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Lifestyle after cancer - nutrition and body weight
Having a healthy diet and maintaining a healthy body weight is important for everyone – it makes you feel good and reduces your risk of health problems like heart disease and diabetes.
You may have heard that eating particular foods, or taking nutritional supplements will stop your cancer from recurring. At the moment, there is little evidence for most of these claims. Most doctors and dieticians recommend that you eat a healthy diet – that includes a wide variety of whole foods, eaten regularly and in reasonable portions.
Remember to handle food safely, especially if your immune system has been weakened by your cancer treatment. Read more about this in our booklet After your cancer treatment - a guide for eating well and being active in the Care and support section of our Online library.
 5 serves of vegetables 2 serves of fruit a variety of cereals (preferably wholegrain) milk, yoghurt and cheese 1 to 2 serves of meat/meat alternatives.Choose foods low in fat (especially saturated fat), low in salt and limit sugar.
Cancer Council also recommends limiting or avoiding alcohol .
It’s really important to eat lots of vegetables and fruit. As well as having important vitamins, minerals and other chemicals, they’re also high in fibre and low in fat.
How do I eat more fruit and vegetables every day?
Enjoy fruit as a snack or for dessert. Add fresh or canned fruit to your breakfast cereal. Fill half your dinner plate with vegetables. Include at least 3 different coloured vegetables with your main meal. Keep it interesting – cook your vegetables in different ways (baked, stir-fried, steamed, grilled etc). Include salad with your lunch.Adapt your recipes to include more vegetables (eg add carrot, mushrooms & zucchini to bolognese sauce).Dieticians can help with your nutrition concerns. Most hospitals and many community health centres have one. They are also in private practice. Ask your doctor if you can get a rebate for their services.
Read After your cancer treatment - a guide for eating well and being active
Nutrition resources
Local Community Health Centre Your local accredited dietician Talk to your GP Maintaining a healthy body weight
More and more research is showing that a healthy body weight is an important protector against some types of cancer and other health problems such as heart disease and diabetes. You may have lost or gained weight during your cancer treatment. Body Mass Index (BMI) is used as an indicator of a healthy weight.
BMI is worked out by dividing your weight in kilograms by your (height in metres) squared.
A healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 25. A result below 18.5 suggests that you may be underweight; a figure above 25 indicates that you may be overweight.
BMI = weight (kg) / height x height (metres)
For example, if you are 170 cm tall and weigh 81 kilograms,
then your BMI is 81 / (1.7 x 1.7) = 81 / 2.89 = 28 Waist measurement can also be a sign of healthy weight. A waist measurement of less than 80cm for women, or 94cm for men is best.
Your weight is best managed by having a healthy eating plan and being physically active.
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