Hepatitis C Diet and Organic Foods

I saw this guy who was diagnosed with colon cancer a few months ago and he looked a 100% better than back then. He said some Meals on Wheels was delivering about 15 meals a week of Organic food, mostly fruits, vegetables and rice dishes. I have been sticking to my low to no-salt diet for close to 2 years, now. Lately starting to gain some weight but have not swayed from my diet. I do not know if it is my liver getting worse or the meds are not doing the job they once did. Curious if anyone was on a strict Organic foods diet or taking Liquid supplements like mint leaves or peppermint leaves with boiled water, beet roots, dandelions and boiled water a few times a day, green tea, lemon juice, etc.... I myself have started to drink green tea instead of coffee because it is bad for the liver. Also, I cook chicken piccata with lemons and lemon juice every other day. Never get sick of it. Love it. Other things I read  is to cook and eat small meals, 5 to 7 a day, avoiding leftovers because big meals are harder to digest and leftovers can contain contaminants. It is a tall order  and more expensive to buy these Organic foods and more workto cook everyday. I have been cooking in abundance and always have plenty of leftovers, so I do not have to cook everyday. I asked my liver doc about a dietician or nutritionist in the beginning because I did not know what to eat. He said eat what you want as long as the sodium is low. I am willing to spend the money and follow a stricter diet if it would make me look and feel healthier. Thought about throwing this topic out there. You can get lots of info on the internet. For me I Googled  Hep C, Cirrhosis and a Organic food diet.

Gonna bite David ,Huh Huh !!!
Mick

Onya Einstein, That the best you've got . I do agree with you that seafoods fantastic stuff ,that's why I'm up ,gotta go and get the princess out of bed to go and catch it .
She uses a different system to you David ,she chats up the fish monger!!!
Mick

Hello Bostonmike, Yeah mate 18 months anything after that's a bonus.
Mick

Mike, how long ago did you start getting symptoms from Hep C? I know everyone is different, but I have a friend,  and he started symptoms 7 years ago. After 3 years he had cancer of the liver and his liver was failing. He had a couple of false alarms for transplant and the third was the charm. That was 4 years ago. I just talked him today and he is starting the combo (interfueron & ribavarin) becuse LFT's were getting too high. He did not say anything about the new drug telepevir. I first got symptoms when I had my gall bladder removed in 07/2009. Like you, I was in a bad way From Nov 2009 until April 2010 with the edema, ascities and muscle wasting. I went through 2 liver docs and the third at M.G.H. in Boston finally got it under control last April. Is there anyway you can have a transplant or are you beyond that? My younger brother just had stage 2 colon cancer and he had the radiation-chemo and they cut out 2 feet of his colon. I told him you have to will yourself to get better  and beat this thing you have. He is back working full time, now and his operation was in feb 2011. 

I thought that shellfish should be avoided with liver disease/hepatitis? I know here in Australia we are told to aviod shellfish if you have a damged liver. Maybe it is raw oysters mussells etc, and cooked is okay. I do know it is because of the bacteria that we are advised to avoid it. I avoid it anyway as I am allergic to shellfish!

I would say when it comes to eating shellfish -
IS IT WORTH THE POTENTIALLY FATAL RISK?

Well - lets hope that everyone with liver disease knows how to cook it then eh? Not every cirrhosis patient is an expert cook.

Personally - I chose to avoid it - JUST IN CASE IT KILLS ME - you know.........

I'm not guessing about seafood, my doctors and dietitians said it is all right. Let me repeat, my doctors said it's fine. No guessing here. It doesn't take an expert to cook food until it's done. Pray tell, is undercooked chicken safer than undercooked fish. Either one isn't safe. The fish I harvest is clean, perhaps where you live it isn't.

The larger a predator fish is, the more heavy metals they'll have in their system. Organs and fat contain the most concentrations of pollutants. The flesh has lesser amounts. Swordfish and tuna are both bad on this account as their flesh contains a lot of fat. That's one reason they taste rich. Fish with leaner flesh is usually safer. Not that I don't eat swordfish and tuna. Less of both is the way to go. In the summer, I usually catch bonito (a small member of the tuna family) and they're every bit as luscious as a bluefin, with less mercury content. Spanish mackerel are another fatty fish I catch and enjoy in the summer.

After.

After.............no surprise there then.

And - david - did they ever mention to you.............. anything about seafood / shellfish BEFORE your transplant - when you were ill?  Did they say it was fine?

Or - did you read anything on the internet or in books regarding the effects of infected poorly cooked shellfish and how it can be fatal to liver disease patients?

I think I would stick to fresh seafood and avoid farmed produce. My ex husband is a avid fisherman as well. He would go trout fishing most weekends in the mountains near us and also out to sea to catch Marlin and kingfish as often as he could.

David has the luxury of living in Nantucket. The fish he catches is even fresher than Legal Seafood fish and that is one of the best places to buy fish if you can afford it. It is very expensive but worth every dollar. I  myself can go to and have in the past, bought haddock from wholesale fish stores in Gloucester, Ma. It still is probably a day old before the boats get back from Stellwagen Bay or Georges Banks where most of the commercial fishing boats fish. Still it is not as fresh as catching a striper with a fly cast rod off a Jetty or off the Beach in Cape Cod and bringing it home and grilling it on the barbecue. Who knows what your getting or how fresh and clean it is when you buy from supermarkets and even wholesale fish stores.