healthy eating

Hi all, just an update, I have this for breakfast with banana & maple syrup or honey and milk. Researching the buckwheat (actually seeds, nothing to do with wheat) is interesting, make up your own minds, but this tastes great if you like porridge on these cold mornings . Sourced all at Woolies.

Overnight Buckwheat & Steel Cut Oats Breakfast  

Ingredients

·                     1 cup raw buckwheat groats (not toasted aka kasha)

·                     1 cup wholegrain oats

·                     5 cups water

·                     1 teaspoon cinnamon

·                     1/2 teaspoon cardamom

·                     1 teaspoon ground vanilla or vanilla extract

·                     pinch of himilayan salt

Optional ideas for topping:

·                     chopped dates, raisins, apricots or other dried fruit, unsweetened coconut flakes, fresh berry's of all kind,  coconut, almond, hazelnut or any non-dairy milk,  pure maple syrup, coconut sugar or other sweetener of choice, nuts and seeds of all kinds

In dutch oven or large pot, bring water and remaining ingredients to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, give a good stir, add more water as needed, replace lid and let sit overnight. Or you can carefully fill your mason jars (or other containers), cover and let sit overnight. Porridge will be fine on the counter, but if you wish you can place it in the refrigerator and it will still be fine.The next day fill your jars with a mix of toppings for grab & go time or simply top each jar when ready to eat.

I prefer to eat my porridge at room temp but you can heat yours either in the microwave for a minute or two.

Serves 5 - 6. Will last up to 5 days in the refrigerator.

hey all,, well its been a long time between blogs for me,, things sure have changed for me in the last 6 months,,

chrissy was good,, went and saw my sister in Esperance with my middle daughter,, but before that on the 13th dec 2013 my marriage ended,, yesss,,,,, oh well shit happens i guess,,

when i got back from Esperance i packed up my house while he watched tv day in day out,, lovely bloke ah! ans that time of the yr its DAM hot,, it sure wore me out.

then January 2014 i started a new life,, in West Ballidu,,WA,, and i love it,, im living on a farm of 2000achers and i only have to manage 1 acher hahah i have my animals down here and i love it,,,,

now i have been going to RPH in perth for treatment and Onc,, now i have to have Denosumab needles cos my calcium levels are low and dam Cruella is attacking my spine and has broken a rib,,, onya i say!!!!

i wnt be participating in the Mothers day walk ths year unfortunately,, need to get my bones in shape ahaha not my body haha

take it easy you all,,, cobie

isnt that amazing Julia,, i have been told that they are not good for my cancer and for the helth of me,,, so i just taking the word of the preffeciionals and not eating them,,,i have however taken to eating apples,, i have been told they are good for me,,, so when i talk to a diatition she tells me that apples are not good for me,, so who do i believe,, im just eating what i think is right but still staying away from mushrooms tho..

i will be checking out other sites tho,, if i find any that are interesting tho i will post them..

hope u had a lovely chrissy and go hard for new year,,xx

I'm in awe of my doctors and their ability just to stay current in their relative fields of experttise. I think it's unreasonable to also expect them to  be across all of the research into food. 

We're obviously not reading the same posts and I have seen several posts on this site that state categorically that a certain food or supplement will cure or prevent cancer without any reference to any research that backs this up. There's also links to people like 'Doctor Mercola' and reference to a number of other dubious sites. 

The reason I responded was because I think your statement about there being no harm in trying things on the basis that they can't hurt you can be incorrect. People can jeopardise their treatment with supplements or radical diets, or even by just eating far too much of something that would be healthy in normal quantities. I wanted to offer an alternative view because I think people need to be very careful about what they eat.

My oncologist has expressed her frustration regarding mushroom based supplements and alkaline diets along with anit-oxidant supplements. While all of these might be fine when we're out of chemo, we shouldn't risk counteractive foods or supplements. 

When it comes to recommendind alternative treatments I'm with Tim Minchin: "Do you know what they call alternative medicine that's been proven to work? Medicine."

Of course doctors can and do recommend a healthy diet. Perhaps some do recommend particular foods. But my personal experience positive3negative has been that other than recommend vitamin D supplements, medical professionals - my oncologist, nurses, a dietician - have all been unwilling to recommend anything more specific in realtion to diet than to eat a balanced diet with lots of vegetables. That's fine as far as it goes.

But it seems to me that certain foods are mentioned time and time again - in books, on websites, in scientific literature - as showing promise in minimising the risk of cancer occuring or recurring. These include cruciferous vegetables in particular, green tea, flaxseeds, carrots, apples, high fibre foods, omega-3 oils, walnuts, pomegranates to name a few. (I certainly don't claim to know everything on this topic.)

I don't think anyone on this feed has suggested that eating any one or any combination of these foods will prevent or cure cancer. In fact I took particular care to avoid making that suggestion in my posts. I agree that scientific literature is difficult for the layperson to interpret and  I understand that what may kill cancer cells in a petri dish doesn't necessarily work in the human body. And I also agree that we should discuss any dietry changes with our oncologists (especially while undergoing chemo).

But my point was that when study after study is suggesting that  a particular food may reduce the risk of cancer, and that food is generally healthy to eat anyway, it would seem reasonable to recommend to cancer patients to include that food in their diet. If doctors were more willing to do this, lay people, like myself and others on this site, wouldn't be forced to trawl through the internet trying to work out for ourselves what sources we should and shouln't trust.

I think you are selling the women on this site short. I've read barely any posts on this network about miracle cures through food or other means. I doubt that any of us after what we've been through expect to achieve total control over our health. However, i think all of us want to do whatever we can to safeguard our health as far as that is possible. And I for one would appreciate a little more information from the medical professionials about what the latest research is indicating in regard to food, information that may help tip the balance a little way in our favor. 

I 

Oh the voice of reason! Unfortunately the conversation seems to deteriorate considerably from here on down with lots of people claiming to 'know' all about nutrition and cancer. I often wonder  if people would be so liberal with their advice if they were held legally accountable for it.  

Nice try and excellent advice. Unfortunately, the desire to be 'in control' and to believe in 'miracle cures' seems to be so strong that there is no way to dissuade people from accepting unsubstantiated and often dangerous advice from dubious sources. It's one of the things I find very frustrating about this site. There's a risk that the misinformation gathers it's own momentum and convinces otherwise sensible people to try dangerous things.

In answer to your question 'What's the worst that can happen?" the answer, unfortunately, is that you can undermine your treatment.
I was all set to adopt a high anit-oxidant and reputedly 'cancer fighting' diet until my oncologist advised me that my chemotherapy worked by OXIDISING cancer cells. The diet could have worked against the chemotherapy. 

While I agree that there is a lot we can do to improve our survivial rates and quality of life by eating well I beleive we also need to be suspect of anyone trying to sell us supplements, books, remedies or miracles. Where there is money there is fraud and this is very true when it comes to cancer. Some of the 'diets' I've found are shockingly unhealthy, including the much touted 'alkaline diet' and another regime that prescribed coffee enemas!

Interpreting research is difficult because it's written in jargon, so most people just accept that when a journal article reports something has anti-cancer properties, it must be true. I often find that when I check the source research, the writer of the article has completely misunderstood the science or the findings.

Lots of things kill cancer cells in a petri dish or a test tube (in vitro). This does NOT mean they will kill cancer in something as complex as the human body. If you read that something prevents or cures cancer then see if you can find a double blind human trial with the results published in a peer reviewed journal. If it doesn't meet this standard then it's just 'promising' research. In other words, the substance being studied may OR MAY NOT cure cancer and more research is needed.

The same is true of research involving rats and other animals. Yes, results are interesting and will hopefully be used to argue for funding for a proper human trial, but don't use those results to conduct your own experiments on your body unless the substance being recommended is generally safe to eat. 

I don't know why there are people in this feed claiming that doctors can't recommend a healthy diet or a particular food. What's the basis for that claim? Of course a doctor can recommend changes to diet and you should certainly tell your doctor about anything you're doing because you might, without realising it, be undermining your treatment. Several medications come with a list of foods to avoid.

I think the real issue with food is that because it's one of the few things we can control it's tempting to believe that we can use it to take total control, to cure ourselves or to prevent recurrence. It's very appealing to believe that just by including certain foods or juices or supplements that we can be free forever from our fears and the appeal of that thinking tempts us to place far too much emphasis on the risks and benefits of a healthy diet.

Don't get me wrong. I believe that eating a healthy diet is one of the best things we can do to support our treatment. When it comes to 'superfoods' or anything 'cancer preventing' there are actually some things out there that pass the double blind trial standard, including omega 3, vitamin D and a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. But sorting out the legitimate research from the rubbish involves a lot more than just taking a journalist's word for it.

Be particularly mindful that having 'doctor' ahead of ones name doesn't qualify someone to give you medical advice. Always check what kind of 'doctor' a person really is, and whether they've been sanctioned for giving poor advice, as so many of the 'doctors' selling online products have been.

Thanks Deanne and Robyn,

and how easy is it to remember G-BOMBS and then to just put that food item with the initial. 

I have an ice cream shop, so did a roaring trade today, totally exhausted.

Merry Christmas and good riddance to 2013.

Viv