Now that time has gone by since getting diagnosed and I am into my treatment plan I am slowly trying to figure out how I have to make changes in my life to reduce my chances of recurrence. I have been reading so much about food lately and how hormone receptor positive breast cancer can be effected by foods. I bought a few books on cancer and nutrition and have been searching the Internet for information. I feel completely freaked out by what to eat and not eat. Many days I am hungry and head to the kitchen and look around. Then I start to wonder what I can eat..what is bad for me? Sometimes I just get so frustrated I leave with no food and still hungry and try again later. Ugh! This is just hard!
I decided to put all my notes in a binder I can keep handy in the kitchen so my husband and I can try to have some type of quick reference to what I can have and what I should avoid. There are so many foods now that I won't be able to enjoy anymore. I love peanut butter...now it will have to be almond butter. I love tortilla chips but so far I see they are full of corn oil which is on the don't eat list. I don't eat tons of soy food, but who knew that soybean oil was in just about everything in my pantry? No processed meat so no Italian salami or my favorite honey turkey anymore either. Can someone explain to me how an Italian woman gives up wine? That doesn't seem right at all!
I guess I just have to take this in small steps. I know I can't control everything I eat everywhere I go, but when I am in control at home I should at least try to eat things that don't effect the estrogen in my body so I can reduce my risk of recurrence. I don't even know whether it will really make a difference, but it's worth trying. I guess if I am as good as I can be 90% of the time I can do what I want the rest of the time.
The books I am reading now are:
Anti Cancer: A New Life
Foods that Fight Cancer
What to Eat When You Have Cancer
The website I have been reading is:
http://www.foodforbreastcancer.com/
For now I will continue to organize this crazy list of food related do's and don'ts and slowly try to make changes to my diet to move in a healthier direction. I guess that is a small sacrifice at this point considering all of the other things I need to go through. I can tell you this, when I cook my homemade Italian meatballs and sauce, I am splurging! I am not going to avoid that the few times a year I make it. There is no substitute and a little glass of wine must go with it. That's just the way it is!
No comments:
Post a Comment