Weight loss and cancer ⚖️🏥🩺🥗

Weight loss while you’re undergoing cancer treatment is very common and is difficult to avoid.

Weight loss is unfortunately a common part of cancer treatment; your body uses additional energy just to fight the cancer and recover from all the treatments that it goes through! So it needs that additional energy from your food. Avoiding weight loss is a battle in itself and can be a real difficulty for patients through treatment

Losing up to 5% of your body weight can make your recovery so much longer and tougher for your body to heal from the treatment and diagnosis - trying to avoid this is key!

Although on the other hand food shouldn’t be a chore!

A lovely patient this week has finished her Cancer treatment and she has struggling with crippling anxiety about eating.

Information provided by family, friends and neighbors may be all well and good but food shouldn’t be stressful; during cancer treatment it can be stressful. Cutting out whole food groups can put anyone at risk of nutritional deficiencies.

It shouldn’t have to be stressful.

My bottom line is – if 80% of the time you are eating well; variety of fruit and vegetables, good wholegrains, lean proteins – then there will always be 20% to fit in those meals or foods that may not be nutritionally dense but you get a lot of enjoyment from. Choosing the healthier foods most of the time with space for the not so healthy is about balance – food is for enjoyment.

Small frequent meals and snacks and food fortification of all meals and snacks can help and can be an easy way to incorporate more calories and protein. Snacking can also be a great way of helping gain control of fatigue, weight loss, reflux, nausea and vomiting. Try incorporating even smaller meals rather than larger meals if you find them off putting.

If you need additional advice, hints and tips for nutrition advice through cancer treatment, please get in touch. Jo X