Eating to Live

One of the challenges of being a physician is to continue to try to understand how patients and families feel when confronted with bad news. Building upon this therapeutic empathy is what helps in developing a treatment plan and anticipating the needs of people struggling with a serious illness. When disease intrudes on friends and family, this acute sense of distress is felt even more sharply. In the past month, a good friend of mine that is my age has been diagnosed with advanced colon cancer and my father-in-law with cancer of the bile ducts.

When cancers are diagnosed, especially those that are treatable, there may be a kind of passivity that sets in as the various forms of therapy are applied and as all wait with anticipation for evidence of a good response. I wondered if there are ways to wait more aggressively and to contribute to the process of recovery in addition to whatever medically defined program has been implemented. One key area that holds promise is taking the very best care of yourself while undergoing treatment by optimizing nutritional intake.

Thanks to progress in treatment protocols, cancer is far from the death sentence for many that it once was. About 62% of adults diagnosed with cancer are still alive 5 years later. There are currently 8.9 million cancer survivors in the US, or 3.3% of the population. There are good reasons for taking the very best care of the person newly diagnosed with cancer. Adopting new habits with regard to diet and activity is an opportunity to take an involved role in treatment and do everything you can to improve the chances of increasing both quality and quantity of life.

This is especially underscored by the fact that at the initial diagnosis 40% of people with cancer are malnourished. There are chemical signals that are sent to the brain that may originate in the cancer that can depress one's appetite, causing the condition known as anorexia. When one is afflicted with anorexia over time, cachexia occurs, which is significant malnutrition and muscle wasting. Some cancers damage the digestive system, making chewing, swallowing, or digesting food difficult and posing additional challenges. Many people with cancer become depressed, which can further diminish the appetite.

Keep in mind that cancer is not one disease and that the following suggestions need to be reviewed with your physician and, where possible, a nutritionist.

• If possible, try to get regular exercise. It can prevent muscle loss caused by inactivity, provide endurance, stimulate the appetite and decrease the risk of constipation and fatigue.
• If you are significantly overweight, there is some advantage to reducing weight with proper nutritional guidance, especially for women with breast cancer.
• Take a standard multivitamin to ensure that you are getting 100% of the recommended allowance of vitamins and minerals.
• No alcohol to very little alcohol intake.
• At least 5 servings of vegetables and 3 servings of fruit daily.
• Only 15% to 20% of energy intake should be coming from dietary fat.
• Intake should include at least 30 grams per day of dietary fiber.
• Seek treatment for depression.
• Your doctor may recommend medications that can stimulate the appetite.

There is no evidence that a strict vegetarian diet will prevent cancer recurrences or facilitate treatment. Be very careful about nutritional claims and cures from organizations that are not recommended by a physician and that may falsely raise hope or criticize conventional forms of treatment.

If you or a loved one has cancer, especially one that has a good outlook, there may be more to the therapy than chemotherapy, radiation therapy or surgery. Empower yourself and fight back with sound nutrition and exercise. At the least you may feel better, and at the best, it may make a positive difference in the outcome.

"Your Health" provides easy-to-understand information about common health conditions.