Hello ladies,
After reading. Couple of posts from yesterday I think I can’t do anything right.
Like a lot of you I’m suffering from constipation and eating huge handfuls of liquorice and a few prunes. They are supposed to help.
Now I read about the sugar loving cancer I suppose I should stop eating these things and do the massaging instead. I ,ive and learn.
Kathy x
The “sugar” connector to cancer is a myth. It might make you fat, but it won’t kill you.
Prunes are great. The best, so keep eating them.
After that would be stool softeners Macrogol, and something called Lactulose.
Don’t fall for the crazy myths about the causes of cancer.
Best wishes,
Laura
Not necessarily! There is no study that proves the sugar connection. The world health cancer research people have said the main connection with cancer is the weight gain associated with the huge consumption of meals with added sugar and sugary drinks etc. I think (without checking my facts) that there is a connection between obesity and some cancers.
The 'sugar feeding cancer' thing started with Warburg's findings years ago, his work led to the PET scan and then the misunderstanding arose. Cancer tumours do use sugar for energy. But so does every cell in our bodies. If you increase your sugar intake, it won't make the cancer cells grow any faster and it is impossible to starve a cancer by cutting out every bit of sugar because If you cut out every bit of sugar that you can, the body would make it from fatty acids and proteins. A similar misunderstanding arose over cholesterol. In addition to remove all carbs /fruits/milk etc would deprive you of a lot of vitamins and fibre. Information on sugar can be checked on various sites such as the UCLA Integratice Oncology, the National Cancer Institute, the World Cancer Research, The Mayo Clinic....
My humble advice? - Eat your prunes! Cut out the liquorice if you're overweight 
Lynn
x
Thank you for all that info. I will carry on with the liquorice. 😊😊
Licorice is one of my favorite candies! Makes me very happy! Eat up and enjoy!
XOX
Marisa
Licorice is very palatable-I say enjoy! 😉
Hi Kathy,
If we avoided sugar, we would have to avoid a LOT of foods, including tinned foods, sauces etc and ALL carbohydrates!!
The best advice seems to be to try to avoid all OBVIOUS sugar - as it is turned into fat and can in the end cause ‘maturity onset’ diabetes.
Think of what is eaten in 3rd world countries - meat/fish, vegetables, fruit, no processed foods, minimal carbs, minimal dairy (goat’s milk is better).
Their incidence of cancer (some types) is lower, as it is in remote areas of the world and in Japan I believe.
So prunes in moderation and savoury roughage 🙂
I don’t stick rigidly to the above....but I do my best!
My weakness is wine/Prosecco (contains a lot of sugar! 🤭).
It will be interesting to see what other ladies think?
Good wishes to all,
Linda xx 🔆🐝🌻
Hi, my weakness is white wine but my alcohol policeman keeps me under control.
I like a nice medicinal bottle of red wine when I've not got to spend my money on flippin' train fares
Lynn
x
🍷🍷😊🍷🍷
Hello Kathy
Read this report on the Cancer Research UK's website which gives a balanced view on sugar and carbohydrates in general.
scienceblog.cancerresearchu...
After reading you may find you can stick with the prunes after all.
All the best!
Helen
Good article 👍🏻
Don’t beat yourself up, Kathy. Keep doing what is right for you. You have enough to contend with without fretting over this kind of thing too.
Vicki x
Like most things this is complex. I have found it helpful to do some reading on the issue. Not trying to tell you what to do in regard to your food consumption but this is a bit of an explanation of the theory(ies) behind some of the comments that have been made on this site recently and to which you are referring. There is lots of material out there some of it more technical some less. This is a very accessible article. Hope it proves to be of some interest.
Hello Katie - I also had terrible constipation and my CNS nurse advised a low residue/fiber diet, it worked amazingly well. The stools are smaller and easier to pass, after about 6 weeks everything was back to normal. The diet is bland and a bit boring but very doable, I am sitting on the fence regarding sugar, I am diabetic so never eaten a huge amount of carbohydrate yet still got OC, if not eating sugar didn't prevent me getting cancer how does giving it up cure OC?
Thanks, I’ll look into the diet. I have decided after lots of info here that sugar is not a problem. It’s funny the things we chat about here 😄
Hi Katie I too got obsessed with diet and hopeful to stop my cancer recurring! I did the keto diet and was miserable on it to be honest I even dip sticked my urine to make sure I was producing ketones! Guess what I recurred within 4 months of first line chemo so I put that one to bed pretty quickly!
I now don’t beat myself up as to maybe it was something I did or didn’t do that caused my OC think it’s just shitty luck or crappy genes so I now eat what I fancy and don’t deny myself anything. I try and keep healthy and balanced but if I fancy a cream tea I have one! Life’s too short to deprive yourself of what you like 😁
I also used licquorice for constipation as I love it but my potassium raised a little and the doc told me licquorice is high in potassium so be careful and not as greedy as me with it lol xx
Hi Katie,
I’m afraid I’ve not changed my diet at all - if I fancy jelly babies, then they’re in my trolley. I seem to have lost my love of alcohol since starting on Carbo/Caelyx, so I figure the odd jelly baby won’t hurt (I used to soak them in vodka before I ate them in the good old days!)
I have hideous constipation which I keep thinking is ascites (it’s not, it’s poo!) for which I take ‘MaxLax’ - Laxido and Sodium Docusate and have a high fibre diet - liquorice, linseed and chia seed, lots of fruit and vegetables and of course gallons of fluid! It works for me except after chemo, but I’m learning to live with it.
Please don’t worry, do what is right for you - for me, I have no idea of the outcome of Ovarian Cancer for me (well, I can guess) so I don’t see the point of making my life miserable.
With love and best wishes, Ali x
Prunes are really good for you, they’re just dried plums and are a really good antioxidant, I have them every day because I like them (weird or what?) and they help keep you regular. There is a school of thought that eating prunes is really good for helping maintain bone density too so keep on with them.
Lynn has covered the sugar aspect really well, as in all things it’s being sensible and if you like liquorice well why no have it? Life’s just too short.
Hope things move for you soon, take care ❤️Xx Jane
I am going to submit my humble and Polly Anna take on all this. How we receive good or bad news depends on our state of mind. I find that when I am having a "fearful, sensitive" day, any bad news comes across as exagerated where I immediately panic. On days that I am in the right state of mind...of course, all is well and nothing bothers me. It's an up and down cycle. My point being that we are all in this together however small or complicated our medical situation is. I find that when something is presented in a positive light, we can absorb it that way and the endorphins in our system make us feel better. If we FEEL good, it can only lead to a better well being. I love this conversation on sugar because I was truly in a major panic over it. I never ate added sugar and ate pretty healthy. Once I went through Chemo the first time, I developed a big taste for sweet and salty dishes. I've been real down thinking I know have to detox myself and deprive myself of licorice and prosecco......well they make me happy and if I'm happy, I feel better. lol. I have no idea if any of the above made any sense but I just wanted to share with all of you that this train of discussion has been encouraging and put me in a better state of mind. lol.
XOX
Marisa
Eat the prunes - if you find they work, I personally don't find them any use at all for constipation, all they do is give me terrible wind. What works for me is nuts, especially pine or pistachio nuts... or, obviously, Movicol, brilliant stuff. As for sugary foods, I avoid them as much as possible, including dried fruits and eat whole food plant based instead - but I'm trying to change my gut microbiome because the population in the gut has a system wide effect, including for cancer.
Me too...I make water kefir and sauerkraut (with cabbage and turmeric) but I'm too scared to eat it now cos they worried me over infection risk (and I'm pretty sure it would be ok but...) Now I've finished chemo I'll wait a couple of weeks and then go back to it.
ps I had an elderly patient on Movicol and she could never remember the name, so called it 'move it along gear'
Lynn
x
Hi, I have never heard of the sugar thing and the only thing which helped by constipation was Lazio. Chris
Hi Kathy, If you are worried about sugar I drink a nice big glass of prune juice the unsweetened one and still enjoy my licorice, it is very important not to get constipated.
Good replies from are ladies as usual and good advice from Lynn🍦🍡🍖.
I keep Co Senna pills and Movicol powder if I haven't gone in two day I take both the tablets at night and the powder in the day or my glass of prune juice.
Take care Lorraine xx
After 3 weekly combined chemo I use dulcolax or lactolase for the next 2 days and after the weekly Taxol chemo, just a dulcolax the next day and so far this seems to be working ( but this is only my first 2 chemos). Maybe the pattern will change.
What is is about Jelly Babies that they are suddenly so desirable? I can taste that sweet things are more satisfying all of a sudden, after months of being nearly sugar free having thought all this was IBS, as did the doctors.
Take care, Alex xx
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