If you're battling liver cancer, you're undergoing some significant health challenges that almost certainly occupy much of your attention. You might be tempted to ignore your diet. However, you may need to make some dietary changes related to your medical condition. For example, some people with liver disease find they retain water and need to cut back significantly on the salt in their diets. You physician might tell you to follow a low-salt or a no-salt diet for liver cancer.
Background
Liver cancer occurs in more than 26,000 Americans each year, and about 19,500 die from the condition annually, according to the National Cancer Institute. If you have primary liver cancer, it means your cancer actually originated in your liver. To treat primary liver cancer, your physician may recommend removing part of your liver. Or you might have another kind of cancer -- breast or colon cancer, for example -- that has spread to your liver. In these cases, you don't actually have liver cancer, even though the cancer now appears in your liver. However, you may still need to take specific dietary measures, including reducing or eliminating salt, to help treat your cancer.
Recommendations
Your liver normally helps your body process fluids, and people whose livers aren't functioning properly often suffer from fluid retention. Salt -- specifically, the sodium in salt -- can make this situation worse, possibly causing your body to retain so much fluid that your extremities and abdomen swell. That's why your physician may recommend a low-salt or salt-free diet if you have liver cancer. Generally, sodium only represents a problem in liver cancer if you're already retaining fluids, but you should follow your physician's recommendations regardless of whether you have some swelling or not.
Foods
To limit salt on your diet for liver cancer, skip processed foods such as soups, lunch meats, premade meals and sauces; these often contain copious amounts of added sodium, which you might not notice unless you look at the label. Depending on your doctor's recommendations, stick with low-salt or salt-free items such as canned vegetables with no salt added. Even bakery items might have added salt, so learn to read food labels carefully. Also, never add salt to anything you cook.
Options
Even on a low- or no-salt diet, you still have plenty of food options. For breakfast, you can enjoy a salt-free cereal with milk or a yogurt topped with fresh fruit. Lunch might include homemade salt-free vegetable soup or a sandwich made with fresh turkey breast and salt-free bread. For dinner, you can have pasta, rice, fresh vegetables along with chicken or fish seasoned with herbs and spices. Just make sure to read labels carefully so that you steer clear of any seasoning mix that includes salt.
