exercising more normally, my intention is to shift more toward low glycemic load diet. I'd like to manage my blood sugar and inflammation better. This isn't so much a concern about recurrence (though I am very concerned!) but a hope for better overall health. If I have no recurrence, I want to live a very healthy comfortable life for a very long time.
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Kanga brings up a good point, take steps even if you are not perfect. It really does get easier. I think it’s helpful to have a mindset that “I am a healthy eater” rather than “I am on a diet”. I never give myself permission for a full blow out day, but I do indulge. If I have pizza, I try to get a salad with it instead of eating half a pizza. If I go out for Mexican food, I splurge on the chips and guacamole but avoid the beans and rice, and eat healthy the rest of the day. Ride your bike around the block. Walk down the street. Next time go three houses farther.
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These are good ideas. For the sugar issue I started by stopping putting sugar in my coffee. I thought it would be hard and it was, but only briefly. I had stopped snacking on sweet things at night as my seond big change but I'm unfortunately back to bad habits there (and my weight shows it).
Any suggestions for snacks to have at night? Cookies and such have not been the answer and I know i need something little after supper.
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I eat plain almond yogurt with berries for an after dinner treat.0
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I do a sliced green apple and some almond butter to dip it in. Very satisfying. As you go off sugar, fruit tastes so much sweeter!
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Also they have a kind of granola at Whole Foods in the bins.... Paleo Coconut Granola... all nuts and seeds and a bit of honey or agave as it is sweet.... but pretty low carb and instead of a whole bowl I will sprinkle some on cottage cheese and fruit and it has that "carb" feeling...
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Thank you for the good suggestions! My hub came home today from the Dr. With a sterner warning to clean up his diet (he's T2 diabetec). So now we both have more incentive.
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I was a pretty healthy eater prior to diagnosis. Very very little sugar, no soda, etc. I ate mainly to support my fitness goals. I'm just wired so that I don't crave anything really, not a foodie at all - I could easily have steamed veggies for every meal every day. Also I'm gluten intolerant so that actually omits a lot of the really bad foods automatically. But if I go to a restaurant (not often at all) I eat what I want and that will include dessert!
What has changed is that I am eating virtually no red meat, no smoked anything, and more plant based meals. We buy organic dairy and chicken/turkey now. My husband always argued that organic is BS but he does not argue now. I happen to live rurally so a lot of the food we eat is grown right here. I always ate loads of fish, eggs, complex carbs and veggies continue to do so. My husband hates vegetables, I always say that I had to get cancer to get him to eat them!
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hey everyone, I started this thread and I'll update on where I'm at. So, after my diagnosis I went a little overboard. Literally scared to eat so many foods, wanting to eat only organic and soy free. Well, I'm still trying to do mostly organic, but it's expensive and really takes a huge bite out of my budget. I try to avoid soy as much as possible, but I'm learning not to come undone if something has traces of soy in it. I've completely given up alcohol, I am on anxiety meds and they really don't mix well anyway. I'm trying to be purposeful on the food I eat and what I put on my body and use for cleaning, but again, I'm learning to let myself have a once a week splurge, weather it be a cheeseburger, candy bar, etc. I was becoming absolutely depressed because of how much food I was limiting myself to because of fear. I can't/won't give up coffee, it's a terrible vice for me, I'm so stupid tired since going into menopause after having my ovaries removed. I have horrific insomnia and coffee and Diet Coke are the only way I seem to get through. I'm so frustrated I can't kick the Diet Coke, I think that concerns me the most. I have tried seltzer water etc. and I like those, but I absolutely love my daily Diet Coke, when I try to give it up I get so irritable and get super bad headaches. I'm still going to try to stop drinking it, I'm just not sure how successful I will be. Any ideas/advice is greatly appreciated
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mnsotamom, on what are you basing your concerns about artificial sweeteners to the point a diet coke is evil and you need to punish yourself by eliminating it? US studies don’t bear it out. If artificial sweeteners spiked any big increase in cancer rates it would be very evident by now, and that is not the case. The only “increase” in breast cancer rates for many decades are thought to be increased screening and the fact that leads to more discoveries of cancer, especially DCIS, that would not have evidenced earlier
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thank you ladies! I know that the link between artificial sweetener and cancer has been debunked, I just am a worrier, clearly not enough to quit my soda addiction ;-)
My mom had breast cancer 9 years ago. She remains Ned and she hasn’t radically changed her diet or lifestyle. She has always cooked low fat, lots of lean meats, fish, vegetables. She has diabetes and really watches her sugar intake. She just doesn’t obsess the way I do.
I think because cancer leaves you feeling so out of control, you look for any way to try to get a tiny sense of control back. So I’m trying to control my diet, cleaning products, shampoo, etc. every article I read about all the chemicals in different products, gives me major anxiety
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thank you wrenn! My oncologist keeps telling me the same things, everything in moderation:
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Hi mnsotamom74 (and everyone else in this boat),
In answer to you initial question, I have changed what seems to be everything, since my diagnosis! The foods I eat, the things I drink, the shampoo, make-up, dish soap, exercise amount, stress level as much as possible, etc. I eat and drink only organic, juice, take different herbs and vitamins, rebound daily, got a dog so that I would get more exercise and have good laughs, do meditation on positive things, and though unfortunate, I had to choose to spend less time around negative people. I think that part of my rational was to be more in control of an out-of-control situation, but the other part was to really give my body the health and energy it would need to fight my diagnosis naturally. It has worked so far! It will be 2 years in April since I had surgery for a ductal papilloma, which resulted in my IDC findings.
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my mom was dx at 40 with stage IV BC. She had BMX and chemo. Shortly thereafter, she started eating vegan and changed to non chemical body and cleaning products. She also walks every day. She Is now 71 and has not had any recurrence.
Green harbor: “Learning that 150 minutes of exercise per week reduces the chance of recurrence by 40%” that’s fascinating. I’d love to read that study. Do you have details? I was just dx in Jan with DCIS and am very active. Opting out of any forms of treatment except exercise. Hoping that’s enough to stave off a recurrence0 -
So you are saying that your mother has lived with MBC for 30 years with no treatment besides chemo at the beginning? Where were her mets?
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