Energy Food with Prostate Cancer

I currently have prostate cancer(PC). Looking to radiation and maybe ADT. The question is about ride nutrition, since sugar is said to encourage the PC growth. What do you eat and drink on rides. I have been using Gatorade, but that has sugar, and Clif bars, but they also have sugar. How else does one get the energy needed for longer rides?

Well there’s some movement of people that do fasted rides and train their body to work on fat (or something like that). Have you ever bonked before? Takes longer than you might think. That being said Have you asked your doctor or health professional? I know when my wife went through cancer she was able to see a dietician or something like that but of course different countries have different health care systems.

I think energy=sugar in terms of cycling food.

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Might want to consider a vegetarian diet.

Fat is a more abundant source of energy than sugar. Studies can show different results of course, and we can all sit and cherry pick those that will fit our narrative.

Lowering carbs has been shown to be beneficial for cancer patients. I would suggest looking at Dr. Jeff Volek and Dr. Stephen Phinney’s approach to low carb performance.

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How long are your long rides and at what intensity. I like training in a fasted state early morning with only the food I had the day before.

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This was a good article posted in another thread

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I am 80 years old, and generally ride at about 1.5± W/Kg. Slowing down with age. I weigh about 133 lbs.(~60kg). I have done all the shorter routes with badges. The ones left are all over 40 miles and/or have a lot of elevation. (Three Sisters, Pretzel, Four Horseman, Mega Pretzel, Uber Pretzel, Big Foot Hills, Quatch Quest, PRL Half, PRL Full) Riding at 10-15mph, it takes on the order of hours to do these rides. Prior to the cancer determination, I was drinking Gatorade for hydration, and ~1 Clif bar/hour for energy. Previously, for rides up to 1-1.25 hours, I would just drink Gatorade. On longer rides, I found Clif bars gave me the energy to continue. About 1/3 Clif bar, 3x an hour-20 min apart. Maybe a ketogenic approach, but what to eat. Swap out Gator aid for Nuun, to keep electrolytes, but what to substitute for Clif Bars?

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I used to eat Ally’s Bars, sweet potato base, good, but they are out of business now.

I think you would find you dont need much of a snack if you were fat adapted, but a handful of nuts like almonds, cashews or macadamia would be a good substitute.

Part of the problem is my BMI is 18.5. I have very little body fat to draw on. I do like almonds and walnuts, however. What about peanut butter(only peanuts) on a slice of whole wheat bread, or spread on a celery stick. I eat carrots dipped in peanut butter for lunch. Or the old standby-peanut butter on banana, or a PB and banana sandwich.

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is it all sugar that has a negative effect? Or are natural sugars ok? Therefore is it a case of avoiding processed and using the natural sugars found in fruit etc?

I don’t think the body knows the difference between naturally occurring sugar in fruits (fructose) vs. glucose which is found in all carbohydrates. Fructose is actually sweeter than glucose and some studies have shown that it is more damaging to your health. There is also evidence that zero calorie, zero sugar sweetener substitutes like splenda can cause an insulin response, so even fake sugar can cause hormonal responses and trigger fat storage rather than fat burning.

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It appears to me that processed sugar is to be avoided. Natural sugars consumed with the fruit seem to be OK. Fruit juices are to be avoided do to their high sugar level. I will do more research on this subject.

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True, but the fructose, consumed with a fruit may be less in quantity and is associated with the fiber and all the other good nutrients in the fruit. As I said, I must do more research. Maybe eliminating processed sugar – sucrose – is good enough, and reduces sugar levels enough so that the cancer struggles.

Just guessing here. Links to appropriate research would be appreciated.

I suggest searching on pubmed

Reed, I was first diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2005. Not my first or last battle with the disease. Despite doctors advice I continued to cycle during treatment, as far as 100 mile rides at pace. I was actually training a team for the RAT (Race against Time).
My eating changed dramatically - I cut out all alcohol, avoided (saturated) fatty foods, and of course sugary foods. I couldn’t quite give up my love of salted peanuts though. I ate lots of lentils, chicken, fresh vegetables and fruit. I never ran out of energy and because my diet now contained a lot of protein, I felt strong.

The cancer spread through my body over the following years and I lost a lung to it. At the end of 2012 I was told the cancer had returned and was now terminal. So I decide to see how far I could cycle around the world. I sold all my possessions and set off. Two and a half years later I was still going. I have NEVER given up fighting, and I hope, I never will.

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Justin’s Nut butter is available here in the US, they make little packets of different nut butters (peanut, almond, cashew, etc), some are flavored, chocolate, honey, maple, etc but the vast majority of calories are coming from fats vs. carbs. If your rides are lower on the intensity side (HR stays pretty low, few high power spikes etc) you can certainly “learn” to ride on fat as fuel. Lots out there on LCHF (Low Carb/High Fat) diets for endurance athletes. Look up stuff by “Endure IQ”, or Dr. Dan Plews to read about this stuff. Probably don’t have to be full on Ketogenic to become fat adapted.

Don’t think of “fasted” training as a fat loss method. A pound of fat has about 3500 calories of stored energy, so by becoming fat adapted, you are allowing your body to tap into a giant energy reserve that it otherwise is not very efficient at getting to. If you fuel with good fats, before, during and after riding, AND you are fat adapted (due to diet and training) you will have no problem dealing with the nutritional needs of your training.