Gonna Live My Life Everyday

To the surprise of no one I have done a lot of research since finishing treatment about how to ward of recurrence and about what environmental causes could contribute to cancer. As far as the research has come there are still many unknowns and conflicting reports. Below is a brief(ish) summary of some of the things that I am doing daily to keep myself cancer free. I believe it also demonstrates how being a cancer survivor makes it a lot easier to put on your crazy pants and go slightly overboard when reading and researching items [and talking about them].

Eating Organic on the Dirty Dozen
One of the pesticides used in conventional produce, RoundUp (glyphosate), is being studied for being an endocrine disruptor. From what I have read, it turns out that endocrine disruptors can then be stored in places such as mammary glands within the body. Seeing as I cut out a large chunk of my right mammary gland in September I would prefer not to have chemicals building up inside them. Organic produce, while using pesticides, do not use Round Up. The Dirty Dozen is the list of foods with the highest pesticide residue when tested after either being washed or peeled (how they are most commonly eaten).

The Dirty Dozen + two (here is the source)   
1. Apples (I eat an apple 5-6 x/wk)
2. Celery
3. Bell Peppers
4. Peaches
5. Strawberries
6. Necterine-Imported
7. Grapes
8. Spinach
9. Lettuce
10. Cucumbers
11. Blueberries-Domestic
12. Potatoes (I believe my love affair with potatoes are well documented on this site)
13. Green Beans
14. Kale and Collard Greens

Now, let me just say that I am cheap frugal. So this shift meant at the grocery store I needed to turn a blind eye to the prices and focus on them being the best for my health.

Avoiding Triclosan
Sometimes after I have done a lot of research on something I get to the point where I can't hold in a thought and filter it and end up going on a soap box rant. This occurred last week in the office. Many of my co-workers brush their teeth after lunch. We've had many a long discussion about what our dentists have told us about best toothpaste, etc. Based on our general dentist consensus we all use colgate. However, one of the ladies had Colgate Total. I took one look at the tube of toothpaste in her hand and out came the anti-triclosan word vomit. Triclosan is an anti-bacterial agent that is recommended to be avoided as it may help create super bacteria and is being investigated as an endocrine disruptor. After about 2 minutes of me spewing off what I read on the FDA and EPA websites everyone wrote down Triclosan to look for and avoid. Being investigated right now is enough for me to avoid and my toothpaste and soap are all triclosan free.

Cleaning Materials
Cleaning is a stress release, or at least it used to be. Cleaning off the counters, getting everything wiped down and washing the floor would always make me feel better. Then I started reading about cleaning chemicals and then I just sat and stared at my multipurpose cleaner. Staring down the bottle is a much less effective way to clean the house unless you have mastered Jedi mind tricks. I have curtailed this research for a little while as it was making me totally bananas and making me feel like I was going to need an ativan to clean the house, not the feeling I was going for. I remember when my friend beat lymphoma and she started cleaning everything with vinegar and baking soda. There are very specific reasons (such as were both a little cray cray) that her and I are friends.

Maintaining the Anti-Cancer Lifestyle
This means:

• 5-7 fruits and vegetables per day.
  Benefit of being a dietitian. Done and Done.
• 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise every week.
  Running, thankfully, is considered vigorous! I do 5.5 hours of vigorous exercise a week and 1.5 hours of moderate.
• Avoid alcoholI have always been a light drinker (1 or 2 alcoholic beverages a month at most) so cutting this out is thankfully a non-issue for me. Although the mechanism is still unclear, alcohol raises your circulating estrogen level. Tamoxifen, the drug I take every day to prevent recurrence, lowers circulating estrogen levels. I don't really want to do anything to work against all the good work I am doing.
• The Great Soy DebateAs the majority of the research I have is nutritionally based I can overall not get a straight answer on this. It would appear that whole soy foods (edamame, tofu) may be ok in small daily amounts and that they may even have a synergistic affect with the Tamoxifen. However, soy can produce some weak estrogen like effects. Given my cancer was ER+ I have decided to stay away from soy and particularly soy protein isolate. Soy protein isolate has a higher concentration of isoflavones which have the estrogen like effects. This means no protein bars, certain cereals and commercially produced veggie burgers. In the middle of chemo my mother got a panic stricken phone call from me "Mom I just ate a veggie burger from the freezer! All the soy! Ahhhh". Yup, because you know 1 veggie burger was going to cause recurrence.
• Filter tap water Faucet filter attached.
• Vitamin DI was found to be vitamin D deficient in 2011. This is one of the nutrients they are looking at and questioning if deficiency is related to cancer occurrence and recurrence. I am still waiting for my bloodwork to come back to see what level of supplement 1,000 IU vs 400 IU I should take everyday on top of my 3 servings of fortified dairy. 

I can often be found riding the bus ready some research about breast cancer and usually the nutrition related concepts. Some days I find I can't get enough. Other days I just read Game of Thrones or re-read Tina Fey's Bossypants. Just living my life. Everyday.

Here is a list of some of my sources:

• http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary/
• http://www.dana-farber.org/Health-Library/Nutrition-Plan-for-Breast-Cancer.aspx
• Rock, C., Doyle, C., Demark-Wahnefiried, W., et al (2012) Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines for Cancer Survivors. CA A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 62:242-274.
• Thomson, C. (2012). Diet and Breast Cancer: Understanding Risks and Benefits. Nutrition in Clinical Practice, 27(5): 636-650. DOI: 10.1177/0884533612454302.
• Trukova, K., Gustuch, J., Lammersfield, C., Liepa G (2012). Prevalence of  Vitamin D Insufficiency Among Breast Cancer Survivors. Nutrition in Clinical Practice, 27(1): 122-128. DOI: 10.1177/0884533611431461
• Hemmelgarn, M. Biotechnology and GMO: From Farm to Label. AND Public Policy Workshop. March 11, 2013. 
• http://www.epa.gov/endo/