CancerAcupuncture: Diet therapy for various Cancers (part 1)
Today, we shall be looking at the diet for different cancer types.
According to the ancient way of preserving health in Chinese Medicine, conserving a healthy Qi, is essential for a good long life. Thus diet therapy is crucial, for all the Qi and Blood that is required for our body comes from our diet. And similarly, many of the health problems we see in today's society, also comes from the food we eat.
Cancers are caused by different factors. Therefore each will have their own diet requirements.
Brain tumour
- Avoid:
Smoking, alcohol, coffee, smoked/preserved food, food high in saturated fat and spicy pungent flavours.
- Diet should consist of:
Fresh fruits and vegetables and food rich in vitamins and minerals.
Nasal Pharyngeal cancer
- Avoid:
Smoking, alcohol, smoked/preserved food, deep fried food, spicy pungent flavours such as raw garlic and pepper.
- Diet should consist of:
Fresh fruits and vegetables and food with a rich source of vitamin C, B, E.
Lung Cancer
- Avoid:
Smoking, alcohol, salty food and food that has high level of preservatives.
- Diet should consist of:
Walnuts, red dates, nuts, beans, legumes and food that is nutritious and rich in vitamins.
Breast Cancer
- Avoid:
Food that has phytoeastrogen or has hormonal effects in the body (ie Royal Jelly), high in saturated fat, deep fried food, animal offal, fish/crab roe, high in sugar, preservatives, smoked/preserved, spicy food, smoking and alcohol.
- Diet should consist of:
Fresh fruits and vegetables, food rich in iron and vitamins. Post menopausal women should have food high in Iron.
Esophageal Cancer
- Avoid:
Smoking, alcohol, Nitrosamine containing food (ie, smoked/preserved, deep fried food), hard solid food, raw garlic, hot chillies, pepper, spices. Also avoid eating food that is very hot or cold, as it will affect the throat. Do not overeat or swallow food without chewing.
- Diet should consist of:
Finely chopped, soft and easily consumed, non-spicy, full of nutrition and vitamins. The food should be consumed at body temperature to avoid aggravating the condition.
Stomach cancer
- Avoid:
Smoking, alcohol, and Nitrosamine containing food (ie, smoked/cured food, deep fried food), high salt, BBQ, charcoaled, flamed grilled, hard solid food, sour, sweet, hot and spicy food. Avoid over eating.
- Diet should consist of:
Soft food such as noodles instead of rice, pasta or bread. Once should consume food slowly, have nutritious food rich in vitamins and minerals. The meals should also be small and frequent.
Eat healthy everyone!
Dr An Ni Chien CMD
Blue Sky Clinic
Cancer Acupuncture: What’s for Dinner?
A lot of patients are often not aware that the food they eat can greatly affect their body. These days in our society many people do focus on eating healthy food with fruit, vegetables, plenty of protein, less fat, less carbohydrates etc.
Yet, many people still feel 'yucky', or that they are not loosing as much weight as they would like or that they still have digestive issues such as constipation, diarrhea and bloating.
From a Chinese medicine perspective all foods have certain properties. It is important to eat not only from the nutritional food pyramid, but also according to the properties of food taking into account the season, your own body's constitution and any medical conditions you may have.
For example:
Many of my patients have done the right thing by cutting down on coffee and drinking green tea instead as well as eating more salad and fruit. However they often remain bloated and gassy after meals, still feeling that there is something wrong with their digestive system.
From a Chinese Medicine point of view, our digestive system is a sensitive organ system. Our digestive organs generally prefers things that are warm, non-greasy and non-spicy. Thus foods that are hot, spicy, deep fried, ice-cold, raw or cold in property adds extra load on our digestion.
With the change of season it is also important that through the warmer months we eat more cooling foods while cooked foods will be ideal for the colder winter months. Excessively consumption of cool-cold properties food will eventually weaken the stomach leading us we often see patients with bloating or digestive conditions in the autumn-winter season.
It is also important to eat with the season. Most produce will have the properties that are ideal for the particular season. ie:
summer fruits/vegetables: cooling properties
winter fruits/vegetables: neutral-warmer properties
Therefore for this winter, instead of having salads I'd encourage everyone to have vegetables that are cooked (roasting, boiling, steaming, stir-fry, baking...). Have a nice warm meal like soups, pasta or rice, instead of sandwiches.
Tea such as green tea, white teas, are great in antioxidants. However, they are cold/cold in properties, as they are less processed and went through no fermentation. Therefore select warmer black teas like Pu-erh, Jasmine tea and Oolong tea for your cold winter days.
A slight change in the cooking, will see you to a better healthier body.
Dr Anni Chien CMD
Blue Sky Chinese Medicine Clinic
(02) 6162 4950