Vitamins After Breast Cancer? What You Should Know

After the shock of diagnosis and the grueling treatment that may follow, some of the real questions beyond "why me?" start to enter the minds of cancer survivors.

Those questions can be as broad as, 'how can I prevent this from happening again,' and as specific as 'are there any vitamins I should be taking?'

CNN's Expert Q&A deals with this very question, citing the advice of Dr. Donald Abrams, chief of Hematology and Oncology at San Francisco General Hospital and director of Integrative Oncology Research at the University of California San Francisco's Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. Whew! That's a mouthful! Dr. Abrams' recommendations include:

Getting nutrients from whole foods (rather than vitamins or supplements) with an organic, plant-based diet that includes plenty of cruciferous (broccoli, cabbage), orange-yellow and leafy-green vegetables and deeply-colored fruit (think bluberries, not bananas.)Favoring cold water fish, such as salmon, herring, mackerel and sardines, as well as organic poultry for protein, instead of red meat.Eliminating or limiting dairy, especially full fat, non-organic varieties

If you do choose to supplement your diet, Dr. Abrams recommends the following, in place of a multi-vitamin, which he feels can lead to "excess intake of some vitamins that may actually be harmful."

1,000-2,000 IU of vitamin D3 in gel cap form if possible or with a meal containing some fat.Omega 3 fatty acids (1,000 mg/day) play an important role in decreasing inflammation and may also help with depression, which may be associated with breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. 250-500 mg per day of Vitamin C. If you had radiation to the left breast (near where you heart is), you may also consider taking CoEnzyme Q10 60-100mg in a soft gel capsule to protect your heart muscle after radiation.

And, as always, check with your doctor, do your research and stay informed. It's your body  take care of it the best way you can.

 

Photo courtesy of Sanja Gjenero@sxc.hu.