Food/Nutrition
Geof
I joined recently and read this post and was quite surprised how few people had responded given how important nutrition is whether you are in active treatment or in remission. I live near Vancouver, Canada and we have a very good Prostate Cancer Supportive organization which presents seminars on topics such as nutrition and exercise. In the case of nutrition their recommendation is follow the so called Mediterranean diet and they provide handouts with recipes and tips. I had been trying, unsuccessfully, to drum up the energy to write something based on their information but it was just too daunting, however, I found a solution. Currently in the Columnist section on Daily Mail online there is an article by Dr Michael Mosley about his recommendations, which he mentions are essentially the Mediterranean diet, for people with diabetes, with recipes. The recommendations are for weight loss but turning them into weight maintenance or gain is simply a matter of quantity. My eating pattern for the last twenty years, or so, has more or less matched these recommendations and I like to give it credit for me being well past my the prognosis I received with my diagnosis (although more credit has to be given to my top notch radiation oncologist). But I do think my diet has helped mitigate the side effects from her beating on me so hard and has helped me keep up a high level of activity. I think it is well worth reading the article and as far as possible following Dr. Mosley’s advice.
Jenny-Jane
Hi,
I empathise with CrazyCat - old habits die hard and when you go back into a busy routine of work/family it can be hard to keep up all the good stuff!
I was surprised at the lack of nutritional information provided during my treatment and spent a lot of time researching myself what I could eat to support my treatment and keep side effect free. I felt that at least I was doing what I could (and was within my control) to give myself the best chance of success and also put down my relative health during and quick recovery post treatment to diet.
I didn't receive any advice after treatment of what I should be eating, despite having pelvic radiotherapy (future bowel cancer risk) and moving onto HRT (future osteoporosis risk), so have really prioritised lifestyle changes to maintain a good diet - but it's not always easy!
I am thinking about starting a blog with hints on how to integrate some particularly good food types into a post cancer daily diet and a busy schedule. Would be interested in any feedback from this community on whether people would find this useful?
x
CrazyCat
Hi Jenny! I think that my problem is that you never know what to trust in terms of nutritional advice, of course, people tell you to have a varied diet, but what really helps beyond that, I don't know! I wish there was more useful information on the subject... often I find that nutritionists and doctors tell you completely different information. I think sharing good food tips sounds great, where are you going to share it? x
laura
Hi Jenny, Did you get my email from Mission Remission? I loved your blog post!
If you fancied writing something here about quick tips on getting easy nutrition that would be ace. We haven't begun a food section as it is a bit of a tricky topic as there's quite a lot of unscrupulous people out there trying to sell miracle cancer cures!!
Anyway, let me know if so - laura@mission-remission.com
bumblebeebum
My experience of nutritional advice has been sketchy at best. I know that this is due to the physical lack of nutritionists available , which is sad . Particularly for the food lover among us ( I'm in the live to eat camp)
Advised pre and post op and post ileostomy reversal to adopt a low residue diet- I checked out what that was online. As I'm still trying to manage a new bowel habit (and hi vegetable and fibre diet renders me 'smallest room in the' house-bound) I'm struggling to eat the traditional healthy veg rich diet . Struggling to lose weight too. And get back into the healthy weight zone.
This is one of the major deficits in the cancer treatment journey - a dietitian's advice. Also gems of advice on particularly irritating post surgery foods would have been a great help. Never thought I'd avoid a raspberry.
Trail and error was a trial - with a lot of error.
Jenny, I would be so excited to read your blog.
bumblebeebum
My experience of nutritional advice has been sketchy at best. I know that this is due to the physical lack of nutritionists available , which is sad . Particularly for the food lover among us ( I'm in the live to eat camp)
Advised pre and post op and post ileostomy reversal to adopt a low residue diet- I checked out what that was online. As I'm still trying to manage a new bowel habit (and hi vegetable and fibre diet renders me 'smallest room in the' house-bound) I'm struggling to eat the traditional healthy veg rich diet . Struggling to lose weight too. And get back into the healthy weight zone.
This is one of the major deficits in the cancer treatment journey - a dietitian's advice. Also gems of advice on particularly irritating post surgery foods would have been a great help. Never thought I'd avoid a raspberry.
Trail and error was a trial - with a lot of error.
Jenny, I would be so excited to read your blog.
Double-zero
An old thread, I know, but the issue still persists: I was told by the hospital's nutritionists to eat protein bars. I've done my own research, set up a non-profit and am sharing advice by nutritionists, for us all. It's a free resource, with a section on cancer specifically, as well as nutrition advice.
Cancer: https://double-zero.org/cancer
Nutrition: https://double-zero.org/websites-4
I've learned so much! Denise
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Does anyone follow any food plans or diets to try stay healthy? Ive asked my nurses what I should eat but they just told me to eat veg and a balanced diet, which isnt much help! Id like to eat more vegetables, before I was will my diet was really bad and Im worried Im slipping back into that.