Under the assumption "sugar feeds cancer". I attempted, with surprising success, to not eat any sugar. My motivation was probably much stronger than the average dieter. : )
The biggest culprits are easy to identify: Candy, desserts, and soda.
As I got more serious and dedicated to eliminating sugar (especially after my "bad MRI" on June 2 where they thought the cancer was making a comeback), I even stopped drinking fruit juices - and drank water only.
I did continue to eat starchy foods such as bread and potatoes in moderation (whole grains only) and my diet also included all kinds of meat and dairy products.
I started drinking coffee in college and it didn't take long to really enjoy it as a pick me up and develop a taste for it. I abused it to launch myself into my day and extend my day into the night.
Eventually I settled in to a routine of a mega-dose of coffee every morning in the form of 2-3 very strong cups. I could not function without it. Making the coffee was the absolute first thing I did every morning. In hindsight, it was an undeniable sign of drug-addiction.
Quitting coffee proved extremely difficult for me in past failed attempts. It is possible for me that coffee helped ease the symptoms I may have experienced in the early stages of the brain tumor such as fatigue from minor hydrocephalus (brain swelling).
After my diagnosis, I was put on a drug called decadron (aka dexamethasone) which reduced my brain swelling and made me feel better and more energetic. I found I had less of a need for coffee and started to reduce consumption.
* * * * * *
After my surgery, it became even easier to quit coffee. Physically, I was so discombobulated that many old cravings were irrelevant or less of a factor. I was on other drugs more powerful than caffeine that were having their way with me. I was on quite high doses of the decadron post-surgery (minimizes the formation of scar tissue in the brain following the trauma of brain surgery) and that helped very much replace the need for coffee. However I was simultaneously on high doses of a cocktail of anti-seizure drugs (Keppra, Depakote, and Dilantin ) that made me feel very slow, dull and tired. It is a strange mix, for sure, that I can not accurately describe in words.
Since I was not required to be "fully-operational" during the time after my surgery (such as work), I had the perfect excuse to rest and not feed the coffee cravings.
Tapering off the decadron proved much more difficult than quitting coffee ever had been. But that's another story.
I quit smokeless tobacco (snuff and chewing tobacco) about 5 years prior to my diagnosis.
I used mostly snuff (Cherry Skoal) for 5 years. I would describe my use as moderate and occasionally heavy.
Definitely one of the most stupid things I've ever done was take my first pinch and then go back for more. Like coffee, I got addicted to the flavor and the buzz.
My gums are somewhat disfigured from the abuse of tobacco, but there are no other apparent long term oral problems.
I can only wonder if chemicals or carcinogens in the snuff triggerred the start of my brain cancer. (???)
overconsumption of these things
is causing
quite a bit of health trouble in America these days.