Chemotherapy is a form of cancer treatment that involves the administration of drugs to stop or slow the growth of cancer cells. Since healthy cells can be affected during treatment, it is important to follow a healthy diet. Your doctor will monitor your weight during chemotherapy to ensure that you are not rapidly gaining or losing pounds.
Benefits
According to the University of Cincinnati, a good diet during chemotherapy can help keep up your strength and energy levels, decrease side effects, increase your chances of warding off infections and assist you to recover from the treatment quicker. For these benefits, you need to ensure that you are eating enough calories each day and consuming enough protein.
Effects
Changing the way that you eat is an important part of combating side effects of chemotherapy. Eat small meals instead of three heavy square meals daily. BreastCancer.org recommends crackers, toast, dry cereal, fruit juice, non-fat yogurt and sherbet to help with stomach upset. Avoid very sweet, greasy, spicy or fried foods if you experience nausea.
Types
Choose foods that are filled with nutrients. Make every calorie count when you are going through chemotherapy. You should aim for approximately seven to nine servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Other dietary recommendations provided by the University of Cincinnati are six servings of grain products, six oz. of lean proteins daily and three servings of low-fat dairy foods daily.
Considerations
Chemotherapy may cause a person to lose his appetite. If you experience these symptoms, you should consume high-protein and high-calorie foods at each meal. Some examples are butter, milk, cream cheese, honey, dried fruits and granola. Meal replacement drinks, like Boost™, Carnation Instant Breakfast Drink™ or Ensure™, can be added to meals as well.
Warning
The BreastCancer.org website warns that no scientific evidence exists to support the belief that a special diet can cure cancer. Creators of certain diets, such as Gerson therapy and Kelly and Gonzalez treatments, claim that following their dietary program can help you beat cancer. Diets that require fasting, the use of supplements or the administration of injections and enemas can be harmful to you, especially if you are going through chemotherapy treatment.
