Healthy eating for cancer survivors
DIET-related chronic diseases have now become significant causes of death in many countries, including the developing world. Cancer is one such chronic disease. In many of its forms, cancer is a disease that can cause great suffering and claims many lives.
However, cancer is not an inevitable consequence of ageing, and people’s susceptibility to it varies. There is abundant evidence that food and nutrition, physical activity, and body composition are individually and collectively important modifiers of the risk of cancer. This does indeed mean that at least in principle, most cancer is preventable.
Recognising this, I have highlighted the prevention of cancer, especially through appropriate food and nutrition practices, in a series of NutriScene write-ups over the past year. I had relied on recommendations contained in the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) expert report on Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer released in November 2007 . In addition, I had also relied on the Hong Kong WCRF recommendations for cancer prevention booklet
I had highlighted eight general recommendations and one special recommendation of the WCRF report in previous write-ups. All these recommendations dealt with lowering risk and prevention of cancer.
In this article, I will discuss the last of this series of recommendations. This recommendation does not deal with prevention of cancer, but focuses on healthy eating for cancer survivors. I find this an extremely important topic to highlight. There is a great deal of misconception regarding the dietary and nutritional needs of cancer patients and survivors.
Healthy eating is vital for cancer survivors
Cancer survivors are people who are living with a diagnosis of cancer, including those who have recovered from the disease.
Treatment for many cancers is increasingly successful, and so there are many more cancer survivors. Furthermore, cancer survivors are living longer and may live long enough to develop new primary cancers or other chronic diseases. It is therefore extremely important for cancer survivors to adopt appropriate healthy eating practices and an active lifestyle.
There are just too many people out there providing nutrition advice, some of which are really dubious, and others can even be harmful. There are patients who tell me they are afraid of drinking milk or taking eggs as these will make the cancer cells multiply even faster. There are others who eat only fruits and vegetables because they believe they are healthy foods. Such myths about food and nutrients can result in the cancer survivor not obtaining much needed nutrients.
There are also promotions for dubious products that supposedly can “treat” cancers. These include various antioxidant supplements that are supposed to be able to kill cancer cells. It will be very sad indeed if patients forgo conventional medical treatment and dietary advice for such products or practices.
WCRF recommendation for cancer survivors
Upon reviewing all available evidence, the WCRF expert panel concluded that:
·There is growing evidence that physical activity and other measures that help us maintain a healthy weight, such as a balanced diet, may help to prevent cancer recurrence, particularly for breast cancer.
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