How to Eat Properly During Prostate Cancer Treatments

If your doctor finds that a malignant growth has attacked your prostate gland, a prostate cancer diagnosis is most likely imminent. Eating properly is always a pillar of a healthy lifestyle, but it's even more important if you're receiving treatments for prostate cancer. Making an conscientious effort to eat properly can help your body fight your condition and make it easier to adjust to a healthier lifestyle after your treatments have been completed.

Things You'll Need

• Computer with Internet access
• Oncologist
• Dietitian (recommended)

Show More

Instructions

• 1

  Limit your calorie intake as much as possible if you have received a positive prostate cancer diagnosis. Excess calories facilitate the growth and spread of cancerous tissues.

• 2

  Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. Make sure you're getting a minimum of 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. They provide your body with the nutrients you need to keep your energy up as you undergo treatments.

• 3

  Diversify your diet. The best way to ensure you're receiving all the necessary nutrients is to follow a government-endorsed guide to healthy eating. Men who suffer from vitamin deficiencies should take a multivitamin as well.

• 4

  Cut back on fatty and processed foods, and keep your red meat consumption to a minimum. Get your protein from healthier choices such as chicken, turkey or fish. If your diet contained a lot of these types of foods before you had prostate cancer, they may have contributed to the onset of the condition to begin with.

• 5

  Moderate your alcohol intake during your treatment regimen. Try not to drink more than 1 or 2 drinks in any given day, if you drink alcohol at all.

• 6

  Eat small portions, and eat more frequently throughout the day. This can help you control the nausea that is a common side effect of radiation-based cancer therapies by putting less in your stomach at any given time.

• 7

  Know that any changes in your palette or taste buds are probably temporary and likely to subside when treatment ceases. This is also true of any stomach upset radiation or chemotherapy treatments may be causing.

• 8

  Talk to a nutritionist, especially one with experience helping cancer patients eat properly as they undergo treatment. He or she will be able to offer specific food intake guidelines for you to follow.