GNC style supplements after chemo?

[shenanigans]

Alright heard over and over that GNC style supplements with protein and such are a bad bad idea during chemo affect the treatment and such.


benn about 2 months since my treatment, is it possible that I can get on them, specially protien. My white blood and red blood cells are all good levels but low end of good levels. Especially my whites they used to be pretty high before chemo.

Only reason I ask is I just got pretty much a common cold and it kicked my *** hard, talking some of the worts fever I ever had, and lasting days, really hitting me hard. Said lots of protein help stimulate white/red blood cell growth. Gonna be weight lifting too. Have used a supplement in the past and seen good results too.


Just wondering if you guys hear if its a good or bad, I will likely bring it up with my doc. But I always love going in there knowing my answer and everything that is coming out of his mouth by doing good research. (used to blow my parents away when I busted out with medical jargen and have good medical conversations with the docs)

[Scott]

The hospital nutritionists recommended Carnation Instant Breakfast when I needed a protein boost.

[Stacy]

GNC has a whey powder supplement called "Amplify". It's pretty good, easy to digest and flavor isn't bad. Lots o' protein, although like Scott said, you may just want to compare it to Instant Breakfast due to the fact that it's a little on the pricey side.

[Kman99]

I am far from a nutritional or diet supplement expert, but my advice is to just be careful about what diet supplements you consume. Any supplements that contains Fen-phen, as one example, are known to cause cardiac valve dysfunction.

http://www.fda.gov/cder/news/feninfo.htm

fda.gov is a good resource to look for other diet supplements known to cause other medical issues.

[shenanigans]

haha I know to look out for supplements...


I am looking for primarily whey protein supplements.



stuff with fen fen are generally in "weight loss" stuff, same with epedrine, both designed for energy building and weight burning.



I know hte usual meal supplements like ensure and boost... I am looking for the ones with a little more protein, that were said NOT to be used during chemo do to adverse affects with how the chemo drugs operate. Not like harmful side effects but made the chemo drugs less effective.


an example is this...

http://www.gnc.com/productDetails.aspx?&MSHiC=65001&L=10&W=PROTEINA%20PROTEINS%20protein%20whey%20PROTEINBASED%20&Pre=%3CFONT%20STYLE%3D%22background%3A%23ffff00%22%3E&Post=%3C/FONT%3E&id=350431&lang=en

*****do not take this stuff if your currently DOING chemotherapy, without consulting your oncologist, I already researched it and its a NO NO!****


But since I am done and overwith, I want to look into it. Mainly for things like this, Increased gluatimine....

Glutamine serves as fuel for the immune system, provides an anti-catabolic effect and is involved in protein synthesis. Prolonged high-intensity exercise can decrease glutamine levels.

say I take 2 servings a day thats 42 grams of protein not including my regular intake.

[dadmo]

I don't really want to get into the pros and cons of supplements for cancer patients, I for one think they are important. Jason works out 4-5 time each week and to get extra protein he makes shakes with no fat milk a banana, natural peanut butter with the oil drained off and GNC Mega MRP. Wihout protein you cannot build muscle.

[Rune]

I don't see any reason why standard protein supplements would cause problems after chemo. Generally, there no practical difference between being on a "natural" high-protein diet and using protein supplements. But I'd still run it by your doc, just to be on the safe side.

I don't use protein supplements myself since I eat a lot of chicken/turkey to get enough protein for weight training, but I do know a couple of guys who use it with good results. A good rule of thumb is to consume 1.5 - 2 grams of protein per kilo of body weight if you weight lift regularly. Your body can't use more than that and will just convert any extra protein into carbohydrates.

Kinda off-topic, but speaking of carbohydrates, it's a good idea to get enough of those as well from potatoes, rice etc as it really helps the body recover from workouts. The same goes for essential fat like omega-3 etc. from nuts and fish.