Cancer, Your Body and Your Diet: A Vital Journey
by Dr Arati Bhatia (Author)
An essential guide for cancer patients and caregivers about what to eat, when and why.
• Can our diet have an impact on the prevention of cancer?
• What kind of foods should we eat if we are undergoing surgery, chemotherapy or radiation?
• What kind of foods should we cut out to avoid and recover from cancer?
In Cancer, Your Body and Your Diet, Dr Arati Bhatia breaks down the latest research, and uses her own clinical and personal experiences to answer these, among other, pressing questions about cancer. She explains the hows and whys of the cancer cell cycle, what to do after being diagnosed with cancer, and the crucial role that food plays in the prevention and treatment of all types of cancers.
The author, a medical doctor, is herself a cancer survivor and later, was her husband’s primary caregiver in his own fight against cancer. Drawing on these experiences, she takes readers through every stage, from diagnosis to therapy (chemo, surgery or radiation) to palliative care, with a focus on the quality of a cancer patient’s life. She applies her considerable medical training and experience to advise cancer patients, their relatives and caregivers, as well as the general health-conscious public who want to avoid cancer.
Practical, informative and complete with diet advice and eating schedules, this is an accessible and immensely useful handbook for fighting against cancer and leading a healthier, fuller life.
About the Author
Dr Arati Bhatia has spent forty years in diagnostics pathology, twenty-two of them as a professor at the University College of Medical Sciences, Delhi University. She obtained her MBBS from Amritsar Medical College in 1971 and a MD Pathology from AIIMS in 1976. She has also seen the medical profession from the other side as a caregiver and cancer survivor.
Cancer, Your Body and Your Diet: A Vital Journey
Dr Arati Bhatia
I write this from an unusual vantage point. First, from the perspective of an academician—being a pathologist, I studied, taught and diagnosed cancer for forty years, and have the knowledge to comprehend the changes in the body which give rise to cancer. Second, I was diagnosed with cancer in December 2008 and received the conventional treatment that was recommended at the time, including surgery, chemotherapy and radiation; thus I write from first-hand experience of the disease. Third, I write from the point of view of a counsellor—to the many patients I diagnosed, and to the friends who came seeking help because of my medical background. Finally, I have the viewpoint of a caregiver—my husband was diagnosed with stage IV prostate cancer in May 2010; his disease was already in the bones, the prognosis was grave, and chemotherapy of one kind or the other was the only treatment on offer.
Contents
Health Tips for Preventing and Living with Cancer
Introduction Part I: WHAT IS CANCER?
Facts About Cancer
The Diagnosis of Cancer
The Importance of Communication
Grappling with the Diagnosis
Strategies for Coping
Importance of Nutrition
Quality of Life
Why Did Cancer Develop?
The Development of Cancer
The Causes Cancer
Treatments
Surgery
Chemotherapy
Radiation Therapy
Drug Resistance
How it Occurs
Fighting Drug Resistance
Outcomes of Cancer Treatments
Part II: CANCER AND NUTRITION
The Relationship between Cancer and Food
We Are What We Eat
Variations in Diet
Can Affect Incidence and Types of Cancers
Diet-related Risk Factors in Cancer
Development Foods that Help Against Cancer
Obesity and Cancer
Recommendations for Cancer Prevention
Using the Beneficial Effects of Food in Cancer
Foods to Fight Depression
Foods to Boost the Immune System
Link between Immunity and Depression
Ketogenic Diet and Fasting
Methods of Cooking in the Fight Against Cancer
Recommendations on Carbohydrate, Protein and Fat intake
Recommendations: Corrective Dietary Measures
Three Essentials for Good Health
Surgery and Nutrition
Post-Surgery Diet and
Recovery Food for Proper
Functioning of the Immune System
Food for Mood Elevation
Suggested Menu to Promote Healing after Surgery
Chemotherapy and Nutrition
Combating the Side-effects of Chemotherapy
Foods to Be Avoided
Food Time-table for Chemotherapy
Radiation Therapy and Nutrition
Side-Effects of Radiation Therapy
Managing Palliative Care Palliative Care,
Pain and Nutrition
The Need for Palliative Care
Part III: A JOURNEY WITH CANCER
Diagnosis and Starting Treatment
Travelling Again
Maintaining Nutrition While Travelling
Dealing With Cancer Change in Medication
Alternative Remedies
Another Change In Medication
Caring for Others
Visiting a Cousin with Cancer
End of the Effectiveness of ADT Chemotherapy
Sub-Standard Hospital Food
Future Medication Options
Travelling to America for Experimental Treatment Ra-223
Treatment Subsequent Rounds of Treatment
Additional Drugs
Developing Drug Resistance
Restarting Chemotherapy
Rising PSA and Repeated Drug Resistance
The Sense of Touch
Ayurvedic Treatment
Importance of Touch
Continued Drug Resistance
Discussions about Life and Death
A Necessary Conversation
Euthanasia
Moving on to Palliative Care
Non-conventional Treatment
End of Chemotherapy
Shifting to Palliative Care
Haematuria and the Growing Tumour
The Last Mile
Friendships and Remembrances
The Isolation of Cancer
Arun Through his Friends’ Eyes
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
References
Further Reading Glossary
Living with cancer 
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