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Eating
well with CLL
By
Yvonne M Jeanes BSc RD PhD
Senior Lecturer in Clinical Nutrition.
Eating
well includes practicing good food hygiene principles and eating and
drinking to maintain a healthy weight. A healthy diet provides adequate
energy and nutrients to maintain normal body functions, it contains a
variety of foods as no food contains all the essential nutrients the
body needs. A balance of nutrients is required
for health, we all need energy to carry out daily activities, however,
too much fat can lead to obesity and heart disease. Adequate intakes of
vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre are important for health.
For some
people, weight loss or eating problems may be present, for those who are
not eating enough, especially if they are losing weight, they will need
more energy and protein in their diet. If you are losing weight you may
need to eat differently to try and maintain your weight. Your doctor or
dietitian may recommend foods that you would normally think of as
unhealthy, but they have good reasons for doing this.
The Cancerbackup website has a very useful section which
shows you
how to get more energy and protein without necessarily having to eat
more food:
http://www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Resourcessupport/Eatingwell/Thebuilding-updiet/Everydayfoods
Healthy
eating
Healthy
eating principles for general health include;
1.
Base your
meals on starchy foods
Starchy foods such
as bread, cereals, rice, pasta and potatoes are a really important
part of a healthy diet. Try to choose wholegrain varieties whenever
you can.
2.
Eat lots of fruit and vegetables
Most people know we
should be eating more fruit and vegetables, but most of us still
aren’t eating the recommended at least 5 portions a day.
3.
Eat more
fish - including a portion of oily fish a week
Most of us should be eating more fish. It’s an excellent
source of protein and contains many vitamins and minerals.
4.
Cut down
on animal (saturated) fat and sugar
To stay healthy we
need some fat in our diets. What is important is the kind of fat we
are eating.
Try to cut down on food that is high in saturated fat and instead
have foods that are rich in unsaturated fat, such as vegetable oils
(including sunflower, rapeseed and olive oil), oily fish, avocados,
nuts and seeds.
5.
Try to
eat less salt – no more than 6g a day
Three-quarters of
the salt we eat comes from processed food, such as some breakfast
cereals, soups, sauces, bread, biscuits and ready meals.
6.
Get
active and try to be a healthy weight
It’s not a good
idea to be either underweight or overweight. Being overweight can
lead to health conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure
or diabetes. Being underweight could also affect your health and
ability to recover from infections.
7.
Drink
plenty of water
We should drink
about 6 to 8 glasses (1.2 litres) of water, or other fluids, every
day to stop us getting dehydrated.
8.
Don’t
skip breakfast
Breakfast helps to give us the energy we need to face the day, as
well as some of the vitamins and minerals we need for good health.
There has been a lot of publicity about alternative diets for treating
cancer over the past few years. As these diets have not yet been
properly studied, their real effect is uncertain. You may have heard
about diets that advise people with cancer not to eat meat or dairy
produce and suggest drinking large amounts of fruit or vegetable juice.
Some recommend taking large doses of vitamins.
Some people do get pleasure and satisfaction from preparing these
special diets, but others find them quite boring and even unpleasant to
eat and time-consuming to prepare. A further problem is that some of the
alternative diets are very expensive, and some can make people lose a
lot of weight (www.cancerbackup.org.uk)
Currently there isn’t sufficient evidence to show that micronutrient
supplements have any benefit in people with cancer. It should be borne
in mind that some high dose supplements may be harmful, sufficient
vitamins and minerals should come from the fruit, salad and vegetables
you are eating.
If you have any queries about alternative diets, or are thinking of
following one, you should get further advice from your doctor,
specialist nurse or dietitian.
Food hygiene
For good food hygiene in the home the food standards agency recommends
the following;
Cleaning:
You can prevent the spread of harmful bacteria by observing good
personal hygiene and keeping work surfaces and utensils clean. It’s
important to wash your hands regularly, especially:
w
after visiting the toilet
w
after handling raw foods
w
before touching ready-to-eat food
And remember:
w
don’t handle food when you are ill with stomach problems, such as
diarrhoea or vomiting
w
don’t touch food if you have sores or cuts, unless they are covered
with a waterproof dressing
Cooking:
Proper cooking kills food poisoning bacteria, it’s important to cook
food thoroughly, especially meat. Make sure that food is cooked
right through and piping hot in the middle.
When reheating food make sure it’s piping hot all the way through
and don’t reheat
it
more than once.
Chilling:
It’s very important to keep certain foods at the right temperature
to prevent bacteria growing or toxins forming.
Always look at the label on the packaging. If it says that the food
needs to be refrigerated, make sure you keep it in the fridge.
If food that needs to be chilled is left standing at room
temperature, food poisoning bacteria can grow and multiply to
dangerous levels.
Cooked leftovers should be cooled quickly and then put in the
fridge. Putting food in shallow containers and dividing it into
smaller amounts will speed up the cooling process.
Cross-contamination:
Cross-contamination is the transfer of bacteria from foods (usually
raw) to other foods. The bacteria can be transferred directly when
one food touches (or drips onto) another, or indirectly, for example
from hands, equipment, work surfaces, or knives and other utensils.
Cross-contamination is one of the major causes of food poisoning.
To prevent cross-contamination:
w
always wash your hands thoroughly after touching raw food
w
keep raw and ready-to-eat foods separate
w
store raw meat in sealable containers at the bottom of the
fridge, so it can’t drip onto other foods
w
use different chopping boards/work
surfaces for raw food and ready-to-eat food
w
clean knives and other utensils thoroughly after use with raw
food
In addition, you may wish to
Only eat out at or consume takeaways from reputable outlets.
Use
all foods within their use by/ best before dates.
Thoroughly wash all fruit and vegetables and salads to remove all
traces of soil, including ready-prepared salads, before eating.
Make sure eggs are thoroughly cooked until the whites and
yolks are solid, to prevent the risk of Salmonella food poisoning.
Avoid foods containing raw and undercooked eggs like homemade
mayonnaise, ice-cream, cheesecake or mousse.
Avoid eating all types of paté, including vegetable patés, and
mould-ripened soft cheese, like Brie and Camembert, and similar
blue-veined varieties, like Stilton
or Danish blue, because of the risk of Listeria infection. You can
eat hard cheeses such as cheddar and parmesan, and other cheeses
made from pasteurised milk such
as cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese and cheese spreads.
Eating
well with CLL (summary)
-
Eat
a well balanced diet with lots of fruit, vegetables and salad and
base your meals around starchy foods
-
Get
active and try to be a healthy weight
-
Try
to eat less animal (saturated) fat, sugar and salt, instead have
foods that are rich in unsaturated fat, such as vegetable oils
(including sunflower, rapeseed and olive oil), oily fish, avocados,
nuts and seeds.
-
Drink plenty of water, about 1.2 litre a day
-
Practice good food hygiene in the home (http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/publication/preventingfoodpoisoning0208.pdf)
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Ensure that chilled foods are kept refrigerated and used by the ‘use
by’ date.
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Keep your refrigerator below 4 deg C.
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