Healthy Eating

Karen, you are so right...as a society, we are challenged. Diet during treatment and beyond can make a significant difference in long-term survival as well as quality of life. Even people who seem to eat well lack the knowledge of a true anticancer strategy. If we can help patients understand the basic philosophy of "let food be thy medicine and medicine be our food" (Hippocrates)it might help them to understand the amazing healing qualities of food and our own bodies. food can either heal or harm, the challenge is getting the message out there.

Basically I have been on a plant based diet consisting of broccoli, cauliflower, kale, red cabbage, garlic, celery, etc. consisting mostly of plant foods during my cancer treatment and now post treatment. Eliminating alot of dairy, and meat, cutting drastically down on sugar and all sugar substitutes. This gave me tremendous energy even when I had to have radiation. It really gives you mental clarity and you can feel your body actually getting stronger rather than weaker. Juicing veggies with a small amount of fruit can also help. We sometimes forget is saying the word diet that the mental side needs to be treated also. Meditation and other forms of exercising and de-stressing is also as important as diet is to regain strength mentally. I would avoid ice cream shakes or anything made with alot of sugar like the plaque. Try to think of more alkaline types of food to help heal the body.

Hi-I am a breast cancer survivor that went through a naturopathic protocol including eating mostly plant foods. This can be done easier than you might think. First off, Quinoa is excellent to have and include in your diet. I have a recipe called Mango Quinoa Salad with Mango/Lime Salad Dressing. Basically you cook the quiinoa and place the usual salads consisting of Red cabbage, onion (use red), lettuce, garlic (raw), endive (cancer fighter), celery, broccoli, cauliflower and other veggies you might like. You cut up mango and by the way mango is very high (higher than carrot) in beta carotene so is very good for you. You place the mango in the salad. Then you blend and puree 1 cup fresh mango, 1/2 cup of oil (not vegetable oil), 1/4 cup lime juice, 1 Tablespoon rice vinegar, grated ginger, 2 tsp sea salt, 1 clove of garlic. You will love how refreshing this really is and everyone will love it! There are so many veggies out there and fruit that really it isn't difficult-try using portabellow mushrooms instead of meat and you won't miss the difference. My favorite is a Reuben sandwich with mushrooms instead of meat and I don't miss it. By the way, sauerkraut is excellent for a preventative in cancer-start including it in your diet if you like. Kale is also excellent-ever hear of Kale Chips? Tear the kale in a pan then pour oil and some salt-bake at 350 for 10 minutes.
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I make a blenderful of nutrition-packed smoothie, pour it into 8-oz glasses, cover each glass with foil and put each glass (except the one I want that day) in the freezer. Whenever I want one, I take it out to thaw. They taste nice and fresh and are still packed with all the vitamins and other nutrients we need to have a healthful diet.

I posted an answer before, but I don't see it...silly iphone! So please bear with me if the other post shows up and I repeat myself...

It is critical to ask others for help. Give them specific food tasks to do for you - running to the store, chopping veggies, bringing over a pot of soup. You've got to delegate. I found during my own treatment that people really do want to help - they just don't know how, and they're honestly relieved when you give them a specific role.

The other key item for me was to have a protein smoothie every single morning for breakfast - whether I felt like eating or not! I looked at it as medicine - part of my treatment. Cancer treatment does so much to our red and white blood cells, so it is critical to keep up strength as much as we are able.

There are many varieties and flavors of protein powder available from healthy grocery stores. For those who avoid soy, try rice protein powder. Here's a smoothie I made every morning:

2 tbsp. protein powder, 2 tbsp. flax seeds or chia seeds, a handful of spinach if you can tolerate veggies, milk of your choice, and an apple. Blend it all in a blender. And remember - delegate someone to pick up these things for you. Then all you have to do is chop the apple and throw it all in the blender. NOTE: Coconut milk can be very soothing to the stomach.

If you happen to have access to a juicer, try to juice veggies every day. This gets a little more complicated because you have to wash the veggies and then wash out the juicer. But if you live with someone else, perhaps you could delegate juicing to them.

by loving their life and body
by having a pet and relationships because loneliness affects the genes which control immune function
laugh several times a day for no reason and act like the person you want to be
actors who perform a tragedy have their immune function suppressed and those in a comedy have it enhanced
so meditate and find peace and joy and grow as a human being
when your body knows you love your life it does all it can to keep you alive
look at Monday morning when the opposite happens

I made many changes, but seeing my mother pass from bc just after I finished treatment certainly provided all the encouragement I needed. My Wall Street career, while exciting, was no longer for me. I had always exercised, but now I have toned things down. Now I walk and lift weights, but gone are the 7 mile runs and intense workouts. Giving up meat and poultry was easy, now I indulge only for an occasional elk burger on the grill, seems somewhat ok to me as the elk is grass fed and not injected or fed anything to fatten it up. I love food, but mostly fruits, whole grains,nuts, beans and veges...have given up milk, cut back on cheese and wine, but those are the two things I cannot give up entirely. I used to eat much shellfish, but it causes me much pain (arthritis and resulting inflammation) so I cut that back considerably, likely a good idea as the shrimp available these days is not very healthy....what ever happened to wild, seems its all farmed and injected with antibiotics...the smell alone is a huge turn off. The only hard part about the changes is being social....I refuse to eat unhealthy food, and that makes dining with friends often difficult...brings on all kinds of unwanted "oh, you are so good" comments I can really live without. Sure, the cake looks divine, but I don't eat sugar. Don't hate me...

It all depends on when you are getting these numbers. If you are getting them first thing in the morning, before eating or drinking anything, after eight hours of sleep, the normal level of glucose in blood is between 70mg/dl and 99 mg/dl. It appears that you may be diabetic. I would go to a doctor and go through the tests needed to be sure.

However, if your definition of fasting is a couple of hours after a meal then the numbers can be different. No matter when your last meal was, any random blood gluclose test should not be more than 200 mg/dl. Anything above this means you most likely have diabetes.

A random blood sugar of 140-150 mg/dl is not considered diabetes or pre-diabetes. Pre-diabetes is considered when fasting (first thing in morning) blood glucose 100-126 mg/dl or 2 hr after meal blood glucose is 140-199 mg/dl. SO you may be pre-diabetic. It is impossible to tell just from the question, your doctor can set you up with some tests.

There are some other warning signs of diabetes:
excessive thirst - having to drink glass after glass with no relieve
excessive urination - do you feel like you have to urinate more often
losing weight without even trying
weakness, fatigue, feeling run down
tingling and numbness in your hands, legs and/or feet
blurred vision
dry and/or itchy skin
frequent infections or cuts and bruises that take a long time to heal

Please head over to a doctor to be sure. There are some people that can manage diabetes through diet and exercise alone and others who need to take medication. The important thing is to remember that you are not a bad diabetic if you have to take medicine.