But the oncologist said just eat what you want...

'You're damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't'

I think this applies. 

I think of Mike (thxmiker), who just passed away. How conscious he was of his diet and yet he succumbed. Nanab, she tried everything, and she is gone. The list goes on. 

I have always eaten a pretty decent diet; well, compared to many I know. I've eaten organic for many years, way before it became poplual. I  even grew up in a pretty self-sufficient home, with most of our food grown on our land and chickens in the coup. I used to drink a soda once a week at the most, I don't drink it any more. I certainly ate/eat helathier than 80% of my acquaintences; yet here I am, Stage IV. 

I REALLY do believe that diet plays a HUGE roll in many diseases. With so much availiable to us, it is easy to overindulge. 

There is a balance, and I'm trying to attain that balance. Its a work in progress, and I do so hope to live to see it through. 

Thank you for the info mwnn. Its good to see you here again. 

Sue - Trubrit

all I've read I'm going with vegan/fish most of the time with less but not zero sugar, dairy, red meat and processed foods.  I  occasionally cheat when I feel like it. I'm encouraging my kids to eat that way now. I also take a handful of supplements daily, including curcumin, mushroom, milk thistle and green tea concentrate. I find it easy to do and I dont feel deprived. I weigh what I did in high school. I do think if you're wasting away pack in the calories, I also think physicians receive very poor nutritional education and it's crazy how our health care system doesn't even talk to our food industry. Sadly, it's all about money.

Easyflip/Richard

annalexandria said:

Nice to see you here, Tony...

but I do feel compelled to note that your title references "oncologists", who are talking to their patients who already have colon cancer, and this paper is addressing the "prevention of chronic disease".  Apples and oranges, really.  I don't think you will find too many here who would disagree with the role a good diet can play in helping to avoid (in some cases) certain diseases, but that's not the primary concern of the oncologist.

Hope your son is doing ok!

 

ETA I do see that the first conclusion you listed deals with recurrence, but it's kind of a no-brainer that people who drink a lot of soda probably have many other unhealthy habits as well which may (or may not) lead to recurrence.  Trying to take a correlative relationship and turn it causal isn't great science...

One oncology nurse told me that the patients that eat right and run and keep themselves on a strict exercise program get colon cancer most often, as compared to other cancers. She also said they're the angriest patients because they've done everything 'right' and felt that they shouldn't get sick. Just one person's observations but still interesting.

herdizziness said:

Site the work

I didn't see who you or what peer review paper you got this from, especially the sugar one, do you mind siting the work please?

I'm on the eat what you want and what you can diet, do to a malnutrition stint I went through, weighing in at a 106 pounds.  If I want to survive I need to get massive calories in.

Also, I must say once again as this is brought up every couple of years, a lot of those with the best of diets, well, it doesn't, seem to matter.  And as for myself, I'm going to die eventually from this disease but I sure am going to enjoy dong things and not denying myself other things that I enjoy.  

life is meant to enjoy, with those around you and even yourself, the more I can smile, laugh and whoop and holler, the happier my life will have been and the memories I leave behind for my loved ones, will be some of the best, so that smiles linger on their faces, not sadness.  Not remember how much mom wanted that darn surgar cookie but denied herself it because she was told she shouldn't. But to each their own.

Winter Marie

I've always watched my diet and very few fried foods, sweets, low fat, and when they told me that it wasn't anything in my diet, my thought was to heck with all those statistics because they banned coffee, orange juice, shrimp, sugar, red meat, veggies unless organic, too much fruit because of sugar, fish because of mercury, etc.  It always seems there is a retraction.  Eat and be happy but do it and be responsible - don't eat at McDonald's everyday .  Oh I'm loving my diet now but it's pretty much the same except I'll eat more popcorn.

Kim

manwithnoname said:

Hey Anne

My post was about oncologists still living in the past, enough published info already warrants some diet advice, sometimes it takes a generation for new theories to get accepted.

You can always read the full papers and draw your own conclusions, I believe the first 3 were specifically for active stage 3 colon cancer patients.

For the record in one of my first posts here I said I believed better to have a cookie and be happy than not and be sad.... But there is a difference between the occasional cookie and a cookie diet.

 

"In summary, this prospective analysis, imbedded in a clinical trial, suggests that increased sugar-sweetened beverage intake is associated with a significantly worse disease-free and recurrence-free survival for stage III colon cancer patients"

 

I hope the lurkers here at least do some research and not take forum anecdotes as health guidelines.

We also hope he is doing ok, scan next week. ;-)

I think about your son whenever I run into an article about childhood cancers, and really hope for the best for him.  He's one tough dude.