Eat your way back to wellness

IF YOU find yourself battling to eat less, then count yourself lucky. The 35,000 Irish people who are diagnosed with cancer each year often struggle to eat at all.

Up to 80% of cancer patients lose weight involuntarily, a distressing symptom that makes it harder for them to tolerate life-saving treatment.

“If you’ve ever watched someone you love suffer from cancer, then you know that one of the side effects is weight loss,” says Dr Aoife Ryan, dietician and nutrition lecturer at UCC.

It can be a devastating condition for patients, says Dr Derek Power, consultant oncologist.

“Every working day as a cancer specialist, I am asked the question: ‘The weight is falling off me, doctor. Are there any special foods I can eat to gain weight?’”

The short answer is no, as gaining weight when you have cancer is not a simple matter of eating more.

Dr Ryan explains: “Patients try to eat as much as they can, but they are dealing with complex changes in their metabolism.

“The cancer itself produces many hormones and chemical messengers that break down muscle and fat stores, cause inflammation and reduce appetite. The net result can be rapid weight loss over a short period of time.”

Unfortunately, there are still no safe drugs to improve metabolism or safely stimulate appetite, though trials are taking place.

The irony in all this is that obesity is still one of the biggest risk factors for cancer. Indeed some cancer patients may still be overweight, but they have lost a lot of muscle in a short time, which has serious implications for treatment.

Studies show that cancer sufferers who lose more than 10% of their pre-illness weight have more side effects from chemotherapy and a poorer chance of survival.

Those most prone to weight loss are people with cancers of the gut and lung.

“Getting patients to stop losing weight is a huge challenge and eating nourishing meals — and eating often — is important no matter what weight they are.”

To help them do just that, Dr Ryan joined forces with a team of specialists to produce a guide to good nutrition.

Recipes for the book were collected from dieticians, nurses, doctors, celebrity chefs and, most importantly, cancer patients who were able to say what most appealed to them.

Many are family favourites — cream of chicken soup, Irish stew, bread and butter pudding — but the ingredients have been enhanced to push up the calorie count. Many have been adjusted to make them easier to chew, too.

Research dietician and co-author of the book Eadaoin Ní Bhuachalla said the team tried to translate nutritional advice for people losing weight into simple, nourishing and enjoyable meal ideas.

“We hope this will help patients meet their nutritional requirements, but also help to bring enjoyment back to mealtime,” she said.

It is also designed to reach out to as many people as possible.

Dr Derek Power said: “With cutbacks in the health service over the past few years, it is not possible for most cancer patients to access a dietician for one-to-one advice. This is why this book will be an invaluable tool for all patients with eating difficulties during their difficult journey with cancer.”

* Thanks to funding from the Health Research Board, 19,000 copies of the cookbook are available free to cancer patients.

Good Nutrition for Cancer Recovery is available from oncology centres and online at www.breakthroughcancerresearch.ie  or www.cancercookbook.ie

If you want to donate to cancer research, text BCR to 50300 to donate €4.