My mum is undergoing chemo at present time and was just wondering if any one has changed there diet to support chemo, eg green tea, ils, water. If you have would you please tell me if you think it has helped and very interested in this side of cancer support
I like the book by Patrick Quillin, Beating Cancer with Nutrition. I don't know that you "beat" it, but it is a common sense approach to getting yourself better nourished through the process. Be careful with Green Tea as it has been found to block benefits of the chemo Velcade. There are just so many studies that need to be done on complimentary therapies and so many chemos! So be in good communication with your doctor and use good common sense.
I know that this subject is met with some controversy, from medical teams and indeed from sufferers and I think the most sensible course of action is to devise a healthy eating plan to SUPPORT whatever your medical team suggest. Everyone knows that cutting down on processed food, sugar and red meat and filling your diet with wholegrains, oily fish, fruit, nuts & vegetables is good for you and it will boost you immune system - this goes for cancer patients too. Be warned though - there are many fad fixes out there that will offer you the world - so be cautious - diet can't be a quick fix for anything but rather something to help your Mum's general health. Beyond that we have taken to drinking lots of green tea, eating garlic, broccoli, turmeric and berries (not all mixed together though!) along with wholegrains, olive oil etc and lots of cooking from scratch. Think healthy eating as a lifestyle and it seems proven that will help your mum's fight. Do check with your mum's healthcare team so that as habubrat suggested, nothing has a counter effect on any of her meds. Also, while on chemo it seems strongly flavoured food can be badly tolerated, so it may be a case of whatever she fancies ..........
Hope this helps. This is a great site to get support and find help and empathy. I wish you and your Mum all the best.
While I fully support the idea of people eating the things they like - to complement their treatment - I'm still at a loss when people claim or imply that cutting down on this or eating more of that will help tackle someone's cancer.
If anyone reading this has evidence (i.e. not just anecdotes) to support these claims then please share that evidence with us.
In the meantime, most treatment centres have intuitionalists that this subject can be discussed with. I think that's probably your best first point of call.
