Nutrition after therapy: How breast cancer patients can create a prevention diet

**A continuation of our series on breast cancer and nutrition.

Creating a prevention diet is an important part of your transition from breast cancer treatment to an after-therapy life, says Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center nutritionist Mary Eve Brown.  She notes five hallmarks of a smart prevention diet: 

• Unprocessed, plant-based foods
• High-fiber foods with whole grains, like brown rice and quinoa
• Foods low in saturated fat, since saturated fat can be a trigger for some tumors
• Plenty of vegetables, in an array of colors, aiming for 2 cups per day
• Mindful amounts and sources of animal protein, using the leanest cuts possible with the fat trimmed, and avoiding processed meats. Prefer white meat poultry or fish to red meat, and make sure your portion looks about the size of a deck of cards.

What does that look like on a plate? Brown suggests these menu items for your meals throughout a typical day:

• At breakfast, reach for steel-cut oatmeal for fiber, with dried cranberries for fruit and fiber, walnuts for a healthy fat, and skim milk for a low-fat start to the day.
• At lunch, fortify yourself with lean protein, like a tuna fish salad on a 100% whole wheat roll, accompanied by fruits and vegetables like lettuce, tomato, and fresh strawberries. Finish with a non-fat yogurt, and have some water to stay hydrated.
• At dinner, try a plant-based protein like bean chili, accompanied by cornbread for fiber, a spinach salad loaded with colorful vegetables with homemade vinaigrette, and hot green tea. You’ll get more phytochemicals if you brew loose green tea rather than the kind that comes in tea bags. Having some vegetarian meals during the week helps to cut down on the amount of animal protein you’re consuming.

You can find out more about nutrition and your breast cancer journey in Brown’s recent free webinar, What’s Food Got to Do With It? Eating Well Before, During and After Treatment.

Videos from Mary Eve Brown:
Colon Cancer and Nutrition

Pancreatic Cancer and Nutrition