What We Eat Really Can Make A Difference!

There's a Cancer support group that meets once a month. This month's meeting met last Wednesday and the topic was nutrition. When the Cancer education counselor told me about it, my first thought was that I already knew what they would say. It's not like I don't know I eat unhealthy stuff and know vegetables are good for me. The last minute though, I decided to go after all to check it out, see who all was there, find out what the resource center looked like and where it was.

I am so glad I went because I learned so much! The most important and biggest thing I learned was why certain foods are so bad and why others are so good. We saw a DVD called "Food For The Fight." I always thought "healthy foods" and "unhealthy foods" were all about weight management but boy was I wrong! According to this video, Food is medicine. Keep eating to survive even if doesn't taste good while having chemo. Sugar is cancer cells' best friend because it helps them grow. Good foods help build good cells that fight against the cancer cells.

Foods to Avoid that I eat: high fat foods like donuts, muffins, sweet rolls, ice cream,
Good foods are: cooked vegetables, bananas, chicken, scrambled eggs, a dietary supplement.

At least pizza wasn't on the "avoid" list, thank God! That is my staple food--I eat two slices 4 days a week!
For good nutrition and to maintain a healthy weight, we should:
Eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day
Eat whole grain cereals, pastas, and bread products
Take a multivitamin daily (discuss with your doctor which is best for you)
Limit alcohol to 1 drink a day (I do good on this since I don't drink at all!)
Exercise more, walking is considered exercise so I'm okay on this too. The American Cancer Society recommends that women with breast cancer exercise about 4 hours a week.

The day after the meeting I shopped and bought a salad, cucumber, tomatos, carrots, almonds, prunes, bananas, trail mix and some V8 juice to try.

Homestay Mama sent me the link to this interview of Brenda Cobb at the Living Foods Institute which proves that diet can make a difference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVLDPI0TH90
(I did have the video embedded but it was too wide and I didn't know how to fix it.)

Ever hear the phrase "If I knew then what I know now
?" I used to be a "Junk Food Junkie," even had a shirt that said so. I was never fat so I kind of prided myself on being able to eat all kinds of fattening stuff without gaining for the longest time. I lived on Shakes, burgers, fries, fried chicken, pop every day, chocolate, Cheetoes, Doritoes, macaroni & cheese, some ice cream and of course lots of pizza! I made some changse when I started working out with a personal trainer but it basically amounted to cutting out the pop, fries, munchees and adding a protein drink. I still have a long ways to go, but I'm getting there with God's help!

I hope by sharing this information others will reconsider their eating habits and perhaps avoid growing those Cancer cells! I managed to down 4 cups of green tea the first 3 days after attending this meeting. Please continue praying that I will acquire a taste for it--still not good!