Your Strongest Cancer Strategy With Diet And Nutrition by Katrina Evans

Katrina Evans is a recent college graduate who asked me could she write a guest article on my blog. She is aspiring to write about health and wellness in the future. She enjoys making a difference in people’s lives seeing how devastating cancer can be for people and their families.
Well done Katrina and keep up this wonderful interest in helping others to live a more fulfilling and healthy lifestyle - Best Wishes, Erika xxx

Eating healthy plays a fundamental role in supporting a strong immune system to naturally ward off cancer. Though diet and exercise is highly beneficial for overall wellbeing, following a healthy nutritional guideline is key to promoting growth, replacement of tissue and keeping everything from organs to cells healthy.

It is not always easy to maintain a healthy diet when battling cancer or going through cancer treatments. Since cancer diagnosis, especially aggressive ones like, pancreatic or mesothelioma cancer, call for more intense treatments, patients may experience side effects that occur which diminish a person's ability to maintain a healthy diet.

Planning and maintaining a healthy diet may take some effort, but is never unattainable. Focus on core concepts like setting specific goals for achieving a healthier lifestyle with diet and nutrition or focusing on a main element of a diet like fiber, an essential nutrient that helps rid the body of toxins and carcinogens.

Fighting Symptoms with Diet
One of the most common symptoms of cancer treatment is chronic fatigue, lack of strength, and can cause severe nausea. Getting enough protein, a natural form of energy, can help battle these symptoms and restore energy needed to recover. Meats are an ideal source of protein, but some may find it hard to tolerate these hard-to-digest proteins and go for eggs, beans, and dairy as alternative sources. Starchy foods may help settle the stomach if necessary or mixing a base, like a pinch of baking soda, with juice often helps as well. Ginger is another popular source of nausea relief, however, what works is different for each person.

Planning to eat several small meals a day, whenever hunger strikes, is generally better than waiting to eat a large meal. Foods should be carefully selected to balance nutrition ensuring that the diet consists of a variety of vitamins, minerals, and protein that keep the body strong and able to fight off infections. A balanced diet also helps body tissue heal and replenish itself. Eat some of your favorite food to make sure you stick to the diet. Planning meals out and meal times in advance helps to adapt to a stable routine in no time.

The Role of Fiber
Foods and beverages rich in dietary fiber are beneficial for overall health. Fiber is the best defense that regulates the digestive system. Diarrhea and constipation, two common symptoms of treatment, are well-managed by proper fiber intake. Many studies suggest that fiber has a preventative role in certain cancers, such as stomach and colon cancer where it binds to and removes carcinogens safely from the body.

A diet high in fiber will also lead to a diet high in other nutrients. Foods that are high in fiber also contain other cancer fighting vitamins and minerals. Aiming for a fiber intake of 35 grams per day will ensure proper cancer-fighting nutrition.

As many as 35 percent of cancer cases can be connected to poor nutrition according to the National Cancer Institute. So when putting together a nutritional guideline that works for you, do your homework. Find out specifics like, what is mesothelioma, thyroid cancer, or the cause of kidney cancer and what foods can have a protective effect against them, how can green tea help prevent heart disease, or is garlic really considered a “super food?”