Is dieting important in cancer?
Diet plays an important role in the fight against cancer - what to eat, when to eat it and what It is vital for our bodies to be able to cope not only with cancer but also with the associated treatments. A balanced diet is important to keep the body functioning properly.
In cancer patients, an appropriate diet can help to maintain a good quality of life, and to react better to the different treatments applied.
Nutritional therapy is used to help obtain the nutrients needed to maintain body weight and strength, as well as to maintain healthy body tissues and cope with opportunistic diseases such as viral and bacterial infections, to which cancer patients are so prone.
It is important to consider, based on what we have seen above about antioxidants, that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is important for the health of the body in general, but it does not mean that the diet is curative.
Many cancer patients, either on their own initiative or at the suggestion of others, start extreme diets when they discover the disease, which lead to a weakening of the organism and not to a cure for cancer. As a result of the disease and the different treatments, patients with cancer suffer certain dietary changes, lose their appetite, change the taste of food, feel disgust, etc. It is sometimes preferable to try to design a diet that prioritises the patient eating what they feel like eating, rather than forcing them to eat only what is "healthy".
In summary, a balanced diet in which the body incorporates the necessary amount of nutrients will help cancer patients to counteract the adverse effects of the disease, conventional treatments, maintain a well-functioning immune system and have sufficient energy.
