Image Source: morgueFile / pippalou

Image Source: morgueFile / pippalou

The Best Diet For Hormone Receptor Positive Breast Cancers

I am often asked “What is the best diet for someone with hormone receptor positive breast cancer?”  Research indicates that nearly two-thirds of invasive breast cancer is classified as hormone receptor positive, so it’s a really great question to ask.

The quality of your diet and nutrition while going through  breast cancer can play a pivotol role, not only for getting well, but also for staying well and avoiding recurrences.

What Does Hormone Receptor Positive Mean?

If the term “hormone receptor positive” is unfamiliar to you, it is a term employed when after a tumor has been removed and examined by a pathologist, the tumor was found to have an abundance of hormone (estrogen and progesterone) receptors on the surface of the tumor’s cells.  This indicates to your doctor that the growth of the tumor was being fueled by hormones.  Whether that means the body’s own hormones (endogenous) were fueling the process, or hormones that came from the environment (as in xenoestrogens) is a subject of contention and covered by other articles in this website.

As a sort of short-hand, a breast tumor that is being driven by estrogen is termed “ER+”, a tumor that is fueled by progesterone is termed “PR+” and has both estrogen receptor positive (ER+) and if the tumor is fed by both hormones, it is termed “ER+/PR+”.

So Does A Good Diet Make A Difference?

Yes, absolutely it does.  We now have plenty of research to support the claim that certain foods do have an inhibitory effect on breast cancer cells.  In addition, it has been found that the combination of 30 minutes of daily exercise combined with a good diet full of vegetables and fruit gives the very best protection – much more than either one of those things on its own.

Food That You Should Include In Your Diet If You Have ER+/PR+ Breast Cancer

Whenever you possibly can, try to ensure that these are organic.  If you are trying to heal from cancer, you need to keep away from conventionally grown produce and meats as much as possible because of the pesticide and herbicide residues.  You can’t heal properly if the toxin load is high.  If you can’t get these organically grown, make sure to wash – wash – wash them!  Soaking them in a tub of fresh water with a little white vinegar for a few minutes, then rinsing well can help to detox them.

Here’s the list:

Acai, apples, apricot kernels, arugula, avocados, basil, beets, beet greens, bell peppers, bilberries, black pepper, blackberries, blueberries, bok choy, boysenberries, bran, brown rice, buckwheat, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chia seeds, chicken (organic), chives, cherries, coconut oil, collard greens, cranberries, cucumber, currants, dry beans, durian, eggs, figs, flaxseed (freshly ground), garlic, ginger, goji berries, grapes, herring, honey (esp Manuka), hot peppers, kale, kiwi, lake trout, lemons, lettuce, limes, mackerel, mandarins, mangoes, mangosteen, maqui berries/powder, medicinal mushrooms, mustard, mustard greens, oats, olive oil, oranges, parsley, pineapple, pomegranates, pumpkin, radishes, raspberries, saffron, salmon (wild caught), sardines, seaweed, sesame seeds, spinach, squash, strawberries, tomatoes, turkey (organic), turmeric, turnips, turnip greens, walnuts, watercress, watermelon, zucchini

For information on the food that should be avoided, as well as a list of supplements and nutrients that support a healthy body and should be included in your health regime, see my page Diet and Cancer.

Thanks in part to http://foodforbreastcancer.com/ – written by Sarah Charles, herself a breast cancer survivor, and a woman of sharp intellect, Sarah has  a mathematics degree from UCLA and is a Harvard graduate.

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