Hi! I'm brand new to this site. I am curious if there are any recovering cancer patients here? I am one.

After a few months of chemo and radiation, I need to find the best nutritional program possible. I have seen some information on something called "Life Force" and another program called "Annasa". At least one of these is a multi-level marketing program. When I see that, it makes me wonder if these products are 'out there' to help people get healthier or help the seller simply make money.

If anyone has info, please share. I did read a couple of things here about flax seed. I think this is definitely one thing I could add to my diet to help in this process.

My mission is two-fold. First, I am in a weakened condition and need to become stronger as soon as possible. The condition is a direct effect of the chemo/radiation much more so than cancer itself. Secondly, I need to build up my immune system as quickly as possible so I have the optimal chance for no recurrence.

I feel sure with so many knowledgable folks here, that I can take your ideas and build my own nutritional program rather than buying something that's out there already for "cancer patients". It seems all of those things have a huge price tag.

Thanks in advance!

Angela

angela welcome to the board!!! you are a trooper and i'm sure you will recover soon

not sure if you have a chance to take a look at the Cancer Diet and Nutrition section found in our website http://www.healthcastle.com/cancerdiet.shtml You are definitely on the right track to building up your immune and do take time to rest so that you become stronger. once you gain your weight and strength back, you can start taking measures to eating a healthy diet to prevent cancer recurrence. Many articles in the Cancer Nutrition section address this so hopefully you will find them helpful.

take care. pls come back to let us know your progress.

Thanks so much, Gloria. I haven't been there yet. I have done a little learning though and I'm so amazed at what we can do (simple things) to make our bodies more resistant to cancer, and also to be better fighters during and after chemo and radiation.

Thank you for responding. I am going to look at the diet.

Angela

hi angela, i'm not a cancer survivor but my father is. he lost a lot of weight during radiation treatment. after treatment, he drank a can of Ensure or Boost (i'm not too sure which brand) a day to help him gain weight. it took him about a year to gain his weight back. he has been eating very healthy and taking a few supplements such as CoQ10 and maitake extract ever since. he doesn't know if these supplements will be going to help him but he figures it's more like an insurance policy. i must say he eats a very very healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables as well as whole grains. i'm very impressed by his determination. i'm sure you will also recover very soon!

take care

Thank you for the response. I'm learning really good things everyday. The co-enz. Q-10 is one of those things. Also, I fully believe green tea (2 cups / day) or the extract makes our cells resistant to cancer. It seems to be beneficial even after the fact of cancer, can make some chemotherapy up to 45X more effective, and is something we can all do to help our bodies.

I actually gained weight with my chemo. and radiation, but suffered many of the other detrimental effects. I'm here for the fight, though. I also think through learning and communication we can make things better. Life is good. Take care!

hi angela, i love green tea!!! i drink it all the time. aside from the known benefits due to its high antioxidant activity, i personally drink it to aid digestion. i sometimes feel indigested (especially after eating a big feast ), i will drink a cup of warm green tea. it really helps!!

by the way, just thought to let you know. my friend bought a tub of green tea ice cream for me a few years ago. at first i hesitated eating it as tea and ice cream don't seem to mix, but surprisingly it tastes good!

cheers!

Hi caribsurfer

Glad to hear that you have finished your chemo / radiation.

The article on this site that gloria pointed you to is really good, so is the advice from the other members.

Some advice I have to add:

If you can afford it, try to eat organic fruits and vegetables. You need to eat about 5-7 servings of vegetables and 3-5 servings of fruit. More vegetables than fruit are recommended because vegetables have less natural sugars in them, yet still have nutritional value, but fruit is really, really important too. Try to ensure every meal you have is brightly coloured.

Fruit and vegetables, especially ones that are brightly coloured have high levels of antioxidants in them. Antioxidants search and get rid of free radicals. Free radicals are produced naturally in the body as byproducts of normal bodily reactions. They are also produced from pollution and stress.

The antioxidants "scavenge" for the free radicals and get rid of them.

Free radicals are bad because they have been found to be a possible cause of mutations of DNA, which in turn can cause cancer. They are also a reason people have heart problems.

The fruits and vegetables that have high levels of antioxidants are: blueberries, tomatoes (especially when cooked with olive oil), purple grapes, broccoli.

There are also plant foods which have high antioxidant values are: legumes, soy and green tea.

I am not sure which type of cancer you had, so as there have been conflicting studies about soy, I would suggest not to have too much of it (or none at all), if you had breast / cervix / ovarian etc cancer. Just talk to a reputable natural health care practitioner about it and make a decision about whether you think you should eat soy yourself. Dont just take what one person says, do some research.

The other things that would help you are:

1. Meditation
2. Yoga
3. Exercise - as gentle as you can handle it at first and building up more as you can handle it. Pilates is a good, gentle exercise you can try...
4. Avoiding processed foods
5. Avoiding artificial ingredients in pre-packaged foods

Most of all, dont fear anything. You have survived and you will continue to survive - just keep telling yourself this over and over whenever you feel low or doubting things.

Hope this help and hope you continue to thrive and get better.

Jaklina

Angela,

Sorry to read of your situation. You are right to seek out the best nutrition you can. Nutrition is the key.

Since I started learning about nutrition, my views have changed considerably. We seem to think of foods for particular conditions, and this is not correct. We should be thinking of satisfying all the body's needs. That means eating the right foods, but equally important is avoiding the wrong foods.

You are in a weakened condition, so you also need to be gentle with you body. People seem to think that if something is good, more is better. No, adequate is better.

There are many toxins in everyday food that most of us can cope with, but just sometimes we become overloaded and disease is the result. There are many things that pass themselves off as food, which are not really nutritious at all.

Also avoiding enviromental toxins is vitally important. It might have been one of these that triggered your condition.

I would really advise you to seek out a professional, skilled in this area. My course will take me 4 years to complete in total, that is a lot of learning required. It is very cmplicated and the actions might surprise you because things you might have thought of as harmless in the past are not quite so innocent.

Anyway the following might help you:

For principles of a good healthy diet, where no-one has any vested intrest see:

http://www.westonaprice.org/brochures/wapfbrochure.html

You will find that a lot here runs contrary to popular belief - but it makes sense to me.

To help build your immune system you need a full range of vitamins and minerals, just recommended doses, so find a good quality all-round vitamin AND mineral supplement. The vitamins and minerals most commonly associated with immune function are:

zinc, iron, vitamin C, vitamin A, Beta carotine, vitamin B6, E, D, and essential fatty acids (EFAs).

Cod-liver-oil is a good source of omega-3 oils, A & D. E needs to be natural.
Flax seed is good, but make sure they are "cracked", otherwise they pass straight throught. They contain an omega-3 source and 200 lignans which help the body.

The most important thing to stop eating is processed vegetable oil because it has high levels of linoleic acid, trans fats, and residual toxins from processing. The same is true of margarine. All of these work against the immune system.

Dairy products typically contain residual toxins (unless organic). In most situations the levels are tolerable, but when you are recoveing they need to be avoided.

Red meat taxes the body and should be avoided during recovery.

I don't know if I'm allowed to recommend a book on this forum, but

"Shattering the cancer myth" by Katrina Ellis has a comprehensive set of approaches to adopt at any stage of the disease. She writes from personal experience.

However, I would still recommend you find a professional in this field, such as an ND, rather than trying to go it alone.

Let us know your progress as you get better. The fact that you have sought information means you have a possitive mental attitude. Keep this up at all times, it is your most important ally.

The others have all given good information, I am sure it will help.

Cheers,

The link to the nutrition resource completely gels with my thinking too!! It's great.... really great... thanks for posting it morgan

nutrition is both science and art. it's science because many of us had to went thru a degree of science in university to learn the basics; then we went on to the hospitals/clinics to practice. it's also an art because food is never about science; it's about pleasure and feelings. however the westonprice website has many points that are simply scientifically incorrect. i guess maybe it's different medical training - some people go see a MD; some people go see a ND. but i would never go to a dentist for nutritional advice. some people insist going to a state university full time for 4 - 8 years to become a medical professional; some people rather do home study for 9 months. there are many things we just simply don't have a solution; there are also many things we don't know the reasons - such as why there is a miracle or why a medical condition improves when the patient is only on a placebo treatment. science cannot explain everything - to pretend it can is ignorance. anyway i think i said too much time to start a new day of work!!

Hi Annie,

>>however the westonprice website has many points that are simply scientifically incorrect<<

I'll admit that one or two points are a little difficult to resolve but I'll debate any point you care to pick.

I know of one or two points on the USDA guidelines that are scientifically incorrect or at least arguable.

I am perfectly aware that no-one has all the answers, but just look at transfats. Transfat containing foods have been touted as healthy for over half a century and it took extreme personal sacrifice by Dr. Mary Enig to expose the harm that they do. Now manufacturers cannot get them out of their food fast enough.

You can read about her qualifications here:

http://www.livecoconutoil.com/maryenig.htm

She endorses the Weston Price foundation, and you are saying that many points she endorses are scientifically incorrect.

I'm happy if someone can refute specific points, but I cannot accept a general condemnation with no evidence to back it up.

For all the training an MD receives, less than 10 hours is spent on nutrition. An MD would be the last person I'd ask for information on nutrition, unless s/he'd had special training.

I've not completed my training in nutrition yet, I'm just over three years into it but I do have a science degree already.

Rgds,

morgan, i don't think annie is trying to start a debate with you - i think her tone is very polite and professional. she is not even attacking you so it's unnecessary to ask her to "pick points" to debate. indeed i didn't start this forum as a debate forum. everyone is entitled to express his or her opinions. i'm happy that you are taking a second degree in nutrition or dietetics so that you can learn to determine what's scientifically right or wrong for the information presented on the internet. no one takes ownership in the scientific community; and no one should.

MDs don't give nutritional advice - they always refers patients to a RD. There are always RDs in your hospital or public health ready to help. Unfortunately sometimes the hospital waiting list is long (obviously because their service is free) so patients can choose to pay for a private RD consultant if they need to see one sooner.

Let me add something here (cant help myself)

The site that Morgan initially referred to has some points I disagree with too, but minor ones.

The main point of the site is that this dentist discovered that the body is a whole, you cannot just treat the teeth and think that does not affect the rest of the body - more and more doctors, dentists and other health practitioners are starting to realise that...

If people read the information on the site, they would understand where these principles of health come from - research... and that is always a good starting point...

The recommendations about what to eat on the Weston Price site are almost identical to every single thing I have read about what cancer sufferers / survivors have done to survive and thrive.... back to basics, all natural foods, all organic, and all healthy.

I would totally recommend caribsurfer to have a look at the site and make up his/her own mind.... that is what health is about these days... having so much information that we can make informed decisions that are the best for us.

Here in Australia, I have never heard of Dieticians that are free - the only dieticians I ever went to cost me sooooo much, but were worth it

Hi Gloria,

Thanks for pointinting that out. We all want to know the truth - including me!

If I'm wrong, I'll be the first to admit it.

Also, being from the UK , I do not always understand USA terminology or etiquette.

I am very pleased that we are all allowed to express ur own point of view on this forum.

Regards,

Morgan

Hi! I'm new here and just saw that topic and hope that Angela recover it.

HI my name is Rhonda I just found this site and read your posts and wanted to say thanks, lots of great information. today was the end of my protocol for radiation and chemo, I had mixed feelings news is good so far but still I was feeling alone and alot of what ifs. But I am doing my best staying positive and I had gone organic was working out and had lost 30lbs the healthy way and was hit with my diagnosis. I am so happy I found this site and plan on adding alot of the things I learned now its my turn to do some work on my food intake plus other things I learned Thanks again Rhonda

P.S. any suggestions welcomed

Hello Rhonda
It's good to hear that you are finding helpful and informative information and it appears you are taking healthy and intelligent steps forward. All the best to you Rhonda,
Tracey

The antioxidants "scavenge" for the free radicals and get rid of them.

Free radicals are bad because they have been found to be a possible cause of mutations of DNA, which in turn can cause cancer. They are also a reason people have heart problems.

The fruits and vegetables that have high levels of antioxidants are: blueberries, tomatoes .



Thanks

The benefits of green tea in a human body are so remarkable that it is believed that the key to a longer and healthier life may just be brewing in your cup!

I feel I need to say that if people read the information on the site, they would understand where these principles of health come from - research.

Indeed, all the recommendations about what to eat on the Weston Price site are almost identical to every single thing I have read about what cancer sufferers / survivors have done to survive and thrive, and it can be heartbreaking reading.

This is always a sensitive topic and I believe we have all been touched by cancer within our circle of family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and so on.
I'm going to bring the conversation back to this fine link titled:
"Cancer Diet and Nutrition Manual"
It is an all enclusive page and includes links relating to "Cancer Diet during Cancer Treatments" and "Cancer Diet and Nutrition FAQ"
I hope it is helpful:
http://www.healthcastle.com/cancerdiet2.shtml

Tracey