Presented by: Lori Bumbaco, MS, RDN, CSO, LDN, Oncology Dietitian
good afternoon everyone and welcome this
is Lori bombak I’m an oncology dietitian
and I work at Cancer Wellness Center and
I’m really excited to be a part of a
program that we call ask The dietitian
that’s me um my thought is that I am
here to give you some general answers to
the great questions that you have and
every month we’ve been doing it now for
like a couple years but every month um
it it never fails we have participants
who ask questions that are not related
to our topic that we choose so we
thought what a great solution to offer
this program that tries to answer all of
those other questions that people ask as
well as some of the most commonly asked
questions and we wanted to kind of
summarize it in one a great program for
you today so what I’m going to do is
share my screen I have a PowerPoint
presentation this is typically how I use
uh as The dietitian and everyone who
registered you will get a copy of the
slides as as well as some additional uh
resources that I have for you so thank
you all so much uh for attending today
and if you’re watching this recording on
face on sorry not on Facebook but on our
YouTube channel thank you for watching
all of the other ACD dietician uh
programs are on our YouTube channel so
if you feel like you’ve missed any and
you want to go back it has everything
it’s a great collection um I often go
back to see some other programs from our
Center because there’s just so much
information and you can view it at your
own kind of time and schedule
all right so thanks so much I’m going to
share my
screen and present to
you the top 10 in my opinion the top 10
Nutrition and cancer questions that I
get asked as an oncology
dietitian
so what I want to do uh today is just
take one slide just a moment to talk a
little bit more about the the reason why
nutrition counseling is so important in
Cancer Care review the top 10 most
commonly asked questions provide my best
answers to each of those questions with
some advice or maybe some tips or
Solutions along the way and then review
some of my favorite resources that might
just enhance um your understanding and
if you’re looking after today to like
kind of learn more I want to point you
in the right direction of some
trustworthy resources and then hopefully
if time allows we’ll have a little open
Q&A at the
end okay so nutrition and cancer
good nutrition is important for people
with cancer hopefully you agree and
that’s why you’re here with me today
Cancer and Cancer Treatments can cause
significant weight changes and
significant changes to what you might
normally eat so some people might gain
some people might even lose weight and
so the role of
nutrition is is important to help
minimize that risk right and a
registered dietician maybe even one
who’s board certified as a specialist in
oncology like nutrition like myself I
would AR AR that they are vital
component to your care team only a
dietitian can provide you with specific
recommendations that are unique to your
situation right so anytime I’m meeting
with someone I I’m almost never
repeating what I might share with
someone else you are unique and you
deserve a unique nutrition care
plan now I will point out that experts
report no single food or ingredient
causes cancer so we might come back to
to this um during the presentation today
but even in the future I would want you
to understand this what we’re learning
in fact is that it’s an overall healthy
diet pattern that seems to be what
matters that can improve quality of life
and that can optimize our overall
Wellness okay so let’s get to those top
10 questions that’s why we’re here right
this one may not come as a surprise to
you is it safe to eat sugar probably the
most common question question I get
asked I talk about it every day with
individuals that I work with so
hopefully I can give you some really
definitive guid guidance on this uh
question which dietary supplements
should I take does a plant-based diet
help fight
cancer what should I eat if I have
anemia or low blood
counts how can I eat and improve my
energy
levels are organic foods
better how can I manage my weight if
I’ve been gaining
weight what should I stock in my pantry
how can I meal plan how can I support my
gut health with diet and lastly do you
have any simple but tasty smoothie
recipes I am ambitious today I’m going
to try to answer all of these great
questions in the time that I have
allowed so let’s get right to it is it
safe to eat sugar great question this is
an involved answer so I want you to stay
with me on this one okay it’s going to
be the most involved answer out of all
of the questions I’ve listed so is it
safe to eat sugar what a great question
what I want to point out is that every
single carbohydrate that we eat whether
it be carbohydrates that come from fruit
or some of our carbohydrates that come
from really great whole grains or the
carbohydrates that are more simple and
come from things like cookies or candy
or other treats all of those Foods no
matter what where they started when we
eat and digest and metabolize them they
get converted into sugar or glucose and
that’s the simplest form of a
carbohydrate and our bodies just love
glucose they it’s a very efficient Fuel
and so it’s very happy when it receives
these carbohydrates all of
them all of the carbohydrates um in our
in that we eat from
carbs um offer our body fuel however
there’s a distinction we know that
quality carbohydrates benefit our health
while added sugars do not
so which ones are quality carbohydrates
I think you might know the answer to
this one so the ones that offer
nutrients as well as carbohydrates right
so whole grains fruit starchy vegetables
milk and yogurt I also see on that list
a good source of fiber for the majority
of those choices and that sometimes is
the distinguishing characteristic of a
quality carbohydrate now which ones are
the carbs from added
sugars sugars that are added to foods
such as sugary beverages granola bars
candies even protein bars but baked
goods sweet yogurt frozen dairy desserts
etc etc the list goes on and on there’s
a lot of foods that have sugars that are
added to
them so I want to show you a label to
compare the two as well and these are
similar Foods however what you’ll notice
on the nutrition facts panel is that the
one on the left has zero grams of added
sugar whereas the one on the right has
10 grams so a little bit of a
distinction here right this choice on
the right for similar serving size has
over over two teaspoons of added sugar
whereas the one on the left has none so
maybe we want to take the one on the
left and add maybe a teaspoon of added
sugar we’re going to automatically be
adding less and that’s going to improve
the overall quality of the choice okay
now if you’re concerned about numbers
and you don’t like looking at this
confusing label I don’t blame you but
there’s a really simple tool you can
look at as well look at the ingredients
so forget all this other stuff on the
package and if you notice on this
particular product cane sugar is listed
as the second ingredient and then
there’s sugar and some of the other
ingredients as well but we can guarantee
that this particular product for the
label on the right has some added sugars
the label on the left would not indicate
any ingredients that have sugar in it so
that’s how we can learn which choices
have our added sugar
so is it safe let’s get back to this
question so what what we know about
cancer cells is that they like to use
carbohydrates for energy and they’re
very active metabolically so they use a
lot of them they use they like a lot of
carbohydrates our non-cancerous cells
also rely on carbohydrates as our number
one top source of energy and it allows
us to function at our best both mind and
body but if we stop eating all forms of
carbohydrates our healthy cells then
lose their preferred healthy source of
fuel and consequently the body reacts
and the body will make sugar that it
needs from other sources such as protein
and fat whether it be from the foods
that we eat or where we store them in
our body such as muscle that’s where we
get we would get protein from we don’t
want to lose muscle right so our healthy
cells and tissue they would lose out on
all these high quality cancer protective
choices that also have just happen to
have carbohy hydrates in them so we
don’t want to stop eating those right if
we’re looking to help ourselves and if
you ask me I’ve witnessed it firsthand
we might feel emotionally distressed if
we’re on a restriced diet especially if
we stop eating
carbohydrates research has found that
there is no evidence that a low carb or
no sugar diet has either prevented
cancer or helps us to cure it if we had
any evidence that suggested that you
would hear differently from myself or
from your care
team cancer cells have what we call a
metabolic flexibility because they do
everything they can in order to survive
and they’re going to prevent us from
trying to starve it right so cancer
cells have shown with their metabolic
flexibility to use things other than
carbohydrates they will pivot and they
will adapt and they will use protein and
also fat as a source for their energy
removing carbs from our diet would
result in cancer cells using protein and
fat from our food and from our body
Instead This can lead to compromise from
our healthy cells and tissue right
because if we’re losing muscle we may
become malnourished as well but it’s
sort of backfire because the cancer
cells are still metabolically active and
metabolically finding a different fuel
in order to
survive so what do the experts recommend
they recommend that individuals who are
diagnosed with a cancer consume
plant-based diets have you heard about
that that’s another question I’m going
to answer today and plant-based diets
are actually characterized by food
containing quality carbohydrates and
still eating although in smaller amounts
those added
sugars so what’s the bottom line on this
question is it safe to eat sugar I’m
here to share uh today but also in my
work I do individually with clients we
can pursue a cancer protective Lifestyle
by doing so much more than just not
eating sugars and being afraid to eat
sugar there’s so much more we can do to
enhance a cancer protective diet we do
know that a diet that’s high in added
sugars could mean that that diet is also
higher in calories and also lower in
overall diet quality and eating a poor
quality diet high in extra calories over
a long period of time we’re talking
years this can lead to us gaining excess
body fat especially in areas that um
alter the body’s um metabolic
environment and hormonal environment
this is what we’re looking to sort of
avoid so over time that change and that
gain of weight that changes the body’s
environment can lead to higher levels of
some hormones higher levels of
inflammation and also higher levels of
insulin and those are really the
culprits for cancer cancer cells
typically and it depends on the cancer
type but they typically love
inflammation they like insulin and they
also some of them like hormones right so
we want to try to change that
environment en with our lifestyle and
the good news is we can do it it’s not
just Sugar’s fault for that for that
environment right our lifestyle
behaviors and total diet have a much
bigger influence on all of those things
and lifestyle behaviors have been shown
and the evidence is building that we can
create a body that’s uninhabitable for
Cancer and a dietitian like myself can
help you achieve progress towards new
habits and new behaviors that are cancer
protective oof that was a heavy one
right all right we’re moving on to the
next one which which dietary supplements
should I take another great question
dietary supplements are defined as
products that are ingested and are
intended to add to or supplement the
diet that’s the operative word there
right they’re never going to replace the
nutrition that we get from Whole Foods
but they might supplement what we’re
eating they can come in a variety of
forms whether it be tablets capsules
soft gels gel caps liquids gummies
powders and bars I mean this the the
options on the shelves are like endless
right thousands and thousands of
products to choose from what are the
benefits of dietary supplements we have
shown that in in some cases they can
help improve or maintain our overall
health and some supplements can also
help us meet our daily requirements of
essential nutrients so a good example of
that is calcium and vitamin D it can
help us support our skeletal health so
even though dietary supplements can be
beneficial it’s important to point out
that they should not take the place of
the variety of foods that are important
for our overall healthy diet so in this
example of skeletal Health if someone’s
not consuming enough vitamin D in their
diet they might benefit from a dietary
supplement but this is assessed on a
case-by Case
basis are there any risks of dietary
supplements they’re sure are so they may
contain ingredients that have shown
strong effects in the body so it’s
always important to be alert to the
possibility of a bad reaction or a side
effect and we call this an adverse event
Adverse Events have occurred we
definitely have documentation of this
and they may occur if one of the
following happens if we take too much of
some supplements if we combine multiple
different types of supplements if we use
supplements with a prescription and
causes an
interaction if we use supplements
instead of of a prescription we
certainly have seen in this again is
documented with emergency room
visits do dietary supplements work I
think that really the the most important
part of this whole question right
dietary supplements are regulated as
food by the FDA so they’re not
considered a medication right supplement
makers they don’t have to prove anything
to us they don’t have to prove a claim
of a health benefit or a disease
prevention the same way that the
manufacturers do for our medication so
we know that prescriptions work right
because they proved it to us now this
this means that dietary supplements
claiming to prevent cancer may not
necessarily live up to the claims on
their label and the general consensus
from research suggests that supplements
have no significant impact on cancer
prevention and that means also secondary
prevention so after you’ve been
diagnosed so what’s the bottom line on
this question which supplements should I
take I would say the answer depends
depends depends or maybe not at all but
I want you to be an informed consumer be
cautious about supplements that make a
claim right that sounds too good to be
true especially as it relates to cancer
treatment be cautious about supplements
that make a claim to be safe or natural
or that it works better than the
treatment I would be very skeptical of
that claim be Savvy and use trustworthy
resources I’m going to share my favorite
one with you and then of course discuss
any desire to use or current use of
dietary supplements with your Healthcare
team it’s very important that we know
next question does a plant-based diet
help fight cancer this is one of my
favorite ones so a plant-based diet I
want to Define this importantly because
it depends who you ask right a lot
there’s a lot of different definitions
of a plant-based diet my definition is
in line with what the experts are are
suggesting a plant-based diet should be
and that it contains mostly plant Foods
it can also include Dairy eggs fish
poultry and moderate amounts of meat
this can be achieved on many different
types of dietary regimens so something
like an omnivore which means basically
someone’s eating anything um a
vegetarian diet or even a vegan diet
right those are all examples of
plant-based diet I would also say a
Mediterranean diet I should have
probably included that one that’s an
great example of a plant-based
diet the goal is to fill two-thirds of
our plate some some decide three4 um but
2/3 seems to be a good rule of thumb we
fill our plate with plant food so
including vegetables fruits legumes
meaning beans and lentils and uh seeds
and and nuts but then also to whole
grain and if we could do this at most of
our meals then we’re really pursuing a
plant-based diet now what about the rest
the third of that plate the third would
be for our protein source so whether it
be from an animal choice or even a plant
protein um and that’s where a dietitian
can help you decide which is
best now I just want to share a comment
or two about vegan diets we would Define
a vegan diet as having zero animal
products right but it is important to
acknowledge that just because someone
does that it doesn’t automatically make
it a great choice it could be high in a
lot of these ultr processed foods where
there’s not a lot of nutrients right not
a lot of those minimally processed
choices that we would otherwise consume
on a plant-based diet vegan diets can be
low in certain nutrients for example
calcium iron especially B12 12 and
sometimes
protein and so what um I would suggest
for anyone pursuing a vegan diet is to
consider Consulting with a registered
dietitian just to make sure you are
consuming really the highest quality and
not deficient in any of these nutrients
that you see on the slide I think it’s
important to think about uh what you
replace your animal foods with and if
that replacement is not necessarily
nutritionally Superior there might be
other choices to consider now some
people choose to do vegan diets for lots
of different reasons and maybe not
necessarily just for the nutrition so I
think that’s wonderful and I would
support that I think that if you’re
curious to know more about the
nutritional quality of a vegan diet I
certainly would encourage working with a
dietitian so what’s the bottom line of
on a plant-based diet um experts do
advise that anyone has that’s diagnosed
with a cancer consume a plant-based diet
and this basically means a lot of whole
plant Foods most of the time right we
know that there those foods have high
quantities of cancer protective
compounds and nutrients that we can’t
find in any other choice so why not eat
a lot of those right as much as we can
as it turns out plant-based diets are
also a great way to help us manage our
weight they certainly support our immune
function and reduce excess
inflammation and it can be accomplished
without necessarily having to be vegan
or even vegetarian but just eating
mostly plant foods and I think that’s
really refreshing for a lot of the
people I work
with next question what should I eat in
order to bring up my blood counts so I
got to ask this a lot in clinic uh what
foods bring up my blood counts so
sometimes cancer or the treatment used
can cause low white blood cell counts
and we call this lucenia or low red
blood cell counts and low hemoglobin
which is anemia and both of these
conditions are diagnosed used a common
blood test typically the complete blood
count and your treatment team will
discuss different treatment options with
you for a low white blood cell count
unfortunately we do not know of any
specific Foods or specific diet changes
that have been proven to increase the
production of white blood cells I wish I
had a better answer for that but really
the job for um myself and a dietitian in
this instant is to to um educate on food
safety for this particular person who
might be imuno
compromised it’s a very important to
practice good hygiene handwashing and
food safety practices for that instance
for low R red blood cell counts or low
hemoglobin your care team will determine
if the cause is related to low levels of
a nutrient such as iron fly or vitamin
B12 in your blood I will say for the
overwhelming majority of individual ual
that I work with on Clinic who are on
treatment their red low red blood cell
counts or low hemoglobin is not related
to a nutritional anemia it’s
not so I would say don’t assume that
necessarily that any of these nutrients
are helpful um it’s I would always
recommend for an individual to discuss
this with their Healthcare team do I
need these extra um Iron fully or B12 is
that going to help my condition
so if your anemia is related to a lack
of iron folate or vitamin B12 I would
consult a dietician sometimes the
dietary supplement is needed in this
case um or other treatment modalities
and then of course we can talk about
food sources of each of those nutrients
for those of you are who are interested
I think they’re all great examples of
high quality choices that also are
especially concentrated in those
vitamins and minerals that you see on
the slide
next question how can I even improve my
energy levels this just so happened to
be our April ask The dietitian of the
month theme so if you missed that it is
on our YouTube channel if you want to
check that out we explored this and I
think for um all of the programs we’ve
been giving in acid dietician it was one
of my favorites by far so how do we help
bring up our energy levels right what a
great question fatigue is so highly
prevalent um in cancer
survivorship um it’s something like over
80% right of our individuals who are
diagnosed are dealing with fatigue and
fatigue is defined as something that’s
more than just tired it’s something that
persists even though someone gets
adequate rest they’re still feeling
fatigued so what I wanted to share in
terms of really exciting information in
the world of diet and nutrition is that
they’re starting to look at this in
research and there have been two recent
studies that were conducted um and they
explored what they call a fatigue
reduction diet in one of the studies it
was for breast cancer survivors and the
other study it was in uh diffused large
B cell lymphoma survivors and it was
really impressive what they learned in
these studies that explored the fatigue
fatigue reduction diet so what does this
diet look like here’s a snapshot of it
and so um hopefully what you’ll notice
first of all the tomatoes are kind of a
giveaway lots of beautiful color it’s
sort of plant-based right it’s lots of
whole grains at least half of the grains
we eat coming from Whole sources lots of
vegetables five a day to servings of
fruit but then also we’re laying in some
layering in some uh fatty fish nuts or
seeds or Oils from those choices and
this is sort of like a snapshot of what
to eat in the
day so what is it about those Foods well
the
fiber in those minimally processed plant
Foods one of my favorite Topics in
nutrition is fiber there’s also omega-3
fats so if you saw the fish and then the
nuts and seeds that’s where we find
omega-3 fats in Salmon mackerel herrings
sardines anchovies chees seeds flax
seeds are especially high in Omega-3s
but then also walnuts and hemp seeds so
servings of these every day and then
antioxidants from some of our fruits and
vegetables from vitamin C catenoids and
vitamin E so we see an abundant colorful
fruits and vegetables so think of eating
the rainbow but then also too in our
citrus fruits we know that’s probably
one of our best sources of vitamin C and
then our seed oils so vitamin E is
really high in a lot of our our seed
oils and these foods are helpful to
reduce fatigue because they’re probably
lowering inflammation so if you’re
looking for an anti-inflammatory diet
this slide here is sort of going to put
you in that direction okay so if that’s
something you’re thinking about uh pay
special note to this
but it is important to mention the
lifestyle modification right so if we’re
looking to reduce fatigue we also want
to incorporate good sleep habits
movement in any and all forms but also
to that uh fatigue reduction diet and
then to mind mind and body practices
right so things like Chiang taii yoga
meditation guided imagery acupuncture
hypnosis if those are foreign Concepts
to you please look at Cancer Wellness
Center’s website and calendar because
they’re are a lot of different
modalities or educational programs again
on the YouTube channel where you can
explore this for yourself and perhaps
you haven’t given thought to this but
there’s I feel like each of those
modalities are good for something right
so if you’re looking to really optimize
your Wellness again this slide here I
think is really it this is where you’re
going to get bang for
buck all right next question are are
organic foods better another really
great popular question so fresh and
processed food that is produced by
organic farming methods that’s basically
the definition of organic it’s grown
without the use of most synthetic
chemicals but natural pesticides may
also be used there’s a USDA seal that
indicates that the product itself
contains 95% or more certified organic
ingredients and that’s what the seal
looks like so that’s sort of like a
guarantee that what you’re eating has uh
basically checked off this
criteria now organic food is not
necessarily pesticide free so we there
are lower levels of synthetic pesticides
and uh residues um from the
fertilizers so there’s like minute
amounts it’s less than conventional but
there still is some that’s present and
it’s important to point that out um it
does not have more nutrients compared to
Conventional food and I think that
that’s what many people have a
misconception about um our conventional
choices are just as nutritious and we do
know that it can vary greatly in terms
of costs in terms of those organic
choices so the bottom line on whether or
not to choose organic I would say really
the choice is up to you and I would
support whatever choice you decide to
make um eating plenty of fruits and
vegetables whether they be conventional
or organic is recommended when they do
research studies and when they find this
fatigue reduction diet this high quality
cancer protective diet they do not
differentiate between organic and
conventional in those research studies
in fact I’m going to venture to Guess
that most of them are consuming
conventional
produce fruits and veggies in season
will carry less residues so I think if
you’re looking to really just minimize
exposure overall that is something to
think about and certainly to look
locally um at some of the Farms that we
have um sometimes in our backyard right
and then also A good rule of thumb is to
wash our fresh produce under cool water
and that’s what the experts advise only
cool water that’s all that it requires
and to do it for 20 seconds which I’ve
counted it’s a longer time than we might
realize but that’s going to really take
off a significant amount of those
residues that are left on the outer
peels of our fruits and
vegetables removing the skin or peel may
actually help reduce further residues if
you’re looking to minimize exposure
otherwise I would use a good produce uh
scrub brush because that mechanical
action of scrubbing helps to kind of
really loosen up any of those extra
residues and then down the sink drain it
goes right not into our
body next question how can I manage my
weight if I’ve been gaining weight I
think this is such a great question and
very often what I explore with
individuals at Cancer Wellness Center so
weight management here’s what we
understand about weight management so
whether we’re looking to start losing
weight and then once we do we have to
maintain it here’s what it requires and
it’s funny how it seems to be there’s
themes to all of this right so we want
good sleep optimal sleep great sleep
habits cope with our stress as much as
we can I don’t think we can reduce it
but we could manage it right by coping
with it better using physical activity
and movement and then also too my
specialty had to eat in a way that is
really
helpful now I I do want to point out
that there are some medical conditions
there certainly are some
prescriptions and or there may be
environmental factors that are not
within our control control right so some
things are and we want to do our best at
managing them some things are not so the
things that are not within our control I
think it’s important to acknowledge them
and to understand the impact that they
may have on our weight and then maybe to
think about how we might explore um if
anything else is needed in terms of this
approach to managing our weight and have
that discussion with our care
team so the healthy eating component of
weight management I love steps right
because if we follow some steps then
chances are we might be successful in
the end so step one is to make a
commitment right and hopefully a verbal
commitment out say it out loud whether
it be to your loved ones a good friend a
colleague someone you can confide and
make a commitment when you say it out
loud you’re more likely to follow
through with it it means you really mean
it right I would say too an important
step is to take stock of where you are
so keep a food and activity log so it
could give you an understanding of where
you’re at right now and where you’d like
to be you know that may seem like a
mountain to climb so we want to focus
then on small steps right to get up that
mountain we can track sleep we can track
our our emotional um feelings and
determine if that’s influencing us I
know that certainly does for me for my
eating habits and if I’m going to move
more I want to know if if a good night’s
sleep matters for that or how I’m
feeling emotionally and if that can
interrupt my my greatest of intentions
right and then what that does is if
we’re tracking this we can identify what
some of our challenges are right and
work with them and this is where you
take a general overall plan but
personalize it and again this is where
diet fsue can help you kind of discover
what might matter most for you as an
individual the third step is to set
specific realistic and especially for
giving goals right it’s almost like
we’re going to plan to make a mistake
because it’s going to happen and if it
happens then we just rebound right we
just get right back up and keep going
forward step four is to identify
resources and support um this is not an
easy thing weight management so I think
it’s very important to think about who
you can enlist um on your team and to
really kind of help you be the most
successful in any possible way and then
last ly continually monitor your
progress I think sometimes um if we’re
looking to change a behavior or change a
habit we really have to stick with it
over a long period of time it’s not just
21 days it takes much longer so we want
to make sure we’re moving in that
direction of progress right we’re not
expecting Perfection but if we see
progress then that can be measured in a
lot of different ways and it can be very
satisfying and it’s also empowering
which is I think at the end of the day a
really nice way to live day to
day how sorry what should I stock in my
pantry and how can I meal plan more
great questions I love all this so how
do we stock the kitchen for Success
let’s start with the pantry I would
argue these are definite Staples to have
in your pantry so when you when I
include this list they are versatile for
sure right like you can use them in more
ways in one they’re probably going to
keep for a while so you know if you if
you forgot to meal plan for the week
ahead at least you got them right or the
month ahead and it’s been a month
already and here we are what do I have
for dinner like at least you have some
options so we’re thinking versatility
and we’re also thinking nutrition right
these are going to be some of the most
nutrition nutrition dense options we can
possibly consume so whole grains now
there’s a long list of whole grains but
I’m just listing some of my favorites
some of them are gluten-free for those
of you who need them but we can pick up
labels we can read uh ingredients we can
find high fiber choices and we could
really gain some nutrients this way
using these whole grains canned beans
and lentils I would argue they are like
the best um staple for any Kitchen in
the pantry in the fridge in the freezer
like this is it because you can take a
bean a can of beans and turn it into a
lot of different recipes it’s high imp
plant protein it’s super high of fiber
lots of nutrients there and again it’s
versatile there’s so many ways you can
use it so I that get my vot I would say
um and we can look for low sodium or no
sodium varieties of canned beans as well
um as well as canned vegetables I’ll
never forget during my dietetic
internship a long time ago um my
preceptor would when she had a craving
for salt she would open up like a can of
vegetables that were salted like green
beans and that would be her little salty
fix and I thought it was very
interesting but if you think about it it
has an interesting nutrient profile
right there’s some salt but then it’s a
vegetable so I thought it was it stuck
with me obviously through all these
years um nuts and
seeds super versatile super way to add
in just a small amount a lot of
nutrients as well and then the the
butter and the versions of them so
whether it be something like almond
butter or tahini from our sesame seed um
really another great versatile uh
staple and then can Seafood super budget
friendly right and a lot of times people
ask me to name names so I thought I
would do it here with Wild Planet and
safe cat those are two really I would
say reputable um canned seafood product
lines and then of course our herbs and
our spices our koser salt or extra
virgin olive oil lots of different
vinegars to choose from this can really
kind of add that extra flavor profile
that you might be looking for to keep
things interesting right with all of
these
Staples now we’re going to move over to
the fridge all right so in the fridge I
would argue Fresh Veggies our salad
greens our fresh fruits so probably
going to have to rot rotate through
these a couple times a week hummus and
bean dips tofu and Tempe are always
going to get my vote and then eggs and
our lowfat Dairy and Alternatives and
plain yogurt and then also to our fresh
meat would belong here but if you see on
the slides um on the on this Slide the
pictures here um I would say so in the
middle you see some toast and they’re
all topped with hummus and then some
other ingredients so I love that because
you here are eight different toast
varieties right so if you want to toast
every day you can have a different type
of a toast you know and it’s really
using and building off of these staples
the picture on the far right can you
believe is like a mocked egg salad and
it’s made from tofu and it’s delicious
I’ve had it and then on the far left
this is a marinade using plain yogurt so
I really love how h H having plain
yogurt in the fridge is again versatile
because you can go sweet you can go
Savory lots of different applications
that you may not have necessarily
thought
of let’s move over to the freezer okay
in the freezer definitely our Frozen
fruits and our frozen vegetables I love
Frozen edaman as a snack or as a meal
starter green peas are some of the most
delicious I think frozen vegetable there
that there possibly is um whole green
breads a lot of um experts recommend
keep them in their freezer because
they’re going to last longer so
sometimes if something’s on sale I might
buy two and throw one in the freezer uh
and then also to frozen fish that’s
going to be economical for us as well so
on the slide you see right there in the
middle that’s like um a salad built out
of um edamame and corn both Frozen right
and then you could layer in some fresh
ingredients as well but what you know
having these staples here gives you
options right and so you can really
create some delicious but certainly
nutritious meals you know using some of
these Staples on the far right is a stir
fry and that’s using frozen veggies I
think that’s probably one of the best
applications for frozen vegetables and
then on the far left um you’ll see
that’s like um overnight oats using some
frozen fruit another great application
for something out of our
freezer and I would say the freezer also
if we batch cook because we’re planning
we could batch cook and keep the
leftovers in the freezer for months
which is so helpful right super super
duper all right now what about meal
planning I would say if you’re thinking
about me a planning here are some
questions to ask yourself is this right
for you do you ask yourself if you feel
overwhelmed by the question what’s for
dinner I know I do in my home do you
feel unprepared at times to make dinner
do you resort to take out more than
you’d like to do you resent spending a
lot of more money on cooking when
cooking at home costs less right rather
than takeout do you believe that your
diet could be healthier if you cooked
more meal planning might be right for
you if you answered yes to these making
several trips to the grocery store per
week that is also something I’m guilty
of meal planning can definitely address
each of these right so if that’s
something you’re struggling with or
worried about um meal planning certainly
makes sense so how do we meal plan so I
would suggest to designate a planning
time and and this is just a suggestion
20 or 30 minutes on a Sunday what is
coming up next week that we have to plan
around and what do I think would make
sense for me and my family right so it’s
really helpful to do that at least once
a week you can take inventory of what
you have when you’re doing this right so
if you have spinach and maybe you have
some cherry tomatoes and mushrooms plus
you got some brown rice because it’s a
pantry staple you’re going to put on
your grocery list a protein because you
can make a stir fry right and boom
you’re really I think maximizing what
you have on hand and really thinking
about how to optimize the nutrition but
also save time and save energy by doing
this type of a
plan um I will I would like to point out
that the active meal planning is more
important than the level of skill in our
meals right so the process just starting
right just starting of okay what do we
have this week and just thinking about
some meals maybe it’s only one meal that
you can plan right and you’re going to
shop for that’s going to you can build
off of that right um I think that many
people feel overwhelmed or feel a desire
to like literally just write out every
recipe think about every ingredient that
can be overwhelming for some right so if
if you’re just starting out I would take
it slow right and be realistic about
that and think about how could you just
do better than where you’re
at next question how can I support my
gut health with diet really great
question symptoms of um poor gut health
might include gas bloating or bowel
irregularity it’s important to have any
of these symptoms of course evaluated
medically so gut health is
individualized definitely individualized
right so where your Baseline is we want
to keep that in mind if you’re having
bowel regularity for sure is a great
example what is your normal right so if
that’s abnormal it’s going to be very
different from someone
else while we are all unique if you try
to true tips can help out most
individuals so let’s talk about that we
want to fill up on fiber this helps to
support our beneficial bacteria that
live in our gut so great examples of
high-fiber foods are leafy greens our
cruciferous vegetables apples berries
pineapple also happens to have a
digestive enzyme in it um our fruit
vegetables our nuts our seeds our beans
and lentils very high in fiber we’re
going to enjoy some fermented foods so
think about um Keir fresh sauerkraut
fresh kimchi kombucha miso different
cultured yogurt and yogurt Alternatives
meaning they’re from a non-dairy Source
um they’re going to deliver on a regular
basis beneficial microbes to our guts so
some people argue that some of those
choices should be consumed on a daily
basis in one or two
servings and then we’re going to feed
our gut the best fuel that they like so
prebiotics if you aren’t familiar with
that term they’re special fibers that
are found in some of our foods that
selectively travel to the dinner table
of our beneficial microbes I thought
that was cute so um which so prebiotics
are fibers but not all fibers are
prebiotics right so they’re special ones
and here’s that list so onions garlic
asparagus lentils some of our beans and
then also to artichoke a nice seasonal
option right so they’re going to the
fiber that is in them are prebiotics and
they’re going to go right to our gut and
Feed The Beneficial microbes and when
the beneficial microbes are happy
because they’re fed then they’re
productive and they do a lot of good
things for
us so experts are recommending anywhere
from 25 to 30 grams of pro of fiber per
day sorry about that so generally this
is kind of based on how many calories
you’re eating or your body size so
typically women can scale to the lower
end of that range and um we ask men to
eat a little bit more um what percentage
of women do not eat recommended amounts
of fiber if we were together I would put
you all on the spot what would you guess
what percentage this is pretty shocking
90% so 90% of women do not eat
recommended amounts of fiber what about
men what percentage of men do not eat
recommended amounts of
fiber this is even more shocking
97% so I always tease that this gives me
job security because I have a lot of
work to do right so very often fiber
will come up in my conversations with
individuals and when we’re we’re
intentionally adding more fiber chances
are we’re going to eat more whole plant
Foods so think about what that
accomplishes like everything we’ve
talked about today right is cancer
protective it lowers inflammation it it
helps the gut so we want to eat more
fiber if we can if that’s the big
takeaway from today so I’d like to share
this l and this is another good slide I
think for you you all to kind of have a
snapshot of um what is recommended in
terms of fiber and it just list like the
food groups the serving size of each and
the approximate grams of fiber and this
is based on Mayo’s Clinic high fiber
food chart but I think it’s very helpful
right so if we’re looking to kind of get
an idea of how much fiber we’re eating
currently we can kind of keep a list but
then we can also think about what we’re
willing to do or where we’re at willing
to add something more to really get some
bang for buck in terms of the
fiber so how here’s some simple ways I
love doing this some simple ways to eat
more fiber we could enjoy some oatmeal
on a regular basis maybe even just a few
times a week or we can look at our
breakfast cereal if that’s something
we’re already eating we can check the
labels and we’re going to look for more
than five grams of fiber that means it’s
a good source of fiber better than good
it’s a great source of fiber technically
if we’re having a breakfast cereal
that’s a little less than five grams of
fiber we can add some Fiber to it we
could add bran we could add flax seed we
could add dried fruit right away we’re
going to add more fiber by doing that we
can look to have two servings of veggies
per meal that’s going to help satisfy
that cancer protective plate and also
the fatigue reduction diet there’s a lot
of veggies right so two servings and
we’re not asking for a lot a serving is
like half a cup of chopped vegetables as
you saw on the last slide right it’s
really not a lot try whole wheat pasta
brown or Forbidden Rice which I’m going
to use in a program coming up in the
center um forbidden rice is this
beautiful um deep dark like it’s almost
like a purple color the the the liquid
you cook it in it pours off is purple
it’s gorgeous but those are all cancer
Fighters anthocyanin specifically and so
it’s a whole grain we’re getting the
fiber we’re getting something delicious
and really satisfying and Hearty um if
you haven’t tried it I would encourage
you or come to the center to the program
because you’ll get a chance to try it um
one of my other favorites is pharoh but
also too the ubiquitous quinoa um is a
great option for more
fiber incorporate more beans and lentils
into recipes or meals there’s a great
trick of replacing some of your ground
meat with beans such as like a bean
burger that’s like half ground beef or
half ground turkey with some beans right
or meatloaf the sky is the limit you can
do this with meatballs and what you’re
doing is you’re display placing some of
that meat you’re adding some of the
beans so you’re adding plant proteins
which we know have more
fiber add fresh fruit as a snack or dare
I say as a dessert or to your meals and
then use nuts and seeds as a snack or
into your meals right like so examp for
example into your cereal in the morning
but things like yogurt or on top of
salads it’s a great way to enhance
nutrient density enhance texture but
most importantly maybe add more fiber
and then the last question for today do
you have simple but tasty smoothie
recipes oh do I this is where dietitians
can help I think the most so simple
smoothies I would say if we’re looking
to um take advantage of something that’s
tasty we’re also looking for something
that’s well rounded and balanced in
terms of the ingredients in terms of the
macronutrients we want a balanced
smoothie okay so we’re going to start
first with the liquid and you good to
choose based on your preferences but
also too maybe your nutritional
requirements so is it just filtered
water or maybe you’re looking for more
protein so you’re using some dairy or a
dairy alternative that’s high protein or
maybe you’re needing some calories
because you just had surgery or
recovering from treatment and you lost
weight you might need a Nutrition Shake
right so the sky is a limit here then
we’re going to add to that some fruit I
would argue fruit like belongs in a
smoothie right because of the texture
the flavor it really adds some nutrients
as well so frozen bananas are like
really a go-to choice in my opinion but
the the frozen section is really helpful
for for fruit especially because we can
find berries we can find mango we find
pineapple and we just learned in our
program a couple weeks ago that
pineapple is a great thing to add to
smoothies because it’ll take away the
flavor of the next ingredient the
veggies right so if you don’t NE
necessarily care for the baby spinach in
your smoothie because that taste is
overpowering pineapple is one great way
to overcome that flavor and it doesn’t
require a lot of pineapple because it
has such a great strong flavor but maybe
you’re like me and you don’t mind some
baby Greens in your smoothie um or even
to explore some other types of
vegetables like canned pumpkin which is
a great Pantry staple as well um some
cooked carrots or some other cooked
vegetables avocado is technically a
fruit but we’re going to call it a
vegetable in this um
it’s going to add similar nutrients as
those other great vegetables on the
slide and then we’re going to add a
protein I think this is an important
component to our smoothie so whether it
be a Greek yogurt or an alternative
that’s also um supplies a decent amount
of protein our nuts and Seed Butters our
silk and tofu don’t knock until you try
it it’s actually quite delicious um it’s
going to add a great amount of protein
to really balance out that smoothing and
then we can add bonus ingredients and
again this is again a way for us to be
creative but also to if we’re thinking
you know nutritionally what do I need do
I need some ginger to sooth my stomach
do I want some tumeric because I’m
looking for the anti-inflammatory effect
do I like cinnamon because that’s going
to help lower my blood sugars the sky
the limit here with all these other
bonus
ingredients here’s an example of one if
you’re looking for a takeaway so you get
this from me today um and this is just
like tried and true and it’s a very
simple straightforward green smoothie
what you’ll notice is there’s a good
amount of baby spinach um some delicious
peanut butter for a little protein but
the soy milk will also give protein that
banana is going to be a great way to
kind of enhance flavor um and then maybe
top that with some chia seeds for some
extra omega-3 fats and then even some um
extra protein and fiber you’re super
simple you’re just going to blend that
together now if you don’t want to use
soy milk there definitely are
alternatives you can try and this and
it’s really up to you
so what I wanted to share some resources
so um the CDC has a really great website
on weight management so if you click
directly on that link it’ll bring you
over to it and it’s very comprehensive I
think if anyone is considering how to
how do I best manage my weight I think
that’s a great place to start but if
you’re looking for more I would love to
let you know about food and fitness for
wellness so that’s one of our programs
that we run at the center we run it
twice year and we will be running our
next group at the middle to the end of
the summer so just be on the lookout
again on our website um for us to be
recruiting for that group it’s really
intended for survivors who have finished
their definitive treatment and have
finished it within the last five years
um and you join our group and it’s a
comprehensive informative um 20ish weeks
that you spend with us and uh we take
you really through everything you might
need to know about managing your weight
but also I think more importantly
changing your behaviors in a Mindful and
compassionate way meal planning I like
this myplate.gov website tons of
resources if you’re looking for anything
interesting there and then for more
common questions maybe there was one
that we didn’t get to today that you had
please submit that to us so I can answer
that in a future program but the
American Institute for cancer research
has a nice concise um section on their
website all about the common question
questions that individuals have after
they’ve been diagnosed with
cancer and with that I want to say thank
you and I’m going to end my share here I
see we have about five
minutes hi Lori thank you I’m gonna go
ahead and stop the recording and then we
have about five minutes for questions so
thank you everyone for joining or
watching our