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Fork You, Cancer: The Last Damn Thing I Can Control
Let me tell you a story.
It starts with a man, half-naked in a backless gown, getting his third blood draw of the week. He’s just had a needle full of Firmagon jammed into his gut fat by a nurse who smiled apologetically—like someone gently euthanizing a hamster. His testosterone? Nonexistent. His libido? A ghost. His sleep? Fragmented. And his wallet? Let’s just say if prostate cancer doesn’t kill him, the co-pays might.
That man is me.
You’ve survived HDR brachytherapy, EBRT, and chemical castration that makes menopause look like a mild inconvenience. You’ve surrendered your hormones, your energy, your ability to walk up stairs without swearing under your breath. And what does modern medicine offer in return? A smorgasbord of side effects and a cheery “Hang in there!”
But in the middle of this biochemical mugging, one tiny scrap of freedom remains: you still choose what goes on your plate.
And while food isn’t a cure—no one’s walking out of a PET scan yelling, “Tomatoes did it!”—it is a tool. A small, subversive, fork-sized rebellion against the system that now has you peeing in cups and whispering “yes, I’ve had a bowel movement” to strangers in lab coats.
Let’s be clear: oncologists aren’t impressed by your quinoa. You bring up diet, and they look at you like you’ve just asked if moonlight cures cancer. “Sure,” they say, with the weary patience of someone humoring a conspiracy theorist. “A healthy diet can help.” Translation: Don’t waste my time with kale.
But you know better. Because this isn’t about impressing them—it’s about fighting smart.
The Good Stuff: What to Eat When You’re at War
Cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage)
They reek when cooked—like a biology lab accident—but that’s the smell of sulforaphane, a compound that disrupts cancer cell machinery. Not a cure. But a wrench in the gears? Absolutely.
Cooked tomatoes + olive oil
Lycopene from tomatoes shows up in studies with promising links to lower PSA progression. Pair with olive oil to boost absorption and score bonus points for heart health.
Alliums (garlic, onions, leeks, shallots)
They make you unkissable but may reduce inflammation, enhance detox enzymes, and screw with the tumor microenvironment. Vampires and cancer cells alike, beware.
Healthy fats
Avocados (smug but effective), olive oil (liquid resistance), walnuts and flaxseed (fiber, lignans, omega-3s). They support your heart, mess with bad hormones, and keep you out of the sad beige food zone.
Fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines)
Packed with anti-inflammatory omega-3s and not likely to contribute to the hormonal circus cancer feeds on. These are your aquatic allies—nutritional SEAL Team 6.
Soy foods (tofu, tempeh, edamame)
Phytoestrogens may help outfox prostate cancer by binding estrogen receptors and confusing the enemy. Don’t fear soy—it’s not turning you into a yoga instructor. It’s just playing mind games with your tumors.
Berries
Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries—small, intense, packed with polyphenols. Think: antioxidant snipers in the inflammatory battlefield.
Green tea
Catechins. Polyphenols. A thousand YouTube testimonials. Tastes like regret but may help slow things down. Just don’t expect it to replace radiation. Or coffee.
Whole grains (steel-cut oats, barley, quinoa)
They don’t sparkle, but they help regulate insulin. And keeping insulin low helps starve cancer of its metabolic fuel. Boring? Yes. Useful? Also yes.
Pomegranate juice
There’s weak but intriguing evidence it may slow PSA doubling time. Is it a miracle? No. But it’s tasty, and it doesn’t cause hot flashes or man boobs. That’s worth something.
The Enemy Camp: What to Avoid Like a Follow-Up Biopsy
Red meat
Especially grilled, charred, or processed. Think: cancer fertilizer with a smoky flavor. Regular consumption is linked to higher risk, thanks to compounds like heterocyclic amines and heme iron.
Processed meats (bacon, sausage, hot dogs, deli meats)
These are the dietary equivalent of playing Russian roulette with nitrites. Delicious. Deadly. Choose wisely.
Sugar and refined carbs
Sugar spikes insulin. Insulin spikes IGF-1. IGF-1 tells cancer, “Hey, it’s party time!” Cut the crap: soda, pastries, white bread, frosted breakfast lies. You don’t need dessert. You need to live.
Ultra-processed foods
If it has a mascot or a jingle, it’s not here to help you. These foods are inflammation bombs wrapped in plastic.
Supplements sold by guys named “Chad” on YouTube
No, deer antler velvet won’t help. Yes, turmeric and green tea have weak data. No, your kidneys don’t care about your “alkaline cleanse.” If it sounds like magic, it’s probably just expensive urine.
Final Word: Eat Like a Warrior, Not a Wellness Blogger
This isn’t about joy. You’re not chasing foodie nirvana—you’re fighting a war in slow motion. So eat like it. Eat with purpose. Every forkful of steamed kale or garlicky quinoa is a tiny, bitter “screw you” to the disease trying to take you down.
You’re not looking for salvation in a salad. You’re looking for an edge. A biochemical sandbag. And while diet won’t win the war alone, it might keep you standing long enough to make the next move—and maybe even outlive the thing that thought it had you beat.
So no, you can’t undo radiation with arugula. But you can show up to this fight armed with more than side effects and prayer.
Eat grimly. Eat deliberately. Eat like you’ve got something left to fight for—because you do.
Now pass the damn garlic.
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I have posted about it before, but DIM and sulfurophanes are very weak versions of progesterone. If you want the real solution, "progesterone powder, bioidentical micronized powder", this will lower estrogen and is a fully studied hormone and is OTC. DIM and sulforaphanes are known about, and believed to act somewhat like progesterone, but may have other effects that are not fully known. First thing to determine is your testosterone to estrogen ratio, which should be over 10.
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2 ReactionsI rarely print things but this one is going in the plastic medical binder that I carry around with me. Great stuff!
I should tell you @hanscasteels that you have affected how I read other things now. I see blog posts, substacks, etc. where people - famous people - are making an effort to write in the style that you use. Wow! you either have that skill or your don't. Clearly it takes time, and probably re-writing to get it right. But it is not something you bang out like a tik tok vid while walking the dog. Encore chapeau monsieur !
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5 ReactionsThanks, @smoore4. I'm honored to be slipped into the sacred plastic sheaths of the medical binder — just above the colonoscopy prep instructions and slightly below the do-not-resuscitate form. As for influencing famous people: it’s only fair, I’ve been stealing their ideas for years.
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3 Reactionsthe glorious leg exercise routine — not for vanity, but for the sheer thrill of surviving staircases. The new Everest. “One small step for man, one giant, quivering, thigh-burning leap for prostates everywhere.”
And thank you for the kind words wrapped in a blanket of mutual misery. Writing a book on cancer isn't going to happen. I do not have the expertise, other than being in a PCa battling bod.
As for mental overload — absolutely. My brain's doing backflips in a swamp of hormone stew and radiation microwaves. It's a miracle I remember to put pants on before going outside. (No promises next week.) Glad to hear the leg exercises are working! You’ll be scaling stairs like a hormonally castrated Spider-Man in no time. Keep climbing — literally and metaphorically. This statement does not apply to PSA values.
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1 ReactionThank your for the input,, I will see about getting some blood work done.
Phil,
Thanks for asking. Firstly, I would like to say I am grateful for your input in this group as well as everyone else's. Secondly, I am an engineer, Last medical (really first aid) training was 10th grade health class and the unit on CPR. So, when I can directly interact with former dentists, doctors and pharmacists and just plain smart well-informed guys it is definitely helping my understanding of many things.
And lastly, I will say I know that my current PC status is unfortunately for many good men on this site pretty enviable. I had my prostate taken out 17 years ago. PSA started showing up last August 0.1 went to .09 then .110 (yes different levels of precision) now .080. I'm not a statistician, but let's call that holding steady for 7 or 8 months
So of course, I am very happy and also recognize I might be in the early innings of this game.
In the last 7-8 months I have reduced red meat (easy as I like fish) reduced dairy (yogurt and cheese a few times a week) I've had a couple glasses of wine and a beer in 2025, Super easy for me to just not drink, I still east way too much sugar, I can easily eat a half a box of donuts at a time, no problem (once every other week?) OK, I lied, a whole box if I'm really out of control Somewhere along the line I got hooked on energy drinks, mostly them now.... but what a ridiculous habit I picked up.
In the past I have taken many supplements. Since I am not medically trained, perhaps I did myself more harm than good.
Enter the dietary, interventions. I've always believed in a balanced diet, half health food, half junk food 🙂 I'm lucky my stomach tolerates pretty much anything, and I don't mind eating for a purpose.
Enter the quest for foods that might help. Tomatoes, broccoli and everything else Hans mentions make sense to me. I thought I would "level up" my game with sprouts as opposed to table ready broccoli. So, I make daily a "smoothie" with a big handful of broccoli and radish and maybe bean sprouts, water, add lemon juice for "taste" and bottoms up. Tastes terrible to me. Almost stunningly pungent.
It might be helping; I'm thinking that besides just DIM perhaps there are also other compounds that are helpful. I don't know???
I'm thinking that a lot of European cuisines feature a lot of tomatoes and cabbage, and there might be some wisdom to that combination, or some sort of generational genetic response (I'll stop short of saying evolution), or natural selection over time to the diet?? Tail wagging dog or dog wagging tail, I don't know. I'm Polish.
There is a study that UI (Illinois), performed on mice with tomato and broccoli that had really good results for a certain group of the rats, they compared the diet intervention to drugs or castration. I'm hoping I'm a lucky rat (at least for a while) Reading these posts I know for sure I'm a dumb Polack.
All the best to everyone.
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4 ReactionsI'll add to my own comment that I cut out almost all eggs as I have seen that some think choline might influence PC. I love eggs, cutting them out is a bit of a change for me. thank you all
I'm on the fence about dairy. ADT has done a number on my bones and I've been strongly encouraged to eat lots of high calcium foods and dairy, especially yogurt and milk, are about as high calcium as you can get. Yes, kale has calcium, but it's like eating the packaging that comes inside Amazon boxes and I can barely choke it down.
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2 ReactionsYou're fine. The latest 2023 edition of Dr Walsh's book says that despite some individual early-stage studies, there's not adequate evidence to say either that red meat and dairy increase prostate cancer risk, or that eating cruciferous veggies like broccoli (or kale) decreases the risk.
Focus on eating what you need to take care of your heart, bones, muscles, and so on. Obviously, moderation and balance in everything is wise — you might not want to have a 16 oz steak smothered in butter-sautéed mushrooms *too* often — but if that's what you crave for your birthday dinner, go for it!
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2 ReactionsHans, loved your narrative, great advice. But from my perspective, life is not worth living if I cannot have the occasional slice of chocolate cake!