Episode 058: Your Nutrition During Cancer Treatment
Apr 09, 2019•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode description
Lauren and Elise are nutritionists who specialise in oncology. They share practical actionable advice on nutrition that you can apply right now and in a way where you’re not denying yourself anything, so you are not going to feel miserable, which is so crucial. Here are some things that we cover today:
Why diets never work
Whether sugar feeds cancer
How taking supplements during treatment can harm you
Best sources of protein for your body
and much, much more!
Links
Oncore Nutrition
Instagram: @OnCoreNutrition
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OnCoreNutrition/
Email: enquiries@oncorenutrition.com
Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-atkins-983268108/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/elise-den-129837149/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/oncore-nutrition/
Full Transcript
Joe: Hello, guys, thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate your time. By the way, I love what you’re doing, I think nutrition is such a hugely important and underrated thing during cancer. I really want to understand the link between cancer and nutrition. I want to start with your personal stories. Like, how did you get into it and how did that connection between nutrition and cancer, how did that come about? Let’s start with you, Elise, first.
Elise: Sure. Look, for me, Joe, I was somebody who was always very passionate about health and fitness. Growing up, I was involved in a lot of sport, from athletics to basketball, swimming, tennis. From a young age, fitness and nutrition was something I knew that I wanted to pursue long-term. I initially decided to do dietetics because I thought that I wanted to work with athletes with sports nutrition. As time went on, I started to develop a real appreciation for the importance of nutrition and the impact that it can have, particularly in the context of cancer.
For patients not just during their cancer treatment, but also into survivorship as well, so reducing their risk of future recurrence. What I also found was that these sorts of patients, we can have a huge impact on their life. I gained a lot of fulfillment and a lot of self-worth through helping these people through one of the most challenging journeys of their entire life. It was from them that I realised, nutritional ecology was something that I wanted to specialise in, but also to dedicate my working career to.
Joe: Yes, that’s fantastic. I also feel like you guys are also privileged to also be working with real athletes. That’s for sure, thank you, on my behalf. Lauren, what about you?
Lauren: Well, I had a similar experience to Elise, in that I always had a real passion for nutrition and health overall. My interesting nutrition and dietetics came more about through the science background. I really enjoyed chemistry and biology and health sciences at school, but I also really enjoy psychology. What I found through studies was that the use of nutrition as a therapy is not just a biological and a chemical therapy, it’s very much a psychological and a social therapy, as well. Yes, food is nutrients, food is chemistry, but it’s also our social life, our environment, our psychology and emotions. Being able to marry those things together in a career to help support people was a no-brainer. Yes.
Joe: That makes so much sense, because that really puts that whole perspective of treating the whole of a person and putting it in that larger context.
Lauren: Absolutely. I think Elise and I get a lot of our job satisfaction and fulfilment and enjoyment not so much from the science of the chemistry and nutrition therapy that we’re offering, but through empowering people with knowledge and education to make their own health choices and improve their own health.
Joe: Tell me, Lauren, what is nutrition important during cancer treatment?
Lauren: A massive question,
