Breast cancer and LCE

[Annemieke]

Hope somebody can shed some light on this for me. I am a long-time LCE fan and although I have fallen off the wagon from time to time (really difficult to be on the raod for long days and stick to it) but now that spring is here and fresh produce is right around the corner I am ready to get back in the saddle again.

Here is the problem. I was diagnosed with breast cancer about 6 weeks go and had a mastectomy about a month ago. Am starting chemo on April 4 for several months. I was told to stay away from estrogenic foods. The little information I have been able to find on the internet shows me that estrogenic foods are mostly those that a person on LCE would eat.

Also, it says to stay away from meat and eggs. My thinking is the reason for this is that commercially produced meat and eggs contain residual chemicals and hormones from the feed the animals are raised on.

I raise my own beef, pork and eggs .... all natural and hormone/chemical free. Do they still count as estrogenic foods?

HELP ..... I am going nuts here! Thank you for any assistance you can give me.

[Maggie]

Welcome, Anne.

I think you need to go to the health care provider who advised you to stay away from certain foods and get more information. Discuss how you have your own source of certain foods. See what the concerns are.

Certainly, it is well know that our own fat produces estrogen and estrogen precursors. It would seem that reducing one's body fat ought to be a benefit. But, again, this is something you need to discuss with your health care provider.

HTH.

[Annemieke]

Originally Posted by Maggie

Welcome, Anne.

I think you need to go to the health care provider who advised you to stay away from certain foods and get more information. Discuss how you have your own source of certain foods. See what the concerns are.

Certainly, it is well know that our own fat produces estrogen and estrogen precursors. It would seem that reducing one's body fat ought to be a benefit. But, again, this is something you need to discuss with your health care provider.

HTH.

Hi Maggie,

Yes, in an ideal world that would be the best route, but unfortunately my oncologist office is so chaotic that we haven't been able to locate anybody yet who could answer these questions so I decided to do some research myself.

[QueenMama]

First, I'm sorry about your diagnosis, and wish you the best. Second, you need to focus on good nutrition, to keep up your strength during your chemo.

I used the Yahoo search, typed in estrogenic foods, and got quite a few hits. This site is somewhat interesting:

http://www.annieappleseedproject.org/chemfoodhert.html

If you are raising your own meat and eggs, as long as you are sure what is in the feed, then you are probably not getting estrogenic foods, if what I read is correct. You need to worry about the commercially raised meat that has hormones, as well as certain herbs.

I hope this helps you some. I know how hard it is to get any real information from a doctor's office, but they should have given you some written guidelines, with specific information as to what estrogenic foods are.

Keep us posted as to how you are doing, and what new things you have learned about these foods. Remember that most of us who come here are women, and we are all interested in things that affect our health.

[Annemieke]

Amazing!!! I use Google and couldn't come up with anything. Thank you so very much!!!!

[Lawbooks]

Ditto the advice above and I *do* know that soy -- ALL soy products -- are considered phyto-estrogens and should be avoided. In fact, I've been telling my male friends for years that I would not consume large quantities of soy for that very reason. There is some interesting research out there regarding the possible long-term effects of soy on men... I'm going to see if I can find it because, right now, (for the life of me) I can't remember where I read that!
Free-range meats and eggs should be fine, I would think, as it is only the hormones given to the animals that is in question, right?
HTH,