How to optimize your breast cancer diet — an example

In this article, I use my own circumstances to provide an example of how a breast cancer survivor can optimize her diet using the information in the article How to optimize your breast cancer diet. Please note that I do not believe that any diet can cure breast cancer, but food choices have a role in improving your prognosis.

I, Sarah Charles, am a survivor of premenopausal, lobular breast cancer with LCIS that is hormone receptor positive (ER+/PR+), HER2 negative (HER2-), bilateral, multifocal, and familial. My mother died of breast cancer. Initially, I was told that I had a small, stage I tumor in one breast and would need just a lumpectomy and radiotherapy. After having undergone a lumpectomy and subsequent partial mastectomy, both without obtaining clean margins and having noticed symptoms in the other breast, I underwent a bilateral mastectomy and chemotherapy. I am not currently using an aromatase inhibitor or tamoxifen.

The first step is to examine information concerning my histological type, lobular breast cancer, in the article Foods to eat and avoid for lobular breast cancer patients & survivors.

I start making two personalized lists - one labeled Consume and another labeled Avoid - based on the information provided in the webpage. I reread the applicable food pages since these pages contain important advice, consumption limits, and other pertinent information. I decide not to include any foods in my personal Avoid list that I wouldn't normally eat anyway. Similarly, I don't include any foods in my Consume list that I actively dislike.

I then decide to take a quick look at the study links at the end of the article to see if there are any findings that pertain to me in particular. I jot down bits of information from the studies to keep in mind when I finalize my list.

The next step is to examine the information concerning my breast cancer subtype, ER+/PR+, in the article Foods to eat and avoid for ER+/PR+ patients and survivors. I use this article to continue to expand my two personal lists of foods (Consume and Avoid). I also note the following relevant lifestyle information from the article and related studies:

The last step is to add to my personal foods lists using those in the recommended foods and foods to avoid articles. These are more general lists of foods that have been reported to prevent or promote breast cancer without necessarily taking into account breast cancer type or subtype. However, the information I have already gathered concerning foods as they relate to my specific breast cancer type take precedence. For example, while alcohol should be limited for all breast cancer types, this is particularly true of my type, lobular breast cancer. Note that, for those undergoing active breast cancer treatment, the food lists based on that treatment should take highest precedence.

Again, I only include foods that I like or am interested in trying in my Consume list and foods I might be tempted to consume in my Avoid list. This means that the lists below are customized for me.

I keep the lists handy to consult in making shipping lists and to evaluate and modify recipes.

Selecting, shopping for, and preparing multiple servings of fruits and vegetables every day can be daunting. I was having trouble with this until I hit upon the strategy of consuming one large vegetable salad and one large fruit salad every day in addition to regular meals. I continue to enjoy additional pieces of fruit and cooked vegetables with meals.

It would also be possible to get multiple servings of fruits and vegetables using juicing and smoothie making strategies. However, note that no fiber should be discarded in the process. You can try making pancakes (similar to potato pancakes) with the fiber left over after juicing if you don't want to add it back into the juice.

I buy all the ingredients organic if at all possible. I prepare the vegetable salad in advance once per week and divide it into glass containers with BPA-free lids. The vegetable salad lasts a full week in the refrigerator, partly because I don't include any lettuce or other soft greens. I prepare a fruit salad daily. Below are my ingredients.

Main ingredients: English or Persian cucumbers (with skin), red onions. Other ingredients: Cabbage, capers, carrots, chives, fresh garlic, parsley, radicchio, shallots. Thousand Island dressing: Vegenaise mayonnaise, sugar-free ketchup, sweet pickle relish, wine vinegar.

Main ingredients: Blueberries, blackberries, dried cranberries or currants, grapes, raspberries, strawberries. Other ingredients in season: Apples, cherries, kiwifruit, papaya, passion fruit, watermelon.

Not impressed with my salad ingredients? I'm having second thoughts myself. Perhaps you can do better.

It's important to eat a wide variety of foods and to accommodate any dietary restrictions due to concurrent medical conditions and medications such as blood thinners. Work with a nutritionist or dietitian (sometimes available on oncology teams) if you feel uncomfortable about obtaining the right balance of carbohydrates, protein and fats, or other aspects of the diet.