A while ago I [F36] was diagnosed with a very rare and very aggressive form of thyroid cancer called Hurthle Cell Carcinoma. I’ve had two surgeries since, and am waiting for the holidays to blow over so I can get tests done to see where we’re at.
In the meantime, I’ve been doing all the reading I can, and it turns out that this cancer, in particular, is very sensitive to being glucose starved and autophagy through fasting and ketogenic diets, so of course, I’m interested in learning more!
Now part of my issue is that my thyroid was fully removed, and I’m currently artificially kept on a hyperthyroidism level of thyroid hormones as part of the cancer therapy. This is done because my cancer is super susceptible to Thyroid Stimulating Hormones, and we thus need to keep the levels as low as possible. A downside (I can’t believe I’m saying this after years of struggling to lose weight) of this is that my metabolism is through the roof and I’ve been losing weight extremely fast (85 lbs so far). I’m not even sure how many calories I currently need to maintain my body weight, but it’s a lot. I’ve been eating a ton of chocolate and stuff, and have even resorted to drinking soda (first time in decades) in order to get enough calories in me to stop losing weight.
Of course, this is incompatible with keto and fasting, so I need to find a way to switch from forking carbs in to being keto/fasting mode without losing any more weight in the process.
So does anybody have good sources for books/podcasts/videos/etc for fasting diets without the aim of weight loss? Ideally specifically for managing cancer?
Thanks a lot!
You should definitely talk to your doctor about options. Please do not take medical advice from Reddit, especially when dealing with cancer. I hope your test come back well and you fully recover soon! Fuck cancer.
I understand that ketosis can be induced by the keto diet (purely eating fats and proteins and aggressively cutting sugars and carbs) or by intermitent fasting. So maybe worth doing some research in the direction of a keto diet in case you can’t intermitent fast.
Sorry this is only anecdotal, i think you should speak to a doctor or find the right scientific studies before listening to a stranger on the internet!
I wish you luck in this journey you are on. I hope you managed a restful christmas holiday.
If I could eat all the calories I wanted with doctor permission, I would be smearing butter and olive oil on veg. Soda seems like a waste, plus full of weird chemicals. Maybe top off with keto dessert of coconut bites or keto choc cake. Kick cancer’s ass, OP. Wishing you fully healthy!
What if you eat a lot of calories for 2,3 days then stop eating for 1 day, then repeat the cycle? I’m always curious if fasting work with cancel, but because you need calories to maintain weight, this idea is what I have thought, even though I’m not sure if this method is considered as fasting. Wish you get better tho.
Keto for years here. Tips on living in that realm and to have it be a way of life rather than a diet.
Learn to bake in the framework of keto. I make keto coffee cake with sugar free jam as the “veins”. Made with almond flour, coconut, tigernut flour. Dried eggs for when you want something with less moisture like say a crispier cookie. Doing this, allows for that sweet tooth to be cured without falling off the wagon,
I intermittent fast on average for about 20h fast, 4h fed period. Leaves A big window for you to plan out and eat anything you can crave on a given day while staying in ketosis. The bigger the window, the deeper the ketonic state becomes that’s some thing more specific by person especially conditions considered.
As long as I eat enough protein I rarely have cravings. Buy a smoker so you can enjoy the protein process and learn different techniques, also cra is up the veggie flavors.
Buy keto buns, hot dogs and hamburgers, don’t have to eat wraps which got boring after 2 years for me. The ingredients typically aren’t perfect but imo it’s better than not fully enjoying some thing. Sometimes I bring my keto buns to in and out and will swap buns after order!
Brushing teeth early encourages no snacking. Reinforces that fact that you are done for the day with food.
Toooooons of water and the appropriate electrolytes for your specific body.
A good relationship with your bed, less calories & less blood sugar spikes will make your body ready for sleep sooner.
I’m so sorry you’re struggling with this. Most resources I’ve seen for fasting do tend to focus on weight loss. Jason Fung’s Complete Guide To Fasting does have a few chapters for specific health outcomes.
The only other reference I can think of is a book by Travis Christofferson called “Tripping Over the Truth: The Metabolic Theory of Cancer”.
It might lead to you other fasting/cancer links.
Keep your options open, this guy made IF part of his recovery journey, he is the reason I started IF a week ago! Inspirational.
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/cannabis-health-radio-podcast/id1166029008?i=1000545114149
I had thyroid cancer a few years ago and my TSH has been kept suppressed ever since. My cancer is a slightly more aggressive version of the papillary cancer with tall cell. I don’t lose weight easily, though.
Intermittent fasting and low carb is helping me lose weight slowly and hopefully also kill off some stubborn cancer cells.
Because of your high metabolism I really think you should only do this with medical supervision. When you get your blood work done again, talk to your doctor about the weight loss and ask if there’s a chance you’re overmedicated, especially if you also experience anxiety and unstable heart rhythm (but remember that suppressing any stimulation of the cancer cells is most important).
There is a sub for thyroid cancer, maybe you can ask there in case there are others with your cancer type there who can share experiences?
Edited after some thinking
Keto is a weight normalization diet. It is very frequently used for weightloss, but not exclusively so. Fat heavy foods (heavy creamer, butter, ghee, fatty meats) can be used in excess to gain weight. I would not use IF if your goal is to gain weight. Eat 3-4 time per day. You could probably do fat bombs and eat plenty of keto-friendly desserts, depending on how you tolerate moderate amounts of carbs. You could even up your carb load to hit low carb/paleo if need be. (~~about 100g/day)