not eating
Author avisha Categories Blog, Cancer Coaching Posted on 0 Comments

Integrative Tips When You Can’t Eat During Cancer Treatment

It is not a failure nor is it a sign of weakness to take anti-nausea medications, called antiemetics, during cancer treatment. In fact, when warranted, you should take anti-nausea medications so that you can maintain caloric intake and stave off nutrient deficiencies.

Common drugs that may be used to prevent or control nausea and vomiting include:

  • Ondansetron
  • Dexamethasone
  • Lorazepam

When nausea strikes and food intake declines, it is important that you try and get easily digestible, nutrient dense foods and liquids in to your system to maintain weight and nutrient intake.

There are many natural strategies that you can use either individually or in combination to help you through this time.

Tips for Supporting Cancer Patients Who Don’t Feel Like Eating

Here are some tips that you can use when nausea strikes and you just don’t feel like eating:

  • Increase intake with fluids and electrolytes.  Adding a pinch of himalayan salt to water is a quick strategy to increase electrolytes
  • Cook vegetables and eat at a warm temperature
  • Decrease intake of raw foods as these can be harder to digest
  • Include nutrient dense smoothies in to your diet
  • Include bone broth in to your diet to increase intake of important minerals and gut healing nutrients
  • Consume ginger i.e. in tea form, in crystallized form, added to stir a fry and in homemade juices
  • Use peppermint i.e. in tea form, essential oils
  • Drink Chamomile tea to soothe an upset stomach
  • Avoid greasy or fried foods
  • Avoid foods with strong odours
  • Avoid spicy foods
  • Eat smaller more frequent meals
  • Acupuncture
  • Hypnosis
  • Muscle relaxation with guided imagery

Along with the above mentioned tips, I also recommend that you keep a food journal.  This can help you to identify and keep track of food that has both worked well in your diet and foods that have not.

 

 

Author avisha Categories Blog, cancer, Cancer Coaching, Lifestyle Posted on 0 Comments

3 Common Characteristics of Cancer Survivors

June is Cancer Survivor Awareness Month.  Battles are being won as the war against cancer continues.

  • Over 60% of Canadians diagnosed with cancer are expected to survive for 5 years or more after a cancer diagnosis (Canadian Cancer Society)⠀

 

  • Cancer death rates have been declining since 1988 among men, and since the mid-1990s among women (Government of Canada, Canadian Cancer Statistics)⠀

⠀

  • Cancer mortality rates are decreasing more than 2% per year for lung, colorectal, prostate and oral cancers in males; breast and ovarian cancers in females; and Hodgkin disease and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, stomach cancer, and larynx cancer in males and females (Government of Canada, Canadian Caner Statistics)⠀

My unique vantage of being both a cancer survivor and a professional working with cancer patients has offered me the opportunity to bear witness to some common threads that weave many survivors together.

Although not exhaustive, I feel that these are the most constant traits of cancer survivors that I see.

3 Common Characteristics of a Cancer Survivor

1. A resolve to make necessary changes in diet and lifestyle

cancer survivorsMany cancer survivors change their diet to include whole, plant-based foods and eliminate processed, pro-inflammatory foods because they understanding that what they eat can either enhance health or detract from it.

Supplements to support health are often included along with dietary changes.

The importance of proper sleep, exercise and mindfulness is appreciated and strived for within the lives of many cancer survivors.

2. A willingness to take active participation in determining their cancer protocolunderstanding

Most cancer survivors have asked questions, considered many avenues of care and have taken an active role in determining the cancer protocol that feels right for them.  Many cancer survivors have taken an integrative approach to their care including modalities such as yoga and meditation in to their cancer protocol.

3. A belief that their body can heal

Survivors tend to have a strong belief that given the proper tools their bodies can overcome and heal from cancer.  Once established, a common trait of survivors is the firm belief that their protocol will be successful.

Life after a cancer diagnosis is different.  As with any profound event we experience, cancer resets the framework for us moving forward.  But we do.  We move forward.

We are survivors.

cancer survivors

 

References:

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/chronic-diseases/cancer/canadian-cancer-statistics.html

http://www.cancer.ca

 

Author avisha Categories Blog, cancer, Food & Nutrition Posted on 0 Comments

5 Reasons to Use Fermented Foods in Your Cancer Fighting Diet

The process of fermentation is a metabolic one that converts sugar into acids, gases or alcohol. Fermented foods are foods that have been through a process of lacto-fermentation where natural bacteria feed on the sugar in the food creating lactic acid.

Cultures around the world have been eating fermented foods for years, from Sauerkraut in Germany, Kimichi in Korea and beer and wine just about everywhere.

The benefits of fermented foods are noted in many studies pertaining to cancer care and prevention due in great part for their ability to improve intestinal tract health, enhance immunity and to synthesize and  enhance the bioavailability of nutrients.

The beneficial bacteria found in fermented foods have been shown to be effective for suppressing colon cancer and may also inhibit cancers of the breast, liver, small intestine and other organs.

Butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid created when microbes ferment dietary fiber in your gut, has been shown to induce programmed cell death of colon cancer cells.  Cultured milk products may reduce your risk of bladder cancer by about 29 percent.

5 Reasons to Use Fermented Foods in Your Cancer Fighting Diet

Probiotics

Fermented foods contain probiotics. Probiotics are important to intake daily as they improve digestion, aid in our immune function and balance our intestinal bacteria.

Enhances Digestion

digestion

Fermenting foods is like partially digesting them before they are consumed.  This means that there will be less work that the body has to do to break them down. Due to this benefit it is interesting to note that many people who are lactose intolerant will be able to tolerate kefir, a fermented milk product.

Enzyme Production

Enzymes break down the food that we eat enabling nutrients to be absorbed into the bloodstream.  The probiotics in fermented foods produce digestive enzymes that are essential when breaking down our food.  This helps to make the nutrients in food more bioavailable for absorption.

Increases Nutrient Content of Food

Fermenting foods improves the quantity, availability and digestibility of some dietary nutrients. Fermentation of food with lactic acid bacteria increases folic acid in yogurt.  Niacin and riboflavin levels in yogurt are increased with fermentation.
fermented foods

 

Supports our immune function

immunity

It is estimated that approximately 80% of our immune system is in our gut. Fermented foods enable better digestion and healthy gut flora, which in turn supports immune function. Fermented foods are also rich in vitamins and antioxidants, which help to strengthen immunity.

 

 

Here is a wonderful recipe for Fermented Quinoa Breakfast Bowl:

https://www.cathybiase.com/fermented-quinoa-breakfast-bowl/

References:

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/02/13/fermented-foods-anti-cancer-diet.aspx

https://draxe.com/fermented-foods/

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00578/full

 

 

 

Author avisha Categories Blog, Cancer Coaching, Food & Nutrition, Recipes Posted on 0 Comments

Walnut & Avocado Pesto

May is Brain Cancer Awareness Month⁣.

Here are some facts:

  • The most common types of brain cancers are gliomas and meningiomas. Gliomas are cancers that grow from glia cells or glial cells, the supportive cells that hold neurons in place. Meningiomas are cancers that grow from the brain covering (meninges)⁣
  • Aspartame and long term cell phone use are being studied for their link to increased brain cancer risk⁣
  • It is estimated that 55,000 Canadians are surviving with a brain tumour⁣⁣

Two Awesome Foods to Support Brain Health

Walnuts

Walnuts are high in Omega-3 fatty acids and polyphenols.

Omega-3’s exhibit neuro-protective properties and are critical for normal brain function and development throughout all stages of life.

Polyphenolic compounds found in walnuts reduce the oxidant and inflammatory load on brain cells and improve interneuronal signaling

Avocados

Avocados contain monounsaturated fats.  This contributes to healthy blood flow, which carries over to a healthy brain. Avocados also lower blood pressure, and hypertension is a major risk for decline in cognitive abilities.

Walnut & Avocado Pesto

Pesto Sauce is one of my favourite things to do with basil. So because ⁣this is Brain Cancer Awareness month I thought I would experiment with my regular recipe to incorporate a these 2 brain healthy foods.

Let me know your thoughts!⁣

Ingredients

  • 1 Avocado⁣
  • 1/4 cup walnuts
  • 1 cup packed fresh basil⁣
  • 2 cloves of garlic⁣
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese⁣
  • 1/2 tsp. salt⁣
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon⁣
  • 1/2- 1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil⁣

Directions

1. Pulse avocado, walnuts and basil in food processor until smooth⁣

2. Add garlic, parmesan cheese, salt and lemon juice. Pulse until well blended⁣

3. Stream in the olive oil slowly while the food processor is running.  It is important to do this slowly to help it to emulsify.  Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor when needed⁣

Resources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24500933

https://www.webmd.com/diet/features/eat-smart-healthier-brain#1

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4404917/

 

 

Author avisha Categories Blog, cancer, Cancer Coaching, Lifestyle, Reflection Posted on 0 Comments

Cancer Taught Me to Embrace Normal

It’s a rare occasion when I sit down at 7:30 am in the morning, flip on the television and watch a Netflix documentary.  But after 4 straight days of early morning rises, this is what I did.  I invited Brene Brown into my family room to join me in my day.

Now if you have had the good fortune to watch The Call to Courage on Netflix I am sure we share, at the very least, an admiration for her stage presence.  Beyond that I can only reflect upon my personal admiration for her work, her research and her word.

To itemize all of her insights would be a total spoiler for you.  But there was one that I would like to expound upon because it resonated so deeply with me.

Appreciating Normal

I was totally qualified to lead the line of the great many of us who go through life mechanically.  I tended to the daily tasks that needed tending to.  I said ‘have a great day’ without thought as someone left the house in the morning.  And I grudgingly tackled the nuisance of the daily dinner menu.

This was how I did the normal of my everyday life.  I did normal mindlessly.  Until I got cancer.

In no way, shape or form do I consider this disease, my disease, a blessing of any kind contrary to those who have offered up to me the notion that some form of clarity is tied to a cancer diagnosis.

What going through cancer did do was steal my normal.  Those aspects of mundane in my life were replaced with appointments, tests, results, recoveries and fears.

I found myself searching for normalcy and it was in that search that I found gratitude.  Yes, in the midst of it all, I became grateful.  Grateful for hearing the garage door slam because I knew that someone made it home safely.  Grateful for a dish breaking because people were eating together.  Grateful for kids fighting because those children are mine and they are well and they are near.  Grateful for my sleeping husband because he is my best friend and most avid supporter.

So Now…

As life moves forward from cancer and with the grace of God that I am still living it, I have gratefully settled back in to my normal.  It’s not, nor will it ever be perfect.  But I have made a commitment to practice gratitude daily which helps me to breathe and accept some nuances of my normal that will never quite be appreciated.  Case in point is the danger zone marked by the 75 pairs of shoes piled in my back hall for instance.

So here is to Normal!  Normal is where I live most of my life.  Normal is that sweet spot between the highs and the lows.  And normal is right where I want to be.

 

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