Hello gang! I am wanting to eat the right foods to discourage tumor growth, but I am a little confused. I have heard that sarcoma is different than other cancers when it comes to the pH balance. I have heard I should eat red meat, eggs and lots of protein. Don't know if this is true. Has anyone met with a doctor or nutrientionist that talked about diet? I know green tea is awesome, but other than that, nothing.
Hi Kim, my wife is very good with diet and nutrients etc, and we eat pretty healthy , lots of organic food etc. During our cancer journey we have done some research on food and personally I have come to the conclusion that a healthy diet is good enough. I don’t think diet is going to make a big difference, and it’s about healthy habits. During certain procedures eg chemo & surgery, I think my diet has gone backwards and I have crazed lots of odd foods , generally fats and sugars and I think that is ok. I think the body is rebuilding and it’s just a quick way to get calories and fat on board. As soon as I get well I tend to get back to healthier habits, eg lots of greens, less fats. Eat what your body craves and enjoy it!
Have you seen this video, Can you starve cancer? Not sure if I agree with this but its really interesting
http://blog.ted.com/2010/05/17/can_we_eat_to_s/
My guts feeling tell me that the one diet fits all is no more valid than the one chemo fits all. Not only sarcoma is likely different than other cancer, synovial sarcoma is likely different than other sarcoma and among synovial sarcoma patients, not everybody reacts to treatments the same way and I don't see any reason why they would react to diet the same way.
I was also told by different nurses to eat a lot of protein but that was during chemo and my understanding at the time was that it helped the blood cells rebuilt. I am not sure whether it is based on any study and I am not sure it is a recommendation that goes beyond chemo treatment.
On the other hand, I believe that having a diet that you feel is healthy has a kind of placebo effect and may help you in your journey.
I came across a couple of article that discuss some specific elements of diet that can be useful for cancer (of course they discuss cancer in general and not synovial sarcoma in particular):
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2784186/
http://www.springerlink.com/content/q076607q88x373p3/Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines for Cancer Survivors:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.3322/caac.21142/pdf
This is based on studies done on common types of cancer, like breast cancer but it gives an idea on the type of influences food or exercise can have.