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Diet After Bowel Cancer

It is very crucial for bowel cancer patients to maintain a healthy diet prior to and after bowel cancer treatment. Cancer Help advises patients to keep a food diary in order to keep a record of what they eat, when they eat, and the effect of such food items on their bowels. For diets after bowel cancer, it’s not all about eating what is nutritious, but more importantly, it is being able to identify and remove foods that are causing digestion problems.

  1. Diet After Cancer

    • After bowel cancer treatment, it will take some time before digestion goes back to its normal state. After cancer treatment, foods that are high in fiber like vegetables and fruits may give patients loose bowels or diarrhea. For those who have undergone colostomies, it will take several months before bowel movements normalize.

      Foods that are more likely to upset digestion and bowel movement include high-fiber fruits and vegetables, carbonated beverages, oily, rich and fatty foods, cabbages, and onions.

    Diet After Surgery

    • After surgery for bowel cancer, patients cannot eat anything. When they get home to recover, they should return to normal eating patterns. For those who have had parts of their colon surgically removed, stools will likely be more loose since the colon absorbs water. Some may even experience diarrhea. It is therefore important to consume lots of fluid to avoid dehydration.

      Your bowels will return to normal after several weeks. This is the time to keep a food diary in order to identify which foods upset your bowels. Food diaries will help dietitians identify which foods to eliminate from the diet.

    Diet after Radiation and Chemotherapy

    • Radiotherapy often causes patients to experience diarrhea. It will usually take a few weeks after treatment before bowels settle down. Patients may be given medication to treat the diarrhea.

      While undergoing radiotherapy, patients must be religious in taking their medications for diarrhea. Patients will be advised by doctors when to reduce the amount of the medications they are taking.

      Similarly with chemotherapy, diarrhea is still a common condition for patients. These side effects, however, are just temporary and may disappear after treatment.

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