Cancer and treatment can negatively impact many parts of your daily lifestyle by depleting your energy stores while leaving you in a vulnerable position and insufficient nutrient intake. By making healthful choices that are rich in nutrients and provide enough calories you are able to maintain your weight and rebuild any tissue lost in treatment. Making careful food choices will strengthen your immune system, powering it to fight against the brain cancer.
The Importance of Healthy Fats
Including healthy dietary fats in your diet during cancer treatment is an essential component in treating brain cancer. Although you should avoid saturated fats and hydrogenated oils, a diet that is rich in healthy oils, such as olive oil and fish, can boost the immune system while reducing inflammation and swelling. Omega-3 fats are beneficial in reducing tumor resistance to therapy. These essential fats are found in fish and flax seed oil, which are proven beneficial to work successfully with cancer patients. Olive oil, an omega-9 fat, is also a healthy source of dietary fat that you may use moderately in food preparation.
Decrease Sugar in Your Diet
Sugar feeds cancerous cells while suppressing the immune system during cancer treatment. Cancer cells have the tendency to consume 10 to 15 times more sugar than normal cells do which increases the chances of inflammation. During brain cancer treatment, you should reduce your intake of refined sugar and carbohydrates, replacing them with whole grain products and naturally sweet vegetables, such as sweet potatoes.
Increase Your Fiber Intake
A diet that is high in fiber can decrease your chances of constipation and diarrhea, lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and regulate blood sugar level. Although you may get a sufficient amount of fiber from whole grain breads and cereals, fresh fruits, vegetables, and legumes provide a higher intake of fiber. You should try to eat at least four to five servings of vegetables and one to two servings of fruit. However, if you are not getting enough fiber through your diet, you can combine one to two tablespoons of grounded flaxseed into yogurt, oatmeal, salads, and smoothies.
Supplementation
For her brain cancer patient, Dr. Wallace, who holds a PhD in nutrition and is a nutrition consultant, designed an intervention focusing on a diet rich in natural supplementation to reduce side effects of treatment. She prescribed her patient 500 mg of niacin daily along with 1,000 mg of germanium to increase the flow of oxygen and antioxidants to the tumor, increasing the tumor's vulnerability to radiation. Some dietitians may also recommend taking vitamin C and vitamin E to protect healthy brain tissue and reduce swelling during radiation, along with beta carotene, selenium, shark liver oil, and whey protein.
References
- Stanford Medicine: Nutrition Guidelines During Cancer Treatment
- BNET: Health Publications: "Townsend Letters for Doctors and Patients"; Asenjo, B. & Wallace, J.M.; 2005
- "National Brain Tumor Foundation"; The Healing Power of Your Fork: A Brain Tumor Survivor's Eating Plan; Wallace, J.M.
- Cancer Treatment Centers of America: Brain Cancer Treatments -Nutrition Therapy
