Certain cancers can be controlled with healthy diet
Fruits and vegetables are recommended as part of a healthy eating lifestyle. Monitor photo
Experts ascertain that having a healthy diet can help reduce the risk of cancer. Much as the cause of cancer is not clearly known, or ways of preventing it, you can reduce the risks of getting it.
Diet which is part of someone’s lifestyle, is much related to cancer and other non-communicable diseases prevention. Some foods actually increase your risk of cancer, while others help the body and strengthen the immune system.
“By choosing a good diet, you can protect your health and boost your ability to fight off cancer and other diseases,” Jamiru Mpiima, a nutritionist says.
Nutrition is a key part in boosting body immunity. It is vital in the first five years of a child when growing up.
A cancer is a class of diseases arising from the abnormal cell growth spreading to the surrounding tissue.
Depending on the type of cancer, the abnormal growth extends to the breast, prostate and cervix. The cell structure is disrupted usually by four factors namely; poor diet, toxins, stress and the environment.
Sharon Nalunkuuma, a nutritionist, says: “Some people develop cancer mainly because of poor diets and sedentary lifestyles. It is possible to avoid cancer but if you have been discovered with it, one needs nutrition therapy alongside medical and chemotherapy.”
An individual might be nutritionally deficient when discovered with a cancer. “Women with low vitamin D levels have six times greater risk of breast cancer,” Nalunkuuma, says.
However, one can eat foods rich in vitamin D and these include fish or fish oil although in some instances, a cancer patient might be taken off dairy products yet milk and beef from ruminant animals is rich in linoleum acid. This is a good fat type needed by the body.
Even when a tumour has regressed if they continue to have a poor diet, the tumour can regrow. Nalunkuuma says one cannot achieve the desired benefits from any nutritious foods without the beneficial bacteria; the bacteria she explains is located in one’s gut whether you have a cancer or not.
Mpiima says a number of natural foods, especially fruits and vegetables contain nutrients that prevent cancer development. “Such compounds include vitamins, trace elements and antioxidant.
Carotenoids, flavonoid polyphenols, isoflavones, catechins, and several other components found in cruciferous vegetables are molecules that are known to protect against the deleterious effect of reactive oxygen species.
Diets high in fibre and low in fat, with plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole-grain breads, and cereals, may reduce the risk of cancer, particularly in individuals at increased risk.
Nalunkuuma says: “The fact is that when a person is diagnosed with a certain type of cancer regardless of where it is located, some people make various changes to their diet in order to take back some personal control and give themselves the best possible chance of survival, for instance, an increase in consumption of carotenoids can help prevent the breast cancer from recurring.”
She explains that carotenoids sources are from all brightly coloured vegetables and fruits such as carrots, red cabbage and watermelon.
Nothing beats a good, nutritious diet that comprises of whole grains, fruits, vegetables and fresh fish. However, how do you know that you are getting a good diet?
Nalunkuuma recommends: “A rainbow or ketogenic diet for cancer patients; this means the modification of one’s nutrition status, for example, increasing vitamins and mineral intake cutting out excess sugars. This is to rehabilitate a particular condition.”
Dr Fred Okuku, an oncologist at Mulago hospital, notes that some cancers are caused by risk factors such as obesity, and “one of the key things as to why we ask patients to watch their diet is because obesity is a major risk factor in causing cancer”.
In relation to this, Dr Okuku highlights other indicators: High cholesterol is another risk factor for non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and when a patient has been diagnosed with cancer.
“We endeavour to prevent and make sure that they do not develop the other diseases as well because it only complicates their treatment and the effects on the body,” he says.
There are certain cancers that can be promoted by diet, “their growth is accelerated by diet, for example breast, colon and prostate cancers are accelerated by diets, especially those high in fat and sugar.”
Patients with breast cancer are at risk of one hormone that might increase and predisposes many women to breast cancer (estrogen).
This is produced in the ovaries although it can be produced elsewhere in the body through a process of converting fat to estrogen.
Therefore if one has a lot of fat in the body, the chances of breast cancer are high. “If one has breast cancer that is driven by estrogen in the body, we restrict fat in the body and as such, keeping a lean body can mean that you keep a minimum level of oestrogen in the body.
When we restrict fat intake, sugars, we are actually aiming at reducing estrogen in the body, especially with women who are on cancer treatment or those that have been diagnosed with breast cancer,” Dr Okuku says.
“Therefore, if one has a lot of fat in the body, the treatments that suppress breast cancer are anti-oestrogen,” he says.
Dr Okuku advises that one should reduce on the intake of fat in the body as break down of fats only increases one’s risk of getting breast cancer”
Cancer treatment
Patients on cancer treatment are advised to restrain from eating fatty foods, reduce on sugars, eat more fruits and vegetables, do some minimal exercises which must be regular and lead to sweating, avoid alcohol, avoid smoking, avoid drugs that destroy the kidneys and liver.
“However, we do not have don’ts, we recommend one to avoid and if you are to eat something, eat in moderation because a patient might be affected, especially when receiving chemotherapy,” Dr Okuku says.
Nalunkuuma shares that some foods such as pasta and local salt are not good because, “when in excess it sets up pre-cancer conditions reducing oxygen and increasing acidity although foods containing magnesium are encouraged because magnesium has anti-cancer effects for the colon. Nalunkuuma notes that food should never replace medication.
“Where there is an urgency to correct deficiency, supplements can be ideal; not forgetting that the mind is an important weapon in the fight against cancer,” she says.
Mpiima recommends that maintaining a healthy weight is also important, “A healthy weight can be maintained by regular physical activity and a healthy diet,” he says.
The healthy diet should include the following dietary recommendations: “Reduce intake of saturated fat, processed meat, and red meat, increase consumption of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, consume alcoholic beverages in moderation. These dietary guidelines are intended for people who are healthy. People with disease or any other condition may require a modified diet.”
