CAM & Life Style > Diet & Exercise

Last update: 08/04/2015

Diet Topics General Guidelines to Support Good Health and Fitness | Exercise and Fitness Resources | Research News Treatment-specific: Diet for Immune Suppressed | Fighting Nausea Tips | Nausea Shopping Guide | Resources Is it likely that a change in diet can have a treatment effect?

See also Exercise Topics below

MYTHS

Can diet influence the progression of lymphomas?

Unfortunately, there is no evidence from animal or human studies that dietary changes are likely to change the growth and survival of lymphoma cells -- which are driven to grow and survive because of mutations in the DNA of the abnormalcells.

Can diet influence the low blood counts that are caused by lymphomas ?

A healthful diet will provide the building blocks for the immune system to "build" new blood cells - but only if the underlying cause of the low counts is address by therapy.

Can diet affect other cancers?

Yes, for some cancers, diet appears to have some influence on the growth rate, such as fats on prostate cancer cells, but this is specific to the type of cancer cell.

See for example: Webmd.com, which dispels the myth that conventional medicine will not provide such information when there is evidence to support it.

The general dietary guidelines on this page do not take into account individual needs and sensitivities. Please consult with a qualified medical professional.

A healthful diet and being physically active can help the cancer patient achieve a better quality of life and combat the side effects of treatment.Many cancer patients feel that taking steps to optimize their survival chances is empowering, and provides a valuable sense of control.

Your dietary needs can change depending on your health status and other factors. For example, you may need a special type of diet to help build up strength and recover from treatment; or, you may have trouble eating while receiving chemotherapy. It's essential that your diet contains a balance of nutrients that promotes the health and and provides the nutrients needed to maintain or restore good health. Ideally, you should consult a nutritional expert who has the information about your specific health, diagnosis, and treatment at hand.

Evidence suggests that life style and diet can influence the risk of developing some types of cancers. Therefore, it seems reasonable for the cancer patient, who is particularly susceptible to developing secondary cancers to eat well and remain active - to promote general health.

It's important to distinguish between diet as a risk factor for lymphomas, versus diet as a therapeutic factor.

While some dietary factors are associated with a modest increased risk of lymphoma (such as red meats), restricting red meats will not influence the growth rate of an existing lymphoma.

Similarly, if you stop smoking, a lung cancer that is caused by smoking cancer is not expected to go away.

External factors more likely to influence the growth of lymphoma cells would be antigens (something that doesn't belong in your body), such as virus, bacteria, auto-immunity ... a chronic antigen stimulus, that would be impossible with current technologies to identify, and could be unique to each person.

The growth rate of lymphomas is also determined by the genetic defects within the abnormal cells, which can vary even within the same diagnostic subtype .. which might account for why one indolent lymphoma never needs treatment, and another needs frequent therapy.

Anyhow, if in future a dietary practice is found to limit the growth of lymphomas it will be big news ... something everyone will be made aware of.

Excerpt from report:

Survivors should ask their health care provider for a referral to see an RD, preferably an RD who is also a CSO, if they experience nutrition-related challenges.

Consuming enough calories to prevent additional weight loss for survivors at risk of unintentional weight loss, such as those who are already malnourished or those who receive anticancer treatments affecting the gastrointestinal tract

Nutritional assessment for survivors should begin as soon after diagnosis as possible and should take into consideration treatment goals (curative, control, or palliation) while focusing on

current nutritional status and anticipated nutrition-related symptoms

During active cancer treatment, the overall goals of nutritional care for survivors should be to

prevent or resolve nutrient deficiencies, achieve or maintain a healthy weight, preserve lean body mass, minimize nutrition-related side effects, and maximize quality of life.

For survivors experiencing anorexia (low body weight) or early satiety, and who are at risk of becoming underweight,

consuming smaller, more frequent meals with minimal liquids consumed during meals can help to increase food intake.

Liquids can and should be consumed in between meals to avoid dehydration.

For survivors who cannot meet their nutritional needs through foods alone, fortified, commercially prepared or homemade nutrient-dense beverages or foods can improve the intake of energy and nutrients.

For survivors who are unable to meet their nutritional needs through above measures and who are at risk of becoming malnourished, other means of nutritional support may be needed, such as

pharmacotherapy using appetite stimulants, enteral nutrition via tube feeding, or intravenous parenteral nutrition.

With compelling evidence against the use of select supplements in certain oncology populations, health care professionals and survivors need to proceed with caution.25

If interested in supplementation, individuals should - first assess whether they are nutrient deficient, - avoid ingesting supplements that exceed more than 100% of the Daily Value, and - consider limiting dietary supplement use to therapeutic interventions for chronic conditions such as osteoporosis and macular degeneration, for which scientific evidence supports the likelihood of benefits and low risk of harm.

An increasing number of studies have examined the therapeutic value of exercise during primary cancer treatment.26, 27

Existing evidence strongly suggests that exercise is not only safe and feasible during cancer treatment, but that it can also improve physical functioning, fatigue, and multiple aspects of quality of life

Persons receiving chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy who are already on an exercise program

may need to exercise at a lower intensity and/or for a shorter duration during their treatment, but the principal goal should be to maintain activity as much as possible.

Some clinicians advise certain survivors to wait to determine their extent of side effects with chemotherapy before beginning an exercise program.

For those who were sedentary before diagnosis,

low-intensity activities such as stretching and brief, slow walks should be adopted and slowly advanced.

For older individuals and those with bone metastases or osteoporosis, or significant impairments such as arthritis or peripheral neuropathy, careful attention should be given to balance and safety to reduce the risk of falls and injuries.

Adequate protein intake is essential during all stages of cancer treatment, recovery, long-term survival, and living with advanced disease.

The best choices to meet protein needs are foods that are also low in saturated fat (eg, fish, lean meat, skinless poultry, eggs, nonfat and low-fat dairy products, nuts, seeds, and legumes).

High sugar intake has not been shown to increase the risk or progression of cancer.

However, sugars (including honey, raw sugar, brown sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, and molasses) and beverages that are major sources of these sugars (such as soft drinks and many fruit-flavored drinks) add substantial amounts of calories to the diet and thus can promote weight gain.

In addition, most foods that are high in added sugar do not contribute many nutrients to the diet and often replace more nutritious food choices. Therefore, limiting the consumption of products with added sugar is recommended.

Evidence from both observational studies and clinical trials suggests that dietary supplements are not likely to improve prognosis or overall survival after the diagnosis of cancer, and may actually increase mortality.

Before supplements are prescribed or taken, all attempts should be made to obtain needed nutrients through dietary sources

Supplements should be considered only if a nutrient deficiency is either biochemically (eg, low plasma vitamin D levels, B12 deficiency) or clinically (eg, low bone density) demonstrated.

Supplements should be considered if nutrient intakes fall persistently below two-thirds of the recommended intake levels.

Such a determination should be made by a registered dietitian, who is most qualified to assess the nutrient adequacy of the diet, especially in view of emerging data suggesting that higher nutrient intakes, especially through sources other than foods, may be harmful rather than helpful.

Food safety is of special concern for cancer survivors, especially during episodes of treatment-related immune-suppression that can occur with certain cancer treatment regimens.

Survivors can become susceptible to developing infections due to treatment-induced leukopenia and neutropenia (low blood counts).

During any immunosuppressive cancer treatment, survivors should take extra precautions to prevent infection, and they should be particularly careful to avoid eating foods that may contain unsafe levels of pathogenic microorganisms.

Wash hands with soap and water thoroughly before eating.

Keep all aspects of food preparation clean, including washing hands before food preparation and washing fruits and vegetables thoroughly.

Use special care in handling raw meats, fish, poultry, and eggs.

Thoroughly clean all utensils, countertops, cutting boards, and sponges that have contact with raw meat; keep raw meats and ready-to-eat foods separate.

Cook to proper temperatures; meats, poultry, and seafood should be thoroughly cooked and beverages (milk and juices) should be pasteurized. Use a food thermometer to check internal temperatures of meats before serving.

Store foods promptly at low temperatures (below 40F) to minimize bacterial growth.

When eating in restaurants, avoid foods that may have potential bacterial contamination such as items from salad bars; sushi; or raw or undercooked meat, fish, shellfish, poultry, and eggs.

Avoid raw honey, milk, and unpasteurized fruit juice, and choose pasteurized versions instead.

If there is any question or concern about water purity (eg, well water), it can be checked for bacterial content by contacting your local public health department.

Questions and issues for your doctor or nutritionist:

How can I prepare food so that it's safe to eat when I'm immune compromised?

How can I know if I am digesting my foods properly? (bloating, diarrhea, constipation, leaky gut, etc.)

What types of exercise can I safely do, and how often?

Is it okay to do strenuous exercise routines?

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A home-based diet and exercise program reduced the rate of functional decline in a study of more than 600 overweight and older cancer survivors, according to a report in the May 13 issue of JAMA.

"Exercise appears to have some benefit in the management of fatigue both during and after cancer treatment," the reviewers conclude. "Therefore it should be considered as one component of the management strategy for fatigue that may include a range of other interventions and education. . . . Further work is necessary to determine the most effective parameters of exercise for fatigue management including the types of exercise (aerobic and resistance), mode of exercise, frequency and length of sessions, and intensity of exercise carried out."

Dr. Lim said, "Perhaps it is also important what treatment you administer or what they have, but if they are of good health they will do well, and if they are of poor health no matter what you do, it seems that they will not do well."

Although this is about exercise during breast cancer treatment, thought it interesting -have known several breast cancer pts who were treated with Cytoxan and adriamycin-( 79% of pts in this study)-- so, some overlap with some of the chemos used for NHL

Many abstracts on cancer prevention

Now, theres a misleading headline if ever I saw one - do they mean that fish oil is too chicken to put up its dukes against a cowardly band of sneering, narcissistic cancer cells? Is fish oil destined to join its comrade laetrile on the ash heap of ineffective cancer treatments?

"Depression has a lot of trouble finding a moving target, it's outstanding at hitting a stationary one." ~ Dr. Himle

TOPIC SEARCH: PubMed

There is mounting evidence that exercise should become a routine part of cancer care. An appropriate exercise program can help to improve our general health, fitness and, quality of life - helping to combat fatigue and depression.

Taking part in regular exercise can also alert us to changes in our performance level that can help to guide our care. Improved fitness and general health that comes with adopting a healthful diet and exercise program is also associated with improved outcomes among cancer survivors.

"During chemotherapy, patients in the exercise group did not have any change in fatigue level, while the non-exercise group showed a significant increase in fatigue. The non-exercise group also had less vigor and higher somatization scores."

"These studies suggest that fatigue levels correlate with sleep difficulties and that walking as little as 12 minutes per day can significantly improve sleep and decrease fatigue and anxiety. I have attached several abstracts that summarize some of the recent research on the value of exercise during chemotherapy. Many therapists recommend a moderate exercise program along with good skin care and compression as part of the comprehensive management of lymphedema."

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Diet & Exercise - Lymphomation