Read ahead to find out what you need to eat, and if there's certain foods to blacklist to reduce your risk of cancer and other diseases.
I am a 10 year breast cancer survivor always looking for ways to reduce my chances of recurrence. Once the darn beast has been beaten into submission the goal is to make sure it doesn't wiggle into growing the same way it started the first time. That means changing up everything starting with the most obvious- what goes into the body. We know that diet can and does make a huge difference to our health, and it's particularly crucial for cancer survivors who've undergone intensive harsh treatments.
I like to think of the human body as a garden, and cancer as the aphids, or pests that are so difficult to eradicate. We know garden soil needs to be balanced and fortified with various nutrients to encourage healthy plant growth able to withstand the onslaught of aphids. It's exactly the same within our human body. Eating a nutrient dense diet of mostly fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, while minimizing animal protein, gives us a better chance of disease free living- which is especially important for cancer survivors.
Most chemotherapy isn't targeted and affects all fast replicating cells, not just cancer. The cells with fast turnover rates include hair follicles, and cells of the stomach lining and digestive tract. Understanding this helps explain why many chemotherapy patients lose their hair, experience vomiting, nausea, constipation, diarrhea or any combination of these side effects. Chemotherapy is like fishing with a bomb. Yes, it ultimately works but the entire system suffers.
Rebuilding the body through proper nutrition is an absolute must following chemotherapy as the digestive tract is very sensitive to chemotherapy drugs. The ability to absorb nutrients properly may be compromised, and the patient may not be able to even tolerate healthy foods. As time goes on over the course of their treatment, they may end up depleted of crucial vitamins and minerals. Building the body back to strength and balance takes both time and a concerted effort.
It was my oncologist who introduced the notion of eating a mediterranean style diet in particular, for protection against breast cancer recurrence. We know that we need to eat more fruits and vegetables, of course, but he cited a scientific study with data showing reduced recurrence rates simply by eating a high vegetable, grain rich, mainly pescatarian diet. If my future health could be positively impacted through diet by simply changing my eating habits, it was a no brainer for me- I was on board.
After my oncologist recommended the Mediterranean diet, my husband and I became more interested in food/health studies and stumbled across an important book. The China study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health is a book by T. Colin Campbell and his son, Thomas M. Campbell II published in 2005. This American best selling book on nutrition, sold over one million copies by October 2013 and is popular still to this day.
I encourage readers to check out this site A History of the China Study for more information and a synopsis of the study. The main takeaway is that North Americans don't eat enough vegetables, fruit, whole grains, while consuming too much animal protein such as dairy, and beef. The result is what we see in America today- a nation that's sicker than ever.
Hearing the truth can be painful, yet we shouldn't just ignore it. There's no demand for everyone to become vegetarian, banning all animal products from our diet. Our takeaway should simply be to reduce our animal protein while increasing vegetables and fruit. It's as simple as that. Most of us are omnivores and there's nothing inherently wrong with that as long as we learn to balance our plates.
We only need to look at American childhood rates of obesity, diabetes, and cancer to know there's something very wrong in this country. Children should not be this unhealthy in such a rich Western nation. It's such a difficult criticism because Americans are world leaders in so many other areas. However when it comes to diet, Americans have a lot to learn and implement.
Type 2 diabetes was formerly called adult-onset diabetes because it was virtually unseen in children. Type 2 diabetes is primarily the result of excess body weight and lack of physical activity, and was virtually non-existent in American children just 30 years ago! What a glaring example of how far off track we have veered.
When my family relocated from Canada to Texas in 2007 I was warned to scan food labels for the addition of sugar. I was shocked to see sugar added to so many foods. Government receives money and support from the sugar industry, and turns a blind eye to the addition of sugar into many foods, including baby food!
Just looking at the exorbitant healthcare costs in America, reveals we are an unhealthy nation. As obesity rates skyrocket, so do many other diseases. We need to increase obesity awareness and encourage a balanced diet to raise healthy children. We can't afford not to.
"As a high-income country, the U.S. spends more per person on health than comparable countries. Health spending per person in the U.S. was $10,966 in 2019, which was 42% higher than Switzerland, the country with the next highest per capita health spending."
But enough with all the bad news. If you've hung on this far into the post I applaud you. It's hard not to feel helpless and simply exhausted from hearing negative reports all the time. There is light at the end of this tunnel I promise!
Food can be a tender subject because a persons entire identity can revolve around food. There are groups of people, families, friends, that gather together just for the enjoyment and consumption of particular foods, like the renowned Texas barbecue. People feel very defined by what they eat, and don't want to hear their choices aren't healthy. If someone's persona is somehow entangled in a particular food through upbringing, marriage, or choice, it can be a very delicate subject.
Complete denial of any particular food may not be warranted although there are carcinogens in surprising number of foods. If those foods cannot be completely eliminated from ones diet, then reduce their frequency, and remember to combine with healthy grains and vegetables.
Enjoy Texas barbecue, and takeout foods, just not as often. Increase vegetables and whole grains on the plate so less meat is eaten. These are small and easy modifications that all families can manage and incorporate as much as they wish. Over time it's surprising to find our tastes actually change.
Our diet is completely within our control and easy to modify when we allow ourselves to make small steps. We CAN make healthier choices today, and that's really all that's needed over a long period of time to have a huge effect. If you've read the book "The Slight Edge"- by Jeff Olson, you'll understand how small changes compound into significant progress over time.
An overnight overhaul of our diet is too overwhelming and most people naturally revert to old habits after a few days or weeks. We simply need to start adding MORE colorful fruits and vegetables to the diet. This approach works best in the beginning as your body takes time to adjust to the new flavors and fullness. It's best to ADD new foods while keeping the rest of the diet consistent because if a person feels denied they are prone to quitting.
A few years back my husband started replacing his lunchtime sandwich with a large salad from Salata. He really got into it, and wanted me to try. In the beginning I honestly struggled. I just didn't enjoy eating salad at all. My stomach almost rejected it unless I had some bread and cheese to eat at the same time. So that's how I started.
Over the following few weeks I began tolerating the ruffage much better and didn't need the bread or cheese. Shortly after I actually was enjoying my salad and eventually even craving it! My point is that it can take a long time for our bodies to adjust to change. Be gentle and patient with yourself when making dietary changes.
We're aware that traditional dieting ultimately fails longterm because the focus is on denial of food-which can be quite painful. It's best to simply increase our vegetables and fruits at every sitting for enough days, weeks, or even months until the body adjusts. Only then should other diet changes be considered to reduce the risk of quitting all together.
Small change is better than no change.
Just try to make one little change per day in a healthy direction. Go ahead and make a larger salad than normal to go with dinner. Next time throw in some brightly colored berries for an extra antioxidant punch. Remember, the darker vegetable and fruit colors correlate with high nutrient and antioxidant concentrations, so begin adding these foods to your meals and snacks.
I recall hearing of a couple that instituted a unique rule for themselves. In order to get their required vegetables and fruit for the day they set up a hard and fast rule. Every time food went into their mouth, it had to include a vegetable or fruit. The purpose was two pronged- their stomach would be more full from the bulky fiber, and they would be adding more vegetables and fruits in their diet.
This couple never denied themselves any particular foods. They allowed themselves to eat buttery popcorn at the movies for example, as long as they first consumed some prepared raw vegetables. They balanced the unhealthy saturated fat and salt of the popcorn with some healthy vitamin rich foods. What a fascinating way to encourage healthy foods!
Some vitamins actually require the fats from other foods to be effectively absorbed, and there are some nutrients that absorb better when paired with other foods. The iron in spinach is more easily absorbed in the presence of vitamin C for example. We should be combining a myriad of foods on a regular basis to encourage proper absorption.
It's common knowledge that eating deep fried foods is unhealthy for us. Vegetable oil at the high temperatures required for deep frying converts to unhealthy trans fat. High consumption of trans fat in the form of fried foods and highly processed products eventually leads to an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer.
It seems a great rule of thumb to simply include healthy fruits and vegetables when we indulge in not-so-healthy foods like deep fried... anything. If for example, french fries are eaten with fiber rich produce, the fiber helps to bind to and eliminate some toxins. At the very least, the person having the French fries would be getting an extra serving or two of vegetables.
Nobody is perfect and we all indulge in fried foods from time to time. Knowledge is power and simply realizing how harmful fried and processed foods are, can temper our cravings and encourage us to supplement with healthy vegetables when we do consume them. Health comes one small step at a time and cannot be earned in a single leap.
Just think about how many months or even years it takes a person to become overweight and unhealthy. A weekend of takeout binge eating cannot be the culprit. Obesity and disease is the culmination of poor choices made over and over again spanning a long period of time. Unwinding poor eating habits will similarly take an equal amount of time. Remember this and be kind to yourself when getting frustrated and discouraged.
Crash diets are extremely popular because we are impatient and want the quick easy fix. These diets have never, and will never work longterm unless change converts into new habits. When we reframe our mindset from binary win/lose thinking, to simply moving in the direction of healthy living on a consistent basis, we can adjust our expectations. Small mistakes are inconsequential as long as the overall trajectory of our health is in the positive direction.
Eating French fries today does not mean the health battle is lost and one should quit. What's important is that better choices are being made on a more consistent basis. Over the period of a week, a month, a year, we can look back and see whether or not the trend is positive. Our waist circumference and health will be the ultimate judge of our success.
I challenge you to start small today, and then schedule a colonoscopy after a year. I was blown away to hear my colon was clean as a whistle just one year after modifying my diet. The poor woman next to me at the doctor was moaning and I heard him say her colon was simply too dirty to scope. They would need to give her an enema to proceed. Ugh, no thanks!
I now envision my lunchtime salad like a sponge that is cleaning out my intestines. That's what fiber does, and it is wonderful at keeping one regular. There are some days I wish I had a rotating jaw like a cow because it takes a lot of chewing to get that giant salad down! It's worth it to know I'm getting my daily required fruits and vegetable servings, while keeping my colon pristine.
If pests ravage a garden, it's time to amend the soil. It's the same with cancer in our body. We need to make our body as healthy as possible to defend itself, and that starts with a healthy diet.
Hopefully my personal changes are enough and my breast cancer doesn't return. I've just passed my 10 year breast cancer diagnosis anniversary so TBH I'm just happy to be here alive and well. Without the changes I've made perhaps my waistline would be larger and my breast cancer would have returned by now...but nobody really knows. All I can do is try to live differently and healthier today than before diagnosis.
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