Cancer is a big term and people suffering from this disease can feel the pain of undergoing conventional treatment. Many people go through the disease and treatment without even knowing about the possible side effects of these treatments which further deteriorates their health. Digestion issues, mouth ulcers, dry mouth, secondary infections, low blood count, weight loss, hair loss, etc., all of these are very common side effects of treatments like chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and hormonal therapy. Let us understand these side effects in a better way.
Firstly, when one has cancer, the body starts producing cytokines—these are small protein substances that are very crucial in controlling the growth and activity of our body’s immune system and blood cells. They also send a signal to the body to destroy abnormal cells. During this process, cytokines can cause appetite suppression, weight loss, or tissue breakdown.
Secondly, when any individual is undergoing chemo treatment; it causes oxidative stress in the body to kill cancer cells. But in this genuine attempt of killing cancer cells, it also kills healthy body cells as the drug cannot differentiate between the two. Hence we have observed that many people undergoing chemotherapy face loss of hair, digestion issues, and more.
As a consequence of our healthy cells being killed, one starts losing weight and in some cases muscle mass as well. Plus when digestion is affected, a person isn’t eating well—if our appetite goes down we are not able to add in the required nutrition. For that very reason, your healthcare professional may suggest a high protein meal to build muscle mass and more tissues in the body. They are right in their perspective but we also need to look into the internal system which has been affected due to conventional treatment. In such scenarios, adding too much milk, milk products, sugar, and non-veg foods will make the body acidic and will also be very heavy on digestion.
● Coming to milk or milk products, nowadays we do not get organic milk easily and cows are injected with oxytocin hormone to produce more milk. In cancer patients where the immunity is already compromised, this can cause a hormonal imbalance, bloating, belching, and many more problems. Also, milk produces mucus, and cancer cells thrive on mucus.
● Processed white sugar (not natural options like jaggery and fruit sugar) is bleached to get the white colour, and we would certainly not want to use bleach to clean our system. One must avoid it. Sugar, too, creates an acidic environment in the body. On the other hand, the composition of natural sugars is different from this harmful white sugar; hence we can use natural sugars.
● Non-veg food is high in protein. However, when the appetite is low, eating too much of protein will lead to a further loss of appetite as these are heavy to digest.
Let us be aware about your own body in case you are going through any conventional treatment. Stick to homemade well-balanced meals and feel better gradually.
Deepika Rathod
Chief Nutrition Officer, Luke Coutinho Holistic
Healing Systems. The writer is a clinical nutritionist with a focus on healthy lifestyle choices.