Goal
- To help patients realize the importance of living a balanced diet during cancer therapy, so they would have enough energy to finish the therapy.
- To reduce side effects caused by treatment and to prevent malnutrition.
Subject
patients accepting cancer treatment without oral intake problems
General principles:
- Pay attention to changes of body weight:
Maintain ideal body weight helps you stay strong, lower your risk for infection, cope with side effects, and have a greater chance of receiving treatment without unplanned breaks.
The formula is
=body high2(m2) ×22 (Maintain in ±10 % )
- Balanced diet:
Good nutrients come from six different kinds of nature food.
- Milk provides calcium, protein, and rich vitamins; but people with lactose intolerance should consume yoghourt and lactose-free formula milk.
- Cereal like rice, noodles, toast, wheat flakes, and non-purified or unprocessed foods are your primary food choice for it provides carbohydrate and vitamin B rich nutrients.
- Eggs, beans, fishes and meats provide protein to help body tissue repair and reduce infection. Consume more low fat meat and seafood like deep water fish, oyster, and soy bean products.
- Fruits and vegetables, and seaweed contain anti-tumor components which is good sources for vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
- Oil provides calories and helps absorb fat-soluble vitamin. Use of olive oil or peanut oil, or moderate intake of nuts like walnut and almond is good sources of oil.
- May there be a variety of food choices and tastes:
When we cook, make use of natural seasoning to go with various kind of food: lemon chicken, onion tomato soup, steam eggs, sliced pork with ginger, garlic spareribs, and Sweet and Sour Fish Fillet; all of which helps preserve palate changes caused by cancer therapy.
- Do not abuse unknown herbal medicine because it often delays treatment timing and affects liver and renal function.
- Avoid drinking grapefruit juice if patients are under anti-tumor drug use or immune-inhibitor.
- Maintain regular life habit: if patients’ physical strength and mental state are good, all they need is to exercise moderately to maintain normal metabolic rate in order to prevent constipation.
- If patients have trouble eating and absorbing nutrients through mouth, their body would utilize nutrients stored as energy supply which could cause malnutrition; by then, tube feeding or parenteral nutrition would have to be used.
- Go over dietary guidelines for side effects of cancer treatment if patients suffer from nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, thirsty, and poor appetite.