Battling Cancer

The July 10th issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology reported that survival rates for breast cancer decreased with increased BMI or body mass index. Women with higher BMI showed a 52 percent increase in mortality rates compared to women with the lowest BMI.

Source: Reuters

Read the full article here.

What exactly is BMI?

Per the Centers for Disease Control:

“Body Mass Index (BMI) is a number calculated from a person’s weight and height. BMI is a reliable indicator of body fatness for people. Additionally, BMI is an inexpensive and easy-to-perform method of screening for weight categories that may lead to health problems.

BMI is used as a screening tool to identify possible weight problems for adults. However, BMI is not a diagnostic tool. For example, a person may have a high BMI. However, to determine if excess weight is a health risk, a healthcare provider would need to perform further assessments. These assessments might include skinfold thickness measurements, evaluations of diet, physical activity, family history,”

Use the CDC easy Adult BMI Calculator

or the Mayo Clinic BMI Calculator

What’s Next?

Talk to your health care provider about a lifestyle plan which includes healthy eating and exercise.

Check out the CDC’s Healthy Weight Plan site.

Get active, get healthy, your life depends on it.

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Anorexia is a loss of appetite, not to be confused with anorexia nervosa, a psychiatric condition.

Cachexia is the loss of weight and muscle mass that leads to wasting away.

While these conditions are often grouped together as Anorexia Cachexia Syndrome or Cancer Cachexia, they may also present independently.

Cachexia can be diagnosed without anorexia, as an involuntary failure of the body to absorb nutrients due to a cancer tumor or complications of the disease process or therapies. It is a life threatening syndrome, and per Nutrition in Clinical Practice, it is “estimated that one third of all cancer patients die from cachexia rather than the tumor burden itself.”

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Spring has arrived and summer approaches here in the U.S. and Canada. That means an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables. It’s a great time to try a healthier living lifestyle.

Raw Food

The My Crazy Sexy Cancer Community has a great raw foods group that generously shares recipes and thoughts on the raw foods lifestyle.

And if you’re feeling lucky, My Wooden Spoon is running a contest this week giving away a Cuisinart Food Prep. The last day to enter is May 7, 10 PM CST.

Antioxidants

A few great recipes that incorporate antioxidant rich foods are available at Eating Well. Everything from strawberry bruschetta to blueberry ketchup!

The Super Food Connection

Super Foods are foods that are rated high in oxygen radical absorbency. They include:

• Beans
• Blueberries
• Broccoli
• Oats
• Oranges
• Pumpkin
• Salmon
• Soy
• Spinach
• Tea (green or black)
• Tomatoes
• Turkey
• Walnuts
• Yogurt

Check out Sunfood Nutrition for great articles and sources of information and ordering super foods and raw foods.

Eating Green

The Food Network offers great ideas on eating green; meals and shopping that are good for you, including an eating green guide.

GoVeg.com offers a free vegetarian starter kit. You can also get a free Johnny Rockets Streamliner, veggie burger, “During the entire month of May PETA has teamed up with Johnny Rockets to celebrate World Vegetarian Week (May 19 to 25).”

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Nutrition therapy for cancer patients runs a spectrum of definitions which include:

• maintaining the body’s immune system to keep a cancer patient in optimal condition, which will prevent an increase in hospital time while implementing traditional therapies

• a nutritional cancer prevention plan and post cancer nutrition plan

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Welcome to the weekend!  Grab a hot cup of coffee, and read the newest research developments in cancer this month in your pajamas:

Actually, make that a steaming mug of the herbal stuff:  Gloria over at Cancer Commentary (and of course, Battling Arthritis)  has more information on how to enroll in a green tea prostate cancer prevention study going on right now at Moffit Cancer Center.

Check out her post at “Moffit is Looking for Green Tea Study Participants.”

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No area of oncology is more complex and controversial than the relationship of cancer and diet. Everyone would like to believe that there is some diet which can substantially affect the likelihood of cancer, or better still to cure it once contracted. But to date, the evidence of the effect of diet is unclear and often inconsistent.

All reputable sources agree that no diet outright cures cancer. Nor is there strong evidence to support the view that any particular diet prevents contracting it. But there are many studies that suggest that occurrence, recurrence and survivability may be affected by the foods we choose.

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By J.J. Yong

Feeling frustrated about your daily diet after you’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer?

Do you need to change your daily diet?

These are the common questions whether you want to stay healthy as breast cancer patients need more time and effort to be curbed. We still need food to survive but once we’re eating the ‘wrong’ food in daily basis - it could worsen your body condition. It’s important to educate yourself with the right information about proper food consumption to comfort our body well-beingness. It’s a step closer to increase the probablilty of health-recovering - all this matters as long you’re willing to make a change!

Basically, vegetables like garlic, broccoli and crucifiers are the main diets for cancer patients.

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