The breast cancer recovery diet
After being diagnosed with breast cancer and starting a treatment programme you may feel that food and cooking is the last thing on your mind but maintaining a healthy diet is crucial to your health and keeping your energy levels up.
What's more, if you start to lose weight you'll need to put on weight as there are some drugs and treatments that your consultant might not be able to give you if your weight is too low.
We spoke to Fiona Boyd, a senior cancer information nurse for Macmillan Cancer Support, to find out what dietary advice they give to women while they're being treated for breast cancer. She says, 'Every patient is different, so whatever treatment they're undergoing they need to speak with their consultant about what foods, if any, to avoid, and what foods, if any, to eat more of.
The most important thing is that people don't start following a faddy diet. We would never recommend increasing or cutting out certain types of foods just because a patient has read somewhere that they can help fight cancer. For example, some people have read about how eating more soya can help beat breast cancer, or that you should give up dairy products because they contain too many hormones, but there is no absolute clinical evidence for this and Macmillan know that the best diet to follow while being treated is a healthy, balanced diet.'
What exactly is a healthy, balanced diet?
- It's a varied diet with lots of different foods and flavours
- Aim for the recommended daily amount of fruit and vegetables, i.e. five-a-day
- Enjoy high-fibre foods, such as wholegrain bread, pasta, brown rice, grains and cereals
- You can drink alcohol in moderation - but check with your consultant first
- Cut down on high-fat and fried foods - stick to lean cuts of meat and cut back on red meat
- Fill up on poultry and fish and other good proteins such as dairy products
- Lower your salt intake
- Stay hydrated by drinking lots of water, ideally around 2 litres a day
- Eat the right amount of food to maintain a healthy weight - don't try to lose weight while undergoing treatment
By Louise O'Connell
- Next: What to eat
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