June 13, 2025 • 32 mins
In this episode of The Breast Cancer Recovery Coach, we’ll dismantle three of the most common—and misleading—nutrition myths that many women encounter after a breast cancer diagnosis.
Whether you’re in active treatment or navigating life post-cancer, this conversation offers clarity, compassion, and practical advice rooted in science, not fear.
You’ll learn:
- Why not all carbohydrates are harmful and how whole-food carbs can actually support healing
- The truth about plant vs. animal foods and how to identify clean, high-quality animal proteins
- How “organic” and “plant-based” labels can mislead your food choices—and what to look for instead
If you've ever felt confused or overwhelmed by nutrition advice, this episode will help you reconnect with your body, make informed choices, and feel confident in the way you nourish yourself.
Topics Covered:
- The real difference between simple and complex carbohydrates
- How to eat carbs while maintaining stable blood sugar
- Nutrient density and bioavailability of animal vs. plant foods
- What qualifies as a clean animal food and why it matters
- The “health halo effect” of organic and plant-based labels
- Tips for tuning out food fear and tuning into what works for your body
Resources & References:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Unknown (00:00):
You're listening to better than before breast cancer
with the breast cancer recoverycoach, I'm your host, Laura
Lummer. I'm a certified lifecoach, and I'm a breast cancer
thriver. In this podcast, I willgive you the skills on the
insides and the tools to movepast the emotional and physical
trauma of a breast cancerdiagnosis if you're looking for
(00:22):
a way to create a life that'seven better than before breast
cancer, you've come to the rightplace. Let's get started. Hi
there, my beautiful friends.Welcome to Episode 415
of better than before breastcancer. With me. Laura Lummer,
the breast cancer recoverycoach, you know, I want to share
(00:44):
start off with a little story.When my youngest son was a kid,
there was a show calledMythbusters, and he was obsessed
with this show, and he watchedit so much that I kind of really
got engaged in it as well,because it was pretty
fascinating to learn truthsbehind certain things that we
believed, whether those thingswere actually true or whether
(01:05):
they weren't. So it's a superinteresting show. So for this
week's episode, I want to dosome myth busting, because I
hear a lot of challenges thatwomen face after a breast cancer
diagnosis, when they're tryingto support their body's recovery
and their healing, and they'reoptimizing their terrain, and
(01:26):
there's so much confusion overdifferent foods and what is safe
to eat because of what webelieve and all the
misinformation that we'rebombarded with. And maybe some
of it isn't misinformation, butit's not appropriate for you and
your unique individual, bioindividuality, right? If
(01:47):
anything that I learned instudying the metabolic approach
to wellness, in all that I'velearned with my studies with Dr
Nasha winters, it's commonsense, it's being reasonable,
and it's understanding your ownspecial body. And so I want to
talk about that so we can getreally clear on a couple of
(02:09):
popular myths. Because Godknows, I could go on probably
for a week talking about all ofthe myths when it comes to
nutrition and what serves us.But I want to just address three
important things, because theycome up, I would say, very
commonly with me, and I want tohelp you understand it from a
perspective of the metabolicapproach to supporting your
(02:31):
body. All right, so after abreast cancer diagnosis, even
before, I mean, people thatdon't have cancer are still
overwhelmed with all of thethings that they see on the
internet, right on social media,there are influencers out there
who are making money off ofpromoting certain products or
certain eating methods and justclaiming that this is the best
(02:52):
thing for everybody. And I'vesaid this before, and I'll say
it 100 million times, there'snot one thing that's good for
everybody, and that's what we'regoing to talk about today. So we
don't want to be so concernedwith what people tell us we have
to avoid, or we can't, like,take a sip of coffee, have a
(03:13):
piece of fruit, right? It's it'sjust not helpful to have these
very restrictive guidelines whenit comes to food, and I think it
fuels fear, and God knows, we'vegot enough fear already after a
cancer diagnosis, especiallywhen it comes to food. So I want
to start off with reminding youthat food has different purposes
(03:35):
depending on what your body isgoing through. What is your goal
with food? So let's say that youwant to be in a fitness
competition. Your goal with foodis going to be very different
than if you are trying tosupport your body in regulating
blood sugar and insulin afterbeing told you have diabetes or
(03:57):
pre diabetes. It's going to bevery different if you are
malnourished, is going to bevery different if you're
supporting the health of yourterrain, because you want to
heal from cancer or supporthealing or reduce your risk of
recurrence. So we have to thinkabout what our body needs and
what our goal with food is,because if we're using food from
(04:21):
a therapeutic point of view, atherapeutic perspective, making
food choices to support acertain goal that has to do with
our health, then we're going toapproach it differently. If
you're an active treatment oryou have active disease, your
food choices are going to carrya different urgency than someone
(04:43):
who has no active cancer, butthey're just trying to support
an overall healthy terrain. Sowe have to keep that into
consideration. What is the goalwith food? What's the urgency in
our state of wellness and beingwhen it comes to the way we're
using. Using food right is yourgoal to reduce inflammation, Is
(05:04):
your goal to support immunity?Is your goal to preserve muscle
mass, Is your goal to calm thenervous system? So, so many
different goals, but if you arepost treatment with no current
evidence of disease, thatconversation might shift from,
how am I supporting the terrainso that it can support my
(05:24):
treatment and my healing, versushow do I shift to nourishing
this body long term so that itcontinues to support the balance
of hormones, so that I canfigure out how to bring back the
joy of food and eat withoutfear, but still support my
wellness goals, right? There'sso much that can be involved in
(05:45):
this, so we have to understandwhat's important to us, and what
do we want from this amazing,joyful, beautiful thing we call
food. So we always have toremember that nutrition can't be
discussed without consideringthe context of what your body
needs right now, right? That'sthe most important voice in the
(06:08):
room, and it's going to changethroughout the seasons of life.
So today I want to break downthree myths that I see over and
over and over. And these can notonly create unnecessary fear,
but they can actually get in theway of supporting your
healthiest way of living andeating. So if you have wondered
(06:28):
and debated or or stressed aboutwhether you need to cut out all
carbohydrates, whether you needto stop eating animal food,
whether you need to buy onlyorganic keep tuned in, my
friend, because this episode isfor you. Let's start off with
the big myth. Myth number one,you gotta cut out all
(06:49):
carbohydrates, because sugarfeeds cancer. Okay, let's start
here. This myth causes so muchfear, and I certainly have felt
that fear after hearing sugarfeeds cancer. Many of us believe
that we have to eliminate allforms of carbohydrate, including
greens, fruits, removedvegetables. But here's the real
(07:14):
truth, vegetables arecarbohydrates. One day, I was
having lunch with one of myfriends, and she was saying
something about nocarbohydrates. And I said, Well,
we have to consider all forms ofcarbohydrates, like vegetables.
And she goes, Well, vegetablesaren't carbohydrates. Well,
we've got three macronutrients,right? Fats, protein and
(07:34):
carbohydrates. We don't haveadditional and fruits and
vegetables. Fruits andvegetables are carbohydrates, so
are lentils, berries, squashes,and that doesn't mean they're
bad foods. They're they can bevery nourishing when eaten as
part of a balanced diet, or ifthey fit into your nutrition
(07:55):
needs and goals. So there's aworld of difference between
simple carbohydrates likepastries and soda and white
bread and complex carbohydratesthat contain fiber and vitamins
and antioxidants. So alsothinking about consuming
carbohydrates whole, healthycarbohydrates that suit your
(08:16):
needs, we also have to thinkabout the way that we eat and
the way that we combine ourfoods, so even if we're eating a
piece of fruit, for example. SoI happen to be very sensitive to
fruit, and it can spike my bloodsugar super easily. But I like
berries, and I want to have somesweetness every now and then,
what human being doesn't so whenI have my blueberries or my
(08:41):
raspberries or my blackberries,I also have them with some form
of fat, right? I am notsensitive to dairy, so I can
have dairy. So I have a wholepasture raised version of heavy
whipping cream that I drizzle onmy berries and I sprinkle them
with cinnamon. Cinnamon alsohelps regulate blood sugar, and
it also supports good digestion.So we have to think of the way
(09:04):
we eat our food in its totality,and when we do that, we can help
that food digest a little moreslowly, which supports healthy
blood sugar management and canbe very nourishing for our
metabolism. So let's talk aboutsome of the science behind this
in 2013 there was a study in thenutrition journal that found
(09:25):
that low glycemic load diets.What is a glycemic load? It is
the basically the amount ofblood of sugar and the way
that's going to affect yourblood sugar when you eat it,
right? So a low glycemic load isa food that's not going to have
a huge impact on your bloodsugar when it's consumed. So in
the study, they found that lowglycemic load diets that
(09:46):
prioritized whole foodcarbohydrates help to reduce
insulin resistance. What'sinsulin resistance? When our we
eat something that increases ourblood sugar, our pancreas
produces insulin, and if we.Have too high a blood sugar for
too long a period of time, andour body keeps producing more
and more insulin to getourselves to absorb that blood
(10:07):
sugar. Eventually, the cellsbecome resistant to that
insulin. It's like we're full.We're stopped. The house is full
of sugar. The pantry can't takeanymore, and then the body
continues to produce moreinsulin. And this is a whole
other podcast, right? Becausethis is what is kind of the
driving diabetes, pre diabetes,inflammatory processes in the
(10:27):
body, it can be a big mess,right? So this study found that
these low glycemic diets thatprioritized whole food
carbohydrates reduced insulinresistance so your body doesn't
have to make as much of it, andit improved metabolic markers in
breast cancer survivors. In thisstudy, it said that low glycemic
load dietary patterns wereassociated with reduced risk of
(10:52):
recurrence and all causemortality. What does all cause
mortality means? It meanseverything that could result in
our death, right? So these lowglycemic diets improved our risk
of all cause mortality, which issuper powerful. There was
another study that I found in2020. Was published, and it was
(11:12):
a meta analysis in the anals ofoncology. A meta analysis is
where you take multiple studiesand look at all of the data
together. And this study showedthat the higher fiber intake
from whole food carbohydrateswas associated with lower breast
cancer risk. The finding wasthat each 10 grams a day in of
(11:33):
increased fiber intake wasassociated with a 7% lower risk
of breast cancer. That's prettyimpressive. And then research in
diabetes care, published in 2009showed that combining
carbohydrates with fats andproteins significantly reduced
blood sugar and insulin spikes.So it said that CO ingestion of
(11:56):
fat or protein with carbohydrateblunted postprandial or after
eating, glycemic response bloodsugar spikes, and it reduced
these postprandial glycemicresponses by up to 50%
so instead of thinking aboutcutting out all carbohydrates,
(12:17):
the real healing opportunity isto choose wisely, pair,
mindfully, honor your body'sresponses and needs. So as
someone who's healing fromactive disease, I keep my
carbohydrate intake at 20 gramsof carbohydrates or less a day.
That's pretty restrictive, butthere's a bigger sense of
(12:39):
urgency in supporting my body'sability to heal from active
disease. For other people, maybe50 grams of carbohydrate per day
can keep their body in a healthyand balanced state between their
blood sugar and their insulin.It's different for every person,
and we have to understand how wemanage that within our bodies.
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How do you know what's working,and how do you come across a
dietary program that serves yourneeds? So this is about food
quality and remembering that notevery food is good for
everybody, and not one food isbad for everybody. All right,
now, of course, I am not talkingabout Ultra processed food, and
(13:23):
we're going to get to that in aminute here, but I'm talking
about Whole Foods. Okay, alwaysWhole Foods. We're starting with
food first, so choosing ourfoods wisely and thinking about
what our goals are and the stateof our health in this moment
that we are using food to serve,okay? Myth number two, plant
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foods are always better thananimal foods. When you get a
diagnosis of something asserious as breast cancer, how
many people tell you, you gottabe a vegan, right? How many
people say, Oh, you gotta cutout meat. Stop eating meat.
Well, friends, I can tell youthat I was a vegetarian for
(14:08):
nearly a decade before my firstdiagnosis of breast cancer, and
I can tell you that I haveworked with multiple people who
are vegans who still havecancer. Okay, so this is a very
wellnessy kind of mentality,right? So it's just like, Wow, a
(14:29):
plant based diet is the absolutebest diet anybody could be on
and the healthiest. Well, plantfoods are very deeply healing
and nourishing, but saying thatthey're always better than
animal foods over simplifiesagain a complex picture, right?
Nutrition is not black andwhite. So here's what matters
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most in our overall health, insupporting and optimizing the
health of our terrain. What.Matters most is nutrient density
and bioavailability. What doesthat mean? Nutrient density, how
much nourishment, how manynutrients are in your food, how
easy is it for your body toabsorb and use those nutrients
(15:13):
in your food? So some of themost important nutrients for
healing, like B, 12, heme, iron,zinc, vitamin A, D, d3, omega
threes. These can either be hardto get from plants or not as bio
available. So when we look up,let's say, like in some kind of
food tracking or we ask Google,hey, what's the nutrient value
(15:36):
of a cup of spinach? And ittells us what's in that food.
That does not mean that our bodycan absorb all of that. And in
fact, in many plant foods, thereare different elements in the
food that block certain othernutrient absorptions in that
same food. So we had tounderstand what we're what our
(15:57):
body is actually absorbing,which obviously we have to think
about the health of our gut, andwe also have to think about our
genetic snips, our geneticvariants. And I will tell you,
in my personal experience withdozens of people who have looked
at their nutrition genomes,
I'm trying to think of maybe oneor two in all of them, less than
(16:23):
a handful of people whoseassessments I've done have had
optimal levels of vitamin D. Sowhat does that tell you? B 12,
high homocysteine, which is areflection of absorption and
utilization of B 12. So it's areally interesting, complex kind
of state of being. So there areimportant nutrients. Are we
(16:44):
getting enough of them? Are weabsorbing them, and do we need
to increase them throughdifferent food intakes to
support what our body is capableof doing, right? So this is why
clean, high quality animal foodscan play a very meaningful role
in your healing. They canespecially impact your energy,
(17:06):
your muscle mass, and yournutrient status, especially even
if it has already or isconsistently taking a hit from
treatment. Right? I am on anoral chemotherapy, so when I'm
using my food, I am constantlytrying to support my terrain,
the health of my overall body,so that the treatments that I'm
(17:29):
on can be more effective, butthat I can also feel good and
have a good amount of energywhile I'm undergoing harsh
treatments. Okay, so we have tothink about the role nutrient
plays nutrients plight. So let'stalk about what a clean animal
food is. So when we're talkingabout beef, we want grass fed
and grass finished. Right? A lotof people look at grass fed and
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don't take that next step andsay, Is this also grass
finished? What does that mean?Well, when we eat grains. So
let's go back to talking aboutcarbohydrates. When we eat
grains, it typically fattens usup. All right. So when different
farmers or ranchers are raisingcows and they are grass feeding
(18:16):
these cows, many times theygrain finish them and they are
grain finished to fatten themup. Because the more fat a cut
of meat has in it, the juicierand more tender that meat tends
to be when you cook it, right?So when you go to many butchers,
they're going to grain finishtheir beef to fatten it up.
(18:37):
Okay, so we need to think aboutthat. Why is this important?
Because beef that comes fromcows that eat only grass, not
corn, not soy, not grains, thismeans that it's higher in anti
inflammatory, omega threes andantioxidants like vitamin E.
When we're talking about poultryand eggs, we want pasture raised
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poultry and eggs. This meansthat the chickens are raised
outdoors on a natural diet, andthey produce eggs that are
richer in vitamin D, choline,choline, which is a very
important part of of supportingour DNA repair, reducing
inflammation in the body, andsupporting a process called
methylation when we have thesepasture raised poultry and eggs,
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we tend to have more vitamin D,more choline and healthy fats in
them, and they're less likely tocontain any antibiotic residues.
We want to eat wild caught fish,especially fatty fish, like
salmon. Mackerel is a veryhealthy one. You gotta have a
certain taste for mackerel. Idon't have that taste sardines.
(19:45):
I actually really love sardines.To me, they're just just like
tuna and so wild fish typicallyhave fewer toxins. Now, again,
caveat, right? You gotta knowwhat's going on in your ocean,
right? And understand that.Because, unfortunately.
Definitely there's a huge toxicburden in our ocean these days,
so we have to be mindful of howmuch fish we're actually
(20:07):
consuming. But if it's wildcaught, it does tend to have
fewer toxins and a better Omegathree to omega six ratio than a
farmed fish, and a farm havingthat bigger Omega three to six
ratio can reduce inflammationand support heart and brain
health. Another great animalproduct is organ meats, like
liver, okay, gross. I know a lotof people like to eat it. I
(20:31):
certainly don't. So we can getsome of that through
supplementation, but there aredifferent ways. Like, I know
Whole Foods carries a kind of ait looks like a ground beef, but
it's a mixture of beef and organmeats, so it makes it a little
less strong and intense. Butliver is one of those really
nutrient dense foods, one of themost nutrient dense foods on the
(20:52):
planet. It's packed with ironand vitamin A and B 12, and
these are nutrients that areoften depleted after cancer
treatment. You know, I've done afew podcasts now, or I don't
know, I've at least one thattalks about how different cancer
medications impact our abilityto absorb certain nutrients. So
it's an important thing to keepin mind, just because we're
(21:14):
eating something, and we say,and I hear this often, but I eat
plenty of vegetables, are weabsorbing it? What else are we
doing, like taking medicationsor undergoing treatments that
may be impacting theavailability of those nutrients
or blocking the absorption ofthose nutrients? Okay, so it's
an important thing to thinkabout. Another thing is raw or
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low temperature, cooked whenpossible. Of course, we're not.
We're going to be very carefulwith cooking animal foods,
because we want to make surethat we do not get food
poisoning or E coli or anythingelse like that. So we want to
make sure we're very carefulwith the way that we eat and
that is safely prepared. Butgentle cooking can help to
preserve nutrients like omegathrees and certain B vitamins,
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and it can help to reduceformation of harmful compounds
like advanced they're calledadvanced glycation end products
or ages. And so even when we'rewe're grilling meat or cooking
something really fast, we getthat charcoal stuff on them that
can be hard for our body todetoxify, right? So slow cooking
the meat and making sure thatit's cooked to a safe
(22:21):
temperature to consume. So let'stalk about some of the research
behind this in the Journal ofNutrition. In 2018 a study was
published that found that womenwho consumed more animal protein
had better muscle mass andstrength, and that is critical
for healthy aging and for cancerrecovery, this study said that
(22:43):
animal protein was more stronglyassociated with lean mass and
strength than plant protein.There was a 2013 meta analysis,
again, looking at multiplestudies and evaluating the
findings from these studies inthe British Medicine Journal,
and this showed that a higherintake of marine omega threes
(23:04):
was associated with a lower riskof breast cancer. So it said
that each point one gramincrement of marine Omega three
intake was associated with a 5%lower risk. That's pretty
impressive. Then there was a2020, review in the journal
nutrients, and that explainedthat plant only diets often
(23:27):
lacked key nutrients unlessmeticulously supplemented or
plant and I want to make surethat's an important thing,
because I have met a couple, nota lot, a couple of People who
are follow a vegan diet, who arevery careful. Vegan diets can be
very high in carbohydrates, andthese people are trying to
(23:48):
support themselves in recoveringfrom cancer, so they're very
careful that their vegan diet isnot full of grains, but that
it's full of vegetables, right?So this is an important thing,
and they have to beunderstanding and watching labs
and understanding where they maybe experiencing nutrient
deficiencies and working withsomeone who's a professional and
(24:10):
who is capable of recommendingand prescribing the right kinds
of supplements to support theirdiet, right so when that's done,
but it takes a lot of intentionand energy, than a vegan diet
can be healthy, right? Butmeticulous, I think, is an is a
very important word here. Itdoes take intention and
planning, right? This study saidthat supplementation or careful
(24:33):
planning is essential to avoiddeficiency in exclusively plant
based diets. And I could notagree more from my own
experience and what I see inclients that I work with. So
let's be clear, this is notabout meat versus vegetables.
It's about how you nourish yourbody with the right tools that
(24:56):
it needs to recover and feelstrong again, and how do. We
understand the body's needs andwhat foods serve that, right? So
just like an integrated approachto wellness, as I always say,
it's not about standard care orcomplementary care, it's about
taking the best of both worldsand bringing them together in a
way that serves you all right.Myth number three, I love this
(25:19):
one if it's labeled organic orplant based, it's got to be
healthy, right? Let's talk aboutlabels, because this really, I
don't know, it's frustrating,like I saw some bottles of water
that literally had on them,gluten free.
Okay? It's water fat free. I'veseen labels on foods that it's
(25:43):
just amazing to me whatcompanies are trying to put into
people's mind, but it works. Andso this really plays on good
intentions, right? We have goodintentions for ourselves. We see
organic, we see plant based, wesee natural on the package. And
we automatically think this hasto be good for me, but that is
marketing talking, and notnecessarily nutrients. So
(26:07):
organic just means a food thatwas grown or raised without
synthetic pesticides orantibiotics. Okay. It does not
mean that the product isnutrient rich, nutrient rich or
unprocessed. So plant basedsounds very virtuous, but it can
still be full of starches, gums,artificial sweeteners and seed
(26:31):
oils. So this is what we callthe health halo effect, and that
means when health orientedlabels lead us to believe that a
food is healthier than it reallyis, even when the ingredients
tell us otherwise. So readinglabels is really important,
friends. So let's talk about theresearch when it comes to this.
There was a 2013 study in foodquality and preferences, and it
(26:55):
found that people rated the samefoods as healthier and lower in
calories if those foods werelabeled organic, even though
they were identical toconventional versions. This
study said that participantsbelieved the organic labeled
cookies were lower in caloriesand healthier even though they
(27:18):
were identical to theconventional cookie, right? So
we've got to think about whatfood marketers are doing. I
actually spoke to someonerecently who was recently
diagnosed with cancer, and thisperson was drinking a Dr Pepper,
and they said to me, well, atleast it's healthier than the
other versions of soda. And Iwas baffled by that. Why is the
(27:45):
doctor pepper in your mindhealthier than another version
of soda? But they had heard someinformation that really, they
really and truly believed thatthis was healthy, right? So
we've gotta think about whatmarketers are putting into our
minds. There was a 2018 study inappetite that showed natural and
plant based labels madeparticipants more likely to view
(28:08):
processed snacks as healthierand overlook the sugar, salt or
fat content in those foods. Thisstudy said that labeling foods
as natural or plant basedcreated a false sense of health,
reducing concerns about sugarand fat content. So gotta be
careful. There was a, finally, a2019 paper in appetite, and it
(28:31):
focused specifically on plantbased health halos, and it found
that people perceived snacks ashealthier based on labeling
alone, even when the nutritionalprofile told a different story.
So health halos, this studysaid, led to significantly lower
risk perception of processedplant based snacks, and that
(28:54):
fascinating. So what's thetakeaway from this myth? It's
just because something isorganic or plant based, does not
mean it belongs on your healingplate. Read the label, ask how
it was made. Look foringredients like seed oils and
sugars and dyes, food colorings,flavorings, and most of all,
(29:16):
tune into how your body feelswhen you eat it. If you're
making a choice like that, eatit mindfully and notice how your
body responds to it. Right?There's so much freedom in
learning how to nourish yourselfin a way that's grounded in real
food. Real food, not fear, notfads, and definitely not food
(29:38):
marketing. I think that mindfuleating is probably one of the
best nutrition practices that wecan have because that is means
we're sitting with our food.We're connecting to our food.
We're seeing how our bodyresponds to our food. And we can
ask ourselves, am I choosingthis food because it supports my
body's ability to heal, orbecause someone told me I should
(29:59):
i. And if you're still trying tofigure that out, it's okay, it's
a process. But your body is sosmart. Human bodies are so
innately intelligent, it'sabsolutely fascinating. Your
body will let you know. So payattention. How is it feeling?
Does it have energy crashes? Isthere bloating? Is there gas? Is
there constipation? Is therediarrhea? Is your skin breaking
(30:22):
out? You know, do you feel afunk when you eat certain foods?
This is your body telling youhow it's responding to food. And
if we're mindful and payingattention, and not just eating
in front of the computer andwatching TV and driving the car
and running the kids everywhere,but we're actually sitting with
our food, which is a veryimportant health practice, that
we're going to start to tuneinto what our body needs and
(30:43):
what it loves. Now, if you wantmore help and support with that,
go to my website, the breastcancer recovery coach.com I've
got free downloads right thereon the homepage, how to eat
without fear and guilt afterbreast cancer is one of them,
and you can come and work withme in my better than before
breast cancer. It's got a newname that I think really
captures what it is better. Iused to call it the life
(31:04):
coaching membership, but it isnow the better than before
breast cancer mindset andmetabolic membership, because
inside that membership, it's allabout working on our mindset in
every possible aspect of ourlife, and understanding how to
nourish ourself and supportoptimizing the health of the
terrain of the beautiful bodythat you're existing in. You can
(31:26):
find all the details at thebreast cancer recovery coach.com
and I'll talk to you again nextweek. Until then, take good care
of yourself.
You've put your courage to thetest, laid all your doubts to
rest. Your mind is clearer thanbefore. Your heart is full and
(31:48):
wanting more. Your Future's atthe door. Give it all you got
no hesitating. You've beenwaiting all your life.
You've been waiting all your
life. This is your moment.
(32:22):
This is this is your moment toshine. To shine.
You're listening to better than before breast cancer
with the breast cancer recoverycoach, I'm your host, Laura
Lummer. I'm a certified lifecoach, and I'm a breast cancer
thriver. In this podcast, I willgive you the skills on the
insides and the tools to movepast the emotional and physical
trauma of a breast cancerdiagnosis if you're looking for
(00:22):
a way to create a life that'seven better than before breast
cancer, you've come to the rightplace. Let's get started. Hi
there, my beautiful friends.Welcome to Episode 415
of better than before breastcancer. With me. Laura Lummer,
the breast cancer recoverycoach, you know, I want to share
(00:44):
start off with a little story.When my youngest son was a kid,
there was a show calledMythbusters, and he was obsessed
with this show, and he watchedit so much that I kind of really
got engaged in it as well,because it was pretty
fascinating to learn truthsbehind certain things that we
believed, whether those thingswere actually true or whether
(01:05):
they weren't. So it's a superinteresting show. So for this
week's episode, I want to dosome myth busting, because I
hear a lot of challenges thatwomen face after a breast cancer
diagnosis, when they're tryingto support their body's recovery
and their healing, and they'reoptimizing their terrain, and
(01:26):
there's so much confusion overdifferent foods and what is safe
to eat because of what webelieve and all the
misinformation that we'rebombarded with. And maybe some
of it isn't misinformation, butit's not appropriate for you and
your unique individual, bioindividuality, right? If
(01:47):
anything that I learned instudying the metabolic approach
to wellness, in all that I'velearned with my studies with Dr
Nasha winters, it's commonsense, it's being reasonable,
and it's understanding your ownspecial body. And so I want to
talk about that so we can getreally clear on a couple of
(02:09):
popular myths. Because Godknows, I could go on probably
for a week talking about all ofthe myths when it comes to
nutrition and what serves us.But I want to just address three
important things, because theycome up, I would say, very
commonly with me, and I want tohelp you understand it from a
perspective of the metabolicapproach to supporting your
(02:31):
body. All right, so after abreast cancer diagnosis, even
before, I mean, people thatdon't have cancer are still
overwhelmed with all of thethings that they see on the
internet, right on social media,there are influencers out there
who are making money off ofpromoting certain products or
certain eating methods and justclaiming that this is the best
(02:52):
thing for everybody. And I'vesaid this before, and I'll say
it 100 million times, there'snot one thing that's good for
everybody, and that's what we'regoing to talk about today. So we
don't want to be so concernedwith what people tell us we have
to avoid, or we can't, like,take a sip of coffee, have a
(03:13):
piece of fruit, right? It's it'sjust not helpful to have these
very restrictive guidelines whenit comes to food, and I think it
fuels fear, and God knows, we'vegot enough fear already after a
cancer diagnosis, especiallywhen it comes to food. So I want
to start off with reminding youthat food has different purposes
(03:35):
depending on what your body isgoing through. What is your goal
with food? So let's say that youwant to be in a fitness
competition. Your goal with foodis going to be very different
than if you are trying tosupport your body in regulating
blood sugar and insulin afterbeing told you have diabetes or
(03:57):
pre diabetes. It's going to bevery different if you are
malnourished, is going to bevery different if you're
supporting the health of yourterrain, because you want to
heal from cancer or supporthealing or reduce your risk of
recurrence. So we have to thinkabout what our body needs and
what our goal with food is,because if we're using food from
(04:21):
a therapeutic point of view, atherapeutic perspective, making
food choices to support acertain goal that has to do with
our health, then we're going toapproach it differently. If
you're an active treatment oryou have active disease, your
food choices are going to carrya different urgency than someone
(04:43):
who has no active cancer, butthey're just trying to support
an overall healthy terrain. Sowe have to keep that into
consideration. What is the goalwith food? What's the urgency in
our state of wellness and beingwhen it comes to the way we're
using. Using food right is yourgoal to reduce inflammation, Is
(05:04):
your goal to support immunity?Is your goal to preserve muscle
mass, Is your goal to calm thenervous system? So, so many
different goals, but if you arepost treatment with no current
evidence of disease, thatconversation might shift from,
how am I supporting the terrainso that it can support my
(05:24):
treatment and my healing, versushow do I shift to nourishing
this body long term so that itcontinues to support the balance
of hormones, so that I canfigure out how to bring back the
joy of food and eat withoutfear, but still support my
wellness goals, right? There'sso much that can be involved in
(05:45):
this, so we have to understandwhat's important to us, and what
do we want from this amazing,joyful, beautiful thing we call
food. So we always have toremember that nutrition can't be
discussed without consideringthe context of what your body
needs right now, right? That'sthe most important voice in the
(06:08):
room, and it's going to changethroughout the seasons of life.
So today I want to break downthree myths that I see over and
over and over. And these can notonly create unnecessary fear,
but they can actually get in theway of supporting your
healthiest way of living andeating. So if you have wondered
(06:28):
and debated or or stressed aboutwhether you need to cut out all
carbohydrates, whether you needto stop eating animal food,
whether you need to buy onlyorganic keep tuned in, my
friend, because this episode isfor you. Let's start off with
the big myth. Myth number one,you gotta cut out all
(06:49):
carbohydrates, because sugarfeeds cancer. Okay, let's start
here. This myth causes so muchfear, and I certainly have felt
that fear after hearing sugarfeeds cancer. Many of us believe
that we have to eliminate allforms of carbohydrate, including
greens, fruits, removedvegetables. But here's the real
(07:14):
truth, vegetables arecarbohydrates. One day, I was
having lunch with one of myfriends, and she was saying
something about nocarbohydrates. And I said, Well,
we have to consider all forms ofcarbohydrates, like vegetables.
And she goes, Well, vegetablesaren't carbohydrates. Well,
we've got three macronutrients,right? Fats, protein and
(07:34):
carbohydrates. We don't haveadditional and fruits and
vegetables. Fruits andvegetables are carbohydrates, so
are lentils, berries, squashes,and that doesn't mean they're
bad foods. They're they can bevery nourishing when eaten as
part of a balanced diet, or ifthey fit into your nutrition
(07:55):
needs and goals. So there's aworld of difference between
simple carbohydrates likepastries and soda and white
bread and complex carbohydratesthat contain fiber and vitamins
and antioxidants. So alsothinking about consuming
carbohydrates whole, healthycarbohydrates that suit your
(08:16):
needs, we also have to thinkabout the way that we eat and
the way that we combine ourfoods, so even if we're eating a
piece of fruit, for example. SoI happen to be very sensitive to
fruit, and it can spike my bloodsugar super easily. But I like
berries, and I want to have somesweetness every now and then,
what human being doesn't so whenI have my blueberries or my
(08:41):
raspberries or my blackberries,I also have them with some form
of fat, right? I am notsensitive to dairy, so I can
have dairy. So I have a wholepasture raised version of heavy
whipping cream that I drizzle onmy berries and I sprinkle them
with cinnamon. Cinnamon alsohelps regulate blood sugar, and
it also supports good digestion.So we have to think of the way
(09:04):
we eat our food in its totality,and when we do that, we can help
that food digest a little moreslowly, which supports healthy
blood sugar management and canbe very nourishing for our
metabolism. So let's talk aboutsome of the science behind this
in 2013 there was a study in thenutrition journal that found
(09:25):
that low glycemic load diets.What is a glycemic load? It is
the basically the amount ofblood of sugar and the way
that's going to affect yourblood sugar when you eat it,
right? So a low glycemic load isa food that's not going to have
a huge impact on your bloodsugar when it's consumed. So in
the study, they found that lowglycemic load diets that
(09:46):
prioritized whole foodcarbohydrates help to reduce
insulin resistance. What'sinsulin resistance? When our we
eat something that increases ourblood sugar, our pancreas
produces insulin, and if we.Have too high a blood sugar for
too long a period of time, andour body keeps producing more
and more insulin to getourselves to absorb that blood
(10:07):
sugar. Eventually, the cellsbecome resistant to that
insulin. It's like we're full.We're stopped. The house is full
of sugar. The pantry can't takeanymore, and then the body
continues to produce moreinsulin. And this is a whole
other podcast, right? Becausethis is what is kind of the
driving diabetes, pre diabetes,inflammatory processes in the
(10:27):
body, it can be a big mess,right? So this study found that
these low glycemic diets thatprioritized whole food
carbohydrates reduced insulinresistance so your body doesn't
have to make as much of it, andit improved metabolic markers in
breast cancer survivors. In thisstudy, it said that low glycemic
load dietary patterns wereassociated with reduced risk of
(10:52):
recurrence and all causemortality. What does all cause
mortality means? It meanseverything that could result in
our death, right? So these lowglycemic diets improved our risk
of all cause mortality, which issuper powerful. There was
another study that I found in2020. Was published, and it was
(11:12):
a meta analysis in the anals ofoncology. A meta analysis is
where you take multiple studiesand look at all of the data
together. And this study showedthat the higher fiber intake
from whole food carbohydrateswas associated with lower breast
cancer risk. The finding wasthat each 10 grams a day in of
(11:33):
increased fiber intake wasassociated with a 7% lower risk
of breast cancer. That's prettyimpressive. And then research in
diabetes care, published in 2009showed that combining
carbohydrates with fats andproteins significantly reduced
blood sugar and insulin spikes.So it said that CO ingestion of
(11:56):
fat or protein with carbohydrateblunted postprandial or after
eating, glycemic response bloodsugar spikes, and it reduced
these postprandial glycemicresponses by up to 50%
so instead of thinking aboutcutting out all carbohydrates,
(12:17):
the real healing opportunity isto choose wisely, pair,
mindfully, honor your body'sresponses and needs. So as
someone who's healing fromactive disease, I keep my
carbohydrate intake at 20 gramsof carbohydrates or less a day.
That's pretty restrictive, butthere's a bigger sense of
(12:39):
urgency in supporting my body'sability to heal from active
disease. For other people, maybe50 grams of carbohydrate per day
can keep their body in a healthyand balanced state between their
blood sugar and their insulin.It's different for every person,
and we have to understand how wemanage that within our bodies.
(12:59):
How do you know what's working,and how do you come across a
dietary program that serves yourneeds? So this is about food
quality and remembering that notevery food is good for
everybody, and not one food isbad for everybody. All right,
now, of course, I am not talkingabout Ultra processed food, and
(13:23):
we're going to get to that in aminute here, but I'm talking
about Whole Foods. Okay, alwaysWhole Foods. We're starting with
food first, so choosing ourfoods wisely and thinking about
what our goals are and the stateof our health in this moment
that we are using food to serve,okay? Myth number two, plant
(13:47):
foods are always better thananimal foods. When you get a
diagnosis of something asserious as breast cancer, how
many people tell you, you gottabe a vegan, right? How many
people say, Oh, you gotta cutout meat. Stop eating meat.
Well, friends, I can tell youthat I was a vegetarian for
(14:08):
nearly a decade before my firstdiagnosis of breast cancer, and
I can tell you that I haveworked with multiple people who
are vegans who still havecancer. Okay, so this is a very
wellnessy kind of mentality,right? So it's just like, Wow, a
(14:29):
plant based diet is the absolutebest diet anybody could be on
and the healthiest. Well, plantfoods are very deeply healing
and nourishing, but saying thatthey're always better than
animal foods over simplifiesagain a complex picture, right?
Nutrition is not black andwhite. So here's what matters
(14:52):
most in our overall health, insupporting and optimizing the
health of our terrain. What.Matters most is nutrient density
and bioavailability. What doesthat mean? Nutrient density, how
much nourishment, how manynutrients are in your food, how
easy is it for your body toabsorb and use those nutrients
(15:13):
in your food? So some of themost important nutrients for
healing, like B, 12, heme, iron,zinc, vitamin A, D, d3, omega
threes. These can either be hardto get from plants or not as bio
available. So when we look up,let's say, like in some kind of
food tracking or we ask Google,hey, what's the nutrient value
(15:36):
of a cup of spinach? And ittells us what's in that food.
That does not mean that our bodycan absorb all of that. And in
fact, in many plant foods, thereare different elements in the
food that block certain othernutrient absorptions in that
same food. So we had tounderstand what we're what our
(15:57):
body is actually absorbing,which obviously we have to think
about the health of our gut, andwe also have to think about our
genetic snips, our geneticvariants. And I will tell you,
in my personal experience withdozens of people who have looked
at their nutrition genomes,
I'm trying to think of maybe oneor two in all of them, less than
(16:23):
a handful of people whoseassessments I've done have had
optimal levels of vitamin D. Sowhat does that tell you? B 12,
high homocysteine, which is areflection of absorption and
utilization of B 12. So it's areally interesting, complex kind
of state of being. So there areimportant nutrients. Are we
(16:44):
getting enough of them? Are weabsorbing them, and do we need
to increase them throughdifferent food intakes to
support what our body is capableof doing, right? So this is why
clean, high quality animal foodscan play a very meaningful role
in your healing. They canespecially impact your energy,
(17:06):
your muscle mass, and yournutrient status, especially even
if it has already or isconsistently taking a hit from
treatment. Right? I am on anoral chemotherapy, so when I'm
using my food, I am constantlytrying to support my terrain,
the health of my overall body,so that the treatments that I'm
(17:29):
on can be more effective, butthat I can also feel good and
have a good amount of energywhile I'm undergoing harsh
treatments. Okay, so we have tothink about the role nutrient
plays nutrients plight. So let'stalk about what a clean animal
food is. So when we're talkingabout beef, we want grass fed
and grass finished. Right? A lotof people look at grass fed and
(17:54):
don't take that next step andsay, Is this also grass
finished? What does that mean?Well, when we eat grains. So
let's go back to talking aboutcarbohydrates. When we eat
grains, it typically fattens usup. All right. So when different
farmers or ranchers are raisingcows and they are grass feeding
(18:16):
these cows, many times theygrain finish them and they are
grain finished to fatten themup. Because the more fat a cut
of meat has in it, the juicierand more tender that meat tends
to be when you cook it, right?So when you go to many butchers,
they're going to grain finishtheir beef to fatten it up.
(18:37):
Okay, so we need to think aboutthat. Why is this important?
Because beef that comes fromcows that eat only grass, not
corn, not soy, not grains, thismeans that it's higher in anti
inflammatory, omega threes andantioxidants like vitamin E.
When we're talking about poultryand eggs, we want pasture raised
(18:58):
poultry and eggs. This meansthat the chickens are raised
outdoors on a natural diet, andthey produce eggs that are
richer in vitamin D, choline,choline, which is a very
important part of of supportingour DNA repair, reducing
inflammation in the body, andsupporting a process called
methylation when we have thesepasture raised poultry and eggs,
(19:23):
we tend to have more vitamin D,more choline and healthy fats in
them, and they're less likely tocontain any antibiotic residues.
We want to eat wild caught fish,especially fatty fish, like
salmon. Mackerel is a veryhealthy one. You gotta have a
certain taste for mackerel. Idon't have that taste sardines.
(19:45):
I actually really love sardines.To me, they're just just like
tuna and so wild fish typicallyhave fewer toxins. Now, again,
caveat, right? You gotta knowwhat's going on in your ocean,
right? And understand that.Because, unfortunately.
Definitely there's a huge toxicburden in our ocean these days,
so we have to be mindful of howmuch fish we're actually
(20:07):
consuming. But if it's wildcaught, it does tend to have
fewer toxins and a better Omegathree to omega six ratio than a
farmed fish, and a farm havingthat bigger Omega three to six
ratio can reduce inflammationand support heart and brain
health. Another great animalproduct is organ meats, like
liver, okay, gross. I know a lotof people like to eat it. I
(20:31):
certainly don't. So we can getsome of that through
supplementation, but there aredifferent ways. Like, I know
Whole Foods carries a kind of ait looks like a ground beef, but
it's a mixture of beef and organmeats, so it makes it a little
less strong and intense. Butliver is one of those really
nutrient dense foods, one of themost nutrient dense foods on the
(20:52):
planet. It's packed with ironand vitamin A and B 12, and
these are nutrients that areoften depleted after cancer
treatment. You know, I've done afew podcasts now, or I don't
know, I've at least one thattalks about how different cancer
medications impact our abilityto absorb certain nutrients. So
it's an important thing to keepin mind, just because we're
(21:14):
eating something, and we say,and I hear this often, but I eat
plenty of vegetables, are weabsorbing it? What else are we
doing, like taking medicationsor undergoing treatments that
may be impacting theavailability of those nutrients
or blocking the absorption ofthose nutrients? Okay, so it's
an important thing to thinkabout. Another thing is raw or
(21:35):
low temperature, cooked whenpossible. Of course, we're not.
We're going to be very carefulwith cooking animal foods,
because we want to make surethat we do not get food
poisoning or E coli or anythingelse like that. So we want to
make sure we're very carefulwith the way that we eat and
that is safely prepared. Butgentle cooking can help to
preserve nutrients like omegathrees and certain B vitamins,
(21:59):
and it can help to reduceformation of harmful compounds
like advanced they're calledadvanced glycation end products
or ages. And so even when we'rewe're grilling meat or cooking
something really fast, we getthat charcoal stuff on them that
can be hard for our body todetoxify, right? So slow cooking
the meat and making sure thatit's cooked to a safe
(22:21):
temperature to consume. So let'stalk about some of the research
behind this in the Journal ofNutrition. In 2018 a study was
published that found that womenwho consumed more animal protein
had better muscle mass andstrength, and that is critical
for healthy aging and for cancerrecovery, this study said that
(22:43):
animal protein was more stronglyassociated with lean mass and
strength than plant protein.There was a 2013 meta analysis,
again, looking at multiplestudies and evaluating the
findings from these studies inthe British Medicine Journal,
and this showed that a higherintake of marine omega threes
(23:04):
was associated with a lower riskof breast cancer. So it said
that each point one gramincrement of marine Omega three
intake was associated with a 5%lower risk. That's pretty
impressive. Then there was a2020, review in the journal
nutrients, and that explainedthat plant only diets often
(23:27):
lacked key nutrients unlessmeticulously supplemented or
plant and I want to make surethat's an important thing,
because I have met a couple, nota lot, a couple of People who
are follow a vegan diet, who arevery careful. Vegan diets can be
very high in carbohydrates, andthese people are trying to
(23:48):
support themselves in recoveringfrom cancer, so they're very
careful that their vegan diet isnot full of grains, but that
it's full of vegetables, right?So this is an important thing,
and they have to beunderstanding and watching labs
and understanding where they maybe experiencing nutrient
deficiencies and working withsomeone who's a professional and
(24:10):
who is capable of recommendingand prescribing the right kinds
of supplements to support theirdiet, right so when that's done,
but it takes a lot of intentionand energy, than a vegan diet
can be healthy, right? Butmeticulous, I think, is an is a
very important word here. Itdoes take intention and
planning, right? This study saidthat supplementation or careful
(24:33):
planning is essential to avoiddeficiency in exclusively plant
based diets. And I could notagree more from my own
experience and what I see inclients that I work with. So
let's be clear, this is notabout meat versus vegetables.
It's about how you nourish yourbody with the right tools that
(24:56):
it needs to recover and feelstrong again, and how do. We
understand the body's needs andwhat foods serve that, right? So
just like an integrated approachto wellness, as I always say,
it's not about standard care orcomplementary care, it's about
taking the best of both worldsand bringing them together in a
way that serves you all right.Myth number three, I love this
(25:19):
one if it's labeled organic orplant based, it's got to be
healthy, right? Let's talk aboutlabels, because this really, I
don't know, it's frustrating,like I saw some bottles of water
that literally had on them,gluten free.
Okay? It's water fat free. I'veseen labels on foods that it's
(25:43):
just amazing to me whatcompanies are trying to put into
people's mind, but it works. Andso this really plays on good
intentions, right? We have goodintentions for ourselves. We see
organic, we see plant based, wesee natural on the package. And
we automatically think this hasto be good for me, but that is
marketing talking, and notnecessarily nutrients. So
(26:07):
organic just means a food thatwas grown or raised without
synthetic pesticides orantibiotics. Okay. It does not
mean that the product isnutrient rich, nutrient rich or
unprocessed. So plant basedsounds very virtuous, but it can
still be full of starches, gums,artificial sweeteners and seed
(26:31):
oils. So this is what we callthe health halo effect, and that
means when health orientedlabels lead us to believe that a
food is healthier than it reallyis, even when the ingredients
tell us otherwise. So readinglabels is really important,
friends. So let's talk about theresearch when it comes to this.
There was a 2013 study in foodquality and preferences, and it
(26:55):
found that people rated the samefoods as healthier and lower in
calories if those foods werelabeled organic, even though
they were identical toconventional versions. This
study said that participantsbelieved the organic labeled
cookies were lower in caloriesand healthier even though they
(27:18):
were identical to theconventional cookie, right? So
we've got to think about whatfood marketers are doing. I
actually spoke to someonerecently who was recently
diagnosed with cancer, and thisperson was drinking a Dr Pepper,
and they said to me, well, atleast it's healthier than the
other versions of soda. And Iwas baffled by that. Why is the
(27:45):
doctor pepper in your mindhealthier than another version
of soda? But they had heard someinformation that really, they
really and truly believed thatthis was healthy, right? So
we've gotta think about whatmarketers are putting into our
minds. There was a 2018 study inappetite that showed natural and
plant based labels madeparticipants more likely to view
(28:08):
processed snacks as healthierand overlook the sugar, salt or
fat content in those foods. Thisstudy said that labeling foods
as natural or plant basedcreated a false sense of health,
reducing concerns about sugarand fat content. So gotta be
careful. There was a, finally, a2019 paper in appetite, and it
(28:31):
focused specifically on plantbased health halos, and it found
that people perceived snacks ashealthier based on labeling
alone, even when the nutritionalprofile told a different story.
So health halos, this studysaid, led to significantly lower
risk perception of processedplant based snacks, and that
(28:54):
fascinating. So what's thetakeaway from this myth? It's
just because something isorganic or plant based, does not
mean it belongs on your healingplate. Read the label, ask how
it was made. Look foringredients like seed oils and
sugars and dyes, food colorings,flavorings, and most of all,
(29:16):
tune into how your body feelswhen you eat it. If you're
making a choice like that, eatit mindfully and notice how your
body responds to it. Right?There's so much freedom in
learning how to nourish yourselfin a way that's grounded in real
food. Real food, not fear, notfads, and definitely not food
(29:38):
marketing. I think that mindfuleating is probably one of the
best nutrition practices that wecan have because that is means
we're sitting with our food.We're connecting to our food.
We're seeing how our bodyresponds to our food. And we can
ask ourselves, am I choosingthis food because it supports my
body's ability to heal, orbecause someone told me I should
(29:59):
i. And if you're still trying tofigure that out, it's okay, it's
a process. But your body is sosmart. Human bodies are so
innately intelligent, it'sabsolutely fascinating. Your
body will let you know. So payattention. How is it feeling?
Does it have energy crashes? Isthere bloating? Is there gas? Is
there constipation? Is therediarrhea? Is your skin breaking
(30:22):
out? You know, do you feel afunk when you eat certain foods?
This is your body telling youhow it's responding to food. And
if we're mindful and payingattention, and not just eating
in front of the computer andwatching TV and driving the car
and running the kids everywhere,but we're actually sitting with
our food, which is a veryimportant health practice, that
we're going to start to tuneinto what our body needs and
(30:43):
what it loves. Now, if you wantmore help and support with that,
go to my website, the breastcancer recovery coach.com I've
got free downloads right thereon the homepage, how to eat
without fear and guilt afterbreast cancer is one of them,
and you can come and work withme in my better than before
breast cancer. It's got a newname that I think really
captures what it is better. Iused to call it the life
(31:04):
coaching membership, but it isnow the better than before
breast cancer mindset andmetabolic membership, because
inside that membership, it's allabout working on our mindset in
every possible aspect of ourlife, and understanding how to
nourish ourself and supportoptimizing the health of the
terrain of the beautiful bodythat you're existing in. You can
(31:26):
find all the details at thebreast cancer recovery coach.com
and I'll talk to you again nextweek. Until then, take good care
of yourself.
You've put your courage to thetest, laid all your doubts to
rest. Your mind is clearer thanbefore. Your heart is full and
(31:48):
wanting more. Your Future's atthe door. Give it all you got
no hesitating. You've beenwaiting all your life.
You've been waiting all your
life. This is your moment.
(32:22):
This is this is your moment toshine. To shine.
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