- Allow 4-5 hours between meals to allow for proper digestion. This equates to eating no more than three meals a day (so don't snack and only drink water or a cup of tea on occasion in between these three (substantial) meals)
- Avoid overeating with any meal
- Do not drink fluids with your meal (exception is where half a glass of water is needed to swallow supplements). Generally it is best to wait about 2 hours after meals before consuming water
- Thoroughly chew your food into paste before swallowing. This is because your digestive system is only effective at breaking down food chemically not mechanically.
- Limit eating cold or raw foods (e.g. fruit, salad, raw veggies). It is preferable to eat cooked meals although one raw meal a day such as salad is fine (but always have protein with it).
- Manage your stress levels as stress will tend to decrease your digestive function by influencing your nervous system.
So I am going to try this out for a few weeks (actually when I looked at my eating habits, I have been doing completely the opposite to these e.g. not eating meals but snacking on fruit and raw food until dinner all day which I thought was healthy!!!) and see how I feel so watch this space.......
I am now going to have a cooked breakfast of eggs with veges, a lunch of protein and salad (or left over dinner from the night before) and our usual dinner.......less the glass of vino! And no more snacking for me!
I hope this is useful to everyone however, I have read that the digestive system changes after chemo so I think this is really helpful and relevant to chemo patients.
Here's to healthy digestive functions and great health and wellbeing!
xx
I've learned so much about nutrition from you, Susie. Way way way back in your blogs you talked about soy and how it's in absolutely everything. AND it is! My cancer is estrogen receptive, and your blog made me realize how soy converts to estrogen. My husband and I have become label readers supreme, often making our own meals at home because, like you said, soy is in every processed food. Now I've learned about digestion. I appreciate how you share your knowledge.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing all of this. I, like Megan, have the estrogen receptive breast cancer, and I've become an avid label reader. It's even in the vitamin pills, etc.! I've changed a lot of my habits, but need to do more. Thanks for this extra push!!!! Hope you are feeling better as each day goes by!
ReplyDeleteThose dietary tips sound really interesting. If I can cut out the snacking and trim the alcohol back I think that'll be a leap forward for me. I might pass this onto my sister too. She's just started her chemo for breast cancer and is a bit daunted by the number of steps ahead for her, but I think by reading your story it should help her to see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
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