Nutrition is an important part of your care. Getting the right nutrition can help you feel better and have more strength. However, pancreatic cancer and its treatment may make it hard for you to digest food and to maintain your weight. You may not feel like eating for a variety of reasons, such as feeling tired or feeling full soon after eating.
You may find it helpful to work with a dietitian. A dietitian can help you choose foods and nutrition products that will meet your needs and can make you feel more comfortable with eating. Your health care team will check you for weight loss and ask whether you are having problems with nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. If your nutrition problems do not get better quickly enough, you may be offered another way of getting nutrition, such as a feeding tube.
Nutrition after Surgery
After surgery, your health care team will check you for problems with digestion or with your blood sugar level, and they will help you manage such changes. If you have problems with digestion, you may need to take a supplement to replace the digestive enzymes that are normally made by the pancreas. You may also need to take minerals and vitamins. If you have problems with the sugar level in your blood, you may need to take medicine to control blood sugar.
Cooking Healthy
There are many dietary and eating challenges that the pancreatic cancer patient may experience. Learning to cook the most nutritious meals is important for every step of the way – before, during and after treatment. For instance, there are many herbs and spices that, when added to recipes, enhance the flavor and are known to stimulate the immune system. Once you know which recipes are the most healthful, it’s important to know the easiest way to create these meals.
Cooking Healthy with Dr. Li is a video of a ‘hands on’ cooking class for patients and caregivers which contains important nutritional information as well as cooking tips and recipes.
Cook For Your Life
The Cook for Your Life website is uniquely tailored to people living with cancer and their specific nutritional needs. Their mission is to teach cancer patients, caregivers and survivors how to live better, healthier lives through cooking. With a vast array of recipes sorted by dietary needs, cooking videos, quick tips and inspiring stories, this resource empowers all those touched by cancer to thrive. Cook for Your Life is helping the cancer community improve their diet for better overall health outcomes.