Cancer treatment and progression can take a tremendous toll on your body. One of the side effects of cancer is a variation in the way you handle food, either due to the disease itself or because of the associated side effects of cancer therapy. Often this leads to malnutrition, a condition that can in turn affect the effectiveness of your treatment. What you eat or don’t eat while undergoing treatment for cancer can hinder your recovery as well as the quality of your life. Nutrition, therefore, is key to effective cancer therapy.

Nutrition and quality of life
A recent study by Nourissat and team demonstrated the link between nutritional status and a patient’s quality of life. They found a significant reduction in the mean global quality of life score in patients who had lost more than 10 percent of their body weight since the onset of cancer, as compared to patients without severe weight loss. The researchers also showed that patients without severe weight loss were more able to tolerate side effects of the treatment including nausea, constipation, diarrhea, and fatigue. Getting adequate nutrition, therefore, can help a patient improve the odds of tolerating treatment.

Consult a dietician
Several hospitals have made nutrition an essential part of cancer treatment and patients are encouraged to regularly consult with a dietician while fighting the disease.  The dietician ensures that the patient follows a diet containing all the key nutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins, minerals, and water.  Cancer therapy is associated with various side effects, the most common ones being anorexia (loss of appetite), nausea, vomiting, mouth sores, diarrhea, and pain. A registered dietician can help and will suggest cutting back on fatty foods, sugar, alcohol and salt to help counter side effects as well as increasing intake of vegetables and fruits, whole grains, and smaller portions of meat and dairy products to help supply essential nutrients.

Healthy eating: Facts vs fiction

Tags: Diet, Cancer