Veganism

[Ethano22]

Morning ladies , thanks for all your responses about my bowel issue following surgery. They are still ongoing but just getting on with it now . Was wondering was everyone’s opinion about going vegan and if it it the way forward once you have been diagnosed with cancer .

[Lyndy]

Hello... glad your surgery is now behind you.

Regarding food....as long as you don’t need a low residue diet due to bowel problems I think the advice is to eat a balanced diet. That’s probably the boring answer but it won’t harm you. xx

[Lindaura]

I have been a vegetarian for 35 years, but decided to go vegan after first line to keep Cancer away forever..

It is so easy to be vegan with a balance diet, lots of leafy greens and tomato sauces, but with so many plant based proteins, it is easy to get all the protein you need.

Here is an important point to know. Everyone harps on lack of vitamin B12 in the Vegan duet.

Well, it turns out that almost all soya products, from soya milk to tofu, soya yogurts, puddings, etc, are fortified with all the B12 you can take, so be careful not to overdo with supplements.

I am no longer vegan, because 6 months after becoming a strict vegan, I still had a recurrence, so, I think this disease is a matter of luck and personal genetics.

Plus, while on chemo, you just want to find foods you can tolerate, and for some reason cheese and tomato sandwiches are the mainstay of my chemo diet.

Vegan products are tasty, but vegan cheese had no protein in it. So mild cheddar cheese is my Chemo choice.

Hope this helps,

Laura

[Flamingobeef18]

Hi

There is of course no medical evidence that any restrictive diet has a positive effect on cancer.

To me drastically changing my diet on diagnosis would just of added to the physical and psychological stress on my body which was the last thing I needed. But that is just me.

A few years on at various times, maybe due to reduced appetite, mouth soreness or taste changes, I have struggled a little to find things I wanted to eat. At those times having no self imposed restrictions has made things easier.

Juliax

[bamboo89]

Diet and whether you should go vegan is a very big subject... first, vegan is not what I'd choose, though saying you're vegan in restaurants is a starting point to finding something you might be able to eat. Vegans eat just as much rubbish as anyone else - white flour, white bread, sugar, chips, crisps, all count as vegan - and vegans also get various cancers. Whole food plant based is another matter though, that is likely the healthiest way to eat IF your bowel allows it,, so that means what it says - wholemeal bread, brown pasta, lots of leafy greens, legumes, beans , nuts and a rainbow of vegetables/fruits. Dr. Greger on line (Nutrition Facts.org) is a good guide to that type of diet, but it includes strictures - avoidance of meat, eggs, fish and dairy. The main problem with either vegan or whole food plant based is omega 3 - flax seeds provide it, but its not the long chain form we need so the body has to convert it - sometimes, in people like me who've always eaten oily fish, the body has 'forgotten' how to make that conversion, which is why vegans still get nearly as many heart and stroke problems compared with non vegans. Sea vegetables do provide it, and vegan omega 3 supplements are available. It's also still recommended you take B12 on that sort of diet, see here for latest info elsaswholesomelife.com/home...

I did switch to whole food plant based and cut out or right down my sugar consumption, but continued to eat a little red (not processed) meat about once a fortnight/once a month, and the same with oily fish, so yes, whole food plant based, but slightly flexitarian. I was primarily trying to change my gut microbiome, which I suspect is strongly linked with disease in the body, so that's why I did it initially. I have since found there is some evidence to suggest that frequent meat and animal protein consumption (especially chicken and whole eggs) is linked to an earlier return of cancer, along with dairy, though the picture is not entirely clear - some of that evidence is based on animal proteins available in America, which usually contain substances currently not in UK food whilst we remain in the EU.

The big question - did my change in diet make a difference? I would say yes, it did, because to the surprise of the hospital staff and my oncologist, despite being Stage 4b with two types of OC, one of which is aggressive, I'm still here 18 months later, and I refused adjuvant chemo, having only debulking surgery. Even so, I don't believe any diet will mean ovarian cancer never comes back - but quite possibly it slows the whole thing down. Whether it has kept me well for longer or not in terms of the cancer, its done wonders for my very high cholesterol and inflammatory markers - the former halved in six weeks, in particular the ldl reading, much to my astonishment. And if you are carrying any excess weight, that will vanish like snow in sunlight on a whole food plant based diet.

I still really miss cheese, but two things about that - first, my cheese and dairy consumption was pretty high, so excluding that is most likely why my cholesterol improved dramatically, and second, I got rid of the aura migraine that had increasingly become the bane of my life for the last ten years. I ate cheese 3 times in one week a few months back as a test - yep, visual disturbance or aura migraine 8 days later, so I've never returned to my dairy habit.

So, for overall health for anyone who can, I'd heartily recommend a 95% whole food plant based diet, including those with heart problems and diabetes, and for those of us with cancer, the same, although it won't necessarily mean the cancer never comes back.

I'd just add a caveat though - if you are on chemo, or have recently finished it, I think it makes sense to eat whatever you fancy and can keep down, rather than try to stick to a diet, so if that's mostly crisps and sweets, fine, until you feel better.

Miriam

[recurrentovc]

I think Miriam's advice is spot on.

If you are motivated to stick to it, it might be beneficial.

After my second line failed midway, I changed my diet to raw vegan and started a resveratrol supplement and continued LDN. In 8 weeks my OV125 dropped massively.

Since then I've maintained a plant based diet with very occasional meat/ cheese. ( Less and less over time) I've used various supplements such as artemisia, and Jane McLelland's protocol.

26 months on, I haven't had further chemo and have good quality of life, with ascites drainages every couple of weeks.

I suspect I will have some chemo in the future, but I have had a good period of normal life despite active ovc.

Initial diagnosis HGSOC 3C was SEP 2016, recurrence May 2017.

Lee-Ann

[bamboo89 in reply to recurrentovc]

I'm just wondering what 'LDN' means... and also where you got an artemisia supplement - I can't find this in the UK.

[recurrentovc]

LDN is low dose naltrexone. If you decide to use it, note I did struggle with bladder infections on it at one stage.

I'm in South Africa, so I get a local brand of artemisia. I see others use Doctor's Best.