Diet and cancer. Interesting idea

You are welcome, Jim. Personally I think any positive change in our lifestyle is a good thing. While changing diet may not cure you of prostate cancer, it certainly ain't gonna hurt. The stronger you are, the better your body deals with disease and its treatment. I also wanted to mention add lots of veges, especially kale and broccoli - these are "super" veges loaded with good stuff. If you're not one for "plain" veges, try sauteing in a little olive oil and garlic - I'm Italian and olive oil and garlic are staples in my home!

As an FYI: I think there was a thread here about cayenne pepper and its effects on PCa...no idea how valid it is but if you like the stuff, why not eat it.

As far as bread, we buy Fiber One whole wheat. Tastes good and has a ton of fiber in it which helps fill you up and is good for the plumbing too! Doesn't make great toast though ... for that, the best is still plain ole white bread or an English Muffin.

I am sorry that your prostate cancer diagnosis has put you into such a tail spin - it happens to many of us. Since you cannot turn back the clock and change things, there is only one direction in which to go - and that is forward. You know your situation and have done a good job of researching. When and if the time comes that you have to make a treatment choice, you'll do what is right for you - I've no doubt about that. In the meantime, enjoy each day as the gift that it is.

BB_Fan said...
...your medical team's opinion on diet really surprises me. Diet clealy won't cure cancer, or drive it into remission, but there is much evidence that it will slow tumor growth.

Hi BB_Fan,

It probably shouldn't be totally surprising that some MDs change, adapt or learn just a little slower than others.  Think about it...let's say the guy has been practicing medicine in Mayberry for 40 years, and he sees one of just about everything over the course of time...not going to be an expert in anything.  Probably a friendly enough guy, though. 

Not every doctor keeps up with the scientific developments in all areas because he might be a jack-of-all-trades-urologist...which is what Mayberry wants/needs.  Ya gotta go to the big city, Mt Airy, or Greenville, or whereever, to find a doctor who actually subscribes to a medical journal, but even then...

Kidding about the Mayberry analogy, but you get the idea.  We tell guys all the time to send their biopsy slides to a pathologist who specializes in reading prostate cells; we tell surgery candidates to seek out very experienced surgeons; we tell those going the AS route to find a doctor knowledgeable or willing to follow the protocol of one of the experts; etc., etc.   Not all docs are experts in everything, and prostate cancer plus diet & nutrition is a speciality...which is why we need to be empowered patients and seek out the experts ourselves.  May have to look outside of Mayberry.

Also, BB_Fan, have you tried grilled veggies on the Weber?  Excellent with grilled salmon over a bed of lettuce with a little Cous Cous.  Chop up yellow squash, zucchini, red onion, mushrooms, asparagus, and red, yellow and green peppers, marinate overnight in olive oil with some seasoning and then grill.  Get one of the veggie grilling pans. 

added later as an edit...

With apologies, some of you outside of the US may not recognize the old television show set in the small town of Mayberry, SC with Sheriff Taylor, Aunt Bea, Deputy Barney Fife, Floyd the barber and others, but most of our age who grew up here in the States will...

Post Edited (Casey59) : 5/27/2010 7:48:22 AM (GMT-6)

Diet / Herbs / Don Imus:
Imus spoke of his treatment in more detail this morning which includes zero sugar, all raw foods including peppers plus pepper pills. The peppers supposedly destroy cancer cells. Little doubt that diet in earlier years does have some impact on various illnesses including cancers.

74 years old Vatikutti prostatectomy 2/10/2010 - As of today things are looking quite good.

Eating peppers of any type, is not going to destroy or change cancer cells., PC or any other kind of cancer. I hope no one really believes that.

Starting a good diet early in one's life would have some impact, if we could all go back in time, but so much of cancer is genetic based and in the DNA strands of some people, that even a lifetime of "perfect" diet and eating won't stop people pre-disposed to cancer from getting cancer.

David in SC

Hey Purg....I respect your knowledge as you've been there / done that but the pepper thing. While I cannot imagine for one minute HOW the pepper thing impacts cancer cells neither can I dispute what Imus is claiming. What do you suppose is happening to his cancerous prostate since his PSA is dropping?

David, I had another bad morning yesterday and was overly tired. I knew ya pi55ed me off, but I couldn't adequately explain myself. I know eating the wrong stuff will FEED my cancer and I don't wanna do that anymore. You don't think diet is important. Great. Tell me how spreading this negative opinion in a topic that is clearly based on the video that claims scientific evidence to the contrary helps anyone.

My first problem is you calling it a starvation diet. If I'm not hungry, then I'm not starving. I need to loose some weight. I think this will do it. It's been only a week but honestly I feel better already.

Then you claim these changes will not change the course of my cancer. You didn't say "cancer", not "someones cancer", but "my" cancer. You don't know that. I don't know that, and no one else does either.

If your intent was to warn people that changing diet instead of doing a valid treatment is bad, that would be acceptable, but you didn't say that. After reading the progression of messages again, I think I over reacted. Sorry, I'm human. You don't think diet is important, I get it. Moving on...

Drums, I printed your recipe and will try it out. Thanks for posting. :D

Carlos, I will check out those videos, thanks for posting. :D

BB_Fan, I'm interested in any heart healthy recipes! :D

Sephie, Momma mia you are awesome. Today I had 4 large strawberries for breakfast, with my single cup of coffee. For lunch (right now) I'm having 2 tiny chicken breasts cooked with garlic powder in olive oil  (left overs from last night) and a bowl of fresh fruit (apples, oranges, black berries, and strawberries) and water to drink. Not sure about supper yet. :P No peppers for me. Well I like the green ones. ;) I will try your breads too. Thanks so much for the reply. I have my ups and downs I guess. I feel strongly that I have made great progress, but have relapses. It's all in my head.

daveshan, Thanks for the support. :D

Casey59, Change can definitely be difficult, but I have found this the easiest thing ever. Before, lunch was the biggest problem. At around 10:30 an announcement will be made, (small office) Alright! What are we going to have for lunch! Most would duck behind a monitor, myself included. The answer was always, pizza, KFC, cheese burgers, tacos, etc... After a while I hated it. I finally told them I'm out. No more fast food! Period... My wife is a great cook. She's making changes too. Win win.

To all, sorry for the drama. Taking it day by day. :P

Jim, if you are going to be posting in an open, public forumn like HW, you are going to have to get use to varying opinions, and people not agreeing with your particular opinion. Now you are guilty of putting words in my mouth, I never said I was against diets, you have imagined that part. Even mentioned more than once the value of heart healthy diets.

Still think not only have you grossly over reacted, but you have been rude in your responses back to me. I have had several long term regulars read here what has gone back and forth, and they all agreed that I wasn't out of line or rude to you at any point.

Cancer sucks. PC is my 4th bout of having a serious cancer in my life in the past 10 years. I have been through a total of 11 operations during that time, and have gone through major radiation twice, 18 months after my open pc surgery, I am still on catheters ,the one I am wearing is #17, and I am probably going to have another corrective op in a month. So yes, I know about pain, depression, etc, related to cancer and other medical illnessess, but I try really hard never to take it out on anyone else, either with my friends and family, or even my brothers and sisters here at HW.

If you are going to a part of a community like this online, then you are going to have to be more open minded to all kinds of opinions from all kinds of people. If I had known this was such a touchy subject with you, then I wouldn't have bothered trying to answer in the first place. I never said diets were wrong or useless, that part is all in your mind.

David in SC

real ziggy,

thank you. what you just said was a much simpler, more polite way of my original point, and the point that all my doctors on my personal medical team were trying to make to me when diet, supplements, and vitamins were discussed.

my radiation oncologist, a brilliant woman, definitely current in her field/game, so that after reading all the studies on diets,dietary changes, supplements, etc, its just too contradictory to draw a logical conclusion. She said the reports go from one end of the spectrum to the other, even from competing experts.

she also said, since she deals with so many prostate cancer patients in her practice, that men in particular, have this built in control thing in their heads (her words, not mine), and that men patients feel they have to do or change or take charge or want to control things once they have a cancer dx. she said it was very common reacation, to try to make things better.

she agreed too, that people shouldn't smoke at all ( a subject here that I have noticed that a lot of people dont like to talk about), should only drink in moderation (whatever that really means), and that a Mederteranian or Hearty healthy type diet is good for everyone.

When you have cancer, of course you don't give up and say, screw it, just going to waste the rest of my life away, and for many men, it might be their first major medical crisis in their life, and any cancer makes one think about their own death as being a possibility. I think we all go through phases of thinking thoughts like that in our PC journeys.

Jim, I ask for nothing from you. I have had my share of over reacting here at HW over nearly 2 years here, especially when I have been in periods of much pain, its makes my tolerance level go way down more than I like to admit. The one flaw in chats and forumns, is that you cant see the other person: their face, their tone in their voice, etc, so yes, admitidly, it easy to misinterpet what someone is thinking or saying.

All is cool. This thread has had a long life and has produced a lot of good information.

I dont drink or smoke, but have a lifetime addiction to chocolate and sugar in general. Some books/studies really condemn sugar in regards to cancers, and other down play it. If sugar really is a genuine no-no, I am totally screwed, lol.

Dave, I appreciate hearing your opinions whether I agree with them or not. I like to think that we all have the right to express them here.

Regarding diet/suppliments, my expectations are not great. However, I think that it may be reasonable to expect, that even if I have advanced PCa, a diet that shown to reduce tumor volume may add 6 months or a year, or perhaps more, to my life span if practiced over a 5 or 6 year period. I have no scientifiic evidence to support this, but I think it is a reasonable expectation given the studies that I have read.

I will gladly take the extra time in lieu of never having another Big Mac. BB

Purgatory said...
If sugar really is a genuine no-no, I am totally screwed, lol.

Hi David, I am also addicted to chocolate, but for some reason I just don't seam to miss it. One of my business associates sends me 6 lbs of French Chocolate every Christmas... Well the office will be sharing it this year. We are good, at least I'm not angry with you. Like I said, sleep deprived... How could I stay mad at you?

There are people here that are on AS and have been for a long time. Their PSA is just bouncing around. This might be me, and it might not. Time will tell. But if changing my diet helps even a little I'm doin' it. If the only result is I reach my perfect weight when I go in for whatever treatment I choose, Oh well.

el perro said...
...I want to do as much as I reasonably can to be Active and not just do Surveillance with no lifestyle changes....

That's the spirit!  The "Active" part of Active Surveillance means for you to have personal ownership and participation in optimizing your situation and to do the things necessary to stack the chips in your favor!  As ziggy said (paraphrasing), don't expect an overnight miracle; but stack the odds!

BTW, UCSF is one of the premier institutions working on prostate cancer.

 

rhb47 said...
 And, there is nothing wrong with a little chocolate !

Renee, especially DARK chocolate...with it's antioxicant power!!  Good for your husband's anti-PC diet!

Post Edited (Casey59) : 5/27/2010 2:16:31 PM (GMT-6)