a bunch of many many questions

[anniegee]

so, I have a question regarding South Beach and my health.

I have SLE, in remission for now. I also was diagnosed with Stage IA ovarian cancer back in Nov. '06, had surgery to remove the ovary and tumour, and today started with new chemo meds: docetaxel and carboplatin.
as for the diet, I started it Monday but count this as my first day due to a ... cookie incident I'll explain later. I'm still in phase 1.

when I started the diet, I began feeling drowsy, with no energy at all, and I began to sleep a lot. my docs (the onco, the gyno and the rheumatologist) all okayed the diet. do you think my drowsiness is due to the sugar withdrawal, or something more serious? I told my rheumatologist today, who said it wasn't a lupus flare and it couldn't be a reaction to my meds. still, just to be on the safe side, has anyone else been on a similar situation?

hope y'all are doing well (:

[Nancy LC]

Is this a test of my eye sight?

Yes, it is due to the sugar withdrawls. Your body will take about 2 weeks to transition from primarily glucose burning to fat burning and you're likely to feel a bit funky while that happens.

[Wifezilla]

The sooner you get off of sugar the better. Sugar and carbs FEED cancer cells.

[anniegee]

wow.
they do? D:
then I'm not eating anything with sugar for awhile ...

[Nancy LC]

Remember that starches are sugars too, once your body digests them.

[bugsey]

Most who have come into remission cut their sugar and carbs.... one post here is RIGHT --- sugar "feeds" cancer cells. I'll put you in my prayer list :) You'll get super healthy again! ((hugs))
My grandma had advanced breast cancer when she was past 50. No one thought she would survive because she was very thin but we prayed ( I know this sounds simplistic...but prayers do work) She went into remission and God granted her 30 plus more years... she would eat a lot of fats and meats and some veggies but she did cut down on sugar and rice and bread. That is why I believe that Low Carb-ing and PRAYERS work. She was declared dying in 1974 but she went to the "happier place" about 30 years later :) I'll include you in y prayers. Also, these days, as long as breast cancer is detected it is a definitely curable disease! Be blessed :)

[Wifezilla]

Here is more info on the cancer/carbohydrate connection...
http://wifezillasway.blogspot.com/2007/09/low-carb-cancer.html
http://wifezillasway.blogspot.com/2007/09/low-carb-cancer-follow-up.html
http://wifezillasway.blogspot.com/2007/11/more-evidence-that-low-carb-helps-fight.html
http://wifezillasway.blogspot.com/2007/11/ensure-ensures-cancer-cell-growth.html

[anniegee]

I just finished reading all of your posts, Wifezilla.
and thank you so much! I'll show them to my doctors.

I had an appointment with the onco today, since I had chemo Friday.
he told me to "cut on fat", "eat more fruit", and drink plenty of water so the nausea/vomiting wouldn't be so hard.
(not liking him right now)
I'm not swallowing anything that's not bread because everything else hurts, but hopefully by later Sunday the nausea will subside and I'll stop stuffing myself with Tums and wheat bread.

but it's really interesting, what you posted in your blog.
I'll find something lc that won't try and choke me when it comes back up xD
thanks again Wifezilla!

[Wifezilla]

Best of luck Annie.

While I am not a doctor (nor do I play one on TV), based on that research I found can I make some recommendations? Can you get low carb shakes in your area? That might help. Avoid ENSURE like the plague. Even their high protein version is loaded with sugar and corn syrup. Have you tried a good beef or chicken broth? I doubt you will have the energy to make your own, so read the labels carefully if you go with store bought. As for fats, stay away from anything hydrogenated. THAT you should definately cut out. Other fats like butter and other full fat dairy, olive oil, non-hydrogenated tallow or lard...those will actually HELP you. The cancer cells CAN NOT use fat as energy but your body CAN.

Do you think you could get a smoothie down? Try one with heavy cream, ice cubes, a little splenda, some whey protein and a bit of water if it gets too thick. Use a blender and sip slowly through a straw.

Let me know how it goes.

[Nancy LC]

I make smoothies out of coconut milk and frozen fruit. You could add some kind of protein powder like whey or rice protein. If you wanted to stay very low carb, and you probably should, then I'd stick to just using a few berries and I would use extracts instead and splenda or stevia for sweetening. You could even add a little extra coconut oil to the shake to give you ketones which your body/brain will readily use (and the cancer can't) for extra energy. But go easy on the coconut oil at first, it gives some people diarrhea if they're not used to it. Maybe just 1 tsp a day and gradually increase until you see how you react.

Just a warning, you'll probably not get any sort of approval from your doctors about following a low carb diet. They're horribly uninformed.

[anniegee]

OK, lowcarb shakes ... AFAIK, there's Slimfast, and then the Herbalife protein shake I'm sure is loaded with sugar.
oh, and a big question. what about cocoa, the baking kind? I'm a huge chocoholic and vanilla extract (the tart kind) does it for me, but I'd be really happy if I could add some cocoa.
thanks for the ideas! I'll try smoothies. no fruit, since I'm on phase 1.

Nancy LC: actually, all of my doctors but the onco (go figure) told me I could follow the diet. maybe I'll switch to a younger, smarter onco ... this one's unbelievably old-fashioned. where do you find coconut oil?

(Wifezilla: your posts make me smile. you sound like an unbelievably funny person (:)

thanks a lot for the advice, y'all. I'll keep you posted

[Wifezilla]

Read the labels carefully on those shakes. Make sure the carb content is very low. Avoid corn syrup, sugar, etc... There are some slim fast flavors that are specifically labeled Low Carb, but I think the ATKINS brand shakes have a lower carb content.

Coconut oil is available in my area at the Super Walmart. It is over by the vitamins though...not the other cooking oils.

[Nancy LC]

Walmart and Whole Foods and Henry's (Wild Oats) have coconut oil. I bet any nutrition oriented store would to, like GNC or The Vitamin Shoppe. Plus you can always google and order online.

[LessLiz]

WalMart has refined coconut oil in the oil section. It has unrefined (tastes like coconut) in the vitamin section. It's a solid at room temperature.

Shakes in a can don't do it for me. The ones described here, mixed from your own ingredients, are great.

[CindySue48]

Just wanted to add my 2 cents, agreeing with all the rest!

I use EAS and Atkins ready to drink, Jay Robb whey or egg protein powders that I get from Vitamin Shoppe online (over a certain amount shipping is free, so I only batch order). I also use heavy cream for added fat and sometimes egg whites to add protein.

Another recomendation would be full fat yogurt. I have yogurt with an ounce of berries (fresh or frozen with no additives) and an ounce of chopped walnuts or almonds. High in "good" fat and protein and fairly low in carb. I can only usually eat 1/2c of the yogurt, so the carb count isn't bad.

There have been questions for many years about the sugar-cancer connection, but it seems to be considered "false" due to the perception of sugars being different from starches. Since "sugar" doesn't seem to influence cancer any differently than "complex carbs" or "starches" do, there obviously can't be a sugar-cancer connection! There's been recent news that low carb is beneficial for some cancer....but not all. However, if you think about it, people eating a "normal" (weight maintaining) diet tend to loose weight, often before the cancer is even diagnosed. Many overweight also complain of having an increased appetite, but not gaining. Cancer doesn't like fat, it likes sugar!

[LarryAJ]

For what it is worth, here is a plot of my PSA over 13 years. (http://www.intergate.com/~berts8nford7/PCa/PSAgraph_w_BiopsyAp'07.JPG) As the spike in the graph shows, I had Prostate Cancer in 2002. A biopsy was done June of 2002 (marked on graph) which was positive in 7% of one core of the six taken.

Note the drop in the PSA - Prostate Specific Antigen a marker for prostate volume/growth rate indicative of cancer. I started a low carbohydrate diet in February of 2002. I estimate I cut my consumption to less that 20% of what it had been. The daily total is less than 100 grams for sure, though I have never measured it. As you can see it has been five years now and while it jumps around it has not risen. So, I am now willing to say it is in remission. If it stays down, as I feel confident it will, for another five years I may start to claim that I actually KILLED it.

I should add that besides the drastic cut in my carbohydrate consumption, I started taking supplements. They include vitamins C, D, and E as well as selenium, green tea (in capsules), turmeric, and several other herbs that I found searching in pubmed.gov for ones that had shown some anti cancer activity in research studies.

Here is my all time favorite web page on cancer and sugar. (http://www.lowcarbluxury.com/newsletter/lclnewsvol03-no04-pg2.html) Note the discussion about Dr. Otto Warburg, so I would suggest that you ask your oncologist what he knows about Dr. Warburg. If he knows less than you can read in the forgoing web page, then you do NOT want him advising you about diet RE: your cancer. I quit the urologist that did the biopsy since all he knew was “cut it out!” And never went back to the radiologist since he said that a test I read about on the web was not done anymore. BUT instead I found that it was being used more frequently, so the radiologist obviously was not keeping up to date on current research/treatments.

Hope you are successful in your battle.

[Wifezilla]

Vitamin D is reported to be really helpful in fighting cancer. I take about 5000 IU per day now that is is winter.

[anniegee]

Larry: this is great. if a LC lifestyle worked for you (and it did wonderfully, according to the chart) then maybe it can work something out for me; and I really hope your cancer's gone for good.

and the tiredness has subsided! today's my first day back on the Beach and I feel like kicking ass; maybe by Friday I can box or something. the first thing my mum did after reading the articles about the cancer-sugar connection was to throw all of the cookies and white bread xD fun stuff to watch.

thanks for the advice, y'all (: