Nutrition during treatment
Hi everyone
I was curious to know what everyone is doing with respect to nutrition during treatment…. Is anyone doing juicing? Green smoothies? Any tips on the proper diet to stay well and have some energy?
Thank you
Cindy
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I think it really depends on what your treatment regimen is. Both my neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemo treatments left me with taste changes and gastrointestinal issues that limited what I could eat. Fresh vegetables, like salads, were a huge no-no because they made me throw up. I ate a lot of easily digested "white" foods like mashed potatoes, cheerios, toast, etc. I could eat vegetables that were very well cooked such as canned green beans or baked beans. I could eat applesauce but not apples. I drank Orgain Protein shakes and gatorade. Now that I am finally finished with active treatment (14 1/2 months later), I am able to re-introduce more nutritious foods.
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Nutritionists recommend staying hydrated and eating enough protein so that the good cells damaged by treatment can recover. As maggiehopley said, what you eat depends on what your side effects are. I ended out with severe anemia so I had to eat red meat and iron fortified cereals. I then had to deal with the GI issues from the iron I was prescribed. Some people have minimal side effects so what you can eat depends on your situation.
If you take supplements you should let your doctors know what they are before treatment starts. Some antioxidants lessen the effectiveness of the toxins. I had to temporarily stop taking vitamin A prescribed by an oral surgeon to help heal a bone infection since it would lessen the effectiveness of radiation. A multivitamin is OK but you don't want to take anything that will reduce the benefit of chemo or radiation.
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For me, changing to a mostly vegan diet with eggs while living with active cancer has been good. During the 6 months I was not active with cancer though I sometimes ate chicken and fish). Being mostly vegetariean has helped me feel good and manage side effects with foods. I'm a book learner/lover and these helped me enormously:
Your Life In Your Hands by Jane Plant, PhD. Love this book, I have read it 3 times and refer to it often. This is the one I recommend for you to take a look at, I think you'll like it. It guides everything I eat and do! Has scientific articles and research which underpin the narrative, plus the author's personal story after 5 instances of cancer, and her journey to being healthy and cancer free. My go to book. And I love these Cookbooks: for foods and nourishing teas:
The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen: by Rebecca Katz and Mat Edelson helped so much during the rough chemo times. I started here. And Forks over Knives by Del Sroufe is wonderful for a full variety of plant based recipes. These all have tasty recipes and when I have appetite - yummy!. And if you are interested in playing with vegan, the Physicians for Responsible Medicine Committee has a 21 day vegan challenge which I loved! Which led me to The Vegan Kickstarter app and recipes which were amazing.Hope this is helpful, happy to share specific recipes if you are interested as well. Just let me know.
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Oh, and yes to juicing! I make fresh carrot juice, and granny smith apple with celery. I have an old Jack LaLane juicer I pulled out lol.
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I'm just about to start meds (as of tomorrow) so I don't know how my tastebuds or bowels might be affected, but I do know to avoid grapefruit and pomegranate since I'm taking ribociclib. Which is too bad - I used to love them both!
Otherwise, I'll be filling up on fruits and veggies, and staying hydrated. Meat in moderation. But I've been trying to stick to that for over a year. I lost around 30 pounds last year, deliberately. Dieted all spring and summer. I've been stable at 170 pounds and want to keep myself from creeping back up there.
Also, no more alcohol now.
My plan right now is to take meds in the morning, with food. I think I'll be eating more scrambled eggs to get protein in there.
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Hope your starting of meds again has been going smoothly! I also lost 20 lbs when I swtiched to mostly Vegan with eggs diet. But as a lover of red wine, which totally stopped when I was diagnosed last year, I think the lower calories has helped that cause a lot.
I am also eating loads of vegies and fruits, love the new juices I am making in the morning. And I've just started making Ginger, Peppermint, and Green tea. A great recipe from the Cancer Fighting Kitchen cookbook.
4 cups of water - bring to a boil and add:
Sliced ginger (peeled into 1/4 inch slices about, the size of half your thumb)
Boiled/simmered covered for 10 minutes.
Turn off heat. Add Peppermint and Green tea - tea bags, cover and steep for 10 minutes
Yummy
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I hope the starting of your meds has been relatively easy for you! I too lost weight, 20lbs when I switched to the vegan + eggs diet (fish in moderation) that I am on now. I also gave up alcohol, was a red wine drinker for years, and the decreased calories from the wine also contributed to slimming down I'm sure. I loved the ritual of it, but I'm ok without it.
Love my vegies, and love cooking. Am very glad my taste buds are still relatively functioning, just a slight metallic taste in my mouth from the Enertu.
Something I just started (in addition to making the juices in the morning) is making Ginger tea. This tea recipe comes from the Cancer Fighting Cookbook:
Boil 4 cups of water
Slice peeled fresh ginger into 1/4 slices, about the size of half your thumb. Boil/simmer covered for 10 minutes
Then add peppermint and green tea - tea bags and steep covered for 10 minutes.
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Hi Cindy. When I'm feeling exhausted I make myself a carrot, celery, and an apple into a juice in my mixer. Its amazing how it re-energizes me and I'm then able to do my exercises. I'm going to try the ginger recipe that a few here recommended! I also cut out my nightly white wine drinking. I read that wine increases estrogen, something we do not want! I don't know how true that is but makes sense to me. Good luck, Cindy!
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I make a Granny Smith apple, celery and fennel juice combo, and find it be a really good energizer. It is also really good for your hair to keep it thick and growing well after chemo.
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Thank you for your responses! I have chosen a very similar food regimen, lots of fruits and vegetables, oatmeal, nuts, and seeds and almond butter. I have been making lentil curry, i eat salmon, and I do like baked tofu.
I drink herbal tea, green tea, water, or seltzer water and that’s it. The juices sound wonderful I would love to try carrot juice and the apple celery juice. Thank you for sharing and thank you for the great book recommendations I love to read, and these will be so helpful!
cindy
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I love lentil curries and baked tofu. Anyone have good marinades they love for baked tofu? My go to is soy sauce or tamari, olive oil and garlic and then baked covered for 40 minutes. Simple but yummy. Would love to hear what you do and love!
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