Hi ladies and gents
I read the article below…and gave me some “food for thought” and rationale for the diets recommended to us…although our choice to follow or not
telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/healthyeating/10868428/Give-up-dairy-products-to-beat-cancer.html
Hi Donna,I’m into Jane Plant’s ideas although I don’t mention them a lot on the forums as it can come across as preaching, and everyone on here has enough to deal with without that. But I’m very glad you’ve provided that link.
I’d read some of Jane Plant’s work a few years ago. I had breast cancer in 2009, had 3 lumpectomies followed by radiotherapy, following an earlier lumpectomy in another part of the same breast which proved to be benign. I found her work extremely interesting and thought-provoking, but continued to drink quite a lot of organic milk, eat lots of cheese (we live in the south of France for about half of each year and have lovely cheeses in the many markets in towns and villages near us) - I really love all sorts of cheese. I also ate a lot of chocolate.
This year lobular cancer was found in my ‘good’ breast; this was as a result of me drawing attention to a small area that was different at my annual check; I had pointed it out the previous year, but had been reassured that as my mammogram was clear, the doctor was certain after examining me that there was nothing to worry about. This year, a different consultant listened, examined me, looked at the notes from last year and said I should have an ultrasound scan with possible core biopsy to ensure nothing was wrong. After long delays (11 week wait for urgent ultrasound scans), mistakes and lies, I had them done privately and had my NHS mastectomy at just about the time my urgent NHS ultrasound scan would have been done.
I was in quite a state by the time the results of my scans and biopsies came through, and felt that everything was out of my control. After all, if you can’t rely on mammograms and hospital experts, what can you do? I decided I could take control of other elements in my life. I gardened furiously - we have a big wildlife garden, and I wanted to get ahead ready for the weeks when I wouldn’t be able to do any and nature would take over. I also cleaned everywhere, tidied all drawers and cupboards, and overwhelmed the local charity shops with our unwanted items.
I always cut down on alcohol when we’re in England, as so much of life in a small French town surrounded by vineyards involves wine, but I decided to cut alcohol out altogether. I was almost a chocolate addict - if it was in the house and belonged to me, I had to eat it and chocolate biscuits. So I gave those up there and then, along with puddings and desserts and added bread for good measure.
I remembered Jane Plant’s work, and bought some of her books and promptly gave up milk-related products. I found giving up all the things I did quite easy to do, which I put down to my determination to control my diet. My husband hasn’t drunk cow’s milk for several years, following a skin complaint, so I was used to having soya, rice and oat milk etc in the fridge; I wasn’t keen at first, but soon became used to the taste - oat milk is my favourite at the moment. We have eaten very healthily for 40 years at least, have been semi-vegetarian, with plenty of fruit and vegetables, lentils etc, wholemeal everything, little red meat, lots of salads, all organic if I could get it.
As a scientist herself, professor of Geochemistry at Imperial College London, and having written her latest book with a fellow professor of Cancer Biology, also at Imperial College, and with the foreword written by Proessor Sir Graeme Catto, President, College of Medicine, former president of the GMC and vice-principal of King’s College London, this book, ‘Beat Cancer’ seems to have an amazing pedigree. I have followed some of what she says, cook a number of recipes from her books - we had her Lentil and Tomato soup with lemon for lunch, delicious, and have faith in what she writes and what she has been through is tremendous. It might not suit everone, but health is so precious, and at 70 and with a little granddaughter and a new baby due in the autumn, I want to do everthing I possibly can to stay healthy.
Since my operation, my daily medicine apart from Anastrozole and Adcal + D has been a daily glass of champagne, my toast is ‘better health’. We still eat out regularly, stick to mainly vegetarian or fish meals, although I have ordered a dessert a couple of times! If some on the forum try to follow Jane Plant’s idea, I can only say good luck and my very best wishes for your future. If people don’t want to try her ideas, I wish you the same good luck and best wishes - we all have to find our own route to staying fit and well.
Thanks again for providing the link Donna.
Jo
Thank you donnaandfamily and Jo1 for your very interesting posts. There is a thread - “turbo charge immune system” in the diagnosed with breast cancer section of this forum that has been started and is proving popular. I have posted there to ask if we should move to am more appropriate section, e.g. this one. there is some good info and tips on this forum but it is a little disjointed at times and if you don’t happen to come across something it can quickly go down the thread and you miss it.
Hopefully we can keep everything together and current if it is moved to one place. fingers crossed x
I have been looking at the plant based diet and adding green smoothies into my diet as well. Although l do not take on board that such diets replace standard treatments of surgery etc and do not stop the recurrence (nobody can be 100% on this as there is no cure as yet for cancer) but a good healthy diet with exercise, maintaining weight level and keeping your stress levels low helps.
I too gave up dairy whilst having my treatment last year after reading some of the Plant book. I didn’t finish the book by the way. I just felt I needed to do something! but now I eat some cheese. I have given her views a great deal of thought and I came to the conclusion that the Chinese do other things differently too, like they don’t eat as much sugar, or drink as much alcohol either. We don’t know how truthful the Chinese statistics are either, due to the fact they haven’t got the resources to report all of the breast cancer figures,women in the poorest rural areas will go unnoticed for example. They also have a different gene pool to us. Quite confusing I must say!
I read all the plant base diet book and some of which l do not agree. Given up dairy, meat and so on will not cure you, prevent you or recurrence of cancer. If red meat for example increased the chances of getting cancer then why is the majority of the world not got cancer. Other factors play a part and some have not been figure out yet. As l said a healthy eating plan and exercise is the way.
When my wife was diagnosed I immediately researched diet to help her condition and found Jane Plants books but found some of it a little confusing. Her cancer was a hormone reliant cancer and so many of the complimentary medicines, herbs etc. that Jane recommended had plant hormones in them that I was unsure if we should use them.
we raised it with her consultant who gave a wry little smile and humoured us with some advice on following a normal balanced and healthy diet, however her oncologist was a little more optimistic and said he had shared a platform with Jane. He went on to say that there was some very good points to the Plant Programme, most notably an increase in fresh and organic fruit consumption; he also said some of it was a little hocus pocus.
My wife reduced her intake of dairy, switching to plant based alternatives which, in time she has come to enjoy. She still takes a little cheese occasionally, but we went mad for the smoothies. Lots of berries, Bramleys, fennel, water cress, carrots, avocados, oranges and bananas…you get the drift?
At the same time my wife was prescribed Letrozole to reduce the size of the tumour. The tumour shrunk by 80% and her date for surgery was brought forward by just over a month as a consequence. It may wholly have been her response to the Letrozole that caused the tumour to shrink as it did but I like to think that the small dietary steps we took and her daily glasses of fruit-chemo played some part.
since her op, and she is just starting radiotherapy, I have continued to make her smoothies and I think this is a lifestyle change we will continue with.
When i was diagnosed my breast care nurses advised me to add extra butter to potatoes a d drink full fat milk.I was worried a out losing weight as I was very very slim a d it certainly worked and I felt pretty well throughout my treatment.I thought we needed dairy for out bones. I did however go co.pletely off cakes and anything sweet and i still prefer savoury now.