Cancer Nutrition That Actually Helps

Googling “what to eat after a cancer diagnosis” can send you into a panic spiral fast. One page says cut all sugar, another says buy a shelf of supplements, and somehow you’re supposed to do that while managing appointments, side effects, and real life. We wanted a clear, evidence-based voice, so we sat down with Nicole Andrews, a registered dietitian who specializes in oncology nutrition, to talk about what actually helps people stay strong through treatment.

We dig into why nutrition during chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery is not about perfection, it’s about being well-nourished enough to tolerate full-dose care and recover between appointments. Nicole explains why the “sugar feeds cancer” myth causes real harm, how cancer metabolism really works, and why cutting carbs often backfires when your body needs energy the most. We also talk through the practical stuff families face every day: metallic taste, appetite loss, nausea, and when water suddenly tastes terrible. Nicole shares flexible, realistic strategies like using citrus or mint, changing proteins when favorite foods become intolerable, trying smoothies for calorie and protein boosts, and making hydration easier without shame.

We also go straight at supplements and cancer risk reduction. Nicole outlines why high-dose supplements can be risky unless a true deficiency shows up in labs, and what matters more for long-term health: fiber, movement, sleep, and reducing alcohol and processed meats. If you want a simple framework you can actually use, plus myth-busting you can trust, you’ll get a lot out of this conversation. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs steady guidance, and leave us a review with your biggest cancer nutrition question.

MESO: The Mesothelioma Podcast is sponsored by Danziger & De Llano, a nationwide mesothelioma law firm with over 30 years of experience and nearly $2 billion recovered for asbestos victims. For a free consultation, visit Dandell.com.

Transcript

Welcome And Meet The Oncology Dietitian

SPEAKER_00 0:01

You're listening to Miso, the Misothelioma podcast, where support, education, and outreach come together for families facing mesothelioma.

SPEAKER_02 0:14

Hi, good afternoon. My name is Anna Jackson, and we're on the Mesothelioma Meso podcast. And I have Nicole Andrews. She is a now is it is your title a um I know you're a dietitian, right? I'm so excited to have Nicole here today. I know you're it is your title cancer or oncology uh dietitian? Is that correct? No, um yeah, they're both.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

So um um I am the oncology dietitian that's my company and my brand that I've built. I'm a registered dietitian and I specialize in oncology. But people may not know what oncology means, and it is the same as cancer. So they are they are actually the same oncology or cancer.

SPEAKER_02 0:57

Right, right. I didn't know if you use um so can you tell me a little bit about yourself, Nicole, and why did you choose a diet a dietitian?

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Yeah, oh gosh. Well, you know, nutrition makes a huge impact, but the problem is um is that there's so much misinformation out there. There's trends. There's a lot of industries that, you know, take advantage of, you know, just the person out there trying to eat well, all these trans keto fasting, carnivore, you know, uh celery juice, remember, you know, that back around COVID time, like just a lot of trends out there. And good nutrition is gonna make or break reducing risk of cancer, support you through cancer treatment, healing from cancer treatment, reducing risk of disease. But a lot of people are confused in doing the wrong things or fearing things. So as a registered dietitian, I love to myth bust. I love, I love to just be straightforward and really empower people to be like, hey, actually eating really well, reducing my risk for cancer is actually pretty easy. I can do this, and I don't have to, you know, succumb to all these things they're telling me on social media. So for me, it really I enjoy being a cancer dietitian and nutrition to show people it's really easy to really eat well and that they don't need to be duped because there's just so much disinformation and it confuses a lot of people to reaching their nutrition goals.

SPEAKER_02 2:11

And and a lot of people, I don't know about, I mean, I know myself, I have to have some sort of plan to stick to, um, some some sort of direction on on, you know, what do I do? You know, if they give me, you know, recipes to that that just helps me because you know, yeah, that's just who I am. I just I have to have some sort of direction. So that's kind of exciting. Um why is nutrition so important during cancer treatment? You tell me.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

Yeah, oh gosh. So well, first of all, you're not um, you're like a you're not different from my clients and so many other people are like, hey, I want a plan. And um, the way I guide my clients, I work with cancer survivors before, during, or after cancer treatment or people who have family history. And um, you know, it it's not so much a strict meal plan. I think a lot of people have that in their mind, like, well, I need a strict meal plan, but that's actually not what I want for you. I want you to learn

Why Nutrition Supports Full-Dose Treatment

SPEAKER_01 3:05

how to put together meals that you love with a lifestyle that works for you, with enough of the healthy proteins, fats, carbs, with enough fiber, with enough movement. People don't really even understand what they're eating. They're just kind of following things, and maybe they don't even like the foods that they are eating. And and I really help you change that. Like there's probably some breakfast, lunch, dinner foods that you love or my clients love that we can still add in and make small tweaks to reduce risk of cancer. Um, so that's one thing is I think, yes, recipe, I will give you recipes. Um, and I have a seven-day uh free meal plan that you can get on my email list with and they'll get you started. But I want to teach you how to come up with ways on your own that make sense and that you understand for mealtimes. So, um, and that's what I do also with cancer survivors for during treatment. So, nutrition is so important during cancer treatment. Like, I cannot emphasize this enough. So, you get diagnosed with cancer and you are like, all right, I'm ready. What am I gonna do? I'm following the doctor's prescription, right? My clients are like, what do I need to do? Let's do it right away. This is urgent. I want to, you know, treat this cancer, get it gone, which is 100% true. The thing is, though, is you can't make it to all these treatments at full dose and and you know, without good nutrition. And that's the piece that's missed so often. If you are malnourished, your labs may not come back very good. The doctors may put things on hold until they get better. Not even their fault. They're like, well, wait a minute, I'm ready to show up. But they they physically can't because they're not eating enough. Cancer survivors get diagnosed and they go online, the first thing they can see is sugar feeds cancer. So now they're cut, they're afraid of foods, cutting out carbs, which, you know, cancer is gonna uptake nutrients from your body no matter how you eat. It's really making sure to eat well to help those healthy cells and healthy organs. Because when we do that, and studies show this, but also with my clients, is that when you're nourishing really well, yeah, okay, the cancer is uptaking nutrients from your body, but you can't control that. I think that's a big thing. Cancer survivors, that whole sugar feeds cancer, it kind of gives that feeling like, okay, so I'm gonna starve the cancer. Okay, let me do that, which makes sense, right? They'd want to control the cancer and not have it thrive. Obviously, it doesn't work like that. Cancer will uptake nutrients from a cancer survivor's body even if they're not even eating. So what the studies show and what my clients do, you start eating more protein, carbohydrates, fats, fiber, all the hydrating. So your healthy cells and your healthy organs are strong. Because when you're going through treatments, radiation, surgery, chemo, you know, your whole body is being hit and it has to rebuild, right? The cancer cells are being hit with these treatments, they're dying off, they're gone. Awesome. Your healthy cells are withered down, they're damaged from radiation, chemo, which of course we want to minimize. And and the researchers have tried to minimize that with building out, you know, medicine that goes directly just to the cancer, but it's gonna hit those healthy cells. Those healthy cells can build back with the right nutrition, with the cancer survivors eating enough. And that really was helps to reduce severity of side effects. And it's so beautiful in nutrition because it will literally take side effects away. I've had clients come to me, they get their infusion, they're in bed, down and out for seven days. We have them eating more and more protein and more carbs, they go to their infusion, they put a band-aid on, and then they go off to the beach with their family. When you have the right nutrition, your body is able to recover quicker and then attend all treatments, which ultimately will take care of the cancer.

SPEAKER_02 6:24

Right. I mean, and what you're saying makes sense because if you're not eating, even if you're not dealing with cancer, if you're not eating well, you're sluggish, you, you know, there's just so many things that aren't working properly. So, um, and I've been I've done a now I I've not had cancer, but I've done the one of those diets where the food was horrible, but I ate it anyway because you know I wanted to lose that weight. And um I just finally just and and and you also quit a lot sooner because you're like, okay, I can't do this anymore. I'm tired. Is there really nutrients in this food I'm eating that taste like cardboard or whatever it may be? And and that's just amazing. I I love what you're saying. Um, I think the first thing that comes to mind is how do I manage changes in my appetite and treat side effects? Because you did mention, you know, I've heard I had a husband that passed away from cancer, and one of the things he said was it tastes like metal, so you're not really interested in um in the food that you're eating, so you don't eat and you lose the weight, and of course you you know, your your body suffers all that. So, so tell me, um, and you kind of, you know, probably mentioned a little bit a few minutes ago, but um, can we focus on that? Like what what um how do they manage that appetite?

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Yeah, absolutely. So, first off, and and kind of what you mentioned eating, even I just want to quickly um just address what you said about eating something

Taste Changes And Appetite Workarounds

SPEAKER_01 8:00

you hated. So you'll never have to eat what you don't like, you know. So to lose weight and have your best health, you absolutely can love the foods. And there's so many food options. People think, well, I just have to do this one thing, it's gonna be the solution, but and that's why you can't maintain it, right? Because it's not enjoyable. So remember that is you can still be flexible and have foods you love and reach your nutrition goals. So that's number one. And kind of how you mentioned you wanted to lose the weight, cancer survivors would get done with treatments and they'll also have goals for weight loss because X um adipose tissue on the body does increase risk of 13 different cancers. So losing weight is a great goal. And a lot of times cancer survivors will feel almost ashamed to admit that. They're like, Well, I beat cancer. Am I just too focused on vanity that I want to lose weight? I should just be grateful that I survived cancer. Yeah, it's crazy. I'm like, no, that any whatever your goals are for health are awesome. You should never be ashamed of that. And you can lose weight and you can still eat the foods you love. So I wanted to say that. Now, um, during cancer treatment, the taste changes, those can come up. So we want to get flexible and we get creative. There are certain evidence-based ways that can improve that, and everyone's a little different. I think that's another thing, cancer survivors, that's what helps so much working with like myself as a registered dietitian, because we can tweak things. So when you have taste changes, loss of taste, metal change, things just are tasting different. You want to experiment um different ways. A lot of times it can be um with like lemon, citrus, mint, certain, yeah, certain things to kind of activate taste buds to shield specifically that metal taste, because I've had cancer survivors have that. I have one, um, and nothing's off, nothing's too um too unique. You know, I have one client, she's like, Well, I'm best if I have a bite of sorbet. You know, it kind of, it, you know, kind of settles that metal taste, and then I'm able to have my meal. Or if a lot of another client was like, hey, if I have a lot of lemon um base meals, or another client was like, Well, I hate lemon, you know, what can I do with peppermint? Things like that, getting really flexible with different ways and spices too. And also, maybe some foods are really bad, and those are those are not going to be the choices you're gonna have during treatment, and that's okay. Maybe chicken's really bad. So we're focusing on red meats during treatment. Maybe red meats are bad. So now we're focusing on something else. Like it is okay to say, you know what, that doesn't really work for me and to not force yourself. Um, there's other things too. I mean, there's you know, sucking on um lemon drops, mints, gum, certain, maybe even sugar-free gums, um, and getting flexible with the protein. Maybe you're gonna be having a lot more enjoyable time with smoothies or milkshakes or things like that. We can get flexible. It doesn't have to all feel like clinical, you know. We can make, you know, smoothies that are 700 calories and that could be one of the meals for the day. No metal taste and it goes down easier. Also, not using metal utensils as well can help. And um yeah, even just working with me and we'll look at what is working, what tastes okay, and make those adjustments. Another big one is water does not taste good or the temperature of beverages. And they're feeling like they can't do anything else because they are, you know, the store when you go to the store and there's all those water flavorings, there's like a hundred choices, right? Those are actually all safe and fine. And I had one client who couldn't tolerate anything but crystal light, and they had so much shame around being like, this is an unhealthy choice, you know, et cetera, from whatever social media said. Not true. He he started incorporating crystal light completely fine, not unhealthy at all. He hadn't he was active, he had amazing food choices. Anyways, once he was able to get the crystal light, he was better hydrated because as a cancer survivor, the last thing you want is more appointments. And if you are dehydrated, you may go in for like IV hydration, and now you have more appointments. So, you know, flavoring your liquids, and if you need room temperature, we're gonna do room temperature and we're not gonna, you know, be ashamed of that and we're gonna be flexible.

SPEAKER_02 11:49

Okay, Nicole, you're the expert. How do you build a realistic nutritional plan after diagnosis? And when should I schedule the time with you? In other words, when should you start this nutritional um program?

SPEAKER_01 12:03

Yeah. So you would work with me. I have a couple different ways you can work with me, and you absolutely can reach out to me on social media or my website is the oncology dietitian.com. You would want to work with me right away with that diagnosis because what happens is you're newly diagnosed, and 10 out of 10 times you're gonna go search on Google and the how to eat. And Google is gonna take you down the wrong path, and you're gonna end up feeling you're gonna take out foods, feel frozen, feel overwhelmed, or honestly just waste time. Um, and as you know, too, like when you get an expert in a field, they're gonna take care of that for you. So now you can focus on your family, your treatments, and I help you with good nutrition. What's really important is actually, even specifically for lung cancer, this is evidence-based and shown in human studies, when they go into treatments well-nourished, they actually perform better throughout treatment. So we do not want to wait until we have so many side effects that we lose so much weight that now we're weak. We want to be ahead of it and having you nourish really well. So, with the diagnosis, you reach out to me, we'll get you inside the program that works for you. We'll make sure that you don't have any fears around food, any misinformation, and a very specific plan for you. And everyone could be a little bit different. Maybe you have weight loss, maybe you have certain micronutrient deficiencies, um, maybe you have taste changes already. And we would address those right away so that we don't get to that point where you're really, you know, lose a lot of weight. And the meal plan I'm gonna be putting you on, it's not really a meal plan. I guess the way that you'll be eating is gonna be adding back in more foods that you love that work around your treatment plan and side effects.

Hydration Fixes And Calorie-Dense Options

SPEAKER_01 13:30

And that's how it's always a little bit unique with everybody. But like, for example, maybe somebody can't tolerate, you know, vegetables, we're gonna focus more on fruit, or somebody can't tolerate red meat, we're gonna focus more on chicken. You know, maybe they don't like fish at all, or they want to go vegan. Like, there's so much flexibility in food options so you don't become malnourished, and that's gonna make or bake your treatments, and that starts right when you get diagnosed. So I would reach out to me right away and we'll just have a conversation and figure out what's best.

SPEAKER_02 13:56

You have it it are there two books? You have two books, right? So I have two books. You have a book called Sugar Does Not Feed Cancer, and then you have uh a cookbook.

unknown 14:09

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

I have a cookbook too, yeah. So two. So you can find them on Amazon. Um, yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 14:15

No, I mean I I'm excited about the cookbook. I I you know I've not had cancer. I I did have uh a situation where they removed a a very large tumor and they you know I don't really know what kind of tumor it was, honestly. I mean, I know we're about scary and that's big. Kind of scary. It was pretty big. It was almost big. Um and so um they said, you know, there is that chance that if it comes back, it could come back cancerous. So I'm just kind of, you know, when I read, you know, what you had said, I I mean I I have the books coming, so I'm excited about that. I thought you'll love them. I'm gonna look at, yeah, I'm gonna look at that cookbook and start, you know, trying to cook things that that'll be uh that will work for me. That's why I was saying I I started, you know, this one diet and the food was just horrible. I I was hungry.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

You don't want that. Don't do that. Yeah. Well, and you know what's crazy is it's set up that way. That's the really thing about trends. These 1600 calorie diets, 1400, that's not how we're no. We need to be, I mean, honestly, 2000 calories a day is not that much. It's really about getting more active. And then also, um, they set it up to where you fail or they feel like you're failing, right? But they set it up to it's impossible. So then you blame yourself. Well, I couldn't do XYZ diet, and we so I'm the failure. You're not the failure. You just need to work with someone like me as a registered dietitian that actually builds a sustainable plant. Like I have clients who've lost 50 pounds, kept it off for years, they ate all the foods they love, they had dessert every day. You know what I mean? It's it's just it's with weight loss, it's a calorie deficit that you you that you can manage. But yeah, um, they set it up that way.

SPEAKER_02 15:58

You you look up one thing and you're getting all kinds of things sent to your you know, text message or emails or whatever, and and you look at it, you're just um yeah, I'm um um so overwhelming. I wanted to at this point take a a little break. And then we'll uh just just a few minutes. I want to stop and then so that we could uh segue into where I can break it off here and then we can use the other half and talk again.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

So um yeah, and then just I didn't mention the the other one is the F Cancer cookbook. So just if we could mention the titles. Um and then the sugar does not feed cancer is a large book and actually also has recipes. So even though the other one's a cookbook, the sugar does not feed cancer also includes 50 uh different recipes. Yeah, so it's

Build A Plan Right After Diagnosis

SPEAKER_01 16:50

really like a it's everything. The sugar does not feed cancer is 450 pages. So that book's like my favorite and I recommend it.

SPEAKER_02 16:56

Yeah, I'm I'm excited. I'm I was very disappointed, and I've I'm still waiting on the book to show up, and I wanted to actually show it. Um and I do you have it by chance with you or no? Yeah, yeah, I can go grab it. Nicole, we talked about how important nutrition is during cancer treatment. We also discussed when you should start your nutritional diet. There is also a mention of supplements. Can we discuss this? I'm a really big fan of supplements.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

Okay, so if you're a big fan of supplements, you may not like my response. That's okay. I want to hear it. But let's talk about, you know, I'm all about evidence-based, right? So I'm all about the facts, right? You don't want my opinion, you want my, you know, my feelings. We want the facts so cancer survivors or individuals can reduce risk of cancer. So we'll get into it. So it's actually official gold recommendation from the World Cancer Research Fund, American Institute for Cancer Research, do not use supplements to reduce cancer risk. So what that means is that if someone's like, hey, you need to buy this supplement and that supplement in the supplement stores and you're like, or like people I'll see in Facebook groups, they'll list off like this 80 regimen supplement thing. Do not do that because that can actually increase your risk of cancer. So high dose supplements, like over 200% daily value, not recommended by a doctor, actually become free radicals. Okay. And everyone's like, oh, I can take as much as I want. I'm just gonna pee it out. Well, no, your liver, your organs have to process everything they eat. So, like, you know, medicine, food, and supplements. So you only want to take supplements if you have a true deficiency that you can't improve with food. They won't, like, for example, well, and the trends, right? So right now there's a big turmeric supplement trend. I had a client who their ALT, AST, he was during chemo, out of whack. We removed the turmeric supplement. It was fine. So, or his liver, uh, his liver levels went back to within normal limits. So we don't want to supplement unless we have a true deficiency. And that may be, maybe low vitamin D or calcium. That's really common for my female cancer survivors, okay? Or maybe iron um during cancer treatment, things like that, mag, foss, potassium, these things can go low. We try to get it up with food. And if we can't, yes, the supplement will absolutely help. Um, but beyond that, do not take supplements. Get your annual so you can see your lab levels. If you're in cancer treatment, you're gonna be getting them regularly. Don't supplement. It's just more work for your liver. It's it's just expensive, like how I always say it's like really expensive urine, right? You you really want to be focusing on fiber, taking out alcohol, more movement, things that may not like you feel like you're doing a lot when you're on these supplement regimens or buying supplements, and the marketing is really beautiful, but they are not selling you the facts. And the fact is you don't need supplements unless you have a deficiency. So my recommendation is none.

SPEAKER_02 19:36

Most of the time it's it's not uh someone that you should be listening to anyway, half the time. So I understand that. I'm not, I mean, I'm I'm big into supplements, but I I don't take a lot. I don't have this huge bag of supplements that I carry every day and and drink. Yeah, good, good, good. But no, I'm glad no, it's good to hear, you know, some of the things that are not, you know, I mean, they're maybe for someone, but

Supplements What The Evidence Says

SPEAKER_02 20:00

not for everyone. Um but I need to think of it as being free radicals and the amount of stress that you put on your liver. Correct. So um, can you tell me why it's important to maintain, and we talked a little bit about weight and muscle mass. Why is it important?

SPEAKER_01 20:17

Yeah, so especially for someone who's diagnosed with cancer. So unfortunately, when we look at the biology of a somebody who is with cancer, if they have any weight loss, it's going to be some muscle tissue. The weight loss of a cancer survivor is um is not just fat tissue like you know, an individual who doesn't have cancer. So that's number one, we want to maintain weight during cancer treatments. And I understand that weight can go up and weight can go down for cancer survivors. And again, that's where I come in as your cancer dietitian to help you maintain. Maintaining weight is the goal, all right? When we lose that muscle mass, we get that fatigue, that weakness. And when we have that weakness, we're moving less, which isn't helping our circulation, which is not helping our bone health. I mean, it's really a domino effect, right? So you do not have to do two hours in the gym every day. Um, but movement is gonna be important for cancer survivors just to maintain that muscle mass. And it can be flexible. And I have my clients come to me, they're not moving at all, and we take small steps. And I think that's another thing society does that's wrong for any individual's cancer survivors. They want you out the gate doing all the things. Like you want to build muscle, okay. Two hours every day at the gym, full max. That's not it. We're talking about walking, dumbbells, body weight, resistance, training, things like that to preserve muscle mass. Preserving muscle mass will come through movement, it will come from enough calories, it will come from protein, and you may still have some muscle loss because cancer is, you know, it's a frustrating beast, you know, and it's it's it's doing things to your body. But you can have had clients even build muscle during chemo. So enough calories, enough protein, and movement will preserve and and nutrition is so important to preserve that and movement that they can manage and is acceptable for them. And if you've never Moved or um, and the mental part can be hard because someone may have been really strong lifting a lot, diagnosed with cancer. Now they're not strong, and it's mentally challenging to go back to weightlifting at all because they're like, Well, I'm really not who I was before, but I don't want you to give up. We can start small and we can absolutely build you back to there. I've had clients feel better and stronger once treatments end as we build them back in my coaching programs and even before cancer. So it is possible.

SPEAKER_02 22:26

Oh wow. I didn't, I but that's true, you know, especially when you're used to uh being pretty busy and and then now you can't, or you know, your body doesn't work with you on that.

SPEAKER_01 22:37

Yeah, there's some mental challenges there. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:40

There there are there are some cancer nutritional myths. Can you tell me, give me a few?

SPEAKER_01 22:46

Yeah, of course. I'll give you like my top favorites. Well, number one is sugar feeds cancer. You're gonna hear that forever and always. That's why I titled one of my books, Sugar Does Not Feed Cancer, because that insinuates that um, whoa, okay, well, let's not starve the cancer, let's remove all the sugar. And now we have cancer survivors who are not having birthday cake at their child's birthday party. They're cutting out car carbs, which they absolutely need, especially because 50% of your caloric needs need to be from carbohydrates to thrive, just great. And then also to support brain health. And um, a lot of brain fog is a big issue for cancer survivors. So, sugar does not feed cancer, it truly doesn't. So, cancer is highly complex. I recommend that you grab my book. The first chapter is all about cancer metabolism. So, cancer will uptake carbs, protein, and fat. It's gonna uptake nutrients from your body. We can't control that, we cannot manipulate that, we cannot stop that. The treatments are the only thing that can stop the cancer, which they're gonna be attending and they're gonna attend really well with good nutrition. You have to think about yes, the cancer is uptake in nutrients. We can't control that. That's why we have these treatments. But what we can do is eat really well to nourish our healthy cells so we're strong to attend those treatments to get the things strong. Yeah. So that's number one. Yeah. So when people say sugar bees cancer, be like, no, it doesn't. Um, I think number two is there's just a lot of fear around soy. Uh, soy having hormones and um soy causing breast cancer, and men not wanting to have soy because they think have hormones, that's not true at all. So, soy, uh flaxseed, a lot of people think there's estrogen, and then really they think there's estrogen in a lot of foods, and there's there's zero. So, anyone with like hormone-sensitive cancers or breast cancer, soy is a lean protein, it's um, it's a vegetarian protein, you know, it's a great food to add back in, whether it's soy drink or um, you know, any type of you know, soy food is going to be good. And then I think another one is it's it's like a myth, also something that people don't understand is that alcohol

Protecting Muscle With Food And Movement

SPEAKER_01 24:40

does increase risk of seven different cancers. And that includes red wine. So a lot of people will say, well, red wine is heart healthy or it has antioxidants because of grapes, and that's not true that it does increase risk of seven different cancers. So, you know, let's find other ways, you know, than drinking because that can increase risk. And people just may not know about it because in society it's really glorified in a lot of different ways. Um, so it's not even brought up. People know about smoking, you know, that increases cancer risk, but alcohol actually does, and we want to remove that. And we can replace it with things like diet sodas, which do not increase cancer risk. You'll see aspartame, and people will get so worried, but they don't realize aspartame's been studied for over four decades. It's been reaffirmed for the safe, you know, the upper tolerable limit is really, really high. You can have diet sodas throughout the day and you're completely fine, and that's a zero calorie beverage that you can replace with alcohol. And people will say diet sodas are causing cancer and alcohol's not, but they actually have it, they have it switched. Um, another one I see pretty common is like following alkaline diet. They're trying to create a different pH within their bodies to control the growth or the environment of our bodies for cancer, but that's a huge myth. So our lungs and our kidneys really regulate our blood pH, and we can't change that. We wouldn't want to change that. So there is no change in the pH of our body. So if anyone's like alkaline, alkali is acid pH, whatever, just scoot along really fast because we cannot change our blood pH, and we would never want to. We would be in the hospital if we did that.

SPEAKER_02 26:08

Wow. Okay. So what can you tell me about my diet that can reduce cancer risk? Because you've been talking about reducing cancer risk. I mean, this is just, you know, um uh uh on, you know, first, you know, uh maintaining a healthy diet, but you know, there's also the the you know um you know, having a diet that can reduce cancer risk.

SPEAKER_01 26:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:36

So heck yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:37

Well, good news. It's a lot simpler than you think. So I'm gonna simplify it. I'm gonna tell you everything you need to do right now. Now, yes, coaching with me is gonna help you perfect all of this in a way that feels good to you, but this is just the quick and dirty. You want to reduce risk of cancer. We already talked about reducing body fat tissue to reduce risk of 13 different cancers. That's really gonna come from all these recommendations I'm gonna mention. Also, I want to give everyone, if anyone has weight loss goals, some encouragement. Did you know, um, and they had they published some studies on this in recent years, that any amount of weight loss will help you to reduce your risk of cancer. So let's say you have a goal of 10 pounds, 20 pounds, or whatever. If you have you lost three to five already, you are already reducing your risk of cancer. So that's number one about weight loss, okay? So building out that uh, you know, cancer prevention plate is you don't have to go vegan or vegetarian. Okay. The only foods you need to take out that do increase cancer risk are alcohol and processed meats. Processed meats are your deli meats, your bacon, your sausages, those pre-cooked meats at the store. And they only increase a colorectal cancer. So it's not going to affect other cancers. So processed meats and alcohol is out, and that means everything else is available to you. Now, when you go for yeah, and that's amazing. So I did not say that red food dyes and diet sodas and seed oils, plant oils, and bread and sugar increases cancer rate because it really doesn't, or dairy. Those that people always say those things increase cancer risk, they don't. So now you're like, okay, only two. I could do everything else. How do I build that plate, Nicole? So two-thirds of it should be those plant foods, and that includes grains. So you got your all your grains, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, fruits, and veggies. So so more plant focused. And a lot of times, I mean, if you're listening to this podcast, I mean, you can probably recall a meal you had, you had zero fiber in there, right? Zero. So you want to have more plant foods to reach 30 grams of fiber a day. That's gonna help you

Cancer Myths And A Simple Prevention Plate

SPEAKER_01 28:30

reduce risk of breast and colon cancer. Then the other one third of your plate is gonna be those fats. And you can have butter, you can have oils and things like that. And you can have meats, red meats, you can have up to 18 ounces a week, chicken, turkey, fish, those are all gonna be great. You can have dairy, have lean dairy, like 2%, and you can also have some desserts. I usually recommend to all my clients around 200 calories a day of some type of like sugary food. Um, it's not, it's not that it's high in nutrition, you know, but it's that it's a part of life. It's good. Dessert is part of life.

SPEAKER_02 29:00

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 29:00

When you restrict, you want it more. Um, so that's how I build your plates. Aim for 150 minutes of exercise a week and just any type of movement. That's 30 minutes a day, five days a week, removing the alcohol and the tobacco, and then also not underestimating sleep. A sleep is gonna really help to balance your ghrelin and leptin, which is your hunger satiety hormones, which is gonna make a huge impact to your choices all day. Um, don't supplement. We talked about that unless your doctor prescribes it. And uh just try to limit those really sugary beverages, um, not because they are going to feed cancer, but when we get like the 800 calorie Starbucks, or we have regular sodas all day, and now we're having 600 calories from regular sodas, it could just create eight a calorie surplus that can increase our body weight. So that's the only thing. And these are the gold standard recommendations from the Royal Cancer Research Fund. But that is really it, and that's where I would get started. And I think it's just unlearning the misinformation out there and replacing it with these simple habits, more plant foods, reducing the alcohol, moving more. It's simplistic, but it's actually truly what's gonna have you feel your best and reduce risk of cancer.

SPEAKER_02 30:05

Yeah. So can you give me one of your most popular? And it's just the name or the title. Um can you give me uh or tell me which recipe is the most popular with your clients? Yes. Oh, my burial.

SPEAKER_01 30:19

It's the best. So it's actually gonna be in both of my books. Um Third is not Fee Cancer and the F Cancer cookbook. So it's my variable, it's a breakfast. So I choose like you can choose like a pancake mix or like a protein muffin mix. You put it in a bowl, and I do, I do so much berries. Um, my family always teases me. They're like, Do you want anything else with those berries? I'll do frozen raspberries and yeah. And I'm like, I don't. I do a full cup of frozen raspberries and a half cup of uh frozen blueberries. I microwave it a little bit so it kind of um melts down a little bit, and then I mix in the pancake or muffin mix with that, and then I put it back in the microwave. It'll be about three minutes, completely cooked through. So it's all this fiber. It smells like dessert, but it's just fruit and muffin mix. And then I put Greek yogurt on top of that. So I'll do probably about a half a cup of Greek yogurt. So you have tons of protein, tons of fiber, simplistic, frozen fruits and veggies. Doesn't take much time. Doesn't take much time, so filling. Um, if you want to even go more with a protein, you could put in some vanilla protein milk in there or an egg if you want. Um, and you don't have to buy organic. That's another big myth I didn't mention. Organics are not superior, they're not nutrient different, just buy conventional. Yeah. Yeah. And um, that's my favorite recipe, and everyone loves it, and it's so easy. And it's low in calories too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:39

Yes, that's awesome. So can you can you show me your books? You have two books. Yes, I do. One of them has Guide, which is that one, which is Sugar Does Not Feed Cancer. And but you said there's also some recipes in it, um, which I'm hoping that I'll get soon. And then your other one is a cookbook. So it has some of the same recipes, um, but it's a little more extensive on the recipes uh that that you can follow. Now, I I'm gonna say this because I'm excited and I don't have cancer, but I'm really excited of maybe trying some of your recipes. And um because I, you know, it it's um you know, we're all in this uh let me lose weight game. And I and when I had surgery for the for the cysts that I had, I just really put on a lot of weight. And so it's been a struggle for me, and that's why I had mentioned that um uh you know, one of the diets that I tried was oof, it was it was the the taste. This is just this really is bad. And so you can't maintain that. Stay in it, but I I'm really excited about getting your book and trying out some of your recipes. And um if any anyone has any questions, um your website is what again?

SPEAKER_01 33:03

It's the oncology dietitian.com. And you just go to contact and fill out the form. I get those emails straight to my inbox so you'll talk directly to me. And we'll make sure you're successful with your goals. All my clients do well, 100% of them have more clarity and relief after just one call with me. The biggest thing is that I want to be your last dietitian, meaning you will graduate and go on and live your life. And nutrition won't be the sole focus because it shouldn't be. It should be about you living your best life, achieving your goals, should not be about obsessing about nutrition.

SPEAKER_02 33:34

You know, and I think I think that you know, referrals are are amazing, you know. Once someone has been through or has been with someone that that really taught them how to live a good life, you're gonna refer your friends or anyone else that are going through um the same situation, uh, cancer, you know, uh, or you know, survival of cancer or whatever it may be. I'm excited. Um, I was so excited to uh when I talk to you about doing this, uh, because I really think that there's there's certain things that are super important for anyone, but especially for those going through cancer. Um, and I think that they're so um overwhelmed with their actual diagnosis that they don't think about, okay, now how am I supposed to be eating? And like you said, they go online and they do whatever and it doesn't really work and they give up and um they're struggling through their you know survival. Um and so I'm I'm excited about that. I I um if if anyone again um wants to uh talk to Nicole, uh Nicole Andrews, um, and give me your website one more time.

SPEAKER_01 34:45

Yeah, it's the oncology dietitian.com. And if you're on social media, make sure you follow me. It's at oncology.nutrition.rd. So those are the two best places um to check me out and just contact me and we'll have a conversation. No one should be struggling through treatments, and you'll feel stronger, more like yourself when you have the right nutrition. And we do that together in a simple way. Yes, awesome.

SPEAKER_02 35:07

Nicole, thank you so much. I still appreciate your time. I know that you're a pretty busy person, so I don't want to keep you anymore than I promise not to keep you. But um I'm well thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_01 35:18

It's my pleasure. Yeah. Yeah, I would love that too.

SPEAKER_02 35:21

Yes, yes, yes, absolutely. Thank you so much, and and uh you have an amazing day today. Thank you so much. Yes, take care.

unknown 35:29

Bye.

SPEAKER_00 35:31

Thank you for listening to Misto, the Misto Thelioma podcast. For more information, resources, and support, visit our sponsors, Danziger and Dayano, at dandel.com.