Thoughts on diet?

[Scubahhh]

I'm new to the group, 62 years old with 4+5=9 Pc and no known metastasis; just started ADT and looking forward to radiation starring in a month or so.

My question is about diet: the doctors I've spoken to recommend standard diet with lots of fruits and veggies, but I've been eating ketogenic for quite a while, feel terrific, and have reward several arrives claiming that Pc feeds on glucose and a keto diet is another weapon against it.

My doctor dismissed the notion, saying "remember, you got cancer while on th is diet."

Any thoughts other than switching

Thanks!

[Graham49]

There are studies that link aggressive prostate cancer with high intake of saturated fat. There are studies that recommend eating a diet rich in anti oxidants especially cruciferous vegetables and tomatoes. Some studies indicate that diets low in dairy products and meat consumption are best. There are studies that recommend a high level of exercise.

I am Gleason 9 also and trying to follow the above recommendations. Since diagnosis my diet has been basically Pesca-Vegan, that is Vegan but also eating fish.

I have also started on the conventional hormone suppression treatment and I am due to have radiotherapy in about three months time.

Good luck with whatever you do.

[Fauvemarin in reply to Graham49]

Hey Graham49 - your case sound just like mine, Though I have finished the radiation therapy, and am 3 months into living with my brachytherapy. Same Pesca-Vegan diet as yours, same Gleason. Am just getting over two doses of 3 months each of hormone suppression therapy, and ma finally able to exercise and run again. Got my first post therapy PSA reading this week (which is know is still reliable yet, because of the ongoing brachytherapy), but my PSA is down to 0.4 from 21+.

A plant rich diet works for me, and I will stay with it!!

[Graham49 in reply to Fauvemarin]

Hi Fauvemarin

I am also going to have brachytherapy. I had a kidney transplant in 2016 and they recommend brachytherapy as the treatment least likely to damage the kidney. My psa is 25.4 down from 27.4 two months ago. This was before I started any medical treatment.

[Fauvemarin in reply to Graham49]

Which kind of brachytherapy are you going to have? Mine was "permanent". Radioactive iodine seeds (~64) were implanted inside my prostate as a out patient procedure with my oncologist and urologist working together on the procedure. The low dose radiation is gradually absorbed over time and eventually fades after six months. Other than being tired, I have had no side effects from this treatment.

Compared to a number of other men I know who are my age with PC, I have done really well post treatment. I think (as does my team) that the plant based diet and exercise (I ran my most recent race during the external beam radiation period) may have moderated the PC.

[Graham49 in reply to Fauvemarin]

The team at my hospital have recommended High Dose Brachytherapy where they remove the radioactive sources after a short time. They have referred me to another hospital because they don't have high dose brachytherapy themselves. My diagnosis is a bit worse than yours. My Gleason is 5 + 4 and it has just penetrated the capsule wall. I guess that's why they want to go with the high dose brachytherapy.

[Fauvemarin in reply to Graham49]

My Gleason was 5+4 as well, but the MRI and bone scan suggested the cancer had not left the prostate. But to be sure, i had 6 weeks of external beam radiation around my pelvis just in case the MRI missed something outside the prostate, and then had the seed implants. Meanwhile the hormone replacement therapy was working in background just to suppress the progress of the cancer.

[Scubahhh in reply to Graham49]

Interesting... I'm Gleason 9 too, with the tumors extracapsular but apparently not penetrating anything they shouldn't and no apparent metastasis. My radiologist tells me I'm not a good candidate for brachytherapy and we're doing external beam radiation and ADT. Started ADT a couple weeks ago with no particular side efects yet and am anxious to start the radiation. I'll ask again about why I'm not a good candidate for brachytherapy this week; the bulk of often conflicting info out there died get frustrating!

[Graham49 in reply to Scubahhh]

My transplanted kidney is quite low in the abdomen. I'm not sure brachytherapy would have been recommended for me if this was not the case.

[Paulo1968]

Hi,

Since I am 18 I had an almost no meat diet eating only fish and birds. I ate lots of fruits and vegetable soup every day lunch and dinner. I had exercised a lot over the years as I have a fit body. I am 174 cm high and weight 70 kgs. I never smoked.

I had (hope eliminated by surgery) a 8 Gleason tumor extended to a great part of the gland.

I guess diets and body exercise didn’t work for me preventing having cancer. However I continue this because it was my way of living.

All the best to you.

Paulo

[Graham49 in reply to Paulo1968]

Hi Paulo

You could look at it in a positive way. If you hadn't lived such a healthy lifestyle, you might have had a worse cancer.

Good luck

[longrungo in reply to Graham49]

Hello Graham49 and fellow PCa colleagues! This my first post.

I just downloaded the app so I feel like I'm in more direct contact. I just turned 70. I had Gleason 9 scores (4+5) in three cores and MRI confirmed extracapsular invasion. I opted for a robotic-assisted prostatectomy at a world-class US hospital.

According to surgeon, pathology done during procedure revealed invasion of one seminal vescicle. I assume this persuaded him to cut wider. Upon completion of procedure, surgical team noted that the drain contained too much blood. They observed, deliberated, and scrambled to cut me open to find the source of the uncontrolled bleeding. Large vertical incision through/around umbilicus. After 90 minutes and a transfusion of one unit, they located the vein they had cut and sutured it. Bleeding stopped. Surgery result showed no invasion of (11) lymph nodes and negative surgical margins. Closed me up and I spent two nights in a private room, with great nursing staff. I'm very happy that after dozens of years of paying high monthly medical insurance premiums, Medicare covered all costs. Went home with a catheter, and 11 days later returned for catheter removal. Subsequent incontinence was severe. I am six months post surgery. Incontinence improved a moderate amount and plateaued. Still a big problem. So is total ED. PSA upon diagnosis ranged between 4 and 5.1. Surgeon says I am a prime candidate for recurrence and tracking my PSA every two months. Last result was 0.0.5. SO, rather than wait for recurrance, I have converted from 9 years of pescatarianism to a a vegan way of life. It's taking time to adjust of course, all the meal planning and lining up sources of supply for a mostly organic nutrition regimen. Not always easy here, in Northern Europe. I am also focusing on combining anti-protate cancer foods, such as broccoli sprouts which I am sprouting myself, tomatoes walnuts, organic green tea, not in a bags, but uncut leaves, pomegranates, etc., etc. Last thing I'll say - been following guidance of Dr. Michael Greger, who has a great website, Nutritionfacts.org. My future is very uncertain. But, with a 5 year old son, I really want to survive at least long enough to see him go ti university. Long-winded, sorry, but that's my tale.

[Scubahhh]

Here are a couple interesting links related to ketosis and cancermi hope this works and someone may find the information helpfulmi can't say I'm convinced but it does seem to make sense.

thetruthaboutcancer.com/ket...

cbd-international.net/ketog...

On the other hand...

mdanderson.org/publications...

[Graham49]

Hi Scubahhh

It seems with the ketogenic diet you could eat a wide variety of foods, some of them generally accepted by the medical community as being healthy and some of them less so. For example cutting back on sugar and carbohydrate intake, especially refined carbs is generally consider healthy. Eating above ground vegetables is generally considered healthy. Eating nuts and seeds high in vegetable fats is generally considered healthy. Eating fish is generally considered healthy. Moderate consumption of red wine and fruit is generally considered healthy.

However eating high amounts of meat is not generally considered healthy, especially red meat. In fact it has been associated with cancer. Cooking meats to a high temperature has also been associated with cancer. High fat dairy products are also not generally considered healthy. Also, the diet does not appear to differentiate between mono-unsaturated fat, poly-unsaturated fat or saturated fat.

It appears that you could do a ketogenic diet entirely by eating generally accepted healthy foods such as above ground vegetables and vegetable fats, fish, with fruit and red wine in moderation. Whether this would help to cure prostate cancer remains to be seen.

I have started searching for studies of "ketogenic diet, prostate cancer" on Google Scholar. So far it seems that in some studies the ketogenic diet helped to reduce some cancers and in other studies it made cancers worse. Unfortunately the studies do not state the actual foods consumed.

I will let you know what I find.

[Hidden]

I'm not sold on diet being curative for prostate cancer. I suppose there are some foods or supplements that could fuel it. I do know that the ADT treatment creates challenges that diet (and exercise) can certainly address. Best to eat in moderation to prevent weight gain and things like diabetes or insulin resistance. Need to keep your cardiovascular system healthy while keeping the cancer at bay. I would agree that sugar is not a good thing. I still use a little milk in my breakfast cereal and coffee and I eat cheese and ice cream so I haven't sworn off dairy.