I have been eating much healthier but still have the sweet tooth. I have cut back but still have that nightly dessert.
What have people been told about suga... - SHARE Metastatic ...
What have people been told about sugar intake with breast cancer?
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Yes, cancer is fueled by sugar but I still like a little something in morning after breakfast with my matcha! Probably not a good idea but--------Bonnie
Thanks. That’s me but I have cut back.
I go hard core more often than not but I do not feel good now as breathing is a bit more labored and then I say, "Oh hell, Im just having this."
That’s me at times too.
If you are on Ibrance or Affinitor, those can damage lungs and do real harm. Report the difficulty breathing to you onc ASAP. I was on Ibrance for just a few cycles in 2016 and developed Interstitial Lung Disease--makes it really hard to breathe in humid weather and otherwise I get out of breath much easier than ever before. On two inhalers, which help some but not totally..
Sugar sugar sugar. I’ve stopped drinking alcohol but my sweet tooth is intense. I’ve discovered sugar free chocolate. A start.
Hi Gwennie,
What is the brand of sugar free chocolate that you are buying. Perhaps I can get some here in BC. Thanks for mentioning it. Hugs Vienna
I have developed a sweet tooth over the years, (61), because of my husband. He always loved his sugar, big time. But I am not as serious as you. To slow it down a bit, for myself, I found out about Oak Cakes. They are a Scottish tea time treat but you will find them everywhere in Eastern Canada as well. My favourite recipe is Cape Breton Oak Cakes. They are just semi sweet and can actually be eaten with a bit of jam and tea or used as a savoury biscuit with cheese. Easy to make. Just mix the dough, press on a cookie sheet and score the top before baking. They satisfy me. Maybe you could switch out them for the cake 3 times a week to start. Just an idea. I have mentioned here before. They are very nice.
Cheers, June S.
Dear June------I love oat cakes and am a baker but never baked them. You are inspiring me and I will be on to it . Please send your recipe.
Here is the recipe I use and I like because I can just press it on a cookie sheet about one quarter to half and inch thick.
Sorry, my start on this was posted before I was finished. 2 cups of flour, 2 cups of rolled oats, 1 cup of brown sugar, 2tsps. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 cup shortening or butter, 1/2 cup cold water.
Stir together the dry ingredients. Rub in the shortening with fingertips until crumbly.
Mix in water with a fork until a ball forms. 1/4" to 1/2inch thick. Score with a knife in squares or triangles. Bake 350 for 15 mins.
Delicious.
There are lots of recipes but this is easy. Enjoy.
Cheers, June S.
Awesome. I will make it tomorrow!!!!tmThanksc
Looks like part the directions are missing. After mixing into a ball or loose crumble, dump onto a large cookie sheet, and press to one quarter inch to one half inch thick. Then score with a knife.I find my oven took about 20 mins.
I’m Scottish and loved oatcakes. My Gran made the best! Now living in the PNW Olympia. As I toasted my whole wheat bread then spread on the delicious 4 fruit jam from Costco, I thought you must watch your sugar. Sooo I made Scottish coconut tarts and sausage rolls. Tomorrow we’re back to a green smoothie lol
I am from Cape Breton!❤😊
Yes I heard sugar can be a problem. I assume refined sugar is worse. I use honey, maple syrup as natural sugars and eat fruit. I like dark chocolat but try to limit, but then natural chocolate is supposed to be good. I like ice cream and have found non soya plant based one. I have a few healthy cake, oat bar recipes that use honey, oil, yoghurt, so feel that is better. So I try to hedge my bets and still have some sweetness. I hardly ever have alcohol. We just try our best. Love Carolyn x
Sugar is sugar regardless if it's refined. It's all bad for everyone. It's the excess of "added sugar" in food that's the problem and that includes honey, maple syrup, brown sugar. Our bodies need sugars to function, and natural sugars in foods like fruit, veggies, milk, etc. are okay. My bottom line, moderation in everything. A little sugar treat now and then won't hurt you.
I have been told that balanced blood sugar is the most important thing.. so in theory a sugar rush is not good. Slow release sugars and carbs best. ... and sometimes.. I just need a treat. I like this easy recipe.. the almond flour is a slower carb than flour.. I add a few dark choc chips too... beautybites.org/almond-flou...
Like you I have changed my diet. Aside from having breast cancer, the day of my masectomy operation my blood pressure was up to 200/90 trying to get it down. Needless to say, that could have been my last day on earth lol. I have high blood pressure as well. So I have pretty much flipped my food to only things that will help my body fight cancer. Creating a body that my cells will be healthy and not flip to cancer cells. 95% milk products, that includes, cheese, cream. I gave up my alcholic ways the day of my biopsy when the technician said it was cancer 😥. I will eat low fat plain yogurt as it is fermented and carries the good bacteria. I eat fruit which is natural sugar and will eat a little piece of dark chocolate. I am aware of the need to reduce estrogen levels my body takes in. Sugar feeds cancer cells, don't care what Drs say. You need sugar injected into your system to have PET scan light up. So duh cancer cells likes sugar.
I haven’t changed my diet at all. I eat my share of sweets for sure. I need to live my “normal “ life and I’ve never been good about controlling my diet or changing my food life. I’m already restricted on things I can do just due to this disease. I also think there are so many variables, I’m not convinced sugar is the worst thing.
Me tooClare
My doctor at Sloan said they do not see a correlation between sugar and cancer. I do limit it since too much sugar late in the day and I do not sleep well.
There's that theory that sugar fuels cancer growth--but more recent studies suggest obesity is the culprit. My oncologist says she's seen people on very healthy diets die and people who live on junk food (including lots of sugar!) live. Genes play a role, as does attitude, general contentment with life, exercise, and other difficult-to-measure items. I eat moderate amounts of sugar: usually with breakfast but once in a while I give in to the urge to have a bowl of Ben&Jerry's Caramel Sutra
Hi kitKimios. I asked my cancer nurse about these different diets, ideas and she told me that nothing has been proved either way. So I enjoy my chocolate and sugar and dairy and feel better now than I have for years. I think when we get diagnosed we all try different diets to see if they will help beat the cancer ,that's up to each and every one to decide which path to go down, but as for me I'm enjoying the life I have now. All the best to you.
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Thank you. I was off sugar initially but started cheating and now have a dessert every night. I do my best otherwise. Dessert just make me feel better! Thanks and all the best to you on this journey
My onc at Northwestern said there's no scientific proof that sugar is dangerous for us. He said to make sure I'm eating a diet to nourish me, but don't worry about sugar. I'm 8 years into this journey, and have about 1 Coke per day. Maybe it helps?😊
Hello diamags, I'm so excited to hear you've gone 8 years. Is that 8 years with Mets? As I'm reading all the comments about sugar and I started thinking I wonder how long have these ladies had met cancer and still eating sugar without hesitation and then your comment popped up. Yes I say enjoy your life but if I was told it's a contributing factor I would reduce my intake if it gave me a chance to live longer. I'm surprised they tell people "oh eat as much as you want". Yes I had a sweet tooth out of this world but after I had my initial battle with cancer I cut down dramatically and lost over 10lbs. No one takes the time to do the trials and research and why because it doesn't make money. I say trust yourself, to much of anything isn't good.
I've been metastatic for 8 years. Met in my back.. I also read sugar would help the cancer, but noticed candy in all the oncology offices, so I asked. They have studied it, and found it doesn't affect longevity so long as you eat a balanced diet. Same is true for eating only organic which I did. It doesn't affect anything. I still only eat organic dairy though. Don't want extra hormones. But that's my choice.
Just want to interject here and say I eat what sweets I want but it is not excessive because I never had a sweet tooth. I got used to desserts because of my husband. Loves his sugar. Also, I am in my 11th year of cancer mets.
I still enjoy a wine occasionally but I order a Spritzer. (Half wine, Half tonic or soda.) Not sure how it would work with red wine. Maybe with fruit juice. (3 parts).
Best piece of advice I ever got was to stop researching and reading everything on Cancer. Just go to Mayo or John Hopkins or your National Cancer group. If it is happening they know about it. The rest is speculation.
Cheers, June S.
I never knew it was possible to live that long with Mets. I guess it depends on where your Mets travel. May I ask what meds are you on and what Mets? I’m a newbie with Mets to the liver one year. Didn’t think I would’ve made it this far. The Lords footprints are beside me.
I am on Verzenio with Tamoxifen. And I have mets to the left hip and both lungs.I had to have the left breast removed because the tumor there grew through the skin. No problem. Only other growth is in the lungs. Hip is stable.
There are women living longer then me with cancer. Don't worry. There are lots of treatments.
Cheers, June S.
I make a banana nut bread with lots of very ripe bananas and no added sugar as my go to for sweets. I use berries, grapes, cantaloupe, watermelon and nuts as my treat everyday. I find when I eat these I do not crave sugar.
When I was first diagnosed Metastatic, I had read about sugar being an issue for cancer growth and I cut it out almost completely. I did still have a glass of wine, beer or drink now and again. Two years into the treatment, I talked with my Oncologist and she told me just the opposite! She said the need to stop sugar is like ‘a wive’s tale’. Sure, sugar fuels cancer cells; it fuels ALL cells. There is no reason to be concerned about the sugar you eat unless you are diabetic or are trying to lose weight. Just eat normally. And then I mentioned drinking and she said that it was actually something to consider limiting because there are studies that show alcohol increases estrogen in your body - even moderate drinking. And amazingly beer had the most impact. So I flipped my practices around and I don’t worry about what I eat and I limit my drinking to a very occasional one / maybe one a month.
I am in my 5th year now and still stable, on first line of treatment.
Enjoy your life!
My first oncologist said exactly the same thing. Sugar is fine, wine/alcohol not fine.
I still limit sugar as it is linked to inflammation, which as cancer patients we want to keep to a minimum.
And have an occasional glass of wine but try to really limit the alcohol.
Agree with you. I still eat healthy but don’t worry about any of it - worry and stressing about anything is probably worse for you than anything else! Hahaha
On another note, I saw you were interested in ErSO, as I am too in the Facebook group ErSO Activism for Breast Cancer. I am Linda Vegas. Have you seen this video. thedenverchannel.com/news/n...
Sugar is terrible, so reducing sugar in your diet is a good idea for everyone. My onc doesn't buy the theory that sugar feeds the tumor. She told me to just eat a healthy, well balanced diet. Be careful if packaged or canned food. Sugar/corn syrup is in everything. Just eat as much of you diet in real, fresh foods, prepared by you. A couple of cookies in the evening isn't going to make a difference,
HiYou may want to read the article at the link below re sugar and cancer:
google.com/amp/s/news.cance...
Always good to get various opinions!
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Really interesting! I like ,' it's not that simple', which is the issue with most diets. Balance and as many unprocessed foods as possible seems the answer to me.x
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Thanks for sharing
Hi KitMios,
Thanks for bringing up this difficult subject. Yes, most of us want to get off sugar.
I am very hooked on sugar but I have occasionally made oat cakes but they have a lot of butter. I am not sure if they are a good replacement but my husband loves them. I guess I should keep them on hand because they would be a good replacement for cookies and cakes etc. It might help me stop the sugar cravings but then I might have to go on a diet to lose the butter weight. I don't really have a good answer.
I have a serious sweet tooth and I am always thinking of ways to get un-hooked from sugar. I guess most of us want to eat less sugar because we have been told it feeds the cancer. I do replace it sometimes with sugar substitutes. However, I do love keto chocolate that can be purchased at Costco and has some sugar although I believe it is low in sugar. Chocolate by itself is actually very very good for you if it is consumed without the sugar. Read Dr. William Li's book Eat To Beat Cancer. He talks about including a lot of things in one's diet that we might leave out because we think they are bad for us - like beer and chocolate. Actually he explains that they are super foods. I love his book and after reading it have included lots of chocolate - even drinking hot cocoa drinks without any sweetening. I have lately had scans showing NED. I still take my Ibrance and Letrozole but now hope a day comes that I can stop the medications. So I will not give up having that wee bit of sugar that is in the dark chocolate. If someone comes up with a cure for sugar cravings - please let us all know. Hugs Vienna
Almost five years since diagnosis and the only thing I've changed is my alcohol intake- mostly because it doesn't taste the same. I just had beignets at Cafe du Monde here in New Orleans and there's no way I was giving them up!
Sorry but I don't know what beignets are. Probably something decadently good. Hugs Vienna
They are incredibly delicious fried dough dipped in powdered sugar and that description does not do them justice. Beignets are a tradition here in New Orleans and Cafe du Monde is famous for them. Their outdoor patio seats 400 and there were few tables open yesterday! Headed home to Texas today, wish I could take one for the plane ride.
Wow, it does sound wonderful. I think it might be similar to something I made many years ago. It was a sweet dough fried and sprinkled with sugar. It was from my Mexican cook book. I can't remember what they were called. Sounds similar though. When I reach my goal of losing ten pounds I will try to make some of those delicious treats. What a lovely place to live. I guess the sun shines there a lot. We live in the rain belt of the world on Vancouver Island - I think at least for the past 40 days. The rain has stopped today and I am relieved. Hugs Vienna
I mean Texas. I know the temperature there is always warm. I would love to be there right now. Hugs V.
Well. I’m ashamed to say, sugar is my weakness and I allow myself my weakness. It’s my naughty pleasure, and I eat an awful lot of it. I love chocolates and lollies, and I have a store of them to fall into whenever I feel like it. I love a biscuit with a cup of tea or coffee. I also drink a moderate amount of alcohol. Now and again it has been a little more than moderate.
I am not gloating, as I’m quite aware that this could take a turn at any point. I have been on the same line of treatment for 3.5 years now and still stable, much to my oncologist’s pleasure and dismay.
I am one of those people who believe in living life while i”m here. Enjoying my small or not so small pleasures if that’s what I want to do. I also eat very healthy foods a lot of the time, but not always. When my time comes, I am not going to say I was good, But I will say that I was happy and I had fun.
Hi Timtam,
You have a good spirit and it will probably keep you safe. I think you have every right to enjoy life and since you are doing quite well it is probably okay to continue with your way of living. We all find happiness when we have things we like to do and like to eat. After all, as we age we need those little pleasures to help us feel good.
Many of us had difficult lives when were young so need some comfort as we age. And good food offers comfort. But lately I have indulging in quite a few very rich and yummy foods. Now I am paying the price. I am gaining weight and that is scaring me. I was 30 pounds overweight when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I lost all 30 pounds when I first started treatment. But my weight is creeping up again. I am still down about 22 pounds but really felt best when I lost 30 pounds - that was two years ago.
So I am trying to slow down on eating the goodies - except for a wee bit of chocolate. If I can get my weight back down again I will slowly let my self have goodies again. I don't like the feeling of losing control. They say tummy fat is the most dangerous to health. I blame being overweight on getting cancer in the first place. However, I can be wrong. It might not be the reason I got cancer because I did have a lot of other stress related issues that could have been responsible for it but I don't want to take the chance of getting seriously ill again. My daughter and I are both trying to lose weight so we are planning on eating about 75percent of our diet as veggies. She is already losing weight on that plan. I start tonight. It means lots of salads with some protein and only the occasional chocolate. I just need to prove to myself that I have a way of controlling my weight. This is not going to be easy for me because I love to bake but fear of getting ill is going to help me. I also will try to do some meditation to help me stay on track. And go for lots of walks. If it would ever stop raining here I would enjoy walking. But it is horrid weather here. We are having torrential rains in BC. It is almost at the biblical level. I think it is now almost 40 days of rain where we live.
It is comforting to hear you are doing well Timtam. I hope you continue to enjoy life. If I remember correctly you live in Australia. That in itself is a real blessing. I visited Australia in 1975 and wow what a beautiful place. Dummy me came home to BC. Oh well....
If anyone on this site has tips for staying slim while on this mbc journey I will be happy to hear from you. Hugs Viennagirl
Oh yes. That's the other side if it. Being overweight. But hey.... I'm still happy. I hear you though Vienna girl. Yep. Australia. Now that lockdown is over I'm hoping to very out and see more of this beautiful place that our stupid prime minister wants to destroy for us.
😟😬
Who is your prime minister. Why is he destroying the country? I lived in NZ for 6 months in 1974 and loved it and learned recently that their current prime minister seems to be an okay gal. Back in those days I was young and didn't really care who was in power. The world just looked so good to me. I guess those were safer and more peaceful times. I believe that NZ PM is doing everything to help make New Zealand a safe place to live. I hope you get someone good in Australia because you live in one of the most beautiful places on earth. I sure wish I could come back to see it again but it is not too likely as I am lucky to just be doing as well as I am and living in a safe place. I need to be grateful for what I have here on Vancouver Island. It is beautiful too - most of the time. Hugs Viennagirl
Hi KitMios
I have not really been given much advice in regards to sugar intake from my oncologist but she does mention watching meal portions and having a balanced diet. I suppose just being sensible about your sugar intake is not going to be harmful to your diet. Sugar can be harmful to our bodies if not limited therefore, becoming reckless and feed off the cancer. But our bodies do need some form of sugar enabling it to function properly but this should be in sensible moderation. Thus allowing for our bodies to be as wholesome as possible, I do not take sugar in hot drinks but that is my choice and as long as you are don't overindulge you should be fine. I must say I do like my slice of cake now and again, as I am sure most of us do, I hope this has been a bit of help to you take care.
I basically eat what I want when I want to but I have always done that being single and just worrying about myself. I blame the weight gain onthe meds
Thank you Sandra. This means a lot to me coming from you. ❤️
Thank you Sandra. Yes, I live in British Columbia on soggy wet Vancouver Island........it has been raining off and mostly on for about 6 weeks. I guess it is still better than snow. But it is not cold and maybe that is a blessing.
I will check out the site you sent to me. I am sure they will have some good chocolate but before I got your email I went exploring on-line and located an amazing little chocolate shoppe about 20 minutes by car from my home. I am so excited to learn they are near me. They sell sugar free chocolate and make a lot of their chocolate on site. So when I have to indulge myself I will have a place to explore. I am trying to live a healthy life style and trying to eat a lot of vegetables and give up many sugars and butter. That is the plan anyway. But I will never give up chocolate......it is a gift from the gods. Hugs Marlene
Yes, the rain really dampens the spirits and everything else. I hope that it spurs me into doing some art work. I occasionally paint but haven't done anything in a long time. Our summers here are awesome - not too hot and not too cold. Although last year we had a lot of days 38 and 39 C. I actually loved it. I felt like I had moved to a different country. My husband and I considered spending two and three months in a warm climate and then I got ill and then he had a stroke. So now we are happy to be here. It feels safe. I will just have to comfort myself with chocolate. And the holiday season is soon upon us so that will distract me somewhat. I am doing so well with my health that I have a lot to celebrate. I don't know where you are but if you are nearby you can come and say hi to me. Hugs Marlene
Because overdoing sugar is not healthy whether or not you have MBC I cut it out of my diet about 15 years ago. My doctor also advised me to cut out grains bc they are treated just like sugar by your body. But my biggest challenge was my sweet tooth - particularly anything chocolate!!!! So I experimented with xylitol & erythritol first, then stevia. Now I use mostly monkfruit. All of these are 100% natural (READ LABELS - a lot of stuff is passed off as these sweeteners when they actually are not) and I NEVER touch artificial sweeteners. I always look for chocolate sweetened with one of these instead of sugar, or unsweetened, and ONLY DARK, not milk, chocolate.
Xylitol is very hard on digestion for some peopIe, and some forms of stevia leave a nasty aftertaste, so you just have to experiment and see what you like. I have found that I will like different sweeteners in different products - it must depend on how it is formulated. But the monkfruit seems to be easiest to find, easy to bake with or add to food or drink, and it can be a tiny bit less expensive depending on where you find it. I usually look online for the best price when I need to restock bc it ships so easily. Unfortunately ALL these sweeteners are more expensive than sugar - but I never skimp on the quality of what I put in my body regardless of price!!
Cutting out grains was MUCH more difficult than cutting out sugar. For years I used only almond and coconut flours. Then I discovered bean flours. Now there are so many non-grain alternatives it is fun to experiment with each - cassava flour, tigernut flour, cashew nut flour, hazelnut flour, sweet potato flour and so many I haven't even discovered yet!
Of course there is some sugar (and grains) in my diet - ALL cells use sugar in some form to survive, not just cancer cells. But I stick mainly (80%) to the alternatives I mentioned above and I have noticed that my craving for sugar DRASTICALLY diminished over time....thank goodness =)
Hope this helps!
Great information! I will look into some of your recommendations to avoid sugar and grains.
Hi Annie,Your answer is really interesting.
Why should we avoid grains? I read they were really healthy and eat lots of nuts and grains.
Thanks a lot
Lucie
xxx
Nutrition is very individual. Our diets need to be personalized to the individual the same as an Rx drug would be (The ZOE research explains this very well.).
Years ago my doctor at the time explained to me that the human body treats grains just like sugar, bc that what they turn into upon digestion. I demonstrated metabolic resistance traits at that time and my blood glucose was in the pre-diabetic range so he advised me to cut out all grains as my body seemed to be very sensitive to them. I did that and was surprised that everything “normalized” after that - my BP went down, cholesterol became better, and inflammation markers went down. Since then I have had two other doctors tell me to avoid grains - particularly wheat in any form. I have been out of the pre-diabetic range in blood glucose for about 5 years now.
Unfortunately most MDs receive little or no nutritional training in med school so seem to have little working knowledge of how nutrition impacts health. I was lucky enough to find this functional medical doctor many years ago and have stuck with only that type of doctor ever since bc I believe food IS medicine.
But as I said, nutrition is VERY personal and how your body reacts to a particular food may be vastly different than how mine does to that exact food. I find the topic very interesting and am always exploring how MY body works with various foods. Each individual has to find what does and doesn’t work for them.
Hope that helps!
Great answer Sandra !I really share your view.
Since MBC as considerably shortened my life expectancy, I try to enjoy as much of what's left of it.
I really can't see the point of depriving myself now of the foods I like.
I've eaten healthily my whole life, watch my weight, never smoked, exercised, had all the medical tests and this didn't prevent me from having a stroke in 2017 and de novo MBC in 2020.
Lovexxx
Lucie
it's baloney that sugar feeds cancer. The misunderstanding comes from PET scans and how rapidly dividing cells uptake circulating blood glucose at a faster pace for imaging. This PET scan tidbit has caused non-scientists to erroneosly conclude that sugar "feeds" cancer---and thus the myth propagates endlessly. If you are overweight, here is some excellent news. Research does show that if you are already fat when you are diagnosed with breast cancer, you will live longer if you stay fat. It' s called the "obesity paradox" and you can research it. I weigh 300 pounds and I have been stable on 125 mg. Ibrance + 2.5 mg. Letrozole for over seven and a half years. I am a retired professor with a Ph.D from UCLA . Stay safe and eat cake!
This is an old link but it popped up on the right side. I always thought and heard that sugar fuels cancer. When dx'd and looking for healthier alternatives to chemo, I came across a site called cannabishealthradio. The host (s) always asked the patients if they cut out sugar, because they state sugar is like miracle grown on cancer. One day, I searched and searched. I really never had a sweet tooth, but once in awhile I might have an ice cream bar. I have always been one to check labels and never buy or eat things with added sugar. If you search in your browser (no evidence that sugar fuels cancer) many medical sites come up. Remember, moderation.