Provided by Kim Dalzell, PhD, RD, LD
Author of Challenge Cancer and Win! Step-by-step nutrition action plans for your specific cancer.
Healthy eating is essential for any one who wants to fight against the cancer process. Proper nutrition can rebuild cells, stimulate immune system function and protect your body from chemical and environmental damage. Here are my top suggestions to maximize your chances for an optimal treatment outcome:
Step up to the scale.
Have you weighed yourself recently? Retrieve that scale from the far corner inside your bathroom cupboard and find out if your suspicions are true. Overeating can lead to obesity, which in turn, has been linked to an increased risk of colorectal cancer. On the other hand, if you are losing weight, you compromise your health by not providing your body with adequate amounts of nutrients that can support immune system function. If you are in active treatment, you should be monitoring your weight every three days or so. As little as a 5% weight loss can dramatically reduce your ability to cope with treatment side effects and can lead to malnutrition, a complication that causes 40% of deaths in cancer patients.
Face fats.
It's time to stop eating all that fat! Try to eat no more than 20% of your daily intake from fat. Consuming too much fat, or the wrong kinds of fat, has been associated with inflammatory conditions, immune system depression and cancer cell growth. If diets are high in total fat, there seems to be an increased risk for colorectal cancer. Goal one: say good bye to French fries, chips, and deep fat fried fish or vegetables. Watch what you spread on your bread, too. Limit fat spreads like butter, margarine or nut butters to no more than 2 teaspoons per day. It is no longer enough to avoid total fats; you have to watch the amount of unhealthy fats as well. Unhealthy fats are either saturated in nature (derived from animal products) or unsaturated fats that have been chemically altered through hydrogenation (found in margarine, salad dressings, baked goods, packaged convenience foods). Stay away from tropical fats, too, like coconut and palm oils. Limit your intake of nuts and seeds. Eat red meat only on special occasions; eat more fish, especially the kind that contain omega-3 fatty acids, like salmon, tuna and mackerel. Avoid high fat cheeses and milks; look for dairy products that are made from skim milk. If you have colorectal cancer, you will want to avoid all dairy products, except for yogurt. Replace hurtful fats with small amounts of beneficial oils derived from olive, canola and flax seed.
Don't be so sweet.
If you are like most Americans, you are consuming over 100 pounds of sugar a year. Sugar, as well as other unrefined carbohydrates, can wreak havoc with blood sugar levels, creating an environment favorable for cancer cell growth. Eating sweets affects immunity by reducing white blood cells production. You should limit your unrefined flour and sugar intake to less than 10% of total dietary carbohydrate. This means that the majority of your starches should come from unprocessed, whole grain bread, cereal, pasta and rice. Besides watching the obvious high sugar foods like cakes, cookies, candies and pastries, you should look for hidden sugars on product labels. Words that end in -ose, like glucose, fructose, lactose, and sucrose are examples of sweeteners added to commercial foods. In an effort to stabilize blood sugar levels, always choose meals or snacks that contain carbohydrates and proteins. This rule applies to you "juicers" out there, too. Never drink juices alone; have them with a side order of nuts, seeds or soy protein powder.
Find the joy of soy.
That's right. Veggie burgers, tofu, tempeh, miso. All the foods you may have heard about but attempted to avoid. They won't go away, and you need them now more than ever before. Besides providing a protein alternative to animal meats, soy has demonstrated effectiveness in slowing tumor growth and limiting metastatic properties of various cancer cells. Look for "lite" versions of tofu and soy milk, which will have less fat than their regular counterparts. Experiment with soy shakes, stir fried tempeh and bite into a veggie dog today!
Listen to your mother.
Didn't she tell you to eat your vegetables? And fruits! Nature has packed cancer fighting fiber and plant chemicals into almost every one of these naturally sweet and delicious packages. Everyone should eat at least 3 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruits. You will want to increase the number of servings of produce you eat according to your weight. Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and onions have been found to be beneficial for colorectal cancer. Also, choose phyto-rich spinach, kale, carrots, guava, oranges and strawberries.
Bulk up.
You need between 25 and 35 grams of dietary fiber per day. It is highly unlikely that you are currently consuming that much, especially if you are eating any white bread, white rice, white pasta, white anything! The rule to remember is, "brown is better". Fiber acts to detoxify the body by removing cancer-causing secondary bile acids, excess estrogen and cholesterol through the stool. Plant fibers, accompanied by lots of fluid, are necessary for normal elimination and increase friendly bacteria in the colon. You should strive for a mixed fiber diet; high in soluble (psyllium, oats, legumes) and insoluble (foods with seeds, strings and peels) fibers.
Drink up.
Flush your system with plenty of purified water. You need over 64 ounces of fluid per day to keep yourself hydrated and facilitate normal physiological functions. Avoid consuming beverages that tend to dehydrate, like caffeine-containing colas, coffees or teas. One exception to this rule is green tea. Although it contains caffeine, it also has catechins that offer antioxidant benefits.
Supplement your diet.
You may benefit from the following dietary supplements. Take with meals unless otherwise indicated. Please communicate with your doctor when you begin to take, or change, your dietary supplements.
Multivitamin, without iron
Mixed carotenoids, 15 - 60 mg
Vitamin C with bioflavonoids, 1,000 - 6,000 mg
Vitamin E, 400 - 1000 IU
Selenium, 200 - 800 mcg
EPA/DHA, 1,000 - 6,000 mg
CoQ10, 100 - 400 mg
Calcium, 1,000 mg
Folacin, 800 - 1,200 mcg
Vitamin B12, 1,200 mcg
Curcumin, 250 - 500 mg
Lactobacillus acidophilus, 1 - 10 billion live cells
Get some expert advice!
Why not fight your cancer with the power of a professional nutritional consult? Don't jeopardize your chances for a positive outcome by guessing which dietary changes or supplements are most important for you! Holistic nutrition counseling is available to meet all of your nutritional health needs. Meal planning, recipes, and tips for easy dietary change will accompany a recommended dietary supplement regimen, designed by a doctor of holistic nutrition specifically for you! See Holistic Nutrition Services brochure at Cancer Resource Center for more details.