I keep hearing people talking about turbo charging my immune system whilst in process of fighting breast cancer… Can anyone suggest what’s best please
I’d like to hear the answer that that question! I think they mean superfoods - blackberries, blueberries, pomegranates, mushrooms, grape seed extract, cinnamon, etc etc which are very high in antioxidants and excellent for our immune systems. We have a colleague who was diagnosed last year with inoperable brain tumours - she had the conventional treatments to shrink them, which helped, but then she trawled the internet for advice on healthy eating to turbo charge her immune system and she is convinced they are helping as the tumours are still shrinking and the medics are amazed and very interested! She is a biochemist and definitely understands much more about how the body works than I do, and is pretty convinced she is making a difference. She walked the Pennine Way (I think this is what it is called) over the summer! Last summer she could hardly walk to the bathroom!
Hi pauls
I started reading the book BEATING CANCET WITH NUTRITION. by Patrick quillin… Very interesting I have to say.
I got mine for kindle from Amazon…let me know what u think xx
I’ll take a look! Thanks for this. Will let you know.
P x
Other books worth a read on this subject are “Anticancer” by David Servan-Schreiber and “Radical Remissions: Surviving Cancer Against the Odds” by Dr Kelly Turner. Plus the canceractive website has a lot of advice.
The view that a predominantly plant based diet is the way to go is becoming more widespread, although not all oncologists would go out on a limb to give you that advice, because it is very difficult to conduct large studies on the impact of diet on cancer. However, like PaulS’s friend, there are a lot of stories of people who think that what they have eaten has influenced their healing. The book “Radical Remissions” is full of them. I found that researching diet helped me get some sense of control and a positive focus at a time when I was incredibly scared and anxious. I thought my diet was reasonably healthy before dx but have changed it in small steps until now it is radically different from before. My taste buds have changed as a result, I have a huge enthusiasm for food and I am convinced that I recovered from treatment faster than I would otherwise have done. I just wished I’d started the process sooner (didn’t start until about halfway through chemo, and not in earnest until after chemo).
Hi fimbo123
I will b sure to look the book you mentioned up… They do make very interesting reading and some quite compelling evidence xx
This is my first post on the forum!
I would also recommend that book Radical Remissions. Very thought provoking and uplifting too. Also anything by Professor Jane Plant. Just read her book Beat Cancer in which she advocates a vegan diet. Meat and dairy raise our Insulin Growth Factor IGF-1 which cancer loves (although I am investigating if organic grass fed meat would be ok from time to time. I think it contains something that actually helps fight cancer!) I’ve just ordered another book of hers called The Plant Programme which shows you how to implement her diet plan.
I have severe endometriosis too so I had already changed to almost vegan and I eat or juice every vegetable in sight. It has really improved many of my symptoms apart from one persistent pain. I feel lucky that I’m used to this way of eating. I was diagnosed with IDC just 4 weeks ago. I feel the diet change, exercise and things like meditation are fundamental requirements for helping ourselves heal but unfortunately there is little or no emphasis placed on these aspects by our doctors. Their training does not cover nutrition so they have very little knowledge of this area. Bear this in mind if they disagree with you on diet!
Some foods that help the immune system…
Blueberries
Raspberries
Garlic
Coconut oil
Fresh raw organic veg
Mushrooms especially Reishi, Maitake, **bleep**take
Chlorella
Bee Propolis
Green tea
Tulsi tea
Curcumin from turmeric
Oregano
Cinnamon
Cloves
Please add to this list if you know of anything else.
Thanks everyone for these posts. I have bought the Quillian book and have found it very interesting reading. I’ll look for the other books on Amazon and try to read them.
I am in a tricky place with food, as in January was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and I asked my GP if this was me for life. He said this was a very interesting question, and pointed me to research that had recently been done at Newcastle University by researchers who challenged the view that it was permanent and argued that it could be reversed with a very low calorie diet and exercise. Apparently obese people who had bariatric surgery often have Type 2 dibetes and symptoms disappeared within weeks of the surgery. The researchers hypothesised that this was to do with the severe reduction in calories, and eating only non-starchy vegetables and berries, and did a clinical trial with diabetics and for most of them it reversed!
Anyway, since January I have been on this Newcastle diet (they provided recipes for meals and soups which use garlic, cinammon, tumeric herbs etc) and and have lost 6 stones 1 lb, and my blood sugar readings are now completely normal. I took control of my body, and my GP is amazed at what I have achieved! I have only eaten non-strachy vegetables and strawberries, raspberries, bluberries, with absolutely no sugary fruits, meat, sugar, dairy, carbs, etc. From the Quillin book it looks like this will have been good! No sugar in my system to feed the cancer (apparently cancer likes sugar!)!
I plan to read more, educate myself better, and will add to the list of foods already on this thread. Let’s take control! I will trust the medics to do the other things - surgery, chemo, radiotherapy, but this is something I can do for myself. Thank you so much for starting this thread! It is good to feel we can do something.
Since starting this thread… Reading and reading the books it does make a lot of since… I have changed my eating habits which before contained a lot of junk foods or convenient foods… Fruits… Veg… All foods recommended in the booms and I actually feel a whole lot better in myself as well as drinking the complain shakes you can by for added vitamins and minerals… Still more to change slow but steady… What harm can it do and as a bonus it does make you feel u have a little more control over this nasty disease… Any more info from to!ks is always appreciated… I had my MX about 5 days ago now as was diagnosed with IDC stage 1 and was 12mm in size end of may this year… But due to there being a benine tumour sat next to it and only have small boobs…I opted to have the whole boob removed… Margins would def b in reach too… and I feel really well concidering… Still waiting for node results too… But over all feel healthy and ready for the next hurdle xxx
Hi Wp23… Wendy…
I am certainly feeling a lot better than I assumed I would after snb and mx…which is all good…ty hun…wait for node results next week but fingers crossed it all goes well… But prepared mentally for next step which is always a bonus…
I would be interested if folks could also post any foods and diets they have come across or using to help there fight…
Perhaps creating a list of food to help others would be of benefit to other fighters.I did read a few listed by BROWNRABBIT… But there are lots more… Which when I get home on Friday I will post my list…xxx
It’s great to learn of so many of us trying to take control of improving our health! Mel and PaulS, both your stories are inspirational! Whilst not wanting to introduce a negative note, I would like to ask Mel if you feel that you need to make any changes to your diet now given that (I assume) you were diagnosed with BC while following it?
One thing which has not been mentioned much is the power of the mind to influence the immune system. This used to be thought a lot of old hocus pocus, yet the placebo effect is accepted without question now. I read a book called “Getting Well Again” by Dr O Carl Simonton, Stephanie Matthews-Simonton and James L Creighton. Dr Simonton was an American oncologist and his wife Stephanie was a psychologist. In the 60s they started to look at how the mind could effect cancer. They used visualisation and a number of other techniques and had some really remarkable results. There is a lot of information in the book about creating helpful mental imagery to visualise cancer being healed. With regard to the immune system, they say that it is really important to visualise your white blood cells as much more clever, organised and prolific than the cancer. For myself, now that my active treatment is finished, I try to imagine the Tamoxifen circulating in my blood and wrapping a film like clingfilm around any tiny cancer cells that might be lurking. Then I imagine some “lookout” immune system cells noticing what is happening and calling for reinforcements…a huge army of white blood cells arrive, surround the cancer cells, eat them up and take them out of my body via the liver or kidneys. I then picture my blood, lymph, bones and organs as being healthy and clear. I’m not sure how biologically accurate this is and you might think it’s a load of mumbo jumbo but I do find it helpful.
I was diagnosed in May 2013 and have made quite a few changes to my diet since then. I’ll try to list them in case anyone else finds it useful. I have based my changes on the books I have read, the canceractive website, and a introductory course I went on at the Haven which included a session on nutrition. I found all the information overwhelming but made changes in small steps.
Some principles I try to stick to: little or no sugar, no white refined carbohydrates, no processed foods, no dairy, no red meat (although in the winter I did have some venison but if it’s farmed I’m not sure it’s any better for you than beef or lamb), no alcohol except red wine. Eat as many vegetables as possible(!), especially raw, juiced or lightly steamed. Eat as many colours of vegeatbles as possible. Try to eat no more than 2-3 pieces of fruit per day (to limit sugar intake). i only juice vegetables, not fruit, as the fructose is absorbed too quickly when the fibre is removed from fruit. Eat whole grains (brown rice, bulgar wheat, quinoa, oats etc). I try to eat less wheat than before just to make sure I eat different grains and don’t rely on wheat. At each meal, try to make 50% of the plate vegetables, 20% protein, 20% carbohydrates and 10% fat. Make sure every meal includes protein as this slows down the rise in blood sugar you would get if you only ate carbs. Eat organic produce as much as possible (but it’s SOOO expensive!).
Foods I make a special effort to include are: berries, nuts (walnuts and almonds), seeds, pulses, garlic, onions, spring onions, oyster mushrooms, flaxseed, sprouted seeds and beans, green tea (at least 4 cups of Japanese Sencha per day). At least one helping of cruciferous vegetables per day. I think it is important to keep your gut healthy by taking a probiotic but I haven’t quite worked out what to take yet! I do have home fermented almond milk kefir on my muesli in the morning and I’m hoping the cultures in the kefir are doing something for the good bacteria in my gut, but I think I need to research this further. Oh, and I eat some Green & Blacks organic 80% dark chocolate every day as my treat. My tastebuds have really changed and now I would find milk chocolate or processed sugary products too sickly.
This all sounds difficult but I have made the changes really gradually and I have never enjoyed what I eat more than I am doing now. And I feel really well :smileyhappy:. Obviously I don’t know if it’s working or not, but my onc thinks I look well and is supportive. I have a husband and 3 young sons and they go along with some of this. They know I really want to be well, and they want me to be well, so by and large they humour me, with only a few complaints! I sometimes don’t cook exactly what I’d like to because I know the boys wouldn’t eat it, and I am the only one who drinks the green tea or green juice!
The next area I want to work on is supplements. I currently take a multivitamin with selenium, vitamin D3, fish oil, brewers yeast and modified citrus pectin, but it feels a bit ad hoc and I’d like to get some advice on it. I’m going on a course at the Penny Brohn Centre next week and I’m going to ask there. I’ll let you know if they have any further useful tips. Does anyone here know where you can get reputable advice on supplementation?
It’s great to hear everyone’s information! xx
Thanks everyone for posting - I really want to do whatever I can to help myself, and all of you.
I plan to speak with a nutritionist and a herbalist at the Maggie’s Cenre at my hospital, and I’ll let you know! I also feel that the advice on all the supplements is a bit confusing and that I could find myself buying loads of different thinngs just because I see them on a list and land up with a hotchpotch. I have the added problem that I am diabetic so I can’t eat all the carbs as they simply turn into sugar. Having worked so very hard over the past six months to lose all this weight (6 st 3 lbs), and get my blood sugar reaings down to a very healthy 4.2 this morning, I am not going to undo all this work.
I have been adding/changing one thing a day. Today I began on the ginseng (which apparently does the same job as tamoxifen, only much better and much more kindly!) and it is to be taken with soy (which I will need to get tomorrow). I am nowhere near the stage of the hormone drugs but thought that this would do no harm and might be doing some good! I have tried to eat little more each day in preparation for Monday’s surgery - the 600-800 calories a day I have eaten since January might not give me the strength I need to recover quickly! So I have added a little more protein to my meal this week. I am really fed up that I need more surgery as I have healed so well and have full arm movement again. But I am trying to be positive!
I wish you all well with whatever you are eling with this week.
P xx
Hi paulS… I am interested as to what your nutritionist etc have to say… Yep please keep us informed. I for one am very interested… Always good to help ourselves too… Ever little helps I say xx
Hi skinnyminx
Yes I agree its important to feel e have more control and were r trying to help ourselves is very important …
PAULS is speaking to a nutritionist and going to update us when can. Be interesting to read xx
Could b worth looking into leaview. When my kids give me a second to think I will start trying to see if there are any such results and not jut the NHS result s xx
I have looked carefully at the advice on which foods boost the immune system and fight cancer and here it is:
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no sugar (even in fruit apart from berries)
-
no dairy
-
no red meat (beef, pork) (actually no meat if possible, but fish, chicken, lean white meats OK if you want)
-
no white refined carbohydrates,
-
no processed foods
-
filtered water and lots of it
-
no tea/coffee
-
positive mental attitude (you need that in buckets!)
to eat:
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leafy greens (the greener the better, and lots and lots of them)
-
eat as many vegetables as possible(!), especially raw, juiced or lightly steamed.
-
as many colourful vegetables as possible
-
garlic
-
cloves
-
cinnamon
-
cumin
-
berries (black/blue/strawberries/etc)
-
green tea/black tea)
-
tulsi tea
-
soy
-
nuts (walnuts and almonds),
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seeds,
-
pulses,
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onions, spring onions,
-
oyster mushrooms, mushrooms especially Reishi, Maitake, **bleep**take
-
flaxseed,
-
sprouted seeds and beans,
-
coconut oil
-
chlorella
-
curcumin from turmeric
-
oregano
-
all herbs and spices
Supplements
-
Ginseng and Soy (these apparently do the work that tamoxifen does, in oestrogen-fuelled cancers, but are much more gentle. I am nowhere near the drugs stage as yet, but know my cancer is oestrogen receptive so I’ll get them at some stage).
-
Flax oil (apparently this is even better than fish oil as it is not polluted that way fish can be, and gives more Omegas which fight cancer and boosts the immune system. I am allergic to fish, so can’t take fish oil supplements anyway).
- bee propilis
There are more foods, and I’ll add them when I know what they are!
P xx
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Thanks for all that info paulS… Very interesting and I shal b taking note of most of what u put there…(must of took u ages to write out,) I have started to re this k my eating habits dramatically and so far do feel as whole lot better for it… Thanks Paul’s… Keep posting as u find more xx
On the oil front, one of the best is hemp oil. Most supermarkets sell the ‘Good Oil’ brand. Stuffed full of omega 6 and 3 and tastes great as an alternative to olive oil on salads or pastas or in place of butter on jacket potatoes. Quite a nutty flavour.
Thanks Mel. I was told by a nutritionist at the Haven that although seed oils (hemp, flax, sesame, sunflower) may have a good mix of omega 3 to omega 6 when at room temperature, it’s not good to cook with them because they break down when heated. She suggested that the best oils to cook with are olive, avocado and coconut (or butter if you are still eating dairy), saving the seed oils for salad dressings etc as Mel has suggested.
Hi everyone,
I hope you are all doing well and enjoying any dietary changes! Last week I went on the 2 day “Living Well With the Impact of Cancer” course at the Penny Brohn Centre in Bristol. For anyone on this thread who is interested in making lifestyle changes and helping themselves to live a better life after cancer, I cannot recommend it highly enough. In terms of the information presented, I felt there was not so much new stuff as I have read fairly widely and been on a 1 day course at the Haven, but in terms of relaxation and getting connected with your inner spirit again, it was amazing. I came home feeling as if I had been on a retreat. The course is free (donations welcomed!) including fantastic healthy food and beautiful accommodation in the countryside just outside Bristol (and no they aren’t paying me to advertise it!) If you can get to Bristol (it’s about 140 miles away from me) it’s well worth it, and you can go at any stage of treatment or, like me, after treatment is over.
Their approach to healthy eating “has at its core the belief that people are healthiest when they follow a diet composed of foods in their most natural state…The Bristol Approach to healthy eating aims to encourage people to eat a whole food diet that is based on fresh, unprocessed foods.” Much of the advice was very much like what has been discussed on this thread. I can’t copy all their recommendations her but in summary of food groups, they recommend;
Foods to eat in abundance
vegetables and fruit, whole grains, pulses, protein foods, healthy fats, herbs and spices, water
Foods to eat in moderate amounts
read meat, dairy products, caffeine, soya products
Foods to eat in minimal amounts
refined grains and sugars, damaged fats, processed meats, barbequed or griddled foods, salt, alcohol
For me, one of the key benefits of having been on the course is that now I can have a one-to-one appointment with a nutritionalist and with a holistic doctor. I really want to talk through all the diet changes I have made with a professional, and I want some advice on supplements before spending a fortune on tablets I may not need.
Best wishes to everyone.