Breast cancer and diet

I read her book in August 2008 and it was the first thing that gave me hope. Hope now only that I could live longer, but hope because I could do something to help myself. I decided to go 'cold turkey' in giving up dairy and soya milk (organic) is actually my favourite drink.

This whole journey is about so much more than just popping pills, or having meds pumped in to your body. I use Mindfulness techniques to relieve stress and have reflexology and acupuncture regularly. I also take supplements and Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine. In the end it really is all about doing what you think is right for you and when I read Plant's book it really struck a chord with me. It takes a bit of effort to change your diet, but for me it has been worth it.

I have bone mets and the conventional treatment I have is Letrozole (Femara) and zoledronic acid (Zometa). My mets improved a bit after changing my diet, and one can no longer be detected. The bone mets have remained stable since then.

Vicki

Thank you very much for your response Vicky, it has reinforced my determination to carry on with my diet change, and so far so good.

I am on the same treatment as you, i.e. Letrozole and Zoledronic acid. Do I understand from your response that your bone mets have been stable since 2008?

I am rather new to this as my cancer was only discovered at the secondary stage, when I started having back problems originally put down to arthritis. For some reason the primary in my breast was too small to be detected by the mammogram I had had only months previously. It is very reassuring to hear that it can be managed over a long period.

Else

Bone mets have been stable since 2008. I had a hip replacement last December but that was due to arthritis in a hip that was deformed from birth and which had begun to degenerate badly. I would have been stage IV at the start if they had listened to me about the pain in my other hip. Typical of cancer that it decided to take out my good hip and I had to have a hip replacement because of a 4" x 2" tumour part way through the adjuvant chemo.

Putting a patient on hormone treatment with bone strengtheners is the standard initial treatment with bone mets if you are ER+, just wish that the onc had explained that in 2008 when I asked why no chemo I was told that 'it was not appropriate at this time'.

Cancer is a sneaky thing. One of the reasons they assumed that it hadn't spread was that I had no cancer in my lymph nodes when they did the axilliary clearance and that is the usual route of progression. However it can be treated more as a chronic disease these days. Have a look at www.canceractive.com for a load of information, and also look at the Penny Brohn cancer care centre website. Penny Brohn did die of breast cancer, but 20 years after being told to go home and get her things in order! There is hope and taking a proactive approach and using natural treatments and a dietary approach is a great start.

Vicki xxx

Hi,I am 39 and newly diagnosed with breast cancer, mets to liver, chest bone and spine. I am having chemo, herceptin and perjeta. I have changed my diet completely to fight cancer. I am having my 3rd of 6 rounds of chemo next week. A week after that I will be scanned to see how everything is working. Here is a breakdown of my diet.

NO SUGAR - Sugar feeds cancer

NO PROCESSED FOODS

NO MEAT, FISH, SHELLFISH, EGGS - Highly acid

NO WHEAT PRODUCTS - Turns to sugar in the body

NO DAIRY - Creates mucus in the body that cancer thrives in.

NO TEA, COFFEE, ALCOHOL

Look up PH Kills Cancer. I follow a strict alkaline diet. Cancer cannot live in an alkaline environment.

I take a good organic bicarbonate of soda 3 times a day. 1 teaspoon in water. I take 6 apricot kernels per day. I juice carrots, spinach, fresh tumeric, fresh ginger daily. I eat soursop fruits. Look up the cancer killing benefits of those. I take a tablespoon of Braggs cider apple vinegar in water daily. I am basically a walking vegetable hahaha. The more greens the better and as raw as possible. I eat so much veg. I even eat a whole raw brocoli a day.

People have cured on diet alone. People have kept going on the bicarb soda mix alone.

Look up PHEONIX TEARS!!!

Look up The Secret

I am fighting it with everything. :)

Hi Sally2000, 

Like you I am trying to change my diet

no coffee, tea, alcohol (not quite there yet), cheese is my downfall and steaks... oh how i love steak! the other  things are easy to give up. Just bought a juicer and love it, my pantry looks like a green grocers shop.

I also have secondary breast cancer in the breast bone and also a tumour in the chest cavity. I have had 6 chemo and herceptin and now just herceptin to manage the size of the tumour.  I have one question if you don't mind, you mention you are taking perjeta. My onc says although it would be suitable for me he can't prescribe it as it hasn't been approved yet, are you in a trial or a private patient and where are you based?

I am in North Wales.

Many thanks

Sadly pH does not kill cancer cells despite a lot of dubious posts on the internet, No reliable cancer related site on the internet such as Macmillan or Cancer Research UK say that pH alone is a factor in the development of cancer cells

Another dangerous myth is that diet alone cures cancer. If you doubt this ask your onco next time how much your treatment is costing and ask yourself, would NICE not be onto this cheap option if there were any truth in it?

It is natural that people want to be doing something to help with their treatment, and if a particular diet appeals to you, then fine, but do check with your MDT first.

I suspect that your team will say to you try to keep as healthy as possible so that you have the strength to withstand the treatment - ask them!

One last thing, be very wary of people who claim they cured their own cancer by following a particular route. Remember that only the survivors can post to tell you about it; those who died cannot!

Good luck to all fighting this terrible disease,

Colin xxx

PS I'm diabetic and have to know about sugar. glucose is the energy source for cells. My cancer feeds off the Male sex hormone not sugar.

I totally agree with Colin - be very very careful of some of the schemes that are promoted to cure cancer. All a lot of the various diets etc are just ways for people to peddle their own theories and make money. I actually know of some men with with prostate cancer who were promoting some of these ideas and sadly they have passed on already!.

Regarding the Jane Platt book - she has done one for men with prostate cancertoo. She may be a professor of some science subject but she is not a medical doctor or dietician.

I have asked several dietician about the no milk, red meat etc etc diets  she proposes and they say there is no scientific proof.

Macmillan and Cancer Research both have good information on their websites and most hospitals have dieticians. I would strongly recommend you consult them and dont search the internet for cancer cures.If there was a major alternative cure - as Colin says - why is all the research in cures still going on.

As for myself - I have cut down on dairy and red meat and eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. Soya is a good substitute for milk and dairy products if that is what want.

I would agree with Mal and would urge some caution.  I myself have always had a very healthy diet no meat other than the occasional fish and not too much dairy.  Vegetables make up the bulk of my meals but I will admit not so good at fruit. Exercise including yoga and also mediatate. I am on off the healthiest people I know (ironic I know).  I would not have secondary breast cancer if healthy diet, exercise and lifestyle prevented it.  My Macmillan nurse though has said it is because of my healthy lifestyle that I am doing so well.

Not trying to discourage any of you from improving your diets, though. Good luck.

Hi All

This is the first post where I see that people are actively trying to change their diet to help get rid of their cancer.

I have a page on the Breast Cancer community (its page 17 now) where I have not gone down the conventional line of surgery and radiotherapy.  Instead I am on Anastrozole and have been since end of October 2012.  Constant US and, some, mammograms are showing that what was once a 13 x 7 x 21mm tumour is now 5 x 5 x 7mm.  All this I put down to the Anastrozole and better diet with a lot of supplementation coming from various cancer fighting items, notably in the diet the greens - broccoli, cauliflower and sprouts.

A gentleman I knew who had prostate cancer went down the conventional route and was dead 6 months later.  He did however enjoy smoking and a bacon roll every day.  If you watched Food Inspectors last week you will know of the perils of eating bacon!

I have cut out red meat, dairy, coffee and am drinking green tea instead (organic), eat fish that has been caught in the seas and oceans - not farmed.  Was having the honey in the tea but again have had to stop this once canceractive.org advised of just how much sugar is in that.  No sugar at all.  The Rainbow Diet is a brilliant book and I have taken to heart most of the supplements they recommend as well as the foods.

I say you do what you think is right for you - let no-one else stop you from thinking that what you are doing is wrong.  So many therapies are poo poo'ed just because there are no studies to prove them.  Some studies are now being trialled to prove them!

As you will also know from the news just lately there are new drugs coming out which are proving very successful in fighting cancer.  If we can just hang on until they become part of our therapy.....

Still fighting this nasty little critter......