EATING IN CANCER

Sources: DR ALBERT LIM KOK HOOI, Consultant oncologist. Fit 4 Life. Sunday 19 August, 2007.


WHAT SHOULD A PATIENT UNDERGOING CANCER TREATMENT EAT? IT'S BASICALLY GOOD, CLEAN WHOLESOME FOOD BASED ON GOOD CLEAN WHOLESOME SCIENCE?




I write this piece to keep a promise I made toa patient dying of advance cancer. Despite receiving optimal chemotherapy n supportive care, his cancer progressed n he became weaker with time. This was made worse by the diet he was on, which was contrary to the advice given by his doctors n dietitians.

"Well meaning" relatives n friends told him to follow a low sugar diet. He was also to assiduously avoid all meat n dairy products. Some types of fish n al most all seafood were prohibited as they would supposedly aggravate cancer. Alcohol was a "no no".

As his cancer progressed, more food taboos were imposed on him. He was reduced to a miseable, malnourished shell of his formerself. He finally realised all this non-medical advice was hogwash n balderdash. It was too late. A day before he died he made me promise to write an article to dispel all the superstitions n misconceptions surrounding the unholy connection of food n cancer. He would have had a better quality life in the months before his death had he indulged in his favourite food n drinks.

The beliefs about how food cud aggravate cancer could be amusing if not for the harm they cause. I heard all these stories 30 yrs ago I even hear them today. Sometimes i feel disorientated in time. Am I living in the middle ages? Or have I missed some new revolutionary finding on food n cancer?

Some patients try to 'starve' the cancer. They go on an ultra-low calorie diet. Their weight drops. They became cachectic, almost skeletal. In that severe protein-calorie malnourished state, they will not be able to undergo any form of possible surgery, radiotherapy n chemotherapy.


So.....my advice is to do all the opposite. Cancer itself is a catabolic as causes the body to go into a negative calorie-protein balance. Treatments like surgery, radiotherapy chemotherapy are also catabolic bcoz they destroy not only cancer cells but also the surrounding healthy cells around it in that targeted area (cancer area). So what the patient undergoing cancer treatment needs is to load up on proteins calories n moderate amounts of vitamins n minerals. Calorie dense n protein dense foods help alot. They help replenish the healthy cells that have been destructed in the body after such treatments therefore keeping them healthy n not weakly even after the treament. Such food that can be consumed are like fried rice (more calories n less volume) and the latter could be red meat (beef & lamb)


Do not take pills containing massive (perhaps 10 times the daily recommended requirement) amounts of vitamins A, C E, n selenium, which are all powerful antioxidants. U see radiotherapy n chemotherapy kills cancer cells via the action of their free radicals in the cells. It activates the free radicals to destroy the cancer cells. By taking the pills it gives the body powerful antioxidants that wud destroy the free radicals of cells including the cancer cells, therefore rendering the treatment inefficient in destroying the cells.

A tablet or 2 of a multivitamin-multimineral is sufficient. Read the lable on the bottle. In this length matters. Look for the label that list almost everything from A (Vitamin A) to Z (Vitamin Z).

Hahahaha......when I ask my patients to consume food like cockles, prawns n crabs (these foods are rich in minerals like iodine, calcium, magnesium n zinc although they may also increase yur cholesterol level), they look at me as if I lost my mind. I could just as well have ask them to slit them into their radial arteries!

Many Malaysians are caught up in a time warp. We know wat diet should a cancer patient folow n we known all this for yrs.

Firstly, the diet is one that he can physically tolerate. Loading up anorexic patients with fruits n vegetables (99% of which will be waste material bound for the sewer tmw) is not practicable.

Secondly the diet, must provide him with lots of proteins n calories and a moderate amounts of vitmins and minerals .

Thirdly, it should be strictly free of pathogens. Patients undergoing cancer treatment may be immunocompromised n easily fall prey to infection. Hence avoid uncooked foods.

Finally n most importantly food should give pleasure. Cancer n the cancer treatment rob the victim of so much that is life affirming. Do give him a break n allow him to indulge in one of the last pleasures available to him/her: glorious food.


Prof Jonathan Waxman, a pioneer in food/cancer research said " A cancer could not care less of what we eat" . I couldn't agree more. he wrote againts the diets n herbal remedies used to treat cancer in an article in a Brittish Medical Journal published last year.

What about the connection between food and the rest of us who do not have cancer? What food shall we take to prevent cancer? What should we avoid? What about the cancer survivor? What food shall him/her take to prevent a recurrence?

Well basically, there is no food has been consistently n unequivocally hown to prevent cancer or to prevent a recurrence of cancer. Which food causes cancer has not been clearly determined. There are no strong recommendations on food n cancer prevetion by any authority.

Culture, tradition n political correctness are fine during "open houses", marriage ceremonies n funerary rites. Not so when a cancer patient is battlting his/her disease n coping with the side effect of the treatment. The nexus of food n cancer is an old story. Take yur pick: science or superstition??