Should you determine your diet based on your cancer type?
Depending on their medical condition, doctors often recommend specific diets for patients—more fiber and less red meat for those with heart disease, low-sugar foods for diabetics, and a gluten-free diet for people with celiac disease, for example. But did you know the same may be true for certain cancer patients? While a healthy diet looks much the same before cancer as it does after—lean proteins, plenty of fruits and veggies, and lots of water—cancer experts have developed nutritional guidelines explicitly tailored for patients with particular cancer.
Cancer patients, regardless of the type of malignancy they have, should also avoid alcohol. “Alcohol contains ethanol, a carcinogen that may lead to DNA damage,” Lammersfeld says. “Even one drink per day for women may increase the risk of breast cancer. The reason isn’t apparent, other than alcohol contains ethanol, which may raise circulating levels of estrogen and interactions between alcohol, nutrients and genes.” For cancer patients who are not in active treatment, Lammersfeld says men should limit alcohol consumption to two drinks per day, while women should have no more than one per day. A drink is a 12-ounce beer, a five-ounce glass of wine, or 1.5 ounces of hard liquor.
Depending on your cancer type, consider the dietary recommendations below to help reduce potential treatment-related side effects while also helping to improve your quality of life and chances of better outcomes.
Click here to learn what foods to eat and what to limit or avoid based on your type of cancer from City of Hope®.
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Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (CTCA) is now City of Hope®. To expand patient access to personalized, leading-edge cancer care, City of Hope® acquired Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (CTCA) last year, uniting our shared vision, values and commitment to high-quality, compassionate care that puts patients first. Today, we aren’t just part of City of Hope; we are City of Hope
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