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ok girls, i was reading the stuff about dairy and estrogen and soy... what the heck???? I have been careful with soy since my initial cancer in 99 which was er/pr positive, but the dairy thing is new to me and pretty alarming... anyone else worried about this? NO ONE EVER TOLD ME NOT TO EAT DAIRY PRODUCTS!!
Exercise Cancer Ramelteon Diabetes Breast cancer Pain Acupuncture Stress
The very fact that these proclamations are not on the front pages of newspapers, magazines and most of all as posters in the oncology centers, I give no credence to these sort of articles. If it was a no, no, would your medical people warn against it?
I have just finished reading "Your life in your hands" by Jane A. Plant, Ph.D and also "The China Study" by T.Colin Campbell and they both insist on a dairy free diet. Read these and decide for yourself.
I wish the western medical field would be more informed on the importance of food in our cancer fight, but they just seem to want to write prescriptions.
Peace and hugs,
Gail
I think it depends on where you go. I go to UCLA for treatment and they very much incorporate nutritionists and eastern medicine to complement traditional western medicine. From my reading, this is a growing trend in America and my personal experience at UCLA is that I've had many referrals to the UCLA East-West medicine clinic, or nutritionists or their many complimentary , free programs like medication and Qui Gong etc...
The key is that they work hand in hand with my oncologist. So I am not blindly following some alternatives that have no integration with my chemo treatments.
A little information on these links just to give those interested an idea of how medicine in America does in fact look at and use alternatives. The alternative industry often complains about what doctors don't want you to know...and that just is not true...the following links show what I think is the better, integrated approach.
http://www.simmsmanncenter.ucla.edu/
This article describes alternative medicines and breast cancer.
http://www.med.ucla.edu/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=202
I try to do the fruit and veggie thing as much as possible, but I do not live totally by the no sugar or diary products rule. It gets too stressful trying to decide which foods, supplements etc. are good and bad for you. I just heard about the diary thing a few months ago. My Onc has never aid anything about it!
I read the post on dairy also. It prompted a concern about independent, data-based corrobation. Most oncologists worth their salt will stress not introducing hormones into your system with BC. If you have confirmation by a nutritionist...all the better. Most common store-bought dairy and meat products are hormone homelands.
I do believe our food, just like our stress-levels, sleep, genetics, man-made materials, etc. impact our overall susceptability to disease HOWEVER to blame a food group in any form that has been consumed throughout history around the globe seems disingenuous. Having said that, ultimately it is your body and your health and you need to do whatever helps you feel in control of both.
Deanie
i think you have a couple of good points -
1 be aware of the hormones in much of our meat and dairy supply. (seek out organice products)
2 there is not one single agent causing breast cancer or there would have been a cure long ago...
3 we do what we can to feel in control and provide the best for our health given our circumstances and desires
We should all approach any information with an open mind when it is presented by those who know what they are talking about. My main concern about doctors and nutrition is that they probably have no training in that field, and with the best will in the world they cannot keep up with every new development. Also they have their own field of interest and don't necessarily want to listen to a differing opinion. In the end the information should be made available and patients should be told where they can get it, and then it is up to the patient themselves to decide what is in their best interests.
Jane Plant's book really struck a cord with me when I came upon it in the local library. This is a book by a leading scientist who knows her chemistry and not a crackpot. I would prefer that the existence of such information to be made available to me and not be censored by the medical profession which has it's own bias. I am an intelligent person and would prefer to be treated as such. There are doctors who think that acupuncture is useless and big drug companies who say that certain natural substances don't work. If that is the case why is the American military starting to train medics to use acupuncture for pain relief in battlefield situations? And why are drug companies spending millions trying to find out how the active ingredient works so they can synthesise it and patent it for big profits?
Dear Sticki Vicki,
I don't think the medical profession censors, but don't know enough about it.
I just read "Bathsheba's Breast: Women, Cancer, and History" by James S. Olson. It came out in 2002, so it's not new. You might enjoy reading it, if you haven't all ready. I found the information interesting.
HI Beth,
Thanks for the UCLA websites. I listened to about half of Dr. Czernin's discussion, finding it very interesting, and will complete it later. (It's about an hour long.) I was happy to hear his analysis about cancer and sugar because while my own oncologist said that dietary sugar wouldn't make a difference to the cancer, I had another oncologist say to me, "You eat sugar?" implying that that was a no-no when I asked about dietary recommendations. So, my little sugar in my coffee and chocolate will definitely continue to sweeten my life. (sorry for the corn!)
Cheers,
Evie from Tucson
Just wanted to share with you all that one of you dear souls told me about the product "Almond Breeze" non dairy beverage. It comes in Vanilla and Chocolate. I can only get it in Lexington (35 mi. away), but I have been drinking it instead of my Skim Milk. I really do miss my Skim Milk, but the Almond Breeze is pretty good. I guess we have to do whatever we have to!!!
crazy gracie
Hi Guys!
Been meaning to add to this thread, here's some info from: http://thinkbeforeyoupink.org/Pages/NonrBGH.html
"DAIRY PRODUCTS & BREAST CANCER"
Yoplait’s Save Lids to Save Lives campaign encourages consumers to buy pink-lidded cups of Yoplait yogurt and then mail the lid back to the company to prompt a donation to the cause. Yoplait’s products, however, are made from cows treated with the genetically engineered hormone, recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH). rBGH, also known as rBST, is injected into cows so they will produce more milk.
Research suggests a number of health concerns, including breast cancer, are associated with the consumption of dairy products from cows treated with rBGH.
The use of rBGH stimulates the production of another hormone called insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), a naturally occurring hormone in both cows and humans that regulates cell growth, division, and differentiation.
Cow’s milk that is treated with rBGH has higher levels of IGF-1. Studies in humans, animals, and cell cultures have indicated that elevated levels of IGF-1 in humans may increase the risk of breast cancer.
In addition to breast cancer, increased IGF-1 levels have been associated with prostate, colon, and other cancers.The use of rBGH also increases the need for antibiotics in cows, which can lead to increased antibiotic resistance in humans.
There is controversy around whether or not the IGF-1 in milk makes its way into the human bloodstream. Some studies have indicated that IGF-1 does survive digestion while others have not.
What is clear is that there is sufficient evidence for concern about the human health impacts of using rBGH.
rBGH has been used, without labeling, in the United States since its approval in 1993, making it difficult for consumers to make informed purchases.
Dairy companies in the U.S. that use milk from untreated cows may voluntarily label their products rBGH-free, but this right has recently come under attack.
The good news is that consumers are demanding rBGH-free dairy products, and corporations are taking note. In addition to the many dairy companies that offer rBGH-free products, huge retailers and food and beverage chains like Wal-Mart, Publix, Kroger, Starbucks, and Chipotle have committed to reducing or completely eliminating dairy products made with rBGH from their stores.
The use of rBGH has also been banned in Australia, Canada, Japan, and all 27 countries in the European Union.
Although there is not definitive proof that the use of rBGH leads to breast and other cancers, there is enough evidence now to take precautionary steps and to limit its use.
All consumers should have access to rBGH-free dairy products. Making Yoplait yogurt artificial hormone-free would be a huge step toward advancing that goal.
What You Can Do:
- Send an email thanking Yoplait for going rBGH-free
- Find rBGH-free dairy products
- To learn more about the connection between rBGH, IGF-1, and breast cancer:
- Food and Water Watch
- Physicians for Social Responsibility, Oregon Chapter
- Consumers Union
- Health Care Without Harm
- The Breast Cancer Fund
Cheers, xxGGC
I hadn't heard of this problem either until I started reading these postings. I wrote to the Susan Love Research Foundation to see what they had to say. The medical ediitor stated that some researches have suggested this as a risk factor and evidence is not clear and that it may be that when the dairy intake occurs, during adolescence, for example, matters most. For now they suggest that women try to eat or drink dairy products that come from cows that have not been fed hormones. If you do reduce your dairy content be sure to increase your calcium. Do any of you have the info on the doctor who started this discussion? I failed to write it down or make a copy and now it has been deleted just in the last week. I wanted to do a little more research on him. What do we have to give up next?
I meant censored as in a decision not to share information with patients that could be of great help to that patient because of their bias against anything "unscientifically proven". My reflexologist's son is a doctor and was raised with, and helped by, complementary therapies. He has said to his mother that he dare not mention that he thinks these therapies can help as he will be ostracised by his fellow doctors. Careers have been broken over this.
Doctors specialise in a certain aspect of health and only know their speciality; but then who could know everything in medicine? They have lost sight of a patient as a whole entity, and not just cancers, bones, brain etc. The whole of the patient is affected by cancer and not just the primary site. For instance the WHO says that something like 30% of cancers are diet related, so surely diet can affect the development of that cancer for good or bad? Treating cancer does not begin and end with pharmaceutical drugs.
Oops, thought the above was only replying to dj64!
The doctor was Robert D. Bibb, M.D. I think he had very valid points, but was rather forceful in the way he put them over, and used scare mongering tactics. We each have to look at various paths and decide for our self which to follow. I just know that after reading Jane Plant's book I was convinced by her arguments about dairy. Others do not, and have the right not to, agree. There are ways, and ways, to put out information, and maybe his way was not the right way, though I only came on his postings after the moderators had intervened so do not know the full story. There is no totally right or wrong way for us to approach our way of dealing with cancer unless someone can totally guarantee a cure. That is not the case at the moment especially as breast cancer is a multifaceted disease.
The use of hormones and chemicals in the food chain, let alone genetic modification, is really terrifying. I think that we have moved on from the modernist approach that science had all the answers. It doesn't, but it does have some, and most of us are here today because of those answers.
Sometimes I think scientists get carried away with what they can do, rather than with what they should do. An atomic bomb is a remarkable and powerful thing and a great achievement on one level, but on another its power is so terrible that it is not an achievement that is in the best interests of humanity.
Crikey I'm getting far to serious this evening. Think I will have to go and watch a comedy film and lighten up a bit. Especially as I came on to my forums for a quick check, about three and a half hours ago! I don't know about the rest of you, but I am sick of hearing my opinions! Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Vicki XX
Thank you for your responses. I too thought Dr. Bibb was a tad too forceful, that is why I explore this a bit further. I have already given up wine which I was drinking for my heart (LOL) and I hate to also have to give up cheese and ice cream.
We are all stage IV with no cure. One might achieve a remission for a while, but the cancer will come back.
What exactly will you ladies attain by not having dairy products, drinking wine, a little bit of sugar and taking 100 different supplements.? A few months more of life?
Depriving oneself of food items they enjoy is not going to make you stage 3, 2, or 1. It might help those early stages, but stage IV?
I'm just curious.
Dear Scottymom ... the benefits of drinking wine in moderation have been discussed here before. You may find the discussions of interest ... and may feel better about resuming your daily glass of red (organic of course!)
Check out the discussion from March 9 by Beechbabe titled "Am I Getting Paranoid" for discussions and
research links. I hope after reading this you will feel better about raising a glass of red to benefit both your heart and cells .... don't forget the cheer!
Thanks for the morning upbeat note. I don't get enough of those! Guess I had better just check out the wine store and get on with life. I will be 75 on the 30th so I might as well go for it!
Heh heh, sorry for the grin, but the Dairy Council and The Beef Council, the Egg Council are very powerful lobbies. If you read THE CHINA STUDY (40 years of respectable nutritional research--he was funded by Amer. Cancer Society, NIH, Johns Hopkins, etc.--show that diary is highly correlated with increased breast cancer, prostate c, and immunosuppressive diseases, and childhood diabetes. -- it is the CASEIN in the dairy, and not much is required to promote these diseases.
He is retired Emeritus prof. at Cornell University and had to wait until he retired to write this book.
He recommends NO ANIMAL PROTEIN (the protein in the problem here)--no red meat, poultry, DAIRY, eggs. (Ironically, he grew up on a dairy farm and was originally a nutritionist promoting beef, dairy, and eggs!--until his international research project into causes of cancer in children in the Phillippines, adults in China, and people in USA, etc.
(I became vegan after bc mets, and feel MUCH better. Though I break the rules and do eat wild salmon (Consumer Reports says farm-raised salmon is about the highest in mercury levels).
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