Mat has asked me about Shane's nutritional and supplement requirements. Which is an enormous topic when it comes to treating cancer. There are many who believe that this "diet" and that "supplement" can "cure" cancer. Being a cancer survivor, there are so many products that are pushed towards treating cancer because traditional methods are "poisonous" and more lethal than the cancer itself.
I have news for you. If it was possible to treat Shane's cancer with a diet / supplement I would have been all over it. But the simple truth is without traditional methods of cancer treatment, Shane would not be watching TV beside me. Yes the process has been challenging, but it has been well worth it. I have a very healthy respect for the intelligence of the treatments available that can treat the enormous variety of cancer types.
In terms of the doctors recommendations - you would be surprised how little information they provide. They prescribed Shane essential nutritional supplements that can be monitored through blood tests and especially those that can be affected by medications. These supplements include centrum advanced, magnesium, potassium, folic acid (vitamin B9) and ascorbic acid (vitamin C). In terms of dietary advice, the words from the wise were: "Eat whatever".
I found this very interesting. We all know chemotherapy and radiation therapy can both affect your taste and nausea can make eating at all very challenging. From a treatment perspective it is crucial to maintain a healthy weight to ensure you're resilient enough to continue with the full dose of treatment. So Doctors and Dieticians both recommend a high protein, high calorie diet. This includes: "Whatever"!
From my perspective, I believe that a healthy, varied diet is the key. Fresh fruits and vegetables either lightly cooked, raw or juiced will give you loads of good vitamins. Juicing is great to pack a lot of punch in one foul swoop. But I don't believe that is all you need. Lean meat, chicken and fish are also important, as well as natural yogurt, milk and nuts. I make the effort to ensure Shane eats well and that he gets as much nutrition as possible in his diet. I try to avoid foods that are high in sugar, highly processed foods and foods high in preservatives. But the problem with all this is, Shane has a free will. He will eat what he wants when he wants, and there's no stopping him. He does endeavour to eat well, but when his tastes are affected, he'll eat anything with flavour, healthy or not!
There are a lot of diets that are highly recommended for cancer, but if you do your research, many of them are unsafe, and extreme. And no matter what evidence you show me, daily coffee enemas do not make sense! In my mind, there is no way that coffee inserted into a rectum will make its way through your intestines back into your liver to open the bile ducts.
There are some other certain foods recommended for cancer that can cause Cyanide poisoning. What possible benefit could these foods provide that over-rides the potential for Cyanide poisoning? Especially when being used on such a vulnerable population!
Shane's Doctors also recommend avoiding alternative medicines that hasn't been approved by them. This is to avoid medication interactions, which, when you look at Shane's long list of meds, you can understand.
As you can see, there is a lot of conflicting information. In the end, I believe that you eat in moderation, eat a variety of plant based foods, and lean meats and dairy, and do your research!
xx
No comments:
Post a Comment