My Diet

I am often asked about my diet & frequently share it with others. In fact, the most frequent question I'm asked is: "What do you eat?" This will make it easy for everyone to find, on the site, & examine.
Don't let the introductory paragraph scare you off. It was confusing to me, when my complementary/alternative care oncologist prescribed it for me. Upon reading Beating Cancer With Nutrition, by Patrick Quillin, I learned the reasons for using this type of diet. It also made sense, when my cancer stabilized, to negotiate a modification to my diet with my phycian & reintroduce whole grains, in moderation. His stipulation was that I may eat them only if I also consume protein at the same time. (I review Patrick Quillin's book in the post December 2008, "Books to Read & Share.") By eliminating all grains from my diet for several months, I learned how much I was "hooked" on them as a staple in my diet. I now have a healthy respect for the carbohydrates in my diet.

LOW AMYLOSE DIET

This diet is for people who have trouble losing weight. This includes people with obvious insulin resistance who have had very little success at losing weight in the past. This frequently includes people with Lyme disease, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and neurotoxin syndromes. Patients who fall into this category frequently have insulin resistance and have trouble getting sugar into their cells. They also have a tendency to rapidly raise blood sugar in the presence of sugar or starch. This rapid rise in blood sugar triggers a corresponding rise in insulin which results in excessive fatty acid synthesis and subsequent storage as fat. This diet is designed to minimize the triggering foods (starch/amylose and grain) which cause significant rises in blood sugar.

AVOID THESE FOODS

1. SUGAR of any kind – glucose, sucrose, dextrose, maltodextrin, high fructose corn syrup.

2. PROCESSED FOODS which contain corn syrup, additive, dyes, or unpronounceable chemicals.

3. ALL CEREAL GRAINS including wheat, rice, barley, oats, corn, and rye. These foods have the ability to drive up blood sugar and increase insulin resistance.

4. ALL ROOT VEGEGABLES (vegetables which grow below the ground) which contain amylose (readily digestible starch) including potatoes, sweet potatoes, radishes, carrots, sugar beets, and peanuts. This means no peanut butter either. EXCEPTION – onions and garlic are OK. Carrots may be eaten raw but not cooked.

5. CARBONATED BEVERAGES, diet or regular, as they are extremely acid and will increase inflammation, which, in turn, increases cytokines which may affect insulin receptors.

6. PROCESSED JUICES of citrus origin. Fresh squeezed citrus or vegetable (above the ground vegetables only) juice is OK. Low sodium V-8 juice is also acceptable.

7. FAST FOODS.

OK TO EAT THESE FOODS

1. ALL FRUITS with the exception of bananas. Bananas contain amylose.

2. PROTEIN SOURCES include chicken, fish, eggs, yogurt, meat, real cheese, fat-free cottage cheese, etc. Be careful of yogurt. Many brands have additives: sugar, corn syrup, or other undesirable chemicals such as carrageenan. Use plain organic yogurt, if possible, or reduced fat milk. Raw milk is preferable to processed milk. Yogurt should contain active cultures. Fresh fruit may be added to improve taste.

3. “ABOVE GROUND” VEGETABLES are OK to eat. This includes beans, peas, soybeans, and lentils; basically anything that grows above the ground.

4. If coffee is an “essential” nutrient, that is OK.

Patients who are dieting should have 2-3 PROTEIN servings, 3 servings of FRUIT, and 3 of the ALLOWED VEGETABLES, and none of the foods to avoid.

Patti’s Additional Notes, based on research & personal experience:

Servings of protein, fruit & vegetables:

For the cancer patient, the above statement should read: 2-3, 5-ounce servings of protein; plant-based protein is preferred to animal-based protein; 1 serving fruit & at least 5 servings of the ALLOWED vegetables, until the cancer is stable, & none of the foods to avoid.
Once your cancer is stable, you may have one or 2 additional servings of fruit. Ideally, you should strive for 7-10 servings of vegetables & fruit per day. Since this seems highly unlikely to occur, there are 2 other ways to achieve this.

Garden of Life makes a Super Green Formula in a powder form that can be stirred into tomato juice, low-sodium V-8 or fruit juice. It also comes in a pressed tablet form. There is a significant cost difference between the two; the powder is much less expensive. When I'm at home, I stir a tablespoon of the powder into low-sodium V-8 at lunch time. If I'm away from home, I use the convenience of the pressed tablets & take them with whatever I have for lunch. Either way, I've added the equivalent nutrients of 5 servings of vegetables fot the day.   

It can also be achieved through juicing. In fact, you will get more nutritional value from your vegetables & fruits through juicing than by chewing & eating them. Unless you chew your vegetables & fruit to a fine pulp before swallowing them, you are only getting about 30-40% of their nutritional value, if they are vine or tree ripened & fresh when we eat them. If they have been picked before they were ripe, shipped a long distance & stored for several days in our refrigerator before we’ve eaten them or they have been processed with high heat & have had chemicals added to them, the nutritional value is even less. Add to this the fact that most of the vegetables we eat are commercially grown on depleted soil, to which only 3 lost nutrients have been added back, & the situation is even worse. The nutritional value of our vegetables today is much lower than it was 3 decades ago.
We purchased a VitaMix blender - an emulsifier - & have enjoyed a variety of vegetable & fruit smoothies! The VitaMix is more expensive than other juicers or food processers, but it has a 7-year warranty. When I did the research, I only found one negative review. That was from a man in his 80s who bought a reconditioned one. All other reviews gave it 5 stars! Many customers had purchased other brands & wished they had not wasted their money on them before buying the VitaMix.  I love the versatility of the VitaMix. It is not just a dedicated juicer. It is a blender, juicer, food processer, etc. I do not regret the extra expense. It comes with a very nice recipe book. We have liked what we have tried. There are certain ingredients we have decided that we need to minimize the quantity of in our smoothies, like cucumbers & celery. 

Food additives:

Cancer patients should be especially careful to avoid: MSG, which is listed under many creative guises such as: hydrolyzed vegetable (or plant) protein, autolyzed yeast, yeast extract, soy protein isolate, & glutamate or glutamic acid; aspartame, which is sold as Equal, Nutra Sweet, or Spoonful; Sweet ‘n Low is a poor choice of sweeteners too; carrageenan, which is frequently found in dairy products, baked goods & lunchmeats. 

Meats:

Minimize consumption of red meats – beef & pork; eat smaller portions (4-6 ounces) when they are consumed; avoid sausage & bacon, & eat lean cuts of beef

Milk, milk products, & eggs:

Minimize used of milk & milk products, as well as consumption of egg yolks (these increase inflammation); because of another health issue, I cannot tolerate any milk products except low-fat or fat-free yogurt or cottage cheese; these have naturally occurring enzymes that aid in their digestion. However, this means no milk, butter or cheese for me. To replace margarine & butter I use Earth Balance natural shortening & Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks, which are healthier options that either butter or margarine anyway. I find these in the organic/health food section of my local grocery store & recommend their use for everyone.

Oils:

Eliminate Omega-6 oils & replace them with Omega-3 oils. Omega-6 oils stimulate cancer induction, growth & spread, while Omega-3 oils inhibit cancer development, growth, & spread. Omega-6 oils include: safflower oil, sunflower oil, corn oil, peanut oil, soybean oil, and canola oil. The best Omega-3 oil for cooking is extra virgin olive oil. Cold pressed or expeller pressed (different terms that mean the same thing) Coconut oil & grapeseed oil are a good choices for general cooking & baking, if you don’t want to use olive oil in a particular recipe. Flaxseed oil & fish oil contain omega-3, but it is a small portion of the oil. Neither is used in recipes, but may be taken in nutritional supplements. In the case of flaxseed oil, your body must do some special conversion for a portion of the oil to become the DHA & EPA factors of omega-3 in your system. Using flaxseeds in recipes, you won’t mind their taste, but the oil you may find offensive in taste, unless you add something to overcome the flavor of it. Flaxseed oil must be refrigerated & is found in the organic/health food section of the grocery store in a cooler.

Sweeteners:

Your best substitute sweetener: Stevia or a similar product sold under another brand name; it’s a no calorie sweetener that’s about 3 times sweeter than sugar, which means you’ll use 2/3 less, if you buy it in bulk. (It cannot be used for baking.) It’s also sold in single-serving packets. Organic agave is the best natural sweetener. It looks exactly like honey & tastes a little like it, but it does not raise your blood sugar. However, it does have 60 calories per tablespoon. (Splenda has not been studied long enough to be absolutely certain of its long-term safety, but it appears to be much safer than the stuff in the pink & the blue packets, which we know are carcinogenic!)

Baking:

Since I was permitted to add whole grains back to my diet, I have found good, acceptable recipes & occasionally make baked goods, with a combination of agave & Splenda as my sweeteners.  When using agave, you must lower the oven temperature the recipe calls for by 50 degrees.

My most frequent flour of choice is sprouted whole wheat flour. It digests as a vegetable & has a very light texture, which is close to processed white flour. (Keep the flour refrigerated.) I also replace a tablespoon of each cup of flour with (non-soy) powdered vegetable protein. This is a secondary help in terms of controlling any potential blood sugar rise the baked goods may cause.

I have recipes that call for brown rice flour, coconut flour, spelt flour & almond flour. You cannot just substitute these flours for wheat flour in your favorite recipe. You must use a recipe that was written for this type of flour because each has different properties than wheat flour. There are recommended adjustments that can be made so you can substitute them in your favorite recipes, but you must do some research for each one. The site I use for good recipes is Elana’s Pantry. This is the site address:   http://www.elanaspantry.com/about/

You can look up recipes by type. She lists beverages, breads, breakfasts, condiments, cooked veggies, desserts, entrees, salads, snacks, & soups. As you can see, there are lots of options. None of these recipes use wheat flour, as Elana & one of her sons cannot eat gluten, which wheat flour contains. I started with the almond flour recipes because it is low in its carbohydrate content – about 1/5 that of regular whole wheat flour - & 25% more protein. We have been pleased with the recipes I’ve used from this site.