November 2010: Healthy Eating
This month we are joined by Alison Cowell. Alison is a holistic nutritionist with her own practice, Healthy Eating, in the Hawke’s Bay. Alison’s focus is food intolerance testing and devising personal healthy eating plans which include a table of foods chosen for the individual’s circumstances. Alison believes that everything about our heath hinges on how well the digestive system works and how well we feed our cells. Alison feels extremely privileged to be able to point people in the right direction and watch as they flourish.
Alison recently spoke at LBF’s Hawke’s Bay Haematology Patients’ Group. She regularly delivers awareness seminars on nutrition through cancer. She takes enormous pleasure in passing on her knowledge and we hope you will enjoy asking her any question you have on eating for health.
A printable version of this page is available here.
NB: These answers are based on the information provided. Everyone is different and needs will vary.
Q: I get cravings for certain foods, like salted mutton chops. But after cooking them up, they don’t taste of anything. Will my taste return and how long will it take?
I really struggle to eat in hospital, the food is so bland and is totally overcooked by the time it gets anywhere near the ward. I have been told I’m allowed food to be brought in from home, providing its ‘safe’ to eat, i.e. ‘piping hot’. But I’m not allowed to microwave it. Why would this be?
A: Cravings are not uncommon when undergoing treatment - it’s your body’s way of expressing its need for particular nutrients. I suspect your desire for salted mutton chops is simply a cry for iodine and protein! Everyone is different so it’s hard to say when your sense of taste will resume, but as the cells in your oral cavity recover from the effects of chemotherapy, so your taste will return. For some its days, for others its months, hopefully it won’t be too long for you.
Unless your friends or family live a minute from the hospital, it’s highly unlikely that they will be able to deliver ‘piping hot food’ to you! I would advise that you don’t have anything ‘cooked’ brought into you. Apart from the fact that heat destroys many nutrients, bacteria in re-heated food can cause further illnesses and this may be why your hospital discourage the use of microwaves. Another reason may be due to ongoing research that suggests the energy from microwaves is the same as radiation and that’s how the molecular structure of the food is altered.
If you find the hospital food bland, you could ask your relatives to bring in a yummy salad that you could eat with it, made with fresh produce including nuts and seeds and a tasty dressing.
Q: Help! I’m on steroids and am putting on weight like its going out of fashion. I’ve never had a weight problem before, but am really packing it on at the moment, especially round my middle. The nurses tell me that when I come off the steroids that I’ll go back to my previous weight/shape in time (but I notice they haven’t given me a timeframe on that). Do you have any suggestions to stop me putting on any more weight in the meantime, or even losing a bit?
A: Panic not! Steroids unfortunately do cause weight gain for most people. But, as tempting as it may be, this is NOT the time to deprive yourself of nutrients by going on a radical diet! A great way to intake nutrients and manage weight is to have juices and smoothies – preferably homemade – for snacks and lunch. Breakfast and evening meals should consist of quality proteins, e.g.:
Breakfast: 2 poached eggs on a bed of spinach / 2 egg omelette with diced vegetables
Evening meal: chicken with steamed vegetables and a little brown rice
You mention that you are ‘packing it on round the middle’. If you are female and aged 40+ then your hormones will be changing, leading to weight gain in this area. Eating phyto-oestrogen foods such as soy, flaxseeds, spinach etc will help balance your hormones and prevent weight gain as you progress through menopause.
Q: My acute leukaemia and the chemotherapy for this have really affected my appetite and my taste. I don’t feel like eating even though I know I should. I have now lost quite a bit of weight. Do you have any suggestions to help me eat more?
A: Loss of appetite, and resulting weight loss, is a common side effect of chemotherapy. It’s important to feed nutrients to your cells at this crucial time and an easy way to do this if you simply can’t face food is to sip (preferably home-made) vegetable juice. Vegetable juice has vital, easily digested minerals that will keep your strength and energy up. Also, soft fruits that are high in calories such as avocados and persimmons are good to snack on if you can’t face a huge meal, as are antioxidant-rich berries. Cashew nuts are also a great choice at this time, they are high in protein, iron, essential fatty acids and also calories!
Q: I am finding it difficult to cook for my husband since he started chemotherapy. He often tells me he feels like one thing but when I cook it he only eats a few mouthfuls or doesn’t want it at all.
A: Taste buds, appetite and sense of smell are all affected by chemotherapy. Small portions, regularly eaten through the day are better than two or three big main meals. Plus it would help if he had 4 mouthfuls of raw food before anything cooked. There is a condition known as ‘digestive leukocytisis’ where white blood cells stop their important job of boosting the immune system to aid the digestion of cooked food. Eating raw food (such as fruit, carrot sticks, salad etc) just beforehand, will not only keep the white blood cells where they should be, but also stimulate the production of digestive juices.
Q: I drink many cups of coffee a day, a big bowl of porridge (oat) every day, almonds, kiwifruit, bananas, green tea with lemon, broccoli and cauliflower.
Any suggestions to help me keep good health as I have Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia?
A: Your many cups of coffee are not doing you any favours at all. The caffeine element will be robbing your system of crucial nutrients, particularly calcium, iron and zinc. Stick to your green tea with lemon until your system is more balanced or try dandelion coffee which will be healthier for you. On a positive note, you’re on the right track with the food choices you are currently making (intolerances excepted!).I suggest you add specific foods that have been scientifically proven to help support the spleen and lymphatic system, including beetroot, parsnips, dark green vegetables, any ‘plant’ from the sea (seaweed, dulse, kelp, spirulina etc) ginger and garlic. Some of these have strong flavours so you may prefer to make a potent little juice out of them if your appetite or taste buds have been affected by treatments.
Q: Before cancer I suffered from chronic diarrhoea, asthma, fibromyalgia, and was glucose intolerant. Now I have Type II diabetes controlled by medication and have discovered lots of foods that upset my digestive system. The main things I have to avoid - anything with sugar or flour so pretty much most breads and pastas, dairy products, lettuce and apples, and minimise things like white rice, citrus, bananas, pumpkin, potato, tomatoes, capsicum and cereals. I have difficulty drinking water as I get indigestion – I have tried sipper bottles, ordinary bottles, glasses, warm, cold & room temperature water but nothing makes any difference. I am finding my food options very limited and limiting as when I go anywhere it becomes a real challenge. I tend to go with whatever is going to cause me the least problems and just know that I will have consequences the next day. Does Alison have any suggestions – would it be useful for me to have a consult with her and what is involved?
A: This is a clear example of how unique we all are! Before diagnosis of leukaemia everyone comes from a different starting point- and there were host of imbalances already in your system. Whilst it may feel that these are all separate illnesses and conditions that you have to face, it’s all cause and effect and likely stems from a weak digestive system in the first place. I suspect you have issues with malabsorption, likely cause by an unidentified food intolerance and your cells simply haven’t received the nutrients they require to keep you healthy.
I therefore strongly recommend that you get tested for food intolerance in the first instance. If you are in Hawke’s Bay, I would be delighted to do this for you- results are instant and accurate (see www.healthyeating.net.nz for more information). If you decide to have a blood tests be aware that the culprit (which could be ANYTHING!) needs to be in your system when the blood is drawn.
In the meantime, taking care of your digestive health is paramount. Have a look at your tongue! If you have a heavy thick coating then it’s likely you do not have sufficient healthy bacteria in your intestines. A probiotic supplement will help restore this (I suggest you buy a dairy free product such as Ethical Nutrients Dairy Free Inner Health Plus in case you have issues with dairy).
A personal consultation is certainly advisable and would involve a thorough health and nutrition assessment (full details on the website). Good luck!
Q: What would be the best vitamins and supplements to take after being on chemotherapy to help strengthen my immune system?
A: Your own individual needs would have to be assessed and taken into account, of course. For instance, you may have been/still be deficient in specific nutrients even before you started chemotherapy. That said, spirulina or kelp would have been top of your list. The properties of these sea-plants contain unique compounds that work beautifully with both the lymphatic and immune systems. Investment in a good quality probiotic (healthy bacteria) supplement is also advisable to help absorption of the nutrients from the foods you eat and to strengthen your digestive system. Other beneficial supplements at this stage for you would be selenium, quercetin and zinc.
Q: I have a friend who also has myeloma, he eats really well and I have heard that having an alkaline body is better for health than an acid one, can you please explain a bit more about this?
A: Inflammation, tumours and diseases thrive in an acidic environment but do not survive in alkalinity. An easy way to ensure an alkaline-based intake is to fill your plate70% full with vegetables, 20% full with protein (meat or fish), and 10% full with carbohydrates (potatoes/rice/pasta etc).
Acid foods include: red meat, caffeine, cheese, tomatoes, pickled food, processed food, alcohol. Alkaline foods include: nuts, seeds, most herbs, green tea, apple cider vinegar
Q: I was told I may have a dairy intolerance, I avoided it for about a month then had some and nothing happened. Does this mean its ok to eat now? I’m confused....
A: Sometimes intolerances develop when too much of the same food is ingested and the body simply needs a break! An intolerance is not the same as an allergy so you don’t notice anything immediately when you eat it -symptoms manifest later and could include tiredness, hunger, headache, skin issues etc. Once an intolerance has been identified, there follows a period of elimination to ensure the system is totally clear and to give the body a break. The length of elimination will be dependent on the severity of your intolerance. If you were absolutely strict about keeping dairy out of your system for the elimination period (dairy/milk solids/additives appear more frequently then we think!) the body will have been through a recovery phase. Re-introduction is a way to test if you are truly intolerant or if you were just eating too much of it. If you re-introduced and didn’t notice anything specific within a few hours (like hunger, tiredness etc) then it means you are only ‘sensitive’ to that food rather than intolerant and will be able to eat it in moderation. (If you are sensitive to other foods then avoid dairy when eating/drinking those).
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