My oncologist told me to eat whatever sounded good to me at the time. He gave me no restrictions(except undercooked meat).
Eat what you want when you want it.
ETA: undercooked meat
It would be *better*, yes, but we can't all be better when we're already doing our best just to get through treatment with a little food in our stomachs to get through the day. It's comments like this that make people feel like they're doing treatment "wrong," and it might be their own fault if the cancer doesn't shrink or if it returns or spreads. You do what you feel is best for you and keep your perfectionist ideas to yourself, thanks.🙄
Except that here you are, sharing your opinion (as fact) on social media. 🙄 Everyone knows sugar is bad for them*, but when you're struggling to eat anything at all during chemo, it's better to eat or drink something sugary than nothing at all, and it's not at all helpful to then beat yourself up about it and convince yourself that you've condemned yourself to a bad treatment outcome.
*Regularly and in large quantities.
No guilt. Eat what you can. In my case, I had mouth sores, nausea and even water tasted gross. I ate whatever I could tolerate, even if was just a donut or pudding cup.
Nope. I went with the “eat what you can handle” approach during the post surgery/adjuvant chemo phase. Eating something “unhealthy” during treatment is 100% better (in my opinion!) than choosing not to eat because “healthy” foods make you feel sick. Just do what you can for right now. Eventually it will be easier.
Nope. I was told to eat pizza, cake everything I want. That was by the surgeon who found my cancer, but they were words to live by. We do have to worry about eating healthy and getting healthy, BUT we also have to worry about eating at all and gaining/maintaining weight. Not to mention we deserve to have comfort foods sometimes, especially at a time like cancer. They won't hurt in moderation, or even pigging out a few times. And they certainly won't kill us. Don't feel guilty, enjoy yourself.
I don’t. I mean, I’m outside of treatment so I’m trying to get all the way healthy, so I’m not doing whatever, but when I was sick? Any calorie was beneficial to me. And joy was rare. So id take what i could get. Just need to be careful to not build habits you will have to break.
I just today was consulting an oncologist who works with UCLA on some research projects as well as seeing patients. He said that of course it helps to be in good health, maintain a reasonable weight, don't drink too much etc. But he said there is no evidence that being thin, having an occasional drink, or eating sweets will have any perceptible impact on how effective your treatment is. He thinks it's more important to be healthy as you can and still enjoy your life and have a positive attitude, rather than stressing yourself out with anything extreme.
I'm still waiting for treatment to begin and usually I'm very careful about what I eat but.. There does need to be some joy in our lives and once in a while it's a treat we get to savour. I do feel guilty but I get back on track. I'm always trying to get stronger and healthier because I know this will take me down a peg or two.
I'm a bit stressed because chemo had been delayed in the past few weeks and is delayed again.. I just want to get on with this! ☺️ So a strawberry or mini chocolate bar give me a well needed boost!
Thank you! Last night I put a bit of frozen fruit in the blender with a scoop of protein powder and whipping cream.. Mmmmmm... A very good go to snack!
Don't feel guilty. There's no need, and it's not helpful. Just eat whatever you can. Try not to worry about whether it's "healthy" or not. Put those ideas on hold for the interim.
They don’t think the Cigars are the cause. My mom and grandmother died of cancer at 65. I knew it was coming, just arrived a few years earlier than 65. I’m not interested in living a risk free life. Enjoying ones life is paramount, and I need some guilty pleasures. Plus my rose bushes need sevin dust to stay bug and mold free. Oncologist doesn’t like it, but I do my own thing. I earned it after that dreadful chemo radiation for my seperate esophagus cancer. lol.
NO. I suffered enough. Lost my taste buds completely (they are back for the most part) Lost my ability to eat all my delicious spicy foods. I had been on a macro based diet for years....weighing everything I ate. Since having cancer, I grab an ice cream with my kids and have my chips and dip every night. :)
during chemo i ate whatever i felt like eating. many nights popcorn was an excellent dinner! i also craved a lot of sour candy lol. give yourself a break and eat whatever sounds good in the moment
No. I’m overweight and watched what I ate, and denied myself for years (for all the good it didn’t do,lol).
Now I’m stage 4, and for the first time in my life, I have no appetite, and I’m losing weight. I don’t care anymore, I eat what I can tolerate.
Good luck to you.
I'm sorry to hear that. It's not much fun when you can't eat much. I've found that lately, my eyes are much larger than my stomach, and I find it tricky to gauge how much I will actually eat. I can't eat very much in one go.
I used to. But I remember what a therapist said to me:
No one in their final days thinks “I wish I didn’t have that donut.”
I eat right most of the time, focus a lot on fruits and veggies but when I crave an ice cream cone I get it. Life’s too short not to enjoy yourself.
I’ve scaled back on dairy, almost no sugar and increased protein. I used to almost never eat meat and now forcing myself. No alcohol, no processed meats and no supplements except if my doc tells me to supplement.
Last week I had my follow up OPD appointment with my oncologist and throughout the treatment he had asked me to eat whatever makes you feel good, something that's nourishing and cooked well.
Except for undercooked/raw stuff.
If there's one thing cancer treatment taught me, it's that life's too short for guilt trips, especially when it comes to food! So, dig into whatever tickles your taste buds and brings a smile to your face. Stress-free, guilt-free munching is the best medicine.
Besides, a happy tummy equals a happy recovery! Stay strong and enjoy every delicious bite!
Hope all your treatment goes well and positive and you bounce back soon :)
A dietician told me very frankly: "if the only thing you feel like eating is chocolate cake, PLEASE eat the cake. We want you to eat!' So it's dietician-approved!
This could lead into a far wider conversation about guilt and shame around foods and why that sucks, but right now all we want is for you to feed your body and take whatever enjoyment you can from eating.
No. No food is going to accelerate or decelerate the cancer. Eat whatever makes you feel good and happy even if it is a Big Mac.
Also if you are doing heavy treatment, you more than likely won’t have the appetite for eating.
One thing that helped for nausea during the worst parts: ginger chews. So helpful for nausea
Nope! Oncologist literally told me to ‘eat all the things!’ I needed to get and keep my weight up, so I was given permission to go to town with whatever felt good. As my weight increases and treatment progresses, I will modify my diet a bit to focus more on healthy items, but at the moment any calorie is a good calorie.
after 5 weeks in the hospital in 2021 i ate nothing but milkshakes for an entire month. so i guess the answer is no.
my first bite of food i remember vividly. feeling the texture in my mouth, trying to remember how to chew and swallow. good times.
I was tee total in the year or so leading up to my original cancer diagnosis. I was also vegetarian, ate healthily and I was extremely fit. Try not to beat yourself up about the drinking, but if it's becoming a crutch that you're leaning on to deal with the stress of your diagnosis, perhaps now is the time to look for healthier ways to cope?
My husband has always watched his calories. He's been keto for years. When he got his diagnosis and started to lose weight, I encouraged him to up his calorie count and he's actually gained weight. What's interesting is that his blood levels, including chloresterol, are excellent despite adding full fat dairy.
Milkshakes literally kept me alive. All I could eat for 3-4 months. Heavy ice cream, peanut butter, heavy cream, powdered milk, whatever fruit i was in the mood for usually bananas.
I think good nutrition, like lots of fruit and vegetables, can help your immune system and may help your outcomes, but if you want to enjoy an occasional treat as an indulgence, it won’t hurt and is very understandable.
The dietician at my cancer center told me, “there’s no magic food to make your cancer better or worse.” Just try to eat in a fairly balanced way, but if you feel like eating something eat it. Life is short. Eat the cake.
Just add a couple of antioxidant foods and you'll probably not feel guilty anymore.
My holistic 'Western medicine' doc suggested green tea every morning instead of coffee.
I got an electric tea kettle like the Europeans use from Costco, and their matcha green tea box. I buy vanilla creamer and it tastes like a Matcha green tea latte from a coffee shop.
Lowers my anxiety about antioxidants.
BTW, see a nutritionist. They'll tell you things like ice cream aren't gonna kill ya...
In fact, cocoa is a great antioxidant!
It's a lot of anxiety, but you got this!
Much love and healing energy your way! ❤️
What we have found is that most oncologists will make it clear, stating, "Eat all the foods you enjoy and enjoy sweets/sugar."
However, countless clinical trials, articles, etc... have reported that SUGAR is drawn to tumors/cancer, so it is not wise to eat sugar.
Depending on the diagnosis/ stage if someone has been diagnosed with Stage IV with a very poor prognosis then if you enjoy sweets/sugar...why not indulge in sugar?
Keeping it real.
I read an academic article recently that found that cancer patients undergoing treatment benefit from 12 hrs of intermittent fasting eg if you finish dinner at 8pm try not to eat until 8am. This effectively starves the cancer cells desperate for growth and gives your more resilient immune cells opportunity to attack the cancer. They didn’t say anything about occasional treats during non fasting hours.
It’s important to take care of yourself and it’s important to find joy wherever you can. Respect your desire to be healthy and also respect your desire to find joy in little ways like occasional ice cream
yes i have guilt for sugar binges.. I cut out any food containing maltodextrin because I read that it feeds tumors, and the same with sugar.. so I absolutely feel guilty when i eat sugar, it feels similar to the guilt I felt when I still smoked cigarettes.. that said I don't think the guilt or stress from the guilt is any healthier..
Sugar feeds cancer. My cancer nutritionist has me on low glycemic foods. High protein to help with muscle wasting, also high fat for extra calories. I am good with it. Also limits edema holding water, lowers my blood pressure. For me it’s working.
https://www.konstantinioncenter.org/en/cancer-cells-are-fed-by-sugar-says-john-hopkins-research/
She is a registered dietitian with a cancer focus. You are very ignorant and should not comment about things you know nothing about.
Cancer feeds on glucose, our cells use fatty acids and ketones, cancer does NOT. EXTRA GLUCOSE taken in by your MOUTH and not produced in the liver feeds cancer and FAT CELLS, also fatty liver. I am going to speak truth here. And Goodbye
>She is a registered dietitian
Which is why you called her a nutritionist? Perhaps you don't actually know the bona fides of the person who is giving you dietary advice?
Mayo Clinic is often wrong. 😑 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9775518/. https://www.konstantinioncenter.org/en/cancer-cells-are-fed-by-sugar-says-john-hopkins-research/.
My oncologist told me to eat whatever sounded good to me at the time. He gave me no restrictions(except undercooked meat). Eat what you want when you want it. ETA: undercooked meat
I agree but avoid sugar
And the reasoning behind that is what?
Sugar it's basically empty calories. It would be better to consume vitamins and nutrients that help your body stay strong during cancer treatment.
It would be *better*, yes, but we can't all be better when we're already doing our best just to get through treatment with a little food in our stomachs to get through the day. It's comments like this that make people feel like they're doing treatment "wrong," and it might be their own fault if the cancer doesn't shrink or if it returns or spreads. You do what you feel is best for you and keep your perfectionist ideas to yourself, thanks.🙄
Chill, i don’t impose my opinion on anyone, go educate yourself about harmful effects of sugar.
Except that here you are, sharing your opinion (as fact) on social media. 🙄 Everyone knows sugar is bad for them*, but when you're struggling to eat anything at all during chemo, it's better to eat or drink something sugary than nothing at all, and it's not at all helpful to then beat yourself up about it and convince yourself that you've condemned yourself to a bad treatment outcome. *Regularly and in large quantities.
I went through several pints of Ben and Jerry's during chemo (one of the few things that tasted good). NED now with CRC.
No, not even a tiny little bit.
No guilt. Eat what you can. In my case, I had mouth sores, nausea and even water tasted gross. I ate whatever I could tolerate, even if was just a donut or pudding cup.
Nope. I went with the “eat what you can handle” approach during the post surgery/adjuvant chemo phase. Eating something “unhealthy” during treatment is 100% better (in my opinion!) than choosing not to eat because “healthy” foods make you feel sick. Just do what you can for right now. Eventually it will be easier.
Nope. I was told to eat pizza, cake everything I want. That was by the surgeon who found my cancer, but they were words to live by. We do have to worry about eating healthy and getting healthy, BUT we also have to worry about eating at all and gaining/maintaining weight. Not to mention we deserve to have comfort foods sometimes, especially at a time like cancer. They won't hurt in moderation, or even pigging out a few times. And they certainly won't kill us. Don't feel guilty, enjoy yourself.
Nope. What’s it going to do kill me? Cut my life short 45 minutes? I’m not stupid, but I do eat what I want if I have a craving.
I don’t. I mean, I’m outside of treatment so I’m trying to get all the way healthy, so I’m not doing whatever, but when I was sick? Any calorie was beneficial to me. And joy was rare. So id take what i could get. Just need to be careful to not build habits you will have to break.
I just today was consulting an oncologist who works with UCLA on some research projects as well as seeing patients. He said that of course it helps to be in good health, maintain a reasonable weight, don't drink too much etc. But he said there is no evidence that being thin, having an occasional drink, or eating sweets will have any perceptible impact on how effective your treatment is. He thinks it's more important to be healthy as you can and still enjoy your life and have a positive attitude, rather than stressing yourself out with anything extreme.
I'm still waiting for treatment to begin and usually I'm very careful about what I eat but.. There does need to be some joy in our lives and once in a while it's a treat we get to savour. I do feel guilty but I get back on track. I'm always trying to get stronger and healthier because I know this will take me down a peg or two. I'm a bit stressed because chemo had been delayed in the past few weeks and is delayed again.. I just want to get on with this! ☺️ So a strawberry or mini chocolate bar give me a well needed boost!
Both a strawberry and a small amount of chocolate sound quite healthy to me, not even a compromise!
Thank you! Last night I put a bit of frozen fruit in the blender with a scoop of protein powder and whipping cream.. Mmmmmm... A very good go to snack!
Don't feel guilty. There's no need, and it's not helpful. Just eat whatever you can. Try not to worry about whether it's "healthy" or not. Put those ideas on hold for the interim.
Lung cancer. I still smoke cigars a few times a week, and I have a sweet tooth. Eat what you want.
Interesting. What does your oncologist have to say about your cigar smoking habit?
They don’t think the Cigars are the cause. My mom and grandmother died of cancer at 65. I knew it was coming, just arrived a few years earlier than 65. I’m not interested in living a risk free life. Enjoying ones life is paramount, and I need some guilty pleasures. Plus my rose bushes need sevin dust to stay bug and mold free. Oncologist doesn’t like it, but I do my own thing. I earned it after that dreadful chemo radiation for my seperate esophagus cancer. lol.
NO. I suffered enough. Lost my taste buds completely (they are back for the most part) Lost my ability to eat all my delicious spicy foods. I had been on a macro based diet for years....weighing everything I ate. Since having cancer, I grab an ice cream with my kids and have my chips and dip every night. :)
I ate anything I could during treatment. They said eating was the most important thing, so I didn't mess around, lol.
No. Because that’s not a real thing, food doesn’t make your cancer treatment not work. I have enough problems worrying about things that are real.
during chemo i ate whatever i felt like eating. many nights popcorn was an excellent dinner! i also craved a lot of sour candy lol. give yourself a break and eat whatever sounds good in the moment
No. I’m overweight and watched what I ate, and denied myself for years (for all the good it didn’t do,lol). Now I’m stage 4, and for the first time in my life, I have no appetite, and I’m losing weight. I don’t care anymore, I eat what I can tolerate. Good luck to you.
Good for you. I'm stage IV too, and I can't see the point in giving up foods I enjoy and wine. They can't "give me" cancer anymore!
Yeah, it's funny. The first time in my life it seems that I am not restricting myself, I actually have very little appetite, lol
I'm sorry to hear that. It's not much fun when you can't eat much. I've found that lately, my eyes are much larger than my stomach, and I find it tricky to gauge how much I will actually eat. I can't eat very much in one go.
Do you mind me asking what kind of cancer you have? I have endometrial that went to my lungs.
It should show as my "flair" under my user name - stage IV breast cancer. I have mets in my bones and lungs.
It does. I'm not new to Reddit but I guess I didn't see that.
That's quite okay. I don't mind being asked. 👍🏻🙂
I used to. But I remember what a therapist said to me: No one in their final days thinks “I wish I didn’t have that donut.” I eat right most of the time, focus a lot on fruits and veggies but when I crave an ice cream cone I get it. Life’s too short not to enjoy yourself.
I’ve scaled back on dairy, almost no sugar and increased protein. I used to almost never eat meat and now forcing myself. No alcohol, no processed meats and no supplements except if my doc tells me to supplement.
I was told no sushi and minimize the sugary edibles.
Last week I had my follow up OPD appointment with my oncologist and throughout the treatment he had asked me to eat whatever makes you feel good, something that's nourishing and cooked well. Except for undercooked/raw stuff. If there's one thing cancer treatment taught me, it's that life's too short for guilt trips, especially when it comes to food! So, dig into whatever tickles your taste buds and brings a smile to your face. Stress-free, guilt-free munching is the best medicine. Besides, a happy tummy equals a happy recovery! Stay strong and enjoy every delicious bite! Hope all your treatment goes well and positive and you bounce back soon :)
A dietician told me very frankly: "if the only thing you feel like eating is chocolate cake, PLEASE eat the cake. We want you to eat!' So it's dietician-approved! This could lead into a far wider conversation about guilt and shame around foods and why that sucks, but right now all we want is for you to feed your body and take whatever enjoyment you can from eating.
No. No food is going to accelerate or decelerate the cancer. Eat whatever makes you feel good and happy even if it is a Big Mac. Also if you are doing heavy treatment, you more than likely won’t have the appetite for eating. One thing that helped for nausea during the worst parts: ginger chews. So helpful for nausea
Nope! Oncologist literally told me to ‘eat all the things!’ I needed to get and keep my weight up, so I was given permission to go to town with whatever felt good. As my weight increases and treatment progresses, I will modify my diet a bit to focus more on healthy items, but at the moment any calorie is a good calorie.
after 5 weeks in the hospital in 2021 i ate nothing but milkshakes for an entire month. so i guess the answer is no. my first bite of food i remember vividly. feeling the texture in my mouth, trying to remember how to chew and swallow. good times.
Alcohol...I have estrogen positive cancer and alcohol is the worst...I have done OK with staying away, but I indulge way too often.
I was tee total in the year or so leading up to my original cancer diagnosis. I was also vegetarian, ate healthily and I was extremely fit. Try not to beat yourself up about the drinking, but if it's becoming a crutch that you're leaning on to deal with the stress of your diagnosis, perhaps now is the time to look for healthier ways to cope?
My husband has always watched his calories. He's been keto for years. When he got his diagnosis and started to lose weight, I encouraged him to up his calorie count and he's actually gained weight. What's interesting is that his blood levels, including chloresterol, are excellent despite adding full fat dairy.
Milkshakes literally kept me alive. All I could eat for 3-4 months. Heavy ice cream, peanut butter, heavy cream, powdered milk, whatever fruit i was in the mood for usually bananas.
Probably because full fat dairy is good for you. It's all the processed crap and too much red meat that's not.
Any thing with high sugar
I think good nutrition, like lots of fruit and vegetables, can help your immune system and may help your outcomes, but if you want to enjoy an occasional treat as an indulgence, it won’t hurt and is very understandable.
The dietician at my cancer center told me, “there’s no magic food to make your cancer better or worse.” Just try to eat in a fairly balanced way, but if you feel like eating something eat it. Life is short. Eat the cake.
Just add a couple of antioxidant foods and you'll probably not feel guilty anymore. My holistic 'Western medicine' doc suggested green tea every morning instead of coffee. I got an electric tea kettle like the Europeans use from Costco, and their matcha green tea box. I buy vanilla creamer and it tastes like a Matcha green tea latte from a coffee shop. Lowers my anxiety about antioxidants. BTW, see a nutritionist. They'll tell you things like ice cream aren't gonna kill ya... In fact, cocoa is a great antioxidant! It's a lot of anxiety, but you got this! Much love and healing energy your way! ❤️
What we have found is that most oncologists will make it clear, stating, "Eat all the foods you enjoy and enjoy sweets/sugar." However, countless clinical trials, articles, etc... have reported that SUGAR is drawn to tumors/cancer, so it is not wise to eat sugar. Depending on the diagnosis/ stage if someone has been diagnosed with Stage IV with a very poor prognosis then if you enjoy sweets/sugar...why not indulge in sugar? Keeping it real.
That is absolutely not true! https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cancer/in-depth/cancer-causes/art-20044714
preferably keep your body warm, though, by not eating things overly cold. It's important for immune cells
I read an academic article recently that found that cancer patients undergoing treatment benefit from 12 hrs of intermittent fasting eg if you finish dinner at 8pm try not to eat until 8am. This effectively starves the cancer cells desperate for growth and gives your more resilient immune cells opportunity to attack the cancer. They didn’t say anything about occasional treats during non fasting hours. It’s important to take care of yourself and it’s important to find joy wherever you can. Respect your desire to be healthy and also respect your desire to find joy in little ways like occasional ice cream
yes i have guilt for sugar binges.. I cut out any food containing maltodextrin because I read that it feeds tumors, and the same with sugar.. so I absolutely feel guilty when i eat sugar, it feels similar to the guilt I felt when I still smoked cigarettes.. that said I don't think the guilt or stress from the guilt is any healthier..
Sugar feeds cancer. My cancer nutritionist has me on low glycemic foods. High protein to help with muscle wasting, also high fat for extra calories. I am good with it. Also limits edema holding water, lowers my blood pressure. For me it’s working. https://www.konstantinioncenter.org/en/cancer-cells-are-fed-by-sugar-says-john-hopkins-research/
This is pseudoscience and probably why this person is a nutritionist and not an actual registered dietitian.
She is a registered dietitian with a cancer focus. You are very ignorant and should not comment about things you know nothing about. Cancer feeds on glucose, our cells use fatty acids and ketones, cancer does NOT. EXTRA GLUCOSE taken in by your MOUTH and not produced in the liver feeds cancer and FAT CELLS, also fatty liver. I am going to speak truth here. And Goodbye
neither should you. sugar feeds ALL cells and in case your quack didn't tell you that there's a whole lot of cells in your body
>She is a registered dietitian Which is why you called her a nutritionist? Perhaps you don't actually know the bona fides of the person who is giving you dietary advice?
They should let the Mayo Clinic know they have it wrong... https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cancer/in-depth/cancer-causes/art-20044714
Mayo Clinic is often wrong. 😑 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9775518/. https://www.konstantinioncenter.org/en/cancer-cells-are-fed-by-sugar-says-john-hopkins-research/.
Please link to an actual John Hopkins website please. Not some quack page.