LCHF for cancer? Or other helpful diets?
Replies
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@MissMaggieElizabeth, I have no words.
Bless you.
I will light my lamp tonight and dedicate my Meditation to you and the passing of your husband.
With much Metta.
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Oh thank you Alexandra. I mostly hope my post helps the OP. I am really doing ok. We had a great 31 years. Lots of good memories.2
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You're doing ok. I'm very pleased, truly, to hear that. For the days you're not, I will do as I promised.
(We all have our ups and downs, do we not?
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Yes of course we do. I have a very active mine and so many things I want to do to make my living space beautiful and fun all around me. Now I have the time to do so being retired and alone. No one but me and the beastlies to take care of. Well house and yard. So my days pass swiftly. I should have been up moving a rug. Going now.3
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OOPS Mine=mind1
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@MissMaggie, I am sorry for your loss. I just lost my husband of 31 years in July -- he had esophageal cancer that was stage 4 when diagnosed in February this year, and it spread very quickly. The point about keeping up calories was important, and in my hubby's case, it was very difficult as he could not take solid food. He had to use a PEG feeding tube in his stomach, and as a result he developed cachexia fairly soon (lost weight quickly) and it affected the cancer. Most of the food packs available were high carb, so there was no way to do a keto diet.
The best thing is to use keto and fasting to encourage autophagy and thereby prevent cancer, it seems. Once you get sick it is hard to reverse it. OTOH, there is Andrew Scarborough! who is an inspiration.
https://ketogenic.com/interviews/andrew-scarborough/2 -
@MissMaggie, I am sorry for your loss. I just lost my husband of 31 years in July -- he had esophageal cancer that was stage 4 when diagnosed in February this year, and it spread very quickly. The point about keeping up calories was important, and in my hubby's case, it was very difficult as he could not take solid food. He had to use a PEG feeding tube in his stomach, and as a result he developed cachexia fairly soon (lost weight quickly) and it affected the cancer. Most of the food packs available were high carb, so there was no way to do a keto diet.
The best thing is to use keto and fasting to encourage autophagy and thereby prevent cancer, it seems. Once you get sick it is hard to reverse it. OTOH, there is Andrew Scarborough! who is an inspiration.
https://ketogenic.com/interviews/andrew-scarborough/
Camtosh I am also sorry for your loss. I know there really are no words to make it better. You are in my heart.
I agree it is best to stay as healthy as a person can to ward off the cancer to begin with. Once or if you get it I feel anything goes just to try to stay alive. The oncologists and PA's and nutritionist all say the same thing once cancer happens it is more to just feed the body to keep weight on. Hubby had some weird cravings. The one thing he did really well on was custards. I cooked so many batches of custard I could make it in my sleep At least one batch a day if not two. I added extra egg and a carnation instant breakfast packet to the recipe so he was getting some good nutrition out of it. When he could eat nothing else the custard was his go to. Also the way I made it was fairly high calorie. When it comes to feeding them I put that first above all else. My days revolved around feeding him and even though he did not want to eat he did the best he could. He even had scrambled eggs and an English muffin the morning he died. But his meals were getting smaller and smaller.
Miss that man but I am doing ok. I am happy and content with my new life. Once you get past all the final BS paperwork and all of that the load lightens up quite a bit. Message me if you need to chat with some one that gets it. The online widows groups are too depressing for me. I want to be happy I do not want to waller in my grief.3 -
Here is an article talking about a recent study with fasting which may be of interest.
http://www.healthy-holistic-living.com/scientists-discover-fasting-triggers-stem-cell-regeneration-fights-cancer.html?t=DM
Here is the link to the actual study:
http://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/fulltext/S1934-5909(14)00151-9
Cancer is not the primary focus, but it does discuss how chemo can destroy the immune system and fasting seems to rebuild the immune system.
Key pull quote from the article:“While chemotherapy saves lives, it causes significant collateral damage to the immune system. The results of this study suggest that fasting may mitigate some of the harmful effects of chemotherapy,” said co-author Tanya Dorff, assistant professor of clinical medicine at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Hospital. “More clinical studies are needed, and any such dietary intervention should be undertaken only under the guidance of a physician.”1 -
MissMaggieElizabeth wrote: »Well I know way more about pancreas cancer than I ever wanted to know. Hubby was diagnosed in January 2013 . We were able to keep him alive for almost four years using a lot of alternatives and he also did chemo and had the whipple. Message me on some information. The chemo nurses and even his oncologist called him the miracle man because he surpassed his life expectation by a long way.
First it made no difference if he went carb free. The most important thing is to keep as much food in them as possible. Yes it makes all the sense in the world to shun sugars but I believe it is fallacy and keeping his weight up was more import and and helped his body fight off the cancer that did metastasize to his lungs a little over a year before he died. So he still lived at stage four for that length of time. That in itself is amazing. He still weighed 197 two weeks before he died only down from his starting weight of 220. He was 6 foot tall. He many times had to force himself to eat and actually the lower carb foods were harder for him to digest.
Supplements were Bitter Melon, Co Q 10, Enzymes of course because part of his pancreas was removed. HA you would think I would never forget all he was on dishing then up daily for so many years. I will gather the pill bottles and make a better list for you. Oh Petrostillbein or been I forget it will come up in a search.
When he died he had no drugs on board other than his acid blockers and one treatment from a neutralizer with some meds to help his breathing. He died 1 1/2 hour later. His passing was peaceful with just him and I here at the house he was in his recliner and we had been talking right up to the very end. He could still get up and walk to the bathroom but his breathing was going down hill fast. He was either suffering a blood clot in his lungs that was growing or the tumor just got to the point it cut off his airway. He had gone on hospice 4 days before he died. I miss him terribly but I am glad it all was peaceful for both of us in the end and know we both did everything we could to keep him alive. At diagnosis he was stage 3 B inoperable. 6 months of chemo allowed the tumor to shrink away from the SMV so the surgeon could remove the tumor. He was NED then for two more years but it took him a year to recover from the surgery and a lot of hard work for him.
Message me I could write a book here and I doubt others want to read so much. Too much already. Oh and he was 72 when diagnosed and 76 when he died.
@MissMaggieElizabeth (hugs) I am so sorry for your loss. But I am so touched that you are sharing your knowledge with me like you have. Thank you.
So much.
I would love to know more about what you both did during his fight with cancer. If you are comfortable with it, please share it here. I am sure others would like to learn from your experiences. If you are not comfortable sharing it in the group, and will pm you in a few days.
I do agree that low carb does not seem very useful in this cancer. Nourishing foods does seem to be a much higher priority than watching macros. She has lost weight already.
I am looking into Bitter Melon, and Co Q10 and will send the information on to my MIL. I'm not sure if she is eligible for the whipple operation or not yet. I think the cancer is near the bile duct because she was jaundiced but she does not yet know if it is in an operable location yet or not... And health care moves at a snail's pace there. She's having to wait a month to find out.
Thanks again. And best wishes to you.1 -
@MissMaggie, I am sorry for your loss. I just lost my husband of 31 years in July -- he had esophageal cancer that was stage 4 when diagnosed in February this year, and it spread very quickly. The point about keeping up calories was important, and in my hubby's case, it was very difficult as he could not take solid food. He had to use a PEG feeding tube in his stomach, and as a result he developed cachexia fairly soon (lost weight quickly) and it affected the cancer. Most of the food packs available were high carb, so there was no way to do a keto diet.
The best thing is to use keto and fasting to encourage autophagy and thereby prevent cancer, it seems. Once you get sick it is hard to reverse it. OTOH, there is Andrew Scarborough! who is an inspiration.
https://ketogenic.com/interviews/andrew-scarborough/
(hugs) to you too. I am so very sad for your loss.
I think you are right about the uses of keto and fasting too. It seems to help with chemo and radiation in many types of cancer.
That link you shared is inspiring. Thank you. 2 -
cstehansen wrote: »Here is an article talking about a recent study with fasting which may be of interest.
http://www.healthy-holistic-living.com/scientists-discover-fasting-triggers-stem-cell-regeneration-fights-cancer.html?t=DM
Here is the link to the actual study:
http://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/fulltext/S1934-5909(14)00151-9
Cancer is not the primary focus, but it does discuss how chemo can destroy the immune system and fasting seems to rebuild the immune system.
Key pull quote from the article:“While chemotherapy saves lives, it causes significant collateral damage to the immune system. The results of this study suggest that fasting may mitigate some of the harmful effects of chemotherapy,” said co-author Tanya Dorff, assistant professor of clinical medicine at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Hospital. “More clinical studies are needed, and any such dietary intervention should be undertaken only under the guidance of a physician.”
Really interesting article. Thanks! I'm not sure what sorts of therapies these ladies will be dealing with. This makes a lot of sense though. A lot.1 -
I just remembered another herb we used and it makes a delicious hot tea. Well I like weird things but even hubby did not mind it at all. It Reshi Mushroom powder.
I believe my husbands tumor also blocked the bile duct He had to have a stint put in to open it so it would work. This stint was removed during the whipple. Sad it takes so long for your MIL. He was first diagnosed Jan 23 and in the chemo chair after three procedures , stint put in then internalized.He wore a bile bag outside for a couple of weeks. Ewee that was scary bad to drain. Then he was put down again for a port install. Chemo the next day. We had to drive 200 miles each time they did some thing to him and 90 miles for chemo. But it was worth it. I think it helped him stay alive added years. It took time at the chemo to get him into the patient rotation. There was a waiting time of almost two weeks. I felt all in all it went pretty fast but know the frustration of waiting while you are getting sicker by the minute.
Some times they will try chemo to shrink the tumor if it is too close to the vein. They never know what part of the tumor will shrink but it is a chance they were willing to take with hubby. He went through 12 rounds with CT scans to watch the progress. I think the first scan was at three months and the tumor was starting to shrink and his CA19-9 number had dropped to about half of what it as. This is a tumor marker. So they continued on with the chemo. If it had not been shrinking the tumor they would have switched chemo hoping to find one that would shrink it.
Thing about pancreas cancer and many other cancers is the people lose their appetites not only from the chemo I think the cancer plays a part in it. And with the pancreas involved the pain in the tummy area makes the thought of adding food on top of it unimaginable.
Hubby really was a trooper and tried so hard to stay alive. Even when he had to choke down the food only to watch it come back up he would do so just to at least try. He also walked every day to the post office when he could. It is only a little over 1/2 a mile. But it was a brisk walk for him. I could not keep up with him. He also was older when diagnosed . In perfect health no other meds so this was a good factor in his favor.
I will try to watch for responses from you.1 -
MissMaggieElizabeth wrote: »I just remembered another herb we used and it makes a delicious hot tea. Well I like weird things but even hubby did not mind it at all. It Reshi Mushroom powder.
I believe my husbands tumor also blocked the bile duct He had to have a stint put in to open it so it would work. This stint was removed during the whipple. Sad it takes so long for your MIL. He was first diagnosed Jan 23 and in the chemo chair after three procedures , stint put in then internalized.He wore a bile bag outside for a couple of weeks. Ewee that was scary bad to drain. Then he was put down again for a port install. Chemo the next day. We had to drive 200 miles each time they did some thing to him and 90 miles for chemo. But it was worth it. I think it helped him stay alive added years. It took time at the chemo to get him into the patient rotation. There was a waiting time of almost two weeks. I felt all in all it went pretty fast but know the frustration of waiting while you are getting sicker by the minute.
Some times they will try chemo to shrink the tumor if it is too close to the vein. They never know what part of the tumor will shrink but it is a chance they were willing to take with hubby. He went through 12 rounds with CT scans to watch the progress. I think the first scan was at three months and the tumor was starting to shrink and his CA19-9 number had dropped to about half of what it as. This is a tumor marker. So they continued on with the chemo. If it had not been shrinking the tumor they would have switched chemo hoping to find one that would shrink it.
Thing about pancreas cancer and many other cancers is the people lose their appetites not only from the chemo I think the cancer plays a part in it. And with the pancreas involved the pain in the tummy area makes the thought of adding food on top of it unimaginable.
Hubby really was a trooper and tried so hard to stay alive. Even when he had to choke down the food only to watch it come back up he would do so just to at least try. He also walked every day to the post office when he could. It is only a little over 1/2 a mile. But it was a brisk walk for him. I could not keep up with him. He also was older when diagnosed . In perfect health no other meds so this was a good factor in his favor.
I will try to watch for responses from you.
@MissMaggieElizabeth Thank you so much for your reply. Your husband sounds like he was a strong man. A fighter. I am sure that was a big factor in how well he fought it.
My MIL is in a similar boat in having to travel for this. She has a long ferry ride and drive for her next test in 10 days. Hopefully things go well and she is treatable. She's just a lovely soul, and I hope she is given some hope to fight this with after they better know what they are dealing with.
Reshi mushroom powder... I'll look into that. I've never even heard of it!
Thank you again. 1 -
MissMaggieElizabeth wrote: »I just remembered another herb we used and it makes a delicious hot tea. Well I like weird things but even hubby did not mind it at all. It Reshi Mushroom powder.
I believe my husbands tumor also blocked the bile duct He had to have a stint put in to open it so it would work. This stint was removed during the whipple. Sad it takes so long for your MIL. He was first diagnosed Jan 23 and in the chemo chair after three procedures , stint put in then internalized.He wore a bile bag outside for a couple of weeks. Ewee that was scary bad to drain. Then he was put down again for a port install. Chemo the next day. We had to drive 200 miles each time they did some thing to him and 90 miles for chemo. But it was worth it. I think it helped him stay alive added years. It took time at the chemo to get him into the patient rotation. There was a waiting time of almost two weeks. I felt all in all it went pretty fast but know the frustration of waiting while you are getting sicker by the minute.
Some times they will try chemo to shrink the tumor if it is too close to the vein. They never know what part of the tumor will shrink but it is a chance they were willing to take with hubby. He went through 12 rounds with CT scans to watch the progress. I think the first scan was at three months and the tumor was starting to shrink and his CA19-9 number had dropped to about half of what it as. This is a tumor marker. So they continued on with the chemo. If it had not been shrinking the tumor they would have switched chemo hoping to find one that would shrink it.
Thing about pancreas cancer and many other cancers is the people lose their appetites not only from the chemo I think the cancer plays a part in it. And with the pancreas involved the pain in the tummy area makes the thought of adding food on top of it unimaginable.
Hubby really was a trooper and tried so hard to stay alive. Even when he had to choke down the food only to watch it come back up he would do so just to at least try. He also walked every day to the post office when he could. It is only a little over 1/2 a mile. But it was a brisk walk for him. I could not keep up with him. He also was older when diagnosed . In perfect health no other meds so this was a good factor in his favor.
I will try to watch for responses from you.
@MissMaggieElizabeth Thank you so much for your reply. Your husband sounds like he was a strong man. A fighter. I am sure that was a big factor in how well he fought it.
My MIL is in a similar boat in having to travel for this. She has a long ferry ride and drive for her next test in 10 days. Hopefully things go well and she is treatable. She's just a lovely soul, and I hope she is given some hope to fight this with after they better know what they are dealing with.
Reshi mushroom powder... I'll look into that. I've never even heard of it!
Thank you again.
Just be sure you run anything by her oncologist. A few herbs do not play nice with the different versions of chemo.One caused a possibility of bleeding and chemo could also cause this so not a good idea to use it and double the chances of having a bleed going on. Now the CO Q 10 is an anti oxidant so if the form of chemo is to oxidize the cancer it would not be productive to use it. At one point we could use it then had to stop. Bitter melon was fine with all the forms of chemo he had. We always told the oncologist what he wanted to try before doing it. Oncologist was on board with us doing what we could this wan and many times said whatever you are doing keep doing it until it quite working because some thing is keeping your guy alive and it is not just the chemo. I think a good multi vitamin for him also helped. Also we bought the acid blocker online and the digestive enzymes the pharmacy wanted $5.00 a pill and he had to take three a day. We paid 8 cents a pill and they worked just as well if not better than the $5.00 ones. My brain is gone tonight I forget the name off hand of that one.
Please message me there is one thing I need to tell you privately. The rest I can share online here.
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I remembered watching a couple of TED talks (one may have been Peter Attia) about keto an cancer. Although I've never looked much into it, is that stuff turning out to be largely nonsense?
One of them got into it on the basis that cancer cells are obligate glucose users. Not that keto actually stopped cancer, but more that it kind of halted the spread. They also talked about combined keto and hyperbaric therapy.
Interestingly in my area they're starting to use hyperbaric therapy to help with recovery, on previously thought of as "uncurable" conditions such as ABI.
Mom, I wish you all the best! I know it's a horrible thing to have to deal with.0 -
I've been taking Reishi Mushroom extract for several years now for my fibromyalgia. I haven't seen it in a tea but I do take this:
I stumbled across it by accident as I had won a month's supply from my local health food store and noted amazing results within 3 days. Before I took it, I could not walk 2 flat blocks; now I am back to working full time and day hiking with my hubby. If I miss taking it for a few days I am back down to my previous painfilled, exhausted, and fatigued state. It does more than just stress relief but that is what most people take it for.
It is definitely worth trying!1 -
canadjineh wrote: »I've been taking Reishi Mushroom extract for several years now for my fibromyalgia. I haven't seen it in a tea but I do take this:
I stumbled across it by accident as I had won a month's supply from my local health food store and noted amazing results within 3 days. Before I took it, I could not walk 2 flat blocks; now I am back to working full time and day hiking with my hubby. If I miss taking it for a few days I am back down to my previous painfilled, exhausted, and fatigued state. It does more than just stress relief but that is what most people take it for.
It is definitely worth trying!
I buy mine in bulk powder form online and use the powder to make the tea. I do use some sweetener not the sugar and it is a rather pleasant tea. Good to know it also helps fibro. I am passing this information on to a friend whos' wife has fibro. Thanks for posting this.0 -
@MissMaggieElizabeth I experimented with other brands of Reishi (some more expensive - Mikei from Japan, & some cheaper) - this was the best value for the money for me. It worked as well as the Mikei which was double the price although 1/2 the number of pills needed. The cheaper brands did not work for me. The Mikei were packaged in a distinctly Japanese way, perfectly presented & all aspects pristine. Lovely to look at, but I figured the less packaging, the better for our environment.1
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