DON'T FEED THE CANCER

DON’T FEED THE CANCER. That’s one of the messages in big, bold orange letters in a new PCRI (Prostate Cancer Research Institute) tri-fold pamphlet, titled “ Diet, Vitamins & Exercise for Prostate Cancer .” The way I recently said the same thing in the recent (just a couple days ago) thread titled, “ Scientific Studies ” was:   “ Eat more of what’s good for you, less of what’s bad for you .”   It seems incredibly simple, doesn’t it!  Unfortunately, there is a constant, steady stream of newly diagnosed men with PC here at HW who are hungry for knowledge and solid information.   Fortunately for them, those newcomers have found a source here at HW of experiences, ideas, knowledge, understanding and support…and exposure to good published material like this PCRI pamphlet to help them "stack the odds in their favor" for the best possible outcomes. After putting together the best possible medical support team for conventional treatments, the next task (we need to keep reminding newcomers) is to do everything in their power to contribute to their complete recovery and outcome,... including "lifestyle therapy" and the important points in this PCRI pamphlet.   This pamphlet, and some of the other good ones, can help provide that aspect of support.   This pamphlet should be made [attention moderators!] into a site sticky , or else continually re-posted. There might even be some non-newcomers who might benefit from this pamphlet…

Thanks for posting this, Casey.  Helpful information....Tim

Casey, thank you for continuing to bring items like this to our attention ~ sometimes in the face of vehement opposition. I hadn't seen this brochure before, but it's a concise summary things we should know ~ but may not want to!

Here is another article from PCRI Can Diet Really Control Prostate Cancer? which covers the possible role of insulin in PCa.

Piano said...
Casey, thank you for continuing to bring items like this to our attention ~ sometimes in the face of vehement opposition. ....

Opposition...??!!   I don't understand what you are talking about.  This stuff can help slow PC progression; or at least that's what these experts say.  Who in the world would be opposed to slowing PC progression??!!   I think that everyone here would be supportive of slowing PC progression...and sharing that good news with our steady stream of newcomers.

Thanks, Piano, for adding the additional link.

 

that would make a great sticky.  i take the same supplements but i also take calcium.

ed

 

I think there are some who are skeptical for good reasons as the medical community frequently changes its stance on some supplements. In this article Vit E is bad for PC; as little as 5 years ago Vit E along with selenium was touted as the PC preventitive. The same with flax seed; now some say it promotes agressiveness. It makes good sense to live a healthy lifestyle, but the benefit out some supplements has to be questioned at least until there is some good emperical evidence that they help. I think we are developing this evidence with POM and some others like aspirin.
JohnT

Gents (and ladies if any are reading this)

In the brochure, under the Foods and Minerals to avoid it lists Multivitamins. That was a surprise to me as I have never heard it before so I sent a email to PCRI this morning.
This afternoon I received a response that I'll share with all.

I am sorry to learn of your prostate cancer diagnosis. Please see the Newly Diagnosed and the Decision Aide sections of www.pcri.org for access to resources that may help your understanding and empowerment.

While the pamphlet makes some suggestions relating to prostate cancer, any question about diet, vitamins and supplements must be addressed in relation to your unique health situation.

Dr. Mark Moyad of the University of Michigan is a leading researcher for diet and its relationship to prostate cancer. In his recent book “Promoting Wellness: Beyond Hormone Therapy”, he makes the following comments on multivitamins:

“Tip: Skip the adult multivitamin. Adult multivitamins have too many ingredients that you do not need and that cancer cells may utilize for growth. In fact, one of the largest studies ever published on men with prostate cancer taking multivitamins found that they were not helpful and may have actually been harmful when patients were getting too many multivitamins. … if you feel compelled to take a multivitamin, take a children’s multivitamin because these are the only multivitamins that do not have excessive dosages of a variety of ingredients that can be used by cancer cells.”

He also suggests skipping folic acid and any other B-complex dietary supplements.

Dr. Moyad will be the Moderator and will give a talk on nutrition at our upcoming conference.

BB_Fan said... This is a great snapshot, but if you want to take a deeper dive, check out the Nutrition, Exercise and Prostate Cancer guide on the Prostate Cancer Foundation website. It is about 30 pages long and is a freee download. The guide is a little dated. It was last updated in 2009. I found it quite informative.   The PCF document you referenced BB_Fan ( HERE is the link, by the way) is another excellent free online resource.   It’s been referenced here many times, but not lately, so thanks for bringing it up again.   Sonny3 fairly recently quoted the excellent passage about “ thrivership ” from that document.   Here’s a key component of support: The diagnosis of prostate cancer can lead you in one of two directions . Some will react to this diagnosis with a sense of resignation and fatalism.   This view can lead to helplessness — waiting for the other shoe of cancer recurrence or progression to drop.  On the other hand, thrivership puts you in the driver’s seat — making you as vital to your care and treatment as any doctor or nurse. You may have had prostate cancer, but now you are in charge of your life, adopting new healthy habits and enjoying each day to its fullest. That passage goes well with Sonny3’s passage that “each day is a bonus!”    The document does a great job of explaining the links between nutrition, diet and prostate cancer, including sections on inflammation and oxidation, the metabolic syndrome, and nutrition at the molecular level.   It’s also go a section titled “The Delicate Balancing Act of Supplement Use,” including a sub-section titled “Making the Smart Choice.”   One of the ways I’ve expressed it here many times is in terms of the “big three”:   diet (very often what not to eat to feed the cancer), exercise and stress reduction, with supplementation being solidly in 4 th .   What I’ve stressed regarding supplements is “ communicate clearly and completely with your doctors ” about what supplements you are taking…these points recently communicated in Raddad’s thread.   Ultimately, keep in mind that supplements are just that—a supplement to a healthy diet.   [By the way, avoiding multivitamins has been discussed here previously.  Most recently in the context of Dr Scholz's recommendations (also in his book) after compiler's recent visit.  See THIS thread for Scholz recommendations.]   Lastly, the PCF document includes an extremely well-written section about what I have called “overcoming momentum” in one’s life.   Momentum, and Newton’s 2 nd Law tends to keep a body in motion, and the same path it was going.   Changing one’s diet and exercise is hard…change is difficult!   This section helps & supports those who are stuck-in-a-rut overcome momentum and embrace change.   It looks at the behaviors and mechanisms of change, and helps the person who has a little motivation, but not quite enough, to get over the hump.   Readiness to change sometimes needs a crisis, like a diagnosis of cancer, to become a “teachable moment.”   For example, the fact that red meat feeds cancer has been well established since the 1970’s – we all know it – but sometimes we need a “teachable moment” to overcome the years of momentum which has an excessive amount of red meat in our own S tandard A merican D iet (SAD, for short). This PCF document is a must-read for all PC patients…   I like how Tim G help put it in perspective.   This stuff won’t “cure cancer”, but it “nudges” the outcome in your favor…I like to call it “stacking the odds in your favor.”

>>Guess I should put down the cheeseburger:)<<

nah.  just don't eat them every day   .  i haven't "quit" any food; my goal is to eat healthy most of time.

ed