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It’s never too late to eat the healthy way. Everyone, including the breast cancer patients and survivors, can gain benefits from consuming the right kind of diet for every meal time.
Breast cancer patients experience a session of chemotherapy once a week or for every three weeks. Before that, patients also endure various forms of tests and treatments such as surgery, hormone therapy, and radiation or medical imaging procedures. These treatments can affect the body tissues as a form of reaction towards them. Thus, cancer patients are most likely to receive extra nutrients that can regenerate the damaged tissues.
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Nutritionists have studied the benefits of soybeans, carotenoids found in various fruits, and dietary fats to all cancer patients and survivors. These nutrients help the patient to decrease the risk of recurring cancer cells, improve chances of recovery, and prolong life.
Dietary Pattern for Obese Patients
Obesity or gaining too much weight can lower the chance of survival against cancer. You have to monitor your body mass index (BMI) and improve your eating habit to reduce your weight and make a possible recovery. Also, avoid high-cholesterol food and have your daily exercise routine. Here’s how to prepare a complete dietary pattern for every meal time.
BREAKFAST
✔ Have at least 2 ½ cups of fruits and vegetables.
✔ Choose 100% whole-grain bread or cereals.
✔ Include good fats found in olive oil or nuts.
✔ Take only juices made from real fresh fruits.
✔ Have a separate 8-ounce glass of warm water.
LUNCH
✔ Eat either chicken, fish, or soy foods such as tofu as a substitute for fatty meat products.
✔ Have a medium-sized bowl of green leafy vegetable salad topped with avocado and legumes.
✔ Take juices or milkshakes made from fresh fruits and vegetable combinations.
✔ Have another separate 8-ounce glass of warm water.
DINNER
✔ Have a medium-sized bowl of veggie soup.
✔ Eat at least 4 ounces of roasted chicken or salmon.
✔ Include creamy fresh fruit salad.
✔ Have a glass of soymilk and a separate 8-ounce glass of warm water.
Create Your Healthy Plate
For patients with a normal body mass index, this is how your plate should look like.
Fill the half of your plate with lots of green leafy vegetables including steamed carrots, onions, and string beans. Reserve one-quarter part for meat with rich proteins and good fats such as palm-sized fish, beef, chicken, or at least two boiled eggs. And fill the rest of the plate with a starch like pure brown rice grains, whole-wheat bread, kidney beans, or legumes. Take this healthy plate for your daily meal routine starting today.
Learn the Serving Size Guide
To avoid too much food consumption, you must learn how to measure the amount of each serving as much as possible. You don’t have to provide all types of measuring equipment after reading the serving size guide below.
FOOD | SERVING SIZE | CALORIES / AMOUNT |
Meat | Not more than the size of a playing card | 127-230 cal. / 3 oz. |
Pasta | Not more than the size of a baseball | 220 cal. / 1 cup |
Butter or Margarine | Not more than the size of dice | 34 cal. / 1 tsp. |
Fruit | Not more than the size of a tennis ball | 24-42 cal. / ½ cup |
Vegetables | Not more than the size of a baseball | 7-30 cal. / 1 cup |
Nuts | Not more than the size of a fresh egg | 110-200 cal. / ¼ cup |
Rice or Cereal | Not more than the size of a clenched fist | 120-160 cal. / ¾ cup |
Cheese | Not more than the size of four (4) dice | 120-170 cal. / 1.5 oz. |
Peanut Butter | Not more than the size of a golf ball | 70-190 cal. / 2 tbsp. |
Author: Sarah Contreras
Sarah is a full-time blogger of health and lifestyle development. She also works as a web content contributor for a digital marketing firm. What motivates Sarah to keep writing is her passion of providing information to all readers out there.