When you are facing a breast cancer diagnosis, so much energy and focus is poured into treatments, appointments and coping with the immediate challenges of cancer. But there are certain pillars which can be overlooked, that can help with the foundations of our health. Nutrition fuels the body to heal. Sleep is a bodies repair mechanism and movement is there for strength and vitality. Emotional wellbeing supports our resilience and ability to face each day. By strengthening these pillars we give ourselves the best chance of not just surviving, but thriving and building a stronger and healthier foundation for the future.

Nutrition can be confusing, whether you have cancer or not. There are so many different diets and if you follow social media or read the newspapers (particularly the tabloids!) there is so much distortion and misrepresentation of the facts. And of course information can change from one month to the next and often there is a lot of fear mongering in the media about food.

So it can be tricky to know what to eat, particularly if you are focussed on supporting your health and overall wellbeing. What is important to note is that there is no one perfect diet. Our lifestyles, our genes and our environment make us all very individual and as such our food needs to be individualised – there is no one size fits all. Whilst there are things you want to be considering eating more or less of, there is no one perfect way of eating if you have breast cancer or if you are trying to avoid breast cancer.

Feeding yourself properly is about self care. It does take some planning and you have to put some thought into it, but once you get into a rhythm and make some changes, include some new foods, perhaps even get friends or family to make the odd meal for you, this can all really help get some variety into your diet.

Probably one of the most important things to remember is to eat real food. This might sound simplistic but if you are regularly having to read a label, then you are probably focussing on the wrong kinds of foods. Humans are creatures of habit and that relates to food as well, so we often buy the same foods every week and make the same meals. But it is important to challenge yourself with a bit of variety. The other thing to remember is you don’t have to eat perfectly all of the time. You are aiming for progress and not perfection.

Generally most people seem to now be aware that eating lots of sugary foods is not a good idea. Perhaps less well known is that we should all be eating high carbohydrate foods in moderation. So for instance, a bowl of porridge in the morning, a sandwich for lunch and pasta for dinner would be considered a high carbohydrate diet. Eating in this way also means you are filling up on one type of food and missing the opportunity to nourish your body with other food types.

Fibre is another crucial aspect of nutrition not just for breast cancer but for most people as the standard diet in the UK is low in fibre. Fibre helps reduce inflammation and as cancer is an inflammatory condition, we should certainly be concentrating on our fibre intake daily. Low fibre diets are linked to multiple chronic health conditions, not just cancer so this is really something everyone should be considering when looking at their nutrition. We need 30g a day minimum of fibre as adults. Fibre mostly comes in the form of plants: fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains and it is recommended that we eat as many different types as possible as fibre feeds and supports our gut microbiome which we need to try and keep diverse also. You might be aware that 70% of our immune system resides in the gut, so it is crucial to support our gut health.  Fibre also helps the reabsorption of oestrogen – again important in the field of breast cancer. It keeps our bowels regular and can help manage weight, manage blood sugar levels and reduce cholesterol.  

But of course with a cancer diagnosis we often don’t feel like cooking, if feeling very unwell or fatigued. Cooking in bulk and freezing when you are well enough is always recommended for these times. Or even good quality meal delivery boxes can be beneficial also. Slow cookers are often really helpful also, as it allows us to throw a lot of healthy ingredients in the morning and by dinner we should have a healthy meal with very little effort. Smoothies often get a lot of bad attention but in reality when they are done well, they can be another easy way to get fibre and goodness into our diets. They don’t have to be just fruit based we can include lots of nutritious ingredients such as avocados, nuts and seeds, frozen vegetables such as cauliflower or spinach. You can essentially put anything into a smoothie as long as it’s palatable, but try to avoid fruit smoothies as they tend to be too high in sugar.

When looking at supporting our bodies, we also need to turn some attention to supporting our minds. There is a great book called The Cancer Whisperer which says “A cancer diagnosis is a challenge for the mind, the body, the heart and the spirit.” Cancer is by no means just a physical challenge although it often treated as such. Breast cancer can be traumatic – not just the initial trauma of diagnosis, but the physical challenges to the different treatments which are often traumatic as well. And for some, when the treatments come to an end this can be a difficult time too, as they feel vulnerable and anxious about life without the medical interventions. So the trauma and the challenges are continuous and realising this and supporting our minds as well as our bodies is just as important. Breathwork, mindfulness and meditation can be so helpful following a breast cancer diagnosis, all of which are ways of training the body and the mind regularly to deal with stressful situations. There are online tutorials especially for some very helpful simple breathing exercises which can have a big impact, but you might also want to consider seeing a professional especially if you have experienced some trauma.

Sleep is another overlooked part of wellness that we take for granted but it can have such a big impact on our wellbeing. Sleep issues are very nuanced and can be hard to make general recommendations but looking at your nightly routine before you go to bed can be really helpful in working out what might be influencing a bad nights sleep.

Lastly, exercise is another crucial area of wellness for anyone with cancer. Exercise doesn’t need to mean going to the gym but finding some sort of movement that you enjoy: yoga, dancing, swimming, cycling, something that can be done regularly. There are so many places outside the gym that people can find ways to exercise: community groups, specialised classes for people living with cancer or even your living room! Covid taught us that we can go online to exercise including youtube classes and there are many apps to download. Exercise has been shown to reduce both the risk of cancer and reoccurrence, strengthen the immune system, reduce stress, boost mood, regulate body weight and blood sugars, improve sleep, bone health and heart health. Almost sounds too good to be true! 

I hope you have found this blog helpful – remember there are lots of way to support breast cancer following a diagnosis with the integrative medicine toolbox. For more information on seeing Lillian or any of the professionals in Integrative Healthcare please see ‘wellbeing’ on our website or email enquiries@ncim.org.uk for more information.