I am a three year breast cancer survivor. I was diagnosed 3 years ago at the tender age of 34. The tumor was not in my breast but on my upper rib and the cancer cells had actually spread to my right breast. I had a double mastectomy(just to be sure) chemo and radiation with full breast reconstruction.

I was shocked to find (while reading my Atkin's book) that cancer cells feed on sugar. I did some research and found that all of the articles I read supported this finding.

Another good reason for me to be on this diet. If anyone has additional information to share I would love to hear from you.

Hi Tamara,
I had breast cancer 5 years ago. LIke you, I was young, early forties. I had been a vegetarian for a good portion of my youth (18-40). At about age 40 I started eating things like fish and chicken, but never liked eggs and milk. I also smoked.
My diet was high in sugar, as are many vegetarian regimes.

Fast forward to 1996. I was shocked to find a big lump under my arm. It was breast cancer that had spread to my lymph node. The node was huge, but they told me it was incapsulated, which I guess is better.

I went thru alot of changes. I prayed about every move I made, including what foods to eat.
Immediately after all the treatment, I began to juice carrots and other vegetables. I began to feel a little better, but I was also on tamoxifin. Between the tamox and the carrot juice I gained 50 lbs

I am going to cut to the chase here. I knew I had to do something about my weight. My blood sugar was running high too. I discovered the truth about sugar and carbs, and immediatley cut out all sugar. I went off bread, grains and most fruits. I went on a modified Atkins. I have lost in the last year, 35 llbs. It has been slow for me, because I do not do the diet as strictly as he recommends. But I have been steadily losing, and not gaining.

I would like to accelerate it at this point. That is why I have come on this forum---for support.

I went of tamox and feel great. The diet keeps my energy high!

Doctors and others will tell you that the low carb diet is dangerous for people who have had cancer. They are still recommending the old high carb, low fat diet that we know makes people fat, raises insulin levels and generally makes us lethargic. In spite of the Harvard Nurses Study, they are still promoting the vegetarian, low fat diet. We are told that it will ruin our kidneys, stress our liver and all that terrible protein will certainly make the cancer grow. And the high fat is likely to cause breast cancer, even though there's a pretty reliable study that has proven that it does not. If I recall correctly, the women with the lowest consumption of fat had a higher rate of breast cancer.
Go figure.

One thing that I think is important. Drink a lot of water. 2-3 qts a day. And a little extra sea salt (celtic is the best) will help keep your cells hydrated. I have a wonderful web site for you to check out, based on the book "Your Bodies Many Cries For Water".
It is www.watercure2.com
Dr. Batmanghelidj has an interesting take on the connection between dehydration and degenerative diseases, including cancer.

Blessings to you in your recovery!

Susie,

I am so happy to hear from someone who has read the research and believes in a low carb, no sugar diet.

As far as your case.....was the lump removed? How are you doing physically? I decided not to do the tamoxifin as I thought the risks were too great and I had actually done more in my treatment than what was required. Why did you go off the medication? Did you feel that the diet change would replace the need for the drug?

Sorry about all of questions but I just need to know. It helps to hear it from an actual patient rather than a doctor. I have been drinking so much water and will visit the web-site you suggest.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Dear Tamara,
I had it five years ago. Had a full mastectomy, 9 mos chemotherapy and took tamox for almost three years. I quit taking it because I had such bad side effects, one of which was weight gain and depression. I am not normally a depressed person, so I knew it must be the drug. I also had no energy. Doctors are wonderful when you need them, but they can't help you all the time. They could only give me the drug and hope for the best. I also had eye problems on the drug.

I don't think that my diet replaces tamoxifin. I just don't consider it a factor anymore. I am interested in keeping my blood sugar stable, my weight down, energy up.

You will find that there are SO MANY so-called anti cancer diets. It can be confusing. Truth is, people get well on all kinds of diets.

I have been gaining in strength over the years. The first three years were tough, complicated by the tamoxifin, and probably the toxicity of the chemotherapy I had received.

Now, if I am eating right, drinking enough water and getting a little exercise every day (which I don't always do!), I can go through a whole day with plenty of energy. Now that I am past menopause (artificially induced by the chemo), I am sleeping great and no longer have any significant hot flashes.

I highly recommend Dr. Batman (as he is affectionately called) and his water cure books. He also recommends the use of seasalt in the diet, which runs contrary to what you hear these days. Everything is LOW fat, LOW salt, LOW calorie, low energy!!

As for the low carb diet, I do follow a version, which could be like a maintenence Atkins, or something like that. Basically, I eat no sugar, and limit carbs, and eat good fat and high quality protein.

I don't fry foods, drink carbonated beverages, don't cook my meat well done. I use supplements as well, especially minerals and a few antioxidants.

All I can say is that you must work your diet out for yourself. If I start to feel tired in the day, it ususally means I have low blood sugar, which could be from having eaten a few extra carbs. Or, in my case, not eating at regular intervals. That helps keep the BS stable. Just a small amount of something every 3 hours helps---a hard boiled egg with seasalt and pepper, a slice of turkey, a few nuts...

Your doctor will probably tell you it's not a good diet. They worry about fat. So did I, for years. I would never eat the skin of a chicken. But that is where all the good EFA's are! No wonder low-cal dieters are so pasty looking!!

Keep your sense of humor.....

Suzie