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Topic: Are juicing good or bad for cancer patients?

Forum: Healthy Recipes for Everyday Living — A place to share our "healthier" recipes and food tips for everyday life.

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Posted on: Jul 19, 2018 05:54AM - edited Jul 19, 2018 05:54AM by Miza_73

Miza_73 wrote:

Hi everyone,

I really hope you can assist me with some of my queries.

I have come across many articles that promote carrots as a good source of cancer fighting food which is best consumed through juicing. Many testimonials of carrot juicing are also available on the web where those with terminal stage metastasis are able to control and recover from spread of their tumor.

The issue that I am faced with now are mainly on conflicting facts on the sugar effects to cancer. Primary understanding, cancer feeds on sugar. But the contradicting matter comes in where foods that are claimed to be anti-cancer are also heavy with sugar content.

I have been juicing carrots for my wife for several weeks now. Each day, she will consume 1 liter of carrot juice in the hope to manage and contain the spread of the disease. However, I came across some scary facts on carrots from a website called sugarstacks . It says there that 100g carrots contains 4.7g sugar. That is a lot of sugar, especially when in comparison, a 20 oz of Coca Cola has same sugar content of 1.4KG of carrots (1 Liter of juice is equivalent to 2.5KG of carrots).

Will you be able to share with me your thoughts on the effects of the sugar from the fruits and vegetables that we consume against manufactured sugar? Is there a difference? And is the sugar from fruits and vegetables feed cancer cells to an adverse effect?

I am getting very confused now with all these facts and really need some clarification on the matter.

I am a caregiver for my wife who is currently in treatment for her BC. She had undergone 6 chemo cycles and 30 radiation sessions.

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Jul 19, 2018 08:38AM MelissaDallas wrote:

It is an over-simplification to say that "cancer feeds on sugar." All of our cells feed on carbohydrates. It has been shown to be beneficial to maintain a healthy weight and healthy blood glucose levels. Juicing is just mainlining tons of carbohydrates without any of the healthy fiber in whole fruits or vegetables to slow down the blood sugar spike. I don't understand how juicing is supposed to be healthy, when like you said, it can be the equivalent blood-sugar wise of drinking soft drinks.

LCIS, extensive sclerosing adenosis, TAH/BSO & partial omentectomy for mucinous borderline ovarian tumor.
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Jul 19, 2018 10:27AM JaBoo wrote:

I agree with what is said above. I can't see anything healthy in juicing - you are removing the important and healthy part of the fruit/vegetable which is fibre. you are consuming large quantities of fructose in a very short time without the benefit of feeling full due to fibre. fructose goes directly to the liver and behaves exactly like alcohol (yes, alcohol). the only difference being it doesn't go into your head. the sugar spike from drinking such fructose amounts is overwhelming for your system.

theres nothing wrong with carrots, at least as far as I know. but I believe that removing the fibre creates just an oversweetened drink with some vitamins in it.





dx at 38 Dx 5/22/2018, IDC, Left, 2cm, Grade 3, 1/3 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2+ (FISH) Surgery 6/14/2018 Lumpectomy: Left; Lymph node removal: Sentinel Surgery 6/19/2018 Lumpectomy: Left Chemotherapy 7/15/2018 AC + T (Taxol) Hormonal Therapy 7/16/2018 Zoladex (goserelin) Targeted Therapy 9/12/2018 Herceptin (trastuzumab) Hormonal Therapy 1/11/2019 Aromasin (exemestane) Surgery 1/20/2019 Mastectomy: Left; Prophylactic mastectomy: Right; Reconstruction (left): Tissue expander placement; Reconstruction (right): Tissue expander placement
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Jul 19, 2018 10:55AM moth wrote:

I agree that the cancer feeds on sugar thing is an oversimplification because our bodies convert everything to glucose anyway.

I have two concerns about juicing:


a) it strips the fiber & thus alters the sugar/fiber ratio considerably. In addition to insoluble fiber being lost, I believe nutrients are lost as well in juicing versus making a smoothie or eating the vegetable. For those who like to drink their veg, a smoothie (made in a high power blender like a vitamix) is, in my opinion, a better option. See "Why smoothies are better than juicing" https://nutritionfacts.org/2016/06/09/juicing-remo...

I'm a big green smoothie fan (raw kale or spinach etc blended with blueberries, apples, lemon for example) but during chemo I've stopped having those because of point b .

b) if on chemotherapy, it is IMO important to be aware of your neutrophil levels. When I'm neutropenic on chemo, I stop eating raw veg - lightly steam or broil everything. The only raw fruit I consume is fruit that you peel such as oranges and bananas. Even though it's berry season here, no raw berries for me as my neutrophils are still barely hovering around 1 right now. Instead, I thoroughly wash gently heat the berries until they start to burst and softe and it makes like a chunky warm syrup/compote and then have them over my oats or just eat them with a spoon. I was hospitalized twice for febrile neutropenia and getting a GI infection is not something I wanted to risk. For more on neutropenic diets: http://www.upmc.com/patients-visitors/education/ca...


Dx at 50; Left, IDC, 1.7 cm, Stage I, Grade 3, 0/5 nodes, very weakly ER+, being treated as TNBC Surgery 12/12/2017 Lumpectomy: Left; Lymph node removal: Sentinel Chemotherapy 2/13/2018 AC + T (Taxol) Radiation Therapy 8/13/2018 Whole-breast: Breast
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Jul 19, 2018 10:57AM ksusan wrote:

Tamoxifen is now being shown to promote type 2 diabetes, so people with ER+ cancers who do or might take it should be very careful about consuming that much sugar consistently.

Mutant uprising quashed. Dx 1/2015, IDC, Right, Stage IIA, 1/1 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2- Dx 1/2015, DCIS, Left, Stage 0, Grade 3, 0/2 nodes Hormonal Therapy Tamoxifen pills (Nolvadex, Apo-Tamox, Tamofen, Tamone) Surgery Lymph node removal: Sentinel; Mastectomy: Left, Right Radiation Therapy Whole-breast Chemotherapy Cytoxan (cyclophosphamide), Taxotere (docetaxel)
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Jul 20, 2018 03:45AM - edited Jul 20, 2018 03:46AM by Miza_73

This Post was deleted by Miza_73.
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Jul 20, 2018 03:48AM - edited Jul 20, 2018 03:49AM by Miza_73

Thanks everyone for the input.

I am still new and trying to understand the whole concept of healthy diet and food intake. And as I learn, there are many contradicting facts discovered.


I am a caretaker for my wife and I am oblivious to many things about good food, carb intake and even blood sugar. I am only aware of these since she was diagnosed and I need to make her healthy again.

Thank you for your insights, I am learning more from all your comments.

And @Moth... now that you mentioned the tamoxifen effect, my wife's sugar level seems to be high these days. She started Tamoxifen a month ago, will keep a check on this too.


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Jul 20, 2018 10:42AM moth wrote:

Miza - I would suggest for you to read through a thread called Diet and Lifestyle where several of us have been posting evidence based recommendations for improving outcomes. (the top of the first page of the thread is a bit messy as an old version of this thread got deleted so we're talking about that instead of the actual topic.... later pages have actual recommendations and suggestions.

This link will take you to my first post on that thread, on the single biggest lifestyle modification proven to improve outcomes : exercise

https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/79/topics...

best wishes to you & your wife ~

Dx at 50; Left, IDC, 1.7 cm, Stage I, Grade 3, 0/5 nodes, very weakly ER+, being treated as TNBC Surgery 12/12/2017 Lumpectomy: Left; Lymph node removal: Sentinel Chemotherapy 2/13/2018 AC + T (Taxol) Radiation Therapy 8/13/2018 Whole-breast: Breast
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Jul 20, 2018 11:01AM - edited Jul 20, 2018 11:03AM by WC3

I am by no means an expert on this but consuming a lot of fruit juice to combat cancer never made sense to me because it's a lot of sugar, mainly fructose, in a small period of time, which spikes blood sugar.

Modern orange carrots, while not a fruit, are a result of fairly modern selective breeding and were bred specifically for their high sugar content.

They also contain a lot if beta carotene, which might be beneficial, but I really couldn't say if any benefit out weighs the cons.

I have never heard any dietician or nutritionist recommend a lot of juicing. They are more likely to recommend eating fruit in moderation.


Dx 2018, IDC, Left, 3cm, Grade 3, ER+/PR+, HER2+ (FISH) Chemotherapy 6/1/2018 Carboplatin (Paraplatin), Taxotere (docetaxel) Surgery 11/15/2018 Lymph node removal: Left, Sentinel; Mastectomy: Left, Right; Reconstruction (left): Tissue expander placement; Reconstruction (right): Tissue expander placement Targeted Therapy Perjeta (pertuzumab) Targeted Therapy Herceptin (trastuzumab)
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Jul 24, 2018 05:58AM Miza_73 wrote:

Hi Moth,

Thank you for your kind wish and the link.

I agree with you on exercising.

My wife, to my admiration.. is very strong willed. She had started exercising once she could raise her hand after the lymph node removal surgery. On a daily basis, she does 3 - 4 KM walk/jog. She was weak in the beginning, but over time had improved on strength - very positive outcome.


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