Eating For A Brighter Tomorrow

There are all kinds of diets and food plans out there. Ask just about any women and she’ll tell you to name a diet and she’ll have been on it. There’s a grape diet, a cabbage soup diet, which is fun for all concerned and an eat anything you like but stop at 4pm diet. We’re all heard of the Atkins diet and we’ve probably all heard of the low GI diet, both are quite popular at the moment. There is, however, one diet that no one should ever like to be on and that is the eating for cancer diet. The obvious prerequisite is that you should have cancer of some kind and be about to undergo treatment.

The right kind of food and proper nutrition can help a cancer patient feel better, stay stronger and even cope with the side effects of treatment. It is best to seek the advice of a registered dietician before undergoing treatment for cancer but below are a few handy tips for you to consider.

Before treatment http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/eatinghints
patients need to build up a stock of bodily reserves so they need a diet high in calories and high in proteins such as milk, cream, cheese, eggs, sauces, gravies and to have their food cooked in more butter, oil or margarine. They may need to eat less fibre as this might aggravate upset stomachs or sore mouths. This is the time to treat the patient. Food is pleasure and should be treated as such. Make meal times as fun as possible, if there are children present include them in the preparation of the meal. Prepare everyone’s favourite meal once a week; include at least one of the patient’s favourite dishes in each meal. Think positively and keep an optimistic attitude, this increases the appetite, at the very least it will stop the appetite from decreasing.

Even though it has been said that you must eat food high in calories and fry the hell out of it, it must now also be added that you need to try to eat as healthily as possibly. It seems very contradictory but if you include your daily 5 portions of fruit and veg and get all your fats your should be doing ok. This will help build up your reserves to prevent body tissue from breaking down during treatment and to maintain your defenses against infection.

During treatment you may find that your tastes change, do not be afraid to try new types food or of cooking food in new ways with new spices and seasonings. Do whatever it takes to keep your food intake up. You may find that your appetite is better during certain times of the day and not at others, use this knowledge wisely and eat bigger meals when your appetite is at its largest. When you feel that you can’t eat try meal replacement drinks. It is also a good idea to try and eat several small meals throughout the day rather than 3 solid meals.

For nausea try and eat toast, crackers or pretzels; yoghurt, cream of wheat, oatmeal; rice, boiled potatoes, noodles; skinned chicken baked or broiled. For an upset stomach sodium and potassium is very important try and eat bananas, potatoes and drink sports drinks also; yoghurt, cottage cheese; rice, noodles, potatoes; eggs – well cooked; smooth peanut butter; white bread, skinned chicken.

After treatment it is important to stay healthy, ease off the high calorie and high fat foods, lower your protein intake and gradually increase your fibre. A healthy diet will increase the speed at which you recover from your treatment and it will help to ensure that the cancer does not return.

The top 5 healthiest foods according to http://www.healthcastle.com are:
1) Salmon – high in protein and omega 3 fatty acids, the good cholesterol.
2) Soy – High in protein, amino acids, calcium, iron, zinc, phosphorus, magnesium, B vitamins, omega 3 and fibre
3) Greens – Vitamins A & C, iron, calcium and phytonutrients, fibre
4) Berries – Vitamin C, fibre, phytonutrients, rich in antioxidants
5) Whole grains – antioxidants, B vitamins, vitamin E, magnesium, iron

Diet plays a very important role in cancer treatment and cancer recovery. Its role is both physical and psychological. When you eat well you feel well. When you don’t eat and when you feel nauseas all the time, you feel like you are sick and like all the hope is being sucked out of your world. So do like the title says, and eat for a brighter tomorrow.