Following a healthy diet has a major impact on cancer survivability. While proper nutrition is not intended as a replacement for traditional treatments, eating health-giving foods helps stimulate your immune system, deters cancer growth and lessens the negative side effects of traditional therapies. If cancer patients do not eat properly, they can become malnourished and pass away not from cancer, but from an infection or other illness in their weakened state. Some of the symptoms experienced by patients with mesothelioma and other forms of cancer occur as a result of radiation therapy, chemotherapy and other mesothelioma treatments.

Chemotherapy can cause anorexia {poor appetite}, constipation and diarrhea. Nausea and vomiting are two of the most common symptoms. Alimta and Cisplatin, two chemotherapy medications often prescribed to patients with malignant mesothelioma, can cause both nausea and vomiting. Although some patients are unable to eat without a feeding tube, others require no assistance.

Following advice offered by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for patients undergoing cancer treatment:

• Low saturated fats, moderate good fats, and a high fiber intake.
• Eat foods that are easy to digest
• Eat when you’re feeling best
• If chemotherapy does not make you nauseous, eat a few hours beforehand, as this may make you feel better following treatment (many people feel sick following chemotherapy sessions)
• Stay hydrated, but don’t drink so much that it fills you up and suppresses hunger
• Avoid eating when you feel nauseous, which may make you feel more sick and discourage you from eating at other times
• Eating modest quantities is fine, just make sure that they add up to a full day’s worth of meals

If you are unable to eat full meals, consider eating multiple nutritious snacks throughout the day, taking advantage of the times when you are most hungry. Focus on foods you like that are high in calories and proteins, and avoid snacks that might exacerbate your symptoms; shakes are a good way to accomplish both of these tasks.

Following are some general guidelines of what various nutrients provide in the diet.

• Protein:

Protein helps ensure growth, repairs body tissues damaged by surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation, and helps to maintain a healthy immune system. Most patients require additional protein during and after aggressive treatments to help heal tissues and lower the risk of infection.

• Fats and carbohydrates:

Fats and carbohydrates help supply the body with the majority of its daily caloric intake. Each patient’s age, frame size and level of physical activity will determine what is considered normal for them.

• Vitamins and minerals:

Vitamins and minerals help ensure growth and development, in addition to allowing the body to use the calories supplied by the foods eaten. While it is not always necessary to supplement vitamins and minerals during times when one is maintaining good eating habits, it may become more important when the challenges of being ill or undergoing treatment make eating difficult.

• Water:

Water is essential for life. Without enough water, the body becomes dehydrated. Discuss how much water you should be drinking each day with your doctor or nutritionist.

The ACS has a very useful chart showing good snacks for patients suffering from cancers such as mesothelioma. The chart below shows good sources of protein and calories.

Proteins are essential for patients suffering from mesothelioma treatment-related fatigue, as are fluids and vitamins. None of these, however, is a substitute for calories, a lack of which causes wasting syndrome (cachexia), or massive weight loss, in many mesothelioma patients.

Your dietician can also teach you how to pack more calories into small meals, and can help you overcome symptoms such as difficulty swallowing, fullness and taste changes.

If any person is suffering from mesothelioma, it is important to understand the unique nutritional needs of people, which differ significantly from those of a healthy person, nutritional needs also vary depending on the type and stage of mesothelioma treatment a patient is undergoing. Due to mesothelioma’s symptoms and the effects of treatments they are undergoing patients bodies need nutrients.

Nutritional requirements are of two types:

1. Before mesothelioma treatment
2. During mesothelioma treatment

1. Before mesothelioma treatment

At early stages of the disease if patients may feel well enough then they can build up their strength by eating normal meals/foods that are high in proteins, as well as fruits, vegetables and whole grains, while those suffering from moderate to advanced mesothelioma symptoms — and those undergoing treatment —are forced to alter their diets substantially.

You should consult with a doctor and/or registered dietician about creating a dietary strategy.

Some tips offered by American Cancer Society (ACS):

• Limit alcohol consumption
• Eat five “colorful servings” of fruits and vegetables per day. This includes dark green and deep yellow vegetables, which contain important nutritional substances called phytochemicals which strengthen and enhance the body’s immune system
• Limit foods that are pickled, smoked or salt-cured
• Cook large dishes and freeze them in meal-sized portions
• Be physically active and maintain proper weight
• Consume few sugars and refined carbohydrates (body uses like sugar) as possible.
• Try new foods, because tastes can change during cancer treatment
• Eat plant-based foods such as peas and dried beans
• Keep the freezer and pantry stocked so you don’t have to run to the store when you’re feeling ill