Turmeric
It perhaps goes without saying that health and nutrition are important to any living body, but when we are sick, it becomes critical. Think of how food is used as a medicine in Chinese and Ayurveda medicine. In fact, the Indian spice, turmeric, which includes curcumin, has been clinically shown to reduce cancer cell growth.
If you have a mesothelioma prognosis or are going through cancer treatment of any kind, try to incorporate good habits into your life. As they become second nature, you won’t feel stressed about having to do “everything right,” it will be habitual.
Oncologist used to advise patients to stay in bed while their body is healing. This is understandable when treatment takes such a physical and mental toll on the body. But research has showed physical fitness helps improve survival rates after diagnosis and reduces the risk of recurrence of cancer after treatment. Try taking long walks, swimming or yoga for low impact, heart healthy training. The New York Times profiled exercise classes geared to cancer patients, which is a good way to find treatment-friendly exercise. Resistance work is important to keep and improve muscle tone as many patients gain fat and loose muscle tone through treatment. It is important to monitor your energy levels and don’t do more than you can handle, but don’t stop moving. Regularly scheduled repetition builds it into your system and it’s a great way to make sure you keep quality time with others.
Because your body regenerates and builds itself though the macro and micro nutrients provided by the foods you eat, it can be hard to keep up an appetite during treatment. At the very least stay hydrated and drink the bulk of your calories with soups and smoothies. Remember food quality and caloric density is important. Try to eat local, organic fruits and vegetables when you can; they have higher nutrient value and lower toxin load. Plus fruits and vegetables have cancer-fighting properties. Also, kick sugar to the curb; sugar feeds cancer. Regular quality protein sources are a must, as they help maintain and build muscle mass and provide nourishing calories. Cancer and treatment may affect what foods you feel you can tolerate, so consult your doctor or a nutritionist if you need extra care. And check out MD Anderson’s great chart on problematic food symptoms and how you can get around them.
These components reinforce each other making it easier to forge good habits, but they also work synergistically to help your body stay at its strongest and naturally support your treatment efforts to fight mesothelioma or any other type of cancer.
No comments yet.