What should your diet consist of?

A healthy diet plays an important role while you are receiving cancer treatment. It strengthens your body and helps you better cope with the consequences of cancer. But the focus isn’t on individual foods here, instead, it is on your diet as a whole. Maintaining a varied and balanced diet will provide you with the best support you can ask for from food.

The European Code Against Cancer recommends that you:

• prepare all food from scratch and avoid fast food
• eat less than 500 g of red meat a week
• avoid high-fat and sugary foods
• choose wholegrain cereals (daily if possible)
• eat enough fruit, vegetables and pulses (at least 400 g per day)
• restrict your salt intake to 6 g per day.

Besides receiving guidance from your medical team, you can also seek additional information and assistance from dieticians and nutritionists.

Author: Dr. Volker Henn | Reviewer: Dr. Christian Keinki

Sources:

• Antioxidants and Cancer Prevention. (2017, February 6). National Cancer Institute. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/diet/antioxidants-fact-sheet
• Food myths and cancer. (2022, June 6). Cancer Research UK. https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/diet-and-cancer/food-controversies
• Can eating apricot kernels cure cancer? (n.d.). Cancer Council. Retrieved December 12, 2022, from https://www.cancer.org.au/iheard/can-eating-apricot-kernels-cure-cancer
• Chia. (2022, March 31). Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/chia
• Ware, M. (2018, May 23). What are the health benefits of acai berries? Medical News Today. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/305576
• Shruti. (2019, January 30). Be Aware Of The Interaction Between Goji Berries And Warfarin. Healthyy. https://healthyy.net/superfoods/be-aware-of-the-interaction-between-goji-berries-and-warfarin
• Turmeric. (2020, May). National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/turmeric
• Turmeric. (2022, February 9). Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/turmeric

Picture credits: © Yulia Furman – stock.adobe.com