Breast Cancer Follow-up Options

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After treatment for breast cancer, you have a decision to make: do you take the medication to prevent reoccurrence? The decision always lies with the individual after considering all options; my role is to explain the options based on the current research. It goes without question that everyone should try to have the healthiest lifestyle possible including diet, exercise, and supplements. Those will help improve the outcome, medication or not, but this is about whether to take the medication, so here we go.

 

The Medication Option

Basing the decision on current research, taking the letrozole would seem . . .

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Research on Breast Cancer Reoccurrence

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This week, I’m providing my answer to a long-time reader who asked what I thought about taking the estrogen-receptor blocking medication letrozole in light of some side-effects she had. One of the important considerations is how much the medication will help prevent breast cancer reoccurrence. It just so happens that the American Society of Clinical Oncology had their annual meeting last week, and one of the papers presented addressed the issue of long-term use of letrozole (1). Here’s what the abstract said.

Researchers recruited close to 2,000 women who previously had early-stage . . .

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A Breast Cancer Question

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If you’re a long-time reader, you know Paula had breast cancer that was successfully treated about 18 months ago. We’ve been through the process, so we know there are no easy answers when it comes to cancer treatment. The same is true for what to do after treatment. This week, I’m going to talk about a question someone recently asked me about post-cancer treatment for breast cancer. The question applies to Paula as well as the person who asked the question, and I think it may help any woman faced with the same question.

A . . .

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Calcium vs. Magnesium: Is It a Battle?

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Let’s finish up this calcium versus magnesium controversy that seems to exist by answering the last questions.

When should you take these minerals? My simple answer is any time you want. However, based on most research, taking calcium and magnesium with food will help with absorption. The reason ties back to the form being a non-issue. When you eat food, you release stomach acids which help break down food and that includes the supplements you take. Is it an oversimplification? Yes, but it’s one that doesn’t really matter. I’ll get to that later . . .

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The Controversy: Calcium vs. Magnesium

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When it comes to calcium and magnesium, the controversy seems to be about supplementation.

  • What is the best form of each mineral?
  • When should you take these minerals?
  • Do they interfere with each other?

I’ve read more of the research on these topics than I care to admit. I won’t give you chapter and verse answers; I’ll just give you what the totality of the research says.

What’s the best form of each mineral? It really doesn’t matter. Calcium carbonate and magnesium oxide are the most criticized . . .

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Calcium vs. Magnesium

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The 100th Indianapolis 500 was run on Sunday. A relatively unknown rookie, Alexander Rossi, won the race. Based on sports news reports, there were more lead changes and more position changes than in many Indy 500s. With 33 cars and drivers, changing track conditions, accidents, bumps, spins, and pit crews, the number of variables that contributed to the win by one driver and the loss by all the rest are too numerous to even try to attempt to calculate. Anyone who says they can do it is delusional.

What does this have to do with calcium and magnesium? There are . . .

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Improvements in the Nutrition Facts Labels

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The new nutrition facts labels are out and as promised, I’m going to tell you what I think is important about them. Let’s get right to it.

  • The listing of calories per serving is large enough that you can actually read it without searching for it. This is the biggest positive change; I had problems finding it at times and now, it’s the biggest type on the label.
  • The serving size is clearly identifiable. This should eliminate the misdirection food manufacturers used to use to suggest that a half . . .

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The New Nutrition Labels

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Over 20 years in the making, examined and discussed for over two years: the new Nutrition Facts labels are finally here. I’m glad. I’ve seen people of all ages standing in grocery stores puzzling over the labels and trying to figure out whether an item is one they should purchase or not.

Why did it take so long? The most important reason is that nutrition research takes time. Together with that, they’re trying to determine what is important for an entire population. You may be gluten intolerant or allergic to eggs—that’s important to you. But . . .

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Lessons from “The Biggest Loser”

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The recent study on weight gain by former participants in “The Biggest Loser” reality television show blamed decreases in resting metabolic rate (RMR): the decrease in RMR became worse over time and contributed to most of the participants regaining most of the weight. In other words, they ruined their resting metabolism.

No, they didn’t. In my opinion, there are errors in the measurements for RMR and total energy expenditure (TEE). The errors may be in the equipment, but more than likely, in the assumptions that were made in the calculations.

Here’s where I think researchers went wrong: there . . .

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Rate of Change

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I spent hours looking at the data in “The Biggest Loser” study. I did numerous calculations trying to figure out where the changes in caloric use occurred that could explain the dip in resting metabolic rate that made the headlines. There are several possible explanations.

Today I’ll give you the most probable reason: the subjects lost weight too fast. The average was 4.25 pounds per week and for some, it was double that. While that can win contests, it doesn’t allow the body to adjust to the tremendous changes that should be occurring.

Think about it. There . . .

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