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Diet recommendations

User
Posted 17 May 2019 at 18:41

Hi I have recently been diagnosed with locally advanced prostate cancer Gleason score 4+4 and PSA 28.3 . I am currently taking Hormone therapy and awaiting radiotherapy to start. I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions regarding changes in diet. I’ve researched some diets and I’m considering flax seed supplements I would be interested in any diets or supplements others may have used. Thanks.

User
Posted 17 May 2019 at 20:19
Until you start RT there's no need to change your diet. When you go for your RT planning session you may be advised to make dietary changes such as cutting down on caffeine and avoiding high-fibre foods. Some people are, some aren't.

What good do you believe flax seeds will do, as a matter of interest?

Best wishes,

Chris

User
Posted 17 May 2019 at 20:25
For every bit of research that says flax helps prostate cancer, there is another one that suggests flax can make prostate cancer more aggressive.

It is really important that you don’t take any supplements without discussing with your oncologist, just in case it interferes with your hormone therapy. And once you get to the RT stage, your radiology team will tell you what you can or can’t eat.

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User
Posted 17 May 2019 at 20:39

There are many theories, but other than avoiding being overweight, there's a lack of good scientific evidence for any specific diet.

The important things are a normal healthy diet, with plenty of fruit, veg, and fibre. You might have to drop fruit, veg, and fibre during radiotherapy, so making sure you weren't deficient beforehand is probably a really good thing.

That's not to say ignore the theories - mostly they're harmless at worse, and there's a chance some might be better than harmless. On this basis there's some suggestions consuming tomatoes, broccoli, turmeric, and pomegranate may be beneficial. There's also a suggestion dairy might be bad, but being on hormone therapy, it's really important you aren't deficient in calcium for which dairy can be a significant source.

I'm not avoiding dairy.
I have also bought a supplement a retired urology consultant suggested called Pomi-T, which is Broccoli, Turmeric, Pomegranate, and green tea extract. I wish it didn't have the green tea extract which is known to cause liver failure in large doses and also brings in caffeine which I didn't consume even before PCa, but the dose of both of these is very small. I probably won't buy anymore.

There is evidence for plenty exercise being beneficial in slowing many cancers including prostate. It also leaves you in a better health to handle many of the treatments, and can play a part in avoiding being overweight. It's also important to be stressing bones when you are on hormone therapy, with jogging and weights being the most beneficial. I do it via cycling. Exercise is probably much more important than a specific diet.

User
Posted 17 May 2019 at 20:57

Hi Chris thanks for the reply I’ve just been doing a lot reading around diets and cancer came across the Budwig centre which has done a lot of research around the benefits of flax seeds and its effects on the progression of cancers. Be interested in your thoughts if you check it out. At moment just sticking to cutting out red meat caffeine and saturated fats.

Reguards Chris 

User
Posted 18 May 2019 at 00:58

Memorial Sloane Kettering has a view on the Budwig centre and flaxseed

https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/budwig-diet-01

 

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User
Posted 18 May 2019 at 19:27

Hi Lynne thanks for the link interesting reading kinda oh confirms what what I was thinking 

regards Chris 

User
Posted 18 May 2019 at 19:32

Thanks Andy that all seems very sensible good advice

Regards Chris 

User
Posted 23 Aug 2019 at 10:43

Hi bobber

im in exactly the same position as you at the moment,but nobody has mentioned changing any thing yet.

User
Posted 23 Aug 2019 at 11:21
Probably, if any different to usual a more significant number of men seem to be on the loose side during RT and may need to adjust diet accordingly. I was in the more rare situation of being constipated during RT so indulged in foods that would help alleviate my situation. I did run this past the radiographers and also the fact that I was getting a rather sore bottom. I was prescribed Bepanthen cream for this which is a mild cream generally used for nappy rash and mild burns. There are other ointments that can be prescribed. I was told to use this sparingly and to just dab it on rather than rub it in. Ideally, a mild non scented soap should be used to wash with.
Barry
User
Posted 23 Aug 2019 at 13:05

They provided me with small 8g tubes of Activheal Hydrogel, which lists radiation burns as one of the use cases.

They also provided a syringe of Installigel, but I didn't need to use that.

Looking back, I don't think I actually had radiation burns because it healed while treatment continued - it was all down to eating some vegetables over a weekend, which was a major disaster. I stuck to no fibre for the rest of the treatment, and 2 weeks after the finish, I'm still on no fibre, but might start trying to add small amounts in and see what happens.

 
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