Healthy Eating

EATING WELL IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE. But what is meant by "eating well"? Eating well is simply eating a balance of foods to help optimize your health. Along with avoiding tobacco, keeping a healthy weight, being physically active, and limiting the alcohol you drink, eating well helps your body stay strong before, during, and after cancer treatment.

Eating well is essential for people with cancer. Getting the foods and nutrients you need will help you be in the best health as you face the challenge of cancer and cancer treatment. In fact, several nutrients may actually slow the growth of some types of cancer. Cancer treatment lowers the body's immune response and can put you at greater risk for infection. Good nutrition can counteract these effects by boosting immune response and helping maintain healthful tissues and cells. Getting the nutrients you need also will help your body heal after the stress of therapy. More people are living long lives after cancer treatment, and eating a balanced, healthy diet and being physically active helps provide a solid foundation for a healthy life.

What Is a Healthy Diet?

Before treatment, your goal is to stay strong so treatment can have the most positive effects possible. As you prepare for treatment, talk to your health care team about whether and how your diet will need to change. The best place to start is to follow established guidelines for overall good health. The American Cancer Society publishes guidelines on nutrition and physical activity for cancer prevention to advise health care professionals and the public about making positive choices for their health (see page 4). These guidelines are consistent with those of the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association for the prevention of coronary heart disease and diabetes, as well as for general health promotion. They represent the most current scientific evidence related to dietary and activity patterns and cancer risk. These principles are also cited by the American Cancer Society Expert Committee report, Nutrition and Physical Activity During and After Cancer Treatment: A Guide for Informed Choices.

WHAT IS A SURVIVOR?

The word "survivor" can have many different meanings. Some people use the word to refer to anyone who has received a cancer diagnosis. Some people use it when referring to a person who has completed cancer treatment. And still others call a person a survivor if he or she has lived several years past a cancer diagnosis. The American Cancer Society believes that each individual has the right to define her or her own cancer experience, and considers a cancer survivor to be any person who chooses to define himself or herself that way.

American Cancer Society Guidelines for Cancer Prevention

• Maintain a healthy weight throughout life.

* Balance caloric intake with physical activity.

* Avoid excessive weight gain throughout the life cycle.

* Achieve and maintain a healthy weight if currently overweight or obese.

• Adopt a physically active lifestyle.

* Adults: Engage in at least thirty minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, above usual activities, on five or more days of the week. Forty-five to sixty minutes of intentional physical activity is preferable.

* Children and adolescents: Engage in at least sixty minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity at least five days per week.

• Consume a healthy diet, with an emphasis on plant sources.

* Choose foods and beverages in amounts that help achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

* Eat at least five servings of a variety of vegetables and fruits each day.

* Choose whole grains in preference to processed (refined) grains.

* Limit consumption of processed and red meats.

• If you drink alcoholic beverages, limit consumption.

* Drink no more than one drink per day for women or two per day for men.

In general, these guidelines can be the basis for a nourishing diet throughout the cancer experience, with the counsel of your health care team. Remember, however, that your needs and abilities may be different during cancer treatment. For example, during cancer treatment you may need to consult with a registered dietitian to reach your goal weight. Your goal weight during treatment may be different from your goal after treatment. Staying active during treatment may be different from what one would expect after treatment. To meet activity goals, you might consider participating in planned exercise programs such as exercise and yoga classes, as well as adding physical activity into your daily life. Try to move more, sit less, go up and down stairs, and do household chores and yard work.

Maintaining a Healthy Weight

The way to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight is to balance food and drink intake with physical activity. Being overweight or obese is clearly linked with an increased risk for several types of cancer, such as breast, endometrial, prostate, pancreatic, and colorectal cancer. Some studies have shown a link between losing weight and lowering the risk for certain types of cancer, such as breast, endometrial, prostate, pancreatic, and colorectal cancer.

However, it is difficult to generalize about maintaining weight during cancer treatment. During treatment, goals for nutrition and weight are based on your specific needs or weight management issues. For example, if you are underweight and preparing for an intensive type of cancer treatment (such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy given at the same time), you may be more likely to experience significant treatment-related weight loss. People receiving this type of treatment will most likely be advised by their health care team to gain weight by eating high-protein, nutrient- and calorie-dense foods.

Most people are advised to maintain their current body weight during cancer treatment. There is some evidence that gaining weight during cancer treatment can have unfavorable effects on cancer outcomes. And weight gain during or after treatment can contribute to the risk of cancer, as well as other obesity-related problems such as diabetes, hypertension, or heart disease. If you...