I know you all are going to disbelieve me but banana's which I love BTW - are by nature acidic... the sweeter they are the more acidic they are.

Well Cheryl, you certainly got a believer in me on that one!!
Thanks for input from you all..scratchy Hockey Dad's with me on this one then.
Good ideas Maria, Christine and Tina, many thanks, however to throw a spanner in the works, I'm finding milk makes my mucous start up a treat. I could drink it up to when the rad treatment was about 3 weeks in but then this mucous started. Since ending treatment and in the weeks when I was able to eat a wee bit I had a horrible experience one day with a yoghurt - immediate blisters and then a week later I tried a miniscule amount of grated cheese on some boiled spinach and that was agony for a day and led me into this period of not really eating hardly at all. I discussed it with my GP and the dietician and they think I may have developed a dairy allergy/reaction. This makes some sense to me given my experiences. So I have found almond milk and coconut milk to be ones I can manage without too much issue. I'm not willing to try dairy milk, yog or cheese again just now.

Do you all find that if one leaves the throat space to heal that it helps or do you feel one should push on through? My oncologist said that the necrotic tissue in the throat needs abrasion (i.e. lumpier/ rougher food) to be dislodged and I should get on and eat again. My dietician felt that was wrong and that if in pain I should ease up. Not easy when your team disagree on the fundamentals!
Off to bed now, night all,
Lynne

You can swap the milk for ice or sorbet to ditch the dairy. That might help (not a fan of milk myslef much these days).

I can't see how irritating your throat further can be helpful, as it will just stop you from eating/drinking. It's far more important to get nutrition that you can manage, and work your way up from there. Maybe something with seeds (raspberries might work). Then there's a bit of friction but nothing crazy.

Thanks Tina, yes pain is a real turn off to wanting to try and eat. I've seen the speech therapist for the first time since I last posted and she also agreed it made sense to lay off if the pain is that bad. Some days for 3 or 4 hours I could just bang my head against a wall (I don't as it happens, but could!!).
Have you found raspberries to be helpful yourself? When I could eat more, in my ready brek or by juicing, I've found melon, pears and blueberries to be good and not too irritating. Sally (under my intro post) has advised me to leave the skin on when juicing melon which I wouldn't have thought of myself but will now try when I next feel bold enough to juice.
Bye
Lynne

I have been forcing some food that irritates for the nutrition factor, and I feel better as a whole (although not the throat), so that's why I do it. The seeds are irritating but not too bad. I'll try the melon skin. I hate pears, so I haven't gone there.

I am an addict of juiced fruit and veg now. I intake much more veg (carrots, broccoli, lettuce, cabbage, spinach etc)now than I used to eat so I feel my diet is so much more healthy. I have a fruit juice first thing in the morning and a veg drink before supper. If the taste/tartness is too strong diluting with water helps enormously. Its important to experiment. Pineapple although had good healing properties is very acidic so is one to avoid until your throat is able to cope with it.

Raspberries I still find very tart. I used to love pears but I don't find they juice particularly well. Sally

I agree the amount you can get for your daily fruits and veggies from juicing is way more than you would ever be able to eat raw. I start with a base of carrot juice and put everything else in the blender to get the fibre also. My husband actually asks for the shakes now because he feels so much better not eating junk food and sugar. He no longer runs when he sees me coming with a large glass. I also drink one once or twice a day, very filling.

It always appalls me when people talk about their nutrition on the forums, it appalls me even more when I read what dietitians and Dr's tell their patients about food.

I was traveling this weekend and was talking to a graduate student in nutrition and a Dr (a clinical professor from NYU) about nutrition actually and unfortunately schooled them both to their own admission. The issue with these two sources is that one is not the familiar with the other field of study. The average dietitian would have no clue what happens metabolically in a cancer patient, and the average Oncologist knows sh!t about nutrition. Just like GPs are horrible at the effects of drugs systemically, they hear most of what they know from their drug rep and pray the Pharmacist catches any "F" ups. Yes I am a cynic and bitter...

Anyway I am a huge advocate of proper nutrition and it bothers me when I read people going through treatment packing so much sugar, junk and worthless calories into their body when they need to be thinking of it like a race car and supplying it with the highest octane fuel to win the race.

Quick Fact: 20% of "all" cancer patients die of malnutrition, not cancer nor the treatment of.

Probiotics are a great addition to any nutrition plan as it is going to increase digestion and absorption, processes that are inhibited the hormone responses happening in the system of cancer patients. When our bodies immune response is activated, the process actually inhibits proper digestion and absorption, adding to it the elevated cortisol levels brought on by the stresses of cancer (cortisol is the called the "stress" hormone as it's what the body produces as a fight or flight response to stress, quick fact:cortisol counteracts insulin further adding to the digestion absorption issues in the cancer patient) and you have a recipe for disaster, especially considering your body is already hypermetabolic due to fighting cancer and trying to heal from the effects of treatment.

Due to the disruption of insulin caused by the cortisol, you really have to look at the average cancer patient as a diabetic and steer away from processed sugar and simple carbohydrates, meaning really watch most canned fruits (due to syrup) and fruit juices from concentrate as they are heavily processed and really basically just sugar water.

I'm a fan of juicing fresh fruits and vegetables, but during treatment the lions share of calories should come from fats and proteins. The weight that we lose during treatment is lean muscle mass due to metabolic changes and the immune response. Due to the difficulty eating and the bodies hyper-metabolic state, it will begin to catabolize lean muscle tissue into amino acids to throw at the immune response. Quick fact patients with higher percentages of lean muscle mass have higher survival rates in cancer, coincidence? Not likely, so logic tells me the goal for nutrition during cancer treatment is to sustain lean muscle mass. Logic would also tell me that if that's the goal then the best nutrition program would come from those who understand sports nutrition Thankfully I am that person, and you are welcome because I'll help you if you need. Brian has actually volunteered to be my guinea pig as after spending some time with me this weekend he realized the photos of my bicepsaren't photoshopped and I really am built like a truck in real life.

To begin with the program you need to religiously track your nutrition (soon OCF's app will do that for you) religiously and know your macro-nutritient breakdown and percentages. Calories just aren't calories folks.

To begin with, think of everything you eat as not only providing vitamins and minerals, but also to control hormone response. Complex carbohydrates to regulate blood sugar levels (40% of your total caloric intake) which is key due to the hindered insulin levels described above. 35% good fats (mono and poly unsaturated fats) with a high ratio of omega 3 fatty acids (omega 3's help with insulin resistance among a multitude of other benefits), the higher percentage of fat in your diet, the higher your testosterone, the hormone responsible for maintaining lean muscle mass and crucial in protein synthesis in the body. Finally 20-25% protein (or 1-1.5 grams per pound of body weight), preferably whey protein as it has the fastest uptake of any other form of protein and full of all the essential amino acids your body, and immune response needs.

Now arguably the most important amino acid needed is Lucien as it's the branched chain amino acid identified to trigger protein synthesis in the body. I actually recommend adding a "BCA" (branched chain amino acid) supplement while in treatment to help keep that important lean muscle mass. I would recommend printing out my response and giving it to your medical professionals or dietitians...they can verify it for accuracy, they actually get paid to know this sh!t.

Hope it helps, and yes...you're welcome.

Eric

Oh I forgot. When you have a diet higher in dietary fats it will cause some nausea so work with your Dr on the right dosage of nausea meds.

Ok..one question. What would be a dietary fat? I mean I think of fat as bad. What are you talking here? Honestly you are speaking a language many of us don't undersatnd but I get part of it and know what I do understand I believe cuz' I've seen it in Kevin. He was very muscular when he started tx and even with what they hit him with he did very well. He ate scrambled eggs cooked in butter every day just about the whole way through tx. Sometimes for 2 meals.
Kathy