Healthy Diet for Women with Breast Cancer

General
-Eat a wide variety of foods with as much fresh food as possible.
-Eat an abundance of vegetables and fruits (7-9 servings a day)
-Include omega 3 fatty acids in your diet
-Reduce fat to approximately 33 grams per day*
-Consider eliminating cow’s milk dairy.
-Any dairy or beef should be organic to avoid exposure to estrogenic hormones present in conventionally raised cattle.**
-Minimize consumption of refined carbohydrates, processed foods, and fast food.
-Include carbohydrates, fat, and protein at each meal
-If you use a microwave, never microwave in plastic or using plastic wrap as this introduces estrogenic hormone mimics into food

Carbohydrates
-The majority should be vegetables, fruits, beans, whole or cracked grains—or less refined, less-processed foods with low glycemic loads.
-Reduce your consumption of foods made with wheat flour (including whole wheat flour) and sugar.
-Avoid products made with high-fructose corn syrup

Fat
-For omega-3 fatty acids, eat salmon (preferably fresh or frozen wild or canned sockeye), sardines packed in water or olive oil, herring, black cod (also known as sablefish or butterfish), and walnuts; or take a fish oil supplement.
-Use extra-virgin olive oil as your main cooking oil. For a neutral-tasting oil, use expeller-pressed-organic canola oil.
-Include avocados and nuts, especially walnuts, cashews, and almonds
-Reduce your intake of saturated fat by eating less butter, cream, cheese, and other full-fat dairy products. Also reduce unskinned chicken, fatty meats, and products made with coconut and palm kernel oils.
-Avoid safflower and sunflower oils, corn oil, cottonseed oil, and mixed vegetable oils. Strictly avoid margarine, vegetable shortening, partially hydrogenated oils, and all products listing them as ingredients.

Protein
-Decrease your consumption of animal protein except for fish. Especially reduce consumption of beef (including organic) Avoid eating burnt meat, fish, or poultry.
-Eat more vegetable protein, especially from beans and nuts.
-Soy foods are controversial. In 2009 the LACE trial revealed reduced risk of breast cancer recurrence in women who ate soy foods. This was especially true for woman on Tamoxifen. (The Shanghai Breast Cancer Survival Study confirmed these findings.)

*especially important in receptor negative breast cancer
**especially important in receptor positive breast cancer

Fiber
-Include 1 tablespoon of freshly ground flaxseed in your diet daily. (Mix into yogurt, sprinkle on cereal or oatmeal, include in a smoothie.)
-Eat about 40 grams of fiber a day. To do so increase your consumption of fruit, especially berries, vegetables, beans, and whole grains. Cereals can be good fiber sources but read labels to be sure that flour or sugar is not first ingredient and that they have at least 4-5 grams of fiber per one-ounce serving.

Phytonutrients
-Choose fruits and vegetables from all parts of the color spectrum especially berries, tomatoes, orange and yellow fruits, and dark leafy greens.
-Choose organic produce whenever possible. Learn which conventionally grown crops carry the most pesticide residues and avoid them. (www.foodnews.org)
-Eat cruciferous vegetables daily (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and kale).
-Enjoy dark chocolate in moderation (minimum cocoa content %70)
-Include turmeric and ginger as spices in cooking

Beverages
-Drink 3-5 cups of green tea daily
-Drink 4 cups of pure water a day or drinks that are mostly water (tea, very diluted fruit juice, sparkling water with lemon)
-Minimize alcohol
-Get a home water purifier if your tap water tastes of chlorine or other contaminants or if you live in an area where the water is known or suspected to be contaminated.

Vitamins and Minerals
-The best way to obtain your daily vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients is by eating a diet high in fresh foods with an abundance of fruits and vegetables.
-The exception is Vitamin D which is made in the skin through exposure to sunlight. Get your 25(OH) Vitamin D level checked. Supplement dose will depend on your level.
-When not on chemotherapy or radiation therapy, supplement your diet with a multivitamin that contains:
                -Vitamin C, 200 milligrams a day
                -Vitamin E, 400 IU of natural mixed tocopherol (d-alpha-tocopherol with other
                 tocopherols, or 80 milligrams of mixed tocopherols and tocotrienols)
                -Selenium 200 micrograms
                -Mixed carotenoids, 10,000 to 15,000 IU daily
                -Calcium supplementation should be calculated—based on how much is in the
                 diet and then what needs to be supplemented
              -The multivitamin should not contain iron or performed vitamin A (retinol
                 palmitate)