Colon Cancer Diet and Nutrition

Getting enough calories to keep up your strength is just one aspect of a colon cancer diet. It is especially important to eat as healthy a diet as possible to:

• Boost your immune system
• Deal with possible nutritional deficiencies

Cancer treatment may:

• Decrease your appetite
• Lower your ability to digest food
• Interfere with your body's ability to absorb and use nutrients

Ways to improve colon cancer nutrition during treatment include:

• Eating many small, nutritious meals
• Drinking fluids after you eat, not during
• Eating and drinking fortified foods and shakes when necessary

Supplements

Many people take vitamin and mineral supplements. But antioxidants such as vitamins C and E can interfere with chemotherapy's ability to kill cancer cells. A dietitian can determine how to balance cancer and nutrition, and tell you what supplements are good to take. Read more at www.cancersupportivecare.com/complementary.html.

A colon cancer diet many patients tolerate well includes:

• Whole grains
• Fresh, raw vegetables and fruits
• Legumes such as beans and lentils
• Non fatty fish, chicken and meats, free of hormones and additives

These foods supply your body with:

• Complex carbohydrates
• Vitamins, minerals and enzymes
• Easily digestible protein

Vegetables with cancer preventive compounds include:

• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Kale
• Winter squash

Read more at http://nutrition.suite101.com/article.cfm/vegetables_and_a_cancer_prevention_diet.

Fats and protein are important in a colon cancer diet:

• Good fats are very important. These include olive oil and omega-3 oils including flax seed oil and fish oil.
• Avoid processed fats and oils, such as trans and hydrogenated fats in margarines and fats used for baking. Read more about good and bad fats at http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3055399.
• Your body may be better able to tolerate fish and chicken and less able to digest red meat.
• If you do eat meat, try to buy grass-fed or free-range. Stay away from highly processed meats, especially those that include nitrites and nitrates.

In summary:

• Eat a variety of foods. The more variety in your diet, the less chance there is of attracting diseases.
• Whole natural foods naturally contain substances to protect you against illnesses.
• Limit your overall fat consumption, favoring good fats, described above. It is better to steam, boil, bake or stir-fry food.
• Eat more fruits and vegetables. If you can, choose fresh organic fruits and vegetables as they have higher nutrient values. Eat garlic if you can tolerate it.
• Eat more high fiber foods such as whole grain breads, cereals and legumes.
• Eliminate refined sugars, junk food and empty processed food.
• A good colon cancer diet is similar to a colon cancer prevention diet. The main differences are that people undergoing chemotherapy may have higher nutritional needs and poor appetites. It is very important to eat the most nutritious foods you can get.

Cancers are very opportunistic. They attack when your immune system is weak. Your goal is to strengthen your immune system and create a healthy body where cancer cells have difficulty