The authors also didn’t look into what could be driving such unhealthy diets.
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Zhang goes on to say, “The differences may be due to differences in cancer symptoms and treatment-associated side effects that can impact diet or psychosocial factors, such as anxiety and depression associated with different cancer diagnoses”.
The discoveries are unpleasant because nutritional consumption acts as a crucial role in keeping illnesses, and poor eating styles can worsen many constant diseases typical among menace survivors, pilot reasearch creator Dr. Fang Fang Zhang, a nutritional eating copywriter at Tufts University in Boston, said electronically.
High-fiber cereals, whole grains, bulgur, oats and brown rice are ideal for a healthy diet because they are rich in dietary fibers which facilitate digestion and maintain a healthy colon. In addition, the researchers looked at how often people ate poor dietary choices, like salt, refined grains, and empty calories.
Then, they ranked the diets, awarding a flawless score of 100 to diets that included all recommended servings of recommended foods without adding non-nutritious items to the mix. This was based on the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans which were issued by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services. The finding is alarming because, relatively, 48.3 percent of average Americans who never had cancer meet the same dietary needs. There were an estimated 13.7 million cancer survivors in the U.S.in 2012, they noted. Their diet was found to be quite poor for fiber and empty calories they take came from solid fats and added sugars.
The adherence to dietary guidelines did seem to improve with age.
Active smokers and survivors with lower education (highest level was high school) displayed worse diet quality and adherence. Survey results from over 1,500 adult cancer survivors in the US revealed that majority wouldn’t follow the national dietary guidelines. People who had breast cancer had the healthiest diet, while those who had lung cancer had the worst diet.
She emphasizes there is a tremendous need for cancer survivors to pay attention to what they are eating, and focus on what she calls “real foods” – fresh fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and healthy fats.
There are a few possible reasons for cancer survivors’ change in diets after they complete their treatments. Cancer survivors can face increased risks of serious complications and premature death from chronic health problems like cardiovascular disease and diabetes, previous research has found.
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“Cancer survivors have significantly elevated risks of premature mortality and serious morbidity caused by chronic health conditions”. The increasing number of cancer survivors has changed the past message to one that says, “the chances are you are going to survive”.
