Nutritional Care During The Various Therapies To Treat Cancer

By Author: Youngrin Peter
Total Articles: 2
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Protein rich snacks are one way of dealing with compromised nutrition. 2 ½ cups of vegetables are necessary to help healing. Though high fat foods from animals could be avoided. Cooking could be done with low fat techniques like baking or broiling. Pickles, salt preserved and smoked food can be kept to a minimum. Instead of three big meals it might be a good idea to opt for 5 small meals. Eating when hungry is also fine.
When surgery is used to remove cancer cells, there is often lot of pain and fatigue. There is also a need for extra calories to enhance the healing. With drugs, self care methods, and dietary changes, the side effect of surgery can be reduced. But if coping is difficult then it should be brought to the notice of the doctor or nurse.

Intake of food is not allowed a day or night before surgery. It might take a day or two before food ingestion is allowed after surgery. So the recovery would begin with

1. Step clear liquid like weak milk less tea, juices, clear broth, water, clear strained vegetable or citrus fruit juice
2. Step is now added to step 1, plain crackers, white rice, hot ...
... cereals, soft or baked custards, fruit juices, plain puddings, lean beef, kidney milk shakes
3. Step regular diet
a. Smaller and more frequent meals only food that are tolerated.

b. Fried food and high fat food to be avoided.

All these symptoms are temporary and treatable.
When it comes to radiation therapy the side effects depend on the area of the body treated. Some of these might happen during the treatment, while some might happen more than 90 days after treatment.

Eating well during radiation is very difficult, specially if the treatment is far away from home. The nutritional care for patients undergoing radiation therapy are:

Chemotherapy—chemo-- is the treatment used to kill cancer cells. These medicines either taken orally or injected into the blood stream. With chemo there is damage of healthy cells along with diseased cells. Resulting in challenges of food intake.

Light snacks, specially an hour before therapy, plenty of water and low fried diet helps to maintain the nutritional balance.

The basic mantra for all the three therapies would be

• Small, regular meals or snacks.
• The food and drinks should be low in fat and easy to digest.
• At least 8 ounce of water should be included in the diet unless prescribed otherwise. It is a good idea to sip water throughout the day.
• During chemotherapy and radiation therapy, food ingestion an hour before treatment.

Author Bio:-

Michelle Tyler is a medical writer who writes well-researched, in-depth cancer articles which provide relevant information to help patients combat the deadly disease. These articles help patients understand the latest treatment options that are available to them.