KOCHI: Sleep, emotional health, diet and exercise are the pillars that help in giving a healing touch to cancer patients, nutritionist Luke Coutinho said here on Sunday. He was speaking at the International Conference on Integrated Oncology 2020 (ICIO 2020).
“Good nutrition is about how your body absorbs the food rather than taking nutritious food. Each person is different. We are keeping the cancer patient chronically ill if we focus on only one system of treatment. The concept of integrated medicine should be adopted for patients’ benefit,” he said.
He said we lacked focus on the lifestyle of cancer patients and when it came to food and nutrition, it was replete with mixed responses from people.
“When cancer patients eat wrong, their energy levels deplete. Those feeling weak, tend to eat more food. However, it’s about right food, not more food. Today, people are confused about their diet, eating more raw fruits, going vegan and drinking green juices throughout the day. Everyone is different. If you overdo drinking raw juice, the excess fiber will irritate your gut due to which you won’t be able to absorb the nutrients from the food you eat. Gut health is very important for a person undergoing chemotherapy,” said Coutinho.
He said gaps between meals was very important for the body. “The major problem we have here is late night dinners. A 12-hour gap after dinner is essential. Else, it increases acidity in the body leading to constipation and other issues,” he said, adding that by compromising on sleep one was compromising with healing.
“Movement is important for patients who have undergone chemotherapy as blood circulation is required for nutrients to reach the body. Therefore, exercise cannot be avoided,” Coutinho said.