Thursday, April 11, 2013

Antioxidant and Cancer Preventing Foods

Good Morning Cancer Patients and Caregivers;

There is never a good time to be diagnosed with cancer. When the diagnosis is confirmed the resulting fear and emotional upheaval just adds more stress to your body. Coupled with the toxic abuse of chemo and radiation treatment, your body's strength, endurance, tolerance and immune systems can decline very rapidly.

Cancer patients need to settle the fear and emotional distress as quickly as possible and focus on helping there body remain strong and endure the rigors of treatment. Cancer patients need to feed the system. Many will be advised by a dietitian what and how to eat during cancer treatment. The challenge during treatment is to keep feeding the system, which becomes more and more difficult during a long treatment regime.

I found during my treatment that eating more frequent smaller meals was easier than trying to consume the same level of calories with just three meals a day. As the treatment makes you nauseous, your tired, have no energy and you haven't done anything to create an appetite, eating becomes a major undertaking. Not to mention you can't taste the food anyway. Sounds like a conspiracy.

Break the day up to eat 5-6 small meals rich in protein, antioxidants and good calories, especially antioxidant and cancer preventing foods. Now is the time to help your body with the fight of your life, and the antioxidant and cancer preventing foods will help. The selection to eat is very large. I know prior to my cancer diagnosis I was eating very few antioxidant and cancer preventing foods. Once I was diagnosed, the research Linda had done indicated I needed to include high antioxidant and cancer preventing foods in my diet. The following are many of the high antioxidant and cancer preventing foods you can eat:
Berry Fruits; blackberries, blueberries, raspberries,strawberries,cranberries, cherries
Citrus Fruits;oranges, kiwis, grapefruit, lemon, lime
Other Fruits; pin apple, apples,apricots,mango's, peaches,prunes, plums, watermelon, cantaloupe, red grapes, tomatoes, raisins
Vegetables; broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower,cabbage,carrots,cooked artichoke, spinach, green and red peppers, sweet potatoes, russet potatoes, pumpkin, squash, kale, beans
Beverages; green tea, white tea, black tea, coffee, vegetable juice, red wine, pomegranate juice,dark beer

My diet during treatment included these foods. Every morning at breakfast I would have berries with my oatmeal and glass of milk. Every meal included an antioxidant food or several. Today I still eat foods rich in antioxidants in most of my meals.

If you do the research you will find numerous other antioxidant-rich foods and foods that help your body prevent cancer. Eating during treatment is a major challenge but eating the right foods to help your body fight back is a good battle strategy.

Stay strong, keep your sense of humor and never give up.

No comments:

Post a Comment