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positive3negati's avatar
positive3negati
Member
12 years ago

Anti oxidants

Hi everyone,

I had some interesting advice from my oncologist the other day that I thought I would share.

It was just before my 3rd round of FEC. I'm having chemo prior to surgery.

At my first appointment my doc emphasised the need to avoid all supplements other than vitamin D (because we can't go in the sun) and fish oil if I wanted to keep taking it. She also advised that a multi-vitamin was permissible but not desirable and that she would prefer me to eat a good diet rather than supplements. She expressed her concern that some patients supplement their treatment with things that may counteract the effects of chemotherapy and specifically mentioned mushroom complex and mushroom supplements.

Because I've had friends send me links about the health benefits of 'turkey tail' mushrooms I asked her about this on my recent vist. She explained that  these supplements are full of anti-oxidants and that chemotherapy works by oxidising cancer cells, so the two things work against each other.

Because of all the hype about anti-oxidants I've been filling my diet with kale, beetroot, berries and anything else I can think of (including fresh mushrooms) and now it looks like that might not be such a great idea!

My oncologist tells me that eating well is important and that this should include a good range of fruits and vegetables but I'm certainly backing away from juices and high anti-oxidant 'super foods'.

 

chemotherapy
nutrition
  • Jewel's avatar
    Jewel
    Member
    12 years ago

    I agree, most definitely antioxidants after chemo are brilliant in restoring your cells after chemo and doing the mop up after such huge destruction.  Antioxidants are needed to protect and rejuvenate the healthy cells.  In the first week or two after a chemo treatment, as the oncologist says, the chemo drugs are oxidising and indiscriminately destroying cells, however, increasing your nutrition including high antioxidant foods after that, say in the third week of 3-week cycle chemo, will help the normal cells to recover in preparation for the next hit of chemo.  Those great juices are perfect at this stage and post chemo.

  • positive3negati's avatar
    positive3negati
    Member
    12 years ago

    Anti-oxidants are only an issue during chemotherapy and are very good for you otherwise. They help get rid of 'free radicals' in your system and that's a good thing.

    I'm not a fan of 'super foods' because they seem to come and go like clothing fashions, but I do love my vegetable juice with loads of beetroot, kale, carrots and berries. It's a huge supply of anti-oxidants so at the moment I'm just eating those foods whole and not juicing them.