So.
Hubby has Stage 4 bladder cancer. That means his bladder cancer has now left that general area, and has filled his lungs and is also in part of his muscles around his lungs.
I know – sucks.
The oncologist said he has “6 months to a year” to live (that was a month ago). It’s apparently a “10 month average.” Yes, we’ve been back to Broffman/Pine Street Clinic (previously discussed). We’ve also gotten him appointments with one doctor in Sebastopol (who will do the Vitamin C/doxycycline treatments), the big Cancer Center at UCSD, and a doctor down in San Diego who I mentioned before. (I’m not doing a lot of links here – and I have notes to write up, etc. – but basically treating this right this second as a “repository” versus an “information” blog.)
Some folks say that a Vegan diet is the best way to corral cancer. Others say that a Keto diet is. So, we just decided – Fxck it. We’ll do Vegan Keto.
I’ve had a number of articles open on my computer for quite some time, and it’s time to put the links somewhere else to refer to. So – here they are:
Vegan/Low Methionine Diet Starving Cancer Cells: HERE
Methionine Restricted Diet (plus food tables showing Methionine content): HERE. Note from this article:
If a methionine restricted diet is indicated for me, how much methionine should I be eating each day?
The RDA (recommended dietary allowance) for methionine + cysteine (adults 19 yrs+) is 19 mg/kg/day, while the EAR (estimated average requirement) is 15 mg/kg/day. People should not dip too much below these levels as they represent the lower end of what is needed for human health. Methionine-restricted diets allow 800-1200 mg methionine per day for most adults. For methionine alone, 15 mg/kg is thought to be a reasonable lower limit. So, if a therapeutic, methionine-restricted diet is indicated for you, multiply your healthy body weight by 15 to find a level of methionine intake that is appropriate. Let’s say your healthy body weight is 60 kg, you would need 900 mg methionine per day.
Hubby weighs (+/-) about 90 kg. So that would mean about 1350 mg per day. If you look at the table above, 3 oz. of salmon is 640, so you can see that this is going to be . . . interesting. I think that I might still be able to make egg cups (which he likes), because 1 egg is 132.
Ketogenic diets and cancer: HERE
Top cancer-fighting foods: HERE.
Top cancer stem cell killing nutrients: HERE
More about keto and cancer: HERE
So far I can tell you:
*The Trader Joe’s Jackfruit Crabcakes aren’t terrible. They come 4 to a pack and we had them with a vegan aioli that wasn’t terrible either. NOTE: If you don’t know what “aquafaba” is, it’s the juice from the inside of a can of organic chickpeas. You’re welcome.
*Zoodled zucchini with Trader Joe’s pesto is pretty good. Don’t use a ton of it – it is not vegan as it has cheese in it, but again, we’re just trying to do what we can. I added a jar of their sun dried tomatoes (squeezed the oil out of them by hand), and a bunch of their pine nuts. Since the pine nuts are raw, I toasted them in my big cast iron skillet in a little coconut oil until they turned brown. Very tasty.
Beyond Burgers are also not terrible. They have no soy, GMO, etc. – which is all good when it comes to the “stop cancer” diet. We tried to use the Miyoko’s Sharp English Farmhouse Cheddar (local company), but that was not a win. Didn’t melt, and had a super odd taste. It tasted a bit like those “faux” Hick’ry Farms cheeses that we would sometimes get in my youth. We have a few other Miyoko’s things to try, but this wasn’t a win. HOWEVER, their butter is NOT terrible – a little salty perhaps (we’re used to using grass-fed unsalted butter) – I had some today on a keto cracker with almond butter.
Sabra Olive Tapenade Hummus. This was a big win! I bought it one day and the next day 1/2 of it was gone. “Someone” had had a “midnight snack.” Since hubby is supposed to be doing intermittent fasting, when I queried him about it the next morning, he said “Oh, yessssss, I’m not eating until noon.” (Um, I’m not sure that’s how it’s supposed to work, dear . . . )
Non-dairy Yogurts: We have tried Forager (this is at Costco, which is a plus), Kite Hill, and Lava. All in the plain varieties (too much sugar in the “flavored” ones, which cancer loves nom nom). Hubby doesn’t care for coconut-based “dairy” and so those are off the list. Soy is suspect vis-a-vis cancer in a lot of reports. But these three yogurts have been pretty doggone good! Surprising, actually.
That’s about all I have to say for now – just more of a “where can I store this information for myself for later” than anything else. So no purdy pictures and all that.
My question to you:
Any recipe that you have that could be considered as “vegan keto“? Want to pass it along?
Not necessarily recipes but we love roasted spaghetti squash with homemade marinara. I will give you the recipe for a quick 15 minute version a local restauranteur passed along one evening if you’d like. I also love Trader Joe’s almond jalapeño dip with Siete grain-free tortilla chips and or cucumber slices.
I’d love to have the marinara! The Spaghetti Squash is good, though I’ve started making a ton of “Zoodles” because the Spaghetti Squash is sometimes too hard on H’s stomach. Doesn’t hurt that I got one of those “zoodler machines” (with like 4 different “knife mechanisms” and a handle?) for $1.50 at a yard sale! Because we are doing this vegan keto v just gluten free, the Siete tortilla chips are too many carbs (I checked!) our TJ’s didn’t have the almond jalapeno dip, but I’m going to check it out online. You’re the best!
Marinara,
Basically, you make garlic-basil oil and add tomatoes… you can do this in any volume, just adjust your oil and garlic accordingly.. Remember, we Italians don’t measure anything unless we are baking.
Sauté a handful of “cracked” garlic cloves (roughly 10-12) in 1/2 cup of olive oil until golden brown. Remove (unless you really LOVE garlic!) Add basil and lightly fry. Turn off heat while prepping one #6 can (large) of high-quality tomatoes. We use Stanislaus Foods “Alta Cucina” Naturale plum tomatoes. These may be to-the-trade only, but any plum or preferably San Marzano will do. I also throw them in the blender as I’m not into chunky. Salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Taste again and adjust if necessary. Using the same type of tomatoes will yield more consistent results and we freeze in 4 cup batches. The Alta Cucinas already have salt and basil so don’t require as much. Black pepper is key and so is balance. Enjoy!
Nom Nom! You’re the best!