Hiya
Funny you should say that coz I have been experiencing the most amazing pain/tingling/burning in my breasts and I put it down to the biopsies - I am gonna stop soya tomorrow and see if it disappears… gosh what is going on with my body!
Thanks Crehensal
I just wanted to say to Molennium that my second relapse grew from zero to 3 cm (detected in ultrasound scan) in one month! from the histology they said it took some days only…
In general, nobody is trying to convince anybody to diet or to buy books, we are just here to discuss options! it looks like books about terrible and over pessimistic statistic or books written by somebody who died of cancer are more respectable than a book written by somebody who had cancer and survived and has worked for many years with cancer patients trying to help them with diet and psychology!
It is good to read both! or not?
xxx
sab
PS: sorry for my funny english, I am italian!
Curley, I haven’t had time to read all this thread but like you, I was drinking and eating a lot of soya in the belief it is good for you. I have now read a bit about it, and because it has phyto-oestrogens in it, it may actually do more harm than good. I have chucked all mine out!
Maggie x
Rosebud454,
Hi all, I was never given any advice one way or the other, although like vertangi I started taking supplement Co q10 and selenium when going through chemo.
I was reading in one thread tho - cant remeber which one now, that co q10 are coated in soya bean oil, which if you are avoiding soya, would be very annoying to find out. Does anyone know of any that are not coated in soya? I,ve stopped taking it at the moment cos i was er+. I try to eat organic if i can, and still eat dairy, but not as much as i used to. I would find it tooo hard to give up my few glasses of wine a week!
Rosie x
Why selenium and what’s it in? I was told that healthy diet would be good but to be honest, cos you feel crap just eat what ever you fancy and deal with the diet after chemo. Was also told that dairy boosts some of your blood levels for chemo so its really god knows what advice to follow! ive eaten crap since been on chemo to be honest
x
Hi,
I started the Jane Plant book hopefully and gave up when it went beyond what I could consider. I am not a wholemeal organic suppository type of person!!! LOl Well that is where I felt it was going but good luck to anyone who can keep to it and I do think she has a lot of very valid points that may be helpful in the future. So not meaning to knock her efforts to help us out. I got Bc 8 months after moving to 5 fruit a day, reducing fats and eating yoghurt and cereal with milk each morning. So this was quite unsettling. Surgeon said first cell split would have been 6 months previously. I am concerned about milk as the cows are fed a huge amounts of hormones and I am Er + and PR+. That fact came from my God daughter who is a vet and she also pointed out that BC or mammary cancers are high in dogs and we know they roughly have the same diets, there’s is more linked to pregnancies and so back to hormones again. Apparently organic milk comes from cows who have not been given any hormones, if that helps anyone.
I can’t really change anything as I have to just go with what my body and mouth agree to eat. Will think about that more after chemo but organic meat might be my change.
Love the thread and good luck to all of you
Lily x
I think if milk has been approved by the soil association it can’t have added hormones ie growth hormones in it or any of the feed the cows have. Not 100% sure if this is try of all organic. Drag isn’t it.
Why is there all the controversal advice? Im er/pr pos, had oophrectomy 7 weeks ago and Onc recommended i ate more Dairy…yes milk, cheese ect for my bones!..i was premen!.. My feeling is a balanced diet, as i pour myself a large one!!!
Jill
This is such a grey area isn’t it? Especially when you read new information about what ‘causes’ breast cancer. So far there isn’t a definite link and until that it proved I guess none of us knows any better than the scientists. When I was 1st dx nearly 5 yrs ago I looked at soya milk etc and complementary medicines to help with menopausal symptoms but then realised I should avoid both due to being hormone +ve. I also read Jane Plants Book and just couldn’t have stuck to such a rigid diet, my view was to enjoy life! OK so my cancer has come back but my mother who had it some 16 years ago is still in the clear and believe me she hasn’t changed her diet one bit 
The only things I read that I am interested in introducing to my diet is research about certain foods that seem to stop cell growth and are being trialled now, such as watercress (can’t stand!) and pomegranates. I have ‘taken’ selenium for several years to support my immune system and the nicest way (unless you have a nut allergy!) is brazil nuts. Up to 4 a day but don’t overdo it as an ‘ovedose’ is poisonous - or so I read. I also drink organic milk now, so that’s a ‘phew!’ when I read the above as it seems it’s the one organic ‘thing’ you can introduce and stick with quite easily plus it has the benefits of being rich in omega oils which non organic doesn’t.
Have no idea if this is of any help to anyone but until there is an proven link with a particular diet, food or drink and causes of bc I’ll just keep going as I have. A balanced diet by the way Jill is surely a glass in each hand
Nicky
Hi all
As I am also hormone +ve I have thrown out the soya and now have organic milk, I try to get everything organic now, fruit & veg and meat, so will see how it goes, I’ll keep you posted. Going to see the Breast Care Nurse this morning to run through the pre-op stuff before op next Tues! Will keep you posted and thanks for all the feedback. xxxxxxxxxxx love Netty
HI all,
My brother-in-law had cancer of the tongue. Pretty grim and full on with the treatment. He was given loads of dietary advice. He ate brown rice to “soak up” the chemo. Had gastric tube inserted during rad. and was advised not to mix carbs and protein. A sort of “Hay diet”. He stuck to this very rigid dietary regime and came through, speaking and singing voice intact, and a good prognosis. Looks like we have to make it up as we go along!!?
OC x
Hi
I have had no advice on my diet and I have not changed anything since dx, at the time my bc was dx I had been eating a very healthy diet, my moto is that for over 40 years I had been eating the same food and was cancer free so if I go another 40 years cancer free then thats good enough for me.
Debra
Hi all: I read some of the Jane Plant stuff and found it bizarre - although my sister has friend who had horrendous cancer with several ops, she gave up all dairy and meat and had lots of soya, also gave up the hormone drugs and is still OK after 8 years! Remember the line about ‘we are all different’ !!!
The only thing I try to do is not drink during the first few days after chemo to give my liver only one poison to deal with. On the epi alcohol tasted vile for about five days anyway. After that, I carry on as normal. Have drunk organic milk for ages as it is better for the cows! They fill them full of hormones to make them think they are pregnant and keep producing milk. Yuk! Also as the epi bungs you up it was All Bran and prunes but as CMF has the reverse effect, it is back to the eggs and the cheese.
I think we all have enough problems to deal with without getting paranoid about what we eat and drink.
I did ask my bcn about diet and she didn’t have any advice nor did my onc professor, so I just get on with it.
LOL
Julia
Way back w original diagnosis I found book by Susannah Olivier on bc diet - did it in six weeks waiting for mastectomy and felt a mill dollars by the time I reached the op… way to go thought I, this diet thing works…
and bc being as I understand it a push-more-than-one-button disease to kick-start, Icouldn’t be sure whether it was grandmaternal genetic factor/grieving for dead partner/court case trauma/environmental pollutants/lactose intolerance and cheating, that had finally pushed the button or all of the above and caused the cancer… so tweaking diet seemed to make sense esp in my case, as had been eating cheese for the previous year before dx. Breast care nurse at my breast centre said was excellent idea to be proactive in your treatment including that book. Makes sense to me to try to eliminate any causes of potential trouble and not attribute it to just one thing eg soya or whatever…
SO, in common with the synthesis of all those other suggestions suggested as much as poss organic, 2 litres water day to flush out the toxins and remainder of zapped cells, v v little meat, omega rich fish 3 times week but not farmed, (controversially, now) soya several times a week, I think 8 - 10 portions fruit and veg variety per day (but I love 'em so no probs there), pulses or lentils once a day (eat dahl for breakfast or hummus for lunch or experiment w bean casseroles various sorts, quite fun really, digestive system does eventually adapt LOL, rainbow vegs, hmmm can’t remember other 4 things will edit to add.
So… along with suggestion from NHS cancer counsellor also, to take things into your own hands in terms of stress and positive visualisation of your healing alongside the medical treatment … and doing more of stuf that you like doin, like smelling the lilies along the journey… good luck. It’s incredibly scary at this stage but believe me I know loads of people who’ve also been very scared (and unwilling!) at this stage but you get used to it and have lotsa of unexpectd laughs along the way…
No I didn’t change my diet - except to become a bit more ‘what the hell’ about it and eat a bit more junk.
I was a vegan for over 8 years before my diagnosis, and a vegetarian eating very little dairy for many years before that. So I have some difficulty in believing that Jane Plant’s tumour began to shrink then quickly disappeared as soon as she gave up dairy. Especially as she was in the middle of a course of chemotherapy when she made the diet change and the tumour began to shrink - call me cynical, but I’m more inclined to attribute her improvement to the chemotherapy.
I’m still vegan. but I’d be foolish to think not consuming dairy might prevent recurrence or mets - it didn’t prevent the original tumour after all.
As for soya, my understanding is that the isoflavones soya protein contains can mimic a weak oestrogen effect but this is not the same as the oestrogen your own body makes - it is 1,000 times weaker than your own body’s oestrogen.
I’ve seen no actual scientific evidence that soya causes, prevents, contributes to or affects the progress of breast cancer. As well as the arguments against soya that have already been pointed out, I read somewhere that isoflavones may be of help in preventing breast cancer or be beneficial to women who have had breast cancer.
There’s some current research into whether increasing phyto oestrogens in the diet helps to prevent breast or prostate cancer and a study in 2002 found that women with the highest levels of soya products in their diets had the lowest breast density - higher breast density being associated with higher breast cancer risk. In addition, women with the highest levels of isoflavones in their diet are reported to have significant risk reductions for uterine cancer.
In The Breast Cancer Protection Diet, Dr Bob Arnot claims that eating between 35g and 60g of soya protein a day protects against breast cancer by raising intake of the oestrogen-blocker genistein. Elsewhere I read that while genistein does appear to have anti cancer properties, it is only present in fermented soy products not in unfermented ones like soya milk and tofu.
I think the jury’s still out on soya, and I’ve no intention of giving it up.
The only serious dietary stats I’m aware of referred to low incidence of BC amongst Japanese women - living in Japan. Incidence of BC shot up when Japanese women moved to the States. Diet seems to be the main factor.
So sushi, sashimi, teriyaki… count me in!
One of the few benefits (did I really say that!) of being triple neg is no worries about tofu etc. Just large amounts of chemical poison every three weeks, and I’m fairly convinced a balanced fruit and veg based diet has helped with the side effects.
Well I went dairy free after reading Jane Plant’s book while on chemo. Being triple neg I thought I’d nothing to lose - especially as I was given a 35-45% chance of being alive in 5yrs time.I already was a vegetarian but I loved my cheese and couldn’t imagine tea without milk in it! I’ve never looked back,I feel fitter than ever,have kept my weight down with no sign of middle age spread. I’ll be 5yrs NED this Christmas and really can’t believe I’ve been so lucky! Weither or not being dairy free had anything to do with me still being so well I don’t know,but at times when I’ve felt frightened and ‘out on a limb’ with the triple neg dx knowing that I was ‘doing my bit’ genuinely helped- It’s been my crutch!