You Are What You Eat

When I was diagnosed with the GBM in June 2000, my diet behavior was not the best. Working hard as a busy mommy and wildlife biologist, our family’s diet was centered on frozen meals and fast foods filled with additives and preservatives. Not many fresh veggies and fruits, but more simple carbohydrates and junk foods.

When I was told I had “terminal” cancer, I was determined to change my daily diet and start eating healthy! Taking seriously the saying, “You are what you eat!”

I bought every book I could find on how to eat to win the fight with cancer. What to eat. What not to eat. I tried to be as strict as I could on eating with a healthy routine.

I started eating organic, cutting out foods with MSG, sodium nitrates, additives and preservatives. I started eating lots of veggies and fruits. Cut back on meat protein, eating only salmon, free ranged chicken, and wild elk, deer and duck my husband hunted for. Dropped out the white breads/potatoes/rice, any started eating whole grain foods. I stopped eating sugary foods and foods with high glycemic index.

The change in my diet made me feel healthy and whole.

In 2004 when my GBM came back, I started working with Dr. Jeanne M. Wallace, PhD, CNC; a great nutritionist. www.nutritional-solutions.net Following the Report she sent me with Guidance for a Cancer-Fighting Diet. Focusing on avoiding harmful food chemicals and eating only organic. Eating more veggies and fruits that are known to fight cancer, like berries, carotene rich foods, cruciferous veggies, flax seeds and oils, green tea, mushrooms, soy foods, etc. Eating more of the good omega 3 fats and less of the others. Balancing my blood sugar and insulin levels, by not eating sugars and simple carbohydrates.

Not that I am perfect at eating the best everyday. I may eat a piece of cake at a birthday party, eat non-organic foods while at dinner at a friends house, or a white dinner roll on Thanksgiving, or a bowl of ice cream on a hot summer day. I’m not perfect at it. But I do try to eat all organic and very healthy all that I can.

There are many internet web pages and books out there that cover the standards, what to eat and not eat while fighting cancer.