Pancreatic cancer diet - after the Whipple's procedure

[#1]

After two months of intensive research on the Internet about numerous healthy/organic/vegan/ you name it diets offered to "cure" cancer I've formed an opinion that just a diet can not cure cancer as each cancer is at the same time specific and different to another. So, an universal diet offered to cure all range of cancerogenic diseases is just - fluff. Our primary goal is to reinforce my partner's immune system before we commence with chemotherapy. We have been eating very healthy foods for years. Our family is very sporty and the body fat index in our home does not go over 15%. We are all fit and generally very healthy. We all undergo a variety of sporting exercises and training once a day be it running, jogging, boxing, weight lifting, yoga, basketball, mixed martial arts, plyometrics, swimming. So, after a week of narrowing down what may have caused this condition, including any potential abnormality my partner has experienced during the last 2 decades I think we may be one step closer to pin point the cause of the disease. At this stage it is all unconfirmed and we are going to be undertaking further consultations and tests, however the process of elimination has started and we are acting in accordance with what we believe may have caused it. As such the following diet has been considered to be the most appropriate for her. We do not recommend it to anyone else. Our intention is only to document it and share it. The List Broccoli, lentils, beans, cabbage, beetroot, carrot, sprouts, capsicum, leek, onion, spring onion, tomato, garlic, cauliflower, spinach, asparagus, eggplant and other dark green veggies. Fish - cooked or steamed, sometimes grilled Chicken - once a week Eggs low fat yogurt Flaxseed oil, sesame oil, virgin olive oil, coconut oil, oregano oil Spices - minced garlic, ginger, black cumin, chillies, turmenic, salt, pepper, curry, are the most common we use. NO sugar or any other sweetener apart from one tea spoon of organic honey in the morning. No pasta or yeast based breads. Only low GI carbs. Fruit - all berries, grapefruit, banana, apple, papaya, mango, kiwi, lime, lemon, occasionally orange. Predominantly grapefruit and bananas as well as papaya. Grains/cereals - organic gluten free oats, oats barn, buckwheat, linseed, psyllium husk, Slippery Elm powder. Everyday we make some sort of soup at least once a day. All of the fruit is being processed in a Vitamix blender. This is one of the most powerful blenders in the world. The blade reaches speeds over 200kh/h and breaks down everything on cellular level. We have bought it recently to help her digest foods easier. She drinks smoothies throughout a day (3-4 times). For instance; a handful of blueberries 3 table spoons of low fat Greek yogurt 1 teaspoon of honey 4-5 cubes of ice 100mL rice milk Or; 1 banana 1/4 of Papaya 100mL rice milk 200mL water She takes once a day 200mL of protein powder (no sugar). I usually buy Optimum Nutrition 100% Natural Whey Gold Standard - 2.27kg or Dymatize ISO 100 no carbs, no sugar. Supplements - Vitamin D 5000 IU a day, Calcium 1000 IU a day, Vitamin C, Magnesium, Garlicin, American Paw Paw (not Papaya) Cell Reg and a few other supplements that are less important such as Spirulina etc. Daily diet schedule 7am - 1 teaspoon of Sodium bicarbonate with a glass of water 7-7.30am - exercising (stretching, yoga, walk) 8am - breakfast (cereals with lots of black cumin)+ supplements 10am - snack (sandwich - using wholegrain yeast free lebanese pitta bread) 12pm - lunch (veggies and soup of some sort) 2pm - snack (protein powder + fruit/smoothie) 4pm - dinner (fish + veggies+ fruit) 6pm - Slippery Elm/ Psyllium husk drink 8pm - a piece of fruit or smoothie Garlic - fresh Australian grown - She takes one whole clove of garlic with a glass of water every 3-4 hours. Garlic produces allicin a substance that many claim has healing and immune system boosting powers. You can read about it on Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allicin However, allicin has a short half-life ( http://www.allicinfacts.com/allicin01.htm) and can not be manufactured so the only way is to swallow a whole clove with water and let it sit in your stomach slowly being digested by your system and in such a way have a constant supply of allicin over a few hours. We focus on 5 main supplements to boost her immune system; 1] Garlic (1 bulb a day) 2] PawPaw (6 caps a day) 3] Black cumin (50g a day) 4] Papaya (1/2 a day) 5] Vitamin D (5000IU a day)

[#2]

Why have we decided to opt for broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts and cabbage among other veggies? These vegetables were present in our diet way before the diagnosis but broccoli is now the single most consumed vegetable in my partner's diet. I3C and DIM Indole-3-carbinol (I3C) is produced from naturally occurring glucosinolates contained in a wide variety of plants including members of the family Cruciferae. Vegetables of the genus Brassica in the family Cruciferae contribute to most of our intake of glucosinolates and include all kinds of cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts. I3C is biologically active and it is easily converted in vivo to its dimeric product 3,3′-diindolylmethane (DIM), which is also biologically active. It has been found that both I3C and DIM inhibit cell proliferation and induces apoptotic cell death in a variety of cancers including pancreatic cancer (Abdelrahim et al., 2006). It has been reported that 13C induces apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells through the inhibition of STAT3 whose activation has been observed in human pancreatic carcinoma specimens and pancreatic cell line but not in normal pancreatic tissues (Lian et al., 2004), suggesting that I3C and DIM could have some beneficial effects on pancreatic cancer. The intake of Turmeric has certainly increased since the diagnosis. Curcumin Curcumin is a compound from Curcuma longa (tumeric). C. longa is a plant widely cultivated in tropical regions of Asia and Central America. Curcumin has recently received considerable attention due to its pronounced anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, immunomodulating, anti-atherogenic, and anti-carcinogenic activities. It has been found that curcumin suppress the activation of NF-κB through inhibition of IKK activity in pancreatic cancer cells (Li et al., 2004a). By inhibition of NF-κB, curcumin also down-regulates the expression of COX-2, resulting in increased PGE2 and activation of several cytokines and chemokines especially IL-8. We have also found that curcumin inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis through down-regulation of Notch and NF-κB signaling in pancreatic cancer (Wang et al., 2006c), suggesting that curcumin could be useful for the prevention and/or treatment of pancreatic cancer similar to soy isoflavone genistein.

[#3]

Since Monday (9th Jan. 11) the weight loss due to malabsorption was 3kg-3.5kg (53.4kg down to 49.9kg in 2 days). After adjusting her Creon intake the "dumping process" stopped and her weight increased to 51.2kg as of this morning. Good appetite and reasonable food tolerance. We've realised that the last meal should be around 5pm. After 5pm we will try only with water or perhaps homemade kefir (fermented milk) as she enjoys it very much. Daily diet schedule 7am light breakfast - 1x Creon capsule (200cal) 9am snack - 1 Creon capsule (250cal) 11am solid meal - 2x Creon capsules (350-400cal) 1pm - lunch - 2x Creon capsules (450-500cal) 3pm - snack 1x Creon capsule (300cal) 5pm - dinner 1-2 Creon capsules (300-400cal) 7pm - water/kefir (0-30cal)

[#4]

The newly established routine seems to be working. The last two days were very good. No complaints of any sort. Her appetite is good especially in the morning. Eating solid foods is now preferred before 1pm. She is trying to maintain 300-400cal per meal earlier in the day. She is out and about with a g/f for the second time since the surgery. Her discipline with the medication, diet, and physical exercising is satisfactory. The post-operative pain is gone. She isn't on any painkillers anymore. It's been 39 days since the Whipple's procedure. The incision has healed. There is only some numbness in surrounding area. We are about to start using an electro-muscle stimulator (ESM) at a very low frequency/volume to stimulate rehabilitation of her abdominal muscles.

[#5]

Today, we have gotten the latest blood test results. We were interested in CA 19.9 tumor marker among other things. It has fallen from 138 (pre-surgery) to 41 (normal is <37 kiu/L. That was very encouraging. All other blood test results including liver function are within the limits and close to perfect. After fighting vitamin D deficiency she has now 76 nmo/L (normal >50 nmo/L). That's another box ticked off. Malabsorption - stabilised - but we need to adjust the diet schedule making the last meal of the day around 4pm. The reason? She rejects any food pass that time. The weight (loss) - stabilised, as well.

[#6]

The weight has been creeping up, slowly. It's 52.2kg and we are a kilo away from where she was before we had the malabsorption issue. She has been eating really really well. The energy level is up. She isn't getting tired so quickly and is less fatigued during the day. Our first meeting after the Whipple's procedure with an oncologist is tomorrow. They better be prepared as we have hundreds of questions to ask. :))

[#7]

The diet plan seems to be working fine. Good appetite and no more malabsorption. The weight is back to 53.0kg as of this morning. We went for a walk last night and she walked 2km plus she did manage to walk up the stairs. There is a place near my home with 100 stairs. She did it in one go. Feeling a bit sore in glutes and hamstrings today, which is a good thing. She is also back to driving her car as of today for the first time since the surgery.

[#8]

We have added the following to her diet; - home grown wheatgrass (home juicing) - Matcha (stone-ground Gyokuru green tea powder) - which is going to replace coffee. Her weight is at 53.5kg. Now, the next target is 57kg as it was her weight before the surgery.

[#9]

I've forgotten to mention that Creon (enzymes) are very important. We have learned that 6-8 capsules (25,000IU) are needed on daily basis rather than 2-3 as prescribed. Malabsorption has occurred and now we are getting that corrected. An useful article about enzymes; http://www.supportiveoncology.net/journal/articles/0608393.pdf

[#10]

Since she started taking PawPaw Cell Reg dietary supplement (2 caps x 3 daily) she feels slightly less energetic. But this may not be directly related to this supplement. It is only our speculation at this stage. This is also in contrast to what has been observed in many other patients; http://www.pawpawresearch.com/pawpaw-trials1.pdf (Page 7 - end of paragraph 1) So far, we have not observed any other side-effect. Considering that we will have regular blood tests (espec. for tumor markers) it will be interesting to note the potency of the supplement. I am particularly keen on scrutinising this product and finding any flaws. The chemo treatment starts in 10 days. We are continuing with the same diet as explained above. There were no modifications to it as she has been handling it really well.

[#11]

Her energy levels are back to normal. Diet remains the same. Fresh veggies predominantly with some fish. The only other protein - eggs and protein powder (2-3 times a day). The weight is between 52.5-53.5kg for the 2nd week. All good!

[#12]

Now when chemo has commenced daily protein intake will be doubled as of today. So far this is the only adjustment to the diet we will be making.

[#13]

Whether a mild insomnia since Friday is a side effect of Gemcitabine or not we have decided that if she can not fall asleep after midnight a meal or two will be added regardless of what the original plan was. Fri/Sat - she had one meal after midnight, while this morning she was up till 4am and had 2 additional meals.

[#14]

Thanks. I remember some info re Kanzius. I think these gold nanoparticles and heat control further spreading of cancer cells but only in patients who can not undergo surgery. All the best to you too.

[#15]

Yep, it is here; http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/87746.php That's why a clinical trial on humans is at least three to four years away, said the research team. This was published in 2007 so if there are not delays a clinical trial on humans may be about to commence?!

[#16]

It's encouraging to see science is acknowledging the positive effects of turmeric. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/218047.php

[#17]

It's amazing how quickly body can recover! Yesterday she could not eat or walk and then in the evening suddenly she got up, told me - I feel better - and was fine. Today, she had to get out and about and do some shopping. Eating really well today. She feels like munching on lots of radish among other things. Back to eating small but regular meals. This time the weight stayed at around 54kg.