Better Health Centre |+| Lung Cancer Nutrition

Lung cancer – find out why good nutrition is so important.

For the past few years now, many medical researchers have begun to take a closer look at complementary and alternative medicine. Good nutrition and nutritional therapies are being studied in the hopes of uncovering close links between diet and medical conditions like lung cancer. 

While most doctors or specialists are not currently suggesting giving up all the traditional treatments for lung cancer, and treating the cancer by diet alone, they are saying good nutrition can aid in helping traditional treatments succeed to their fullest capabilities. 

A healthy diet can not only improve your quality of living during lung cancer treatments, but it can also improve the outcome of your traditional treatments. That being said, the following paragraphs will briefly discuss some diet changes nutrition specialists are now recommending for lung cancer patients.

In addition to eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, as the American Cancer Association suggests, many nutrition experts recommend adding cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, kale, turnips, and broccoli to your diet. According to one research study, eating these vegetables regularly can have a preventive effect on lung cancer because of a phytochemical they contain. 

Other studies have shown that this phytochemical in cruciferous vegetables can not only act as a preventive measure, but that it can also aid in inducing death in certain strains of lung cancer.

Since the main difference between regular cells and cancer cells is the cancer cells' ability to reproduce and spread, this could be a major breakthrough for lung cancer patients and researchers. Until these findings are confirmed or denied, many nutrition specialists are recommending adding cruciferous vegetables regularly to the diets of lung cancer patients.

Dark berries, such as blueberries and blackberries, have also been show to contain the same phytochemicals as in cruciferous vegetables. In addition, dark berries also contain a large amount of antioxidants that can often help prevent further damage to lung cells. 

Many nutrition specialists recommend to lung cancer patients to increase their intake of dark berries to aid in their traditional lung cancer treatments. A number of nutrition specialists also recommend eliminating some of the processed foods in the diets of lung cancer patients and replacing them with whole grain foods, as well.

In addition to eating a healthier diet, lung cancer patients need to try to get enough rest, as well as enough physical activity during traditional cancer treatments. Patients who maintain their physical activity, as well as eat a healthy diet, have a much higher chance of a successful treatment for their lung cancer.