Diet to Help Fight Lung & Liver Cancer

According to the American Cancer Society, while there are no specific diets tailored to battle cancer, a cancer patient can nevertheless benefit from a balanced nutritional approach, providing his or her body with sufficient nutrients to stave off the development of cancer for as long as possible. This advice is parroted by Cancer Treatment Centers of America, which stresses the value of a complete diet when looking to fight either liver or lung cancer.

Lung and Liver Cancer Basics

• Understand that fighting lung and liver cancer involves presenting your body with ample vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, so that it is operating at peak capacity, fully able to cope with the rigors of more conventional cancer treatment methods like radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and surgery. According to the ACS, your diet should consist largely of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, while minimizing your intake of saturated fats, alcohol, trans fats, fried foods, sugars, processed foods, and white (refined) flour items. Many fruits and vegetables such as broccoli, berries, and the like have been shown to have powerful cancer fighting properties, so strive to consume at least one serving of fruits and one serving of vegetables with every meal while battling lung and liver cancer. Beyond that, ensure that your diet contains plenty of lean protein, as protein is the building block that your body uses to construct and repair tissue. Aim to consume anywhere from 0.5 g to 0.8 g of protein per pound of bodyweight to provide your body with enough raw material to heal the damage caused by treatment for lung and liver cancer. Good protein sources include chicken, beef, eggs, seafood, and turkey. Finally, provide your body with sufficient amounts of healthy fats -- around 25 to 30 percent of your diet should consist of calories from fat. Healthy fat sources consist of nuts, oils, and seeds, along with those fruits that naturally contain fat like avocados.

Dietary Tips

• Use dietary tips to help keep body weight high where lung and liver cancer have reached advanced stages. Here, the focus shifts slightly. Aim to increase caloric intake to maintain body weight even if some of those calories are from less-than-nutritious sources. Employ protein shakes made with ice cream, copious scoops of high-calorie foods like condensed milk and natural peanut butter, or any other foods that the patient finds appetizing to help the body stay strong in the face of its struggle with cancer.