• Question: what kind of food helps cancer???

    Asked by icecream19 to Amar, Ana, Andrea, Leah, Matt on 13 Mar 2014.
    • Photo: Amar Joshi

      Amar Joshi answered on 13 Mar 2014:

      Hi Icecream,

      Once cancer has been diagnosed there is not a lot that you can do about your diet to stop it – as far as I am aware. However some researchers at my University think that a chemical in tumeric – curcumin (pronounced ker-kyoo-min) might have anti-cancer properties. Finger crossed for that!!

    • Photo: Leah Fitzsimmons

      Leah Fitzsimmons answered on 13 Mar 2014:

      Amar is right that so far, no one has found any foods that can help cure cancer (although there are some chemicals that are found in tiny amounts in food that are being tested to see if they can help if taken at higher doses than is found in food). However, diagnosis with cancer and cancer treatments can make you feel really unwell so it is really important for people with cancer to eat a good mix of healthy foods to help them to feel as well as possible.

    • Photo: Anastasia Wass

      Anastasia Wass answered on 13 Mar 2014:

      Amars right, once you’ve got cancer there’s not much you can do but having a healthy lifestyle including a good diet can help reduce your risk of getting cancer in the first place!

    • Photo: Andrea Hanvey

      Andrea Hanvey answered on 13 Mar 2014:

      The others are right, I’m going to answer this from the perspective of a patient with cancer.

      Many people with cancer find at times during treatment they have a loss of appetite and can’t eat as much. This may be due to the cancer itself or side effects of treatment. Some treatments also affect a patients sense of taste which may put them off eating some foods.
      Help and advice about specalist diets for cancer patients is available, some oncologists may recommend seeing a dietitian. The Macmillian charity also have excellent information on eating well during treatment, and the build up diet high in energy and protein before testament is started.

      So a healthy lifestyle and diet is Important to reduce the risk of cancer, but for patients with cancer they may need a specialist diet to help them through their treatment

    • Photo: Matthew Lam

      Matthew Lam answered on 14 Mar 2014:

      Foods probably contain chemicals that could stop cancer cells growing or kill them but that’s not to say that eating that food will help fight cancer. It’s unlikely that you would be able to eat enough of the food to get a dose of the chemical big enough to have any affect on a tumour.

      Scientists try to isolate the chemicals that attack cancer cells and then find ways to use them in a more effective way. Ultimately, we would hope to have a pill which contains a dose of the chemical high enough to kill the cancer cells.

Comments