How Is Your Health?

Why Should You Eat Differently When You Have Cancer?

by Camila Davidson

There's a lot that goes into treating cancer. Chemotherapy, radiation, and even immunotherapy may be utilized to help combat cancer cells and to kill them for good. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Other factors, like the exercise routine you maintain and how you eat are also important. If you didn't know that what you eat is important during this time and don't know what to do, read this guide to find out.

Appetite and Nutrition

A big problem with cancer therapy is that it tends to make people lose their appetite. This can be an effect of the cancer itself or the therapies to fight it, like chemotherapy. However, it's more important than ever for you to eat well and to get good nutrition during this time.

For this reason, you can't stop eating and you can't just imbibe junk food. Junk food has been shown to increase inflammation in the body, which may make you feel even worse during this time. For this reason, healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains should be eaten instead.

Sugar

Sugar is another problem when people have cancer. It may seem like something easy to reach for to get some quick calories, but sugar can have more downsides than positives for people undergoing cancer treatment.

For example, sugar is inflammatory just like junk food is. You obviously don't want to increase the inflammation level in your body. But that's not all. Sugar can also potentially feed cancer cells, acting as easy fuel for them to aid them in replicating and creating bigger tumors. So for now, refined sugar is something you should avoid.

What to Do

This may all seem a bit overwhelming, especially if you're already struggling with your appetite. The good news is that there are specialists out there who can help you.

Cancer nutrition specialists are pros at finding out exactly what you should be eating in order to support your battle against cancer. They'll set up menus for you in advance and may even help or hire someone to come and cook for you so that you can simply rest and focus on recovering. This will ensure that you're eating good food free of preservatives and other unwanted chemical additives while also getting tasty, nutritious food.

Cancer is a difficult time for anyone, but that's all the more reason why you should lean on professionals right now instead of trying to go it alone.

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