As you regain health, you may
Exercise for Patients and Survivors
L
ivestrong is a nonprofit organization that works with nearly 800 YMCAs around the country to
provide a free exercise program for cancer patients and survivors. The program consists of two classes per week, each lasting 75 to 90 minutes, for 12 weeks. It includes aerobic workouts, stretching, balance exercises, and strength training. Classes are led by instructors trained in cancer-related rehabilitation. For more information, visit
www.livestrong.org and click on “How We Help” in the top menu. Then choose “Livestrong at the YMCA.”
be able to eat dairy without a problem, or perhaps eat smaller portions. But first, you want to give your body a chance to recover. With vegetables, the greatest
benefits come not only from eating more of them but also eating a greater variety. One way to do this is to include
different ones with each meal — including breakfast. Try some sautéed onions, garlic, and spinach with scrambled eggs, for example. If you don’t have time to chop fresh vegetables, frozen ones are a
good option. Avoiding refined sugar, refined flour, and white potatoes also helps to reduce inflammation. For beverages, regular or decaffeinated green tea fights cancer- causing inflammation, and it can be mixed with other teas for flavor. If you like coffee, feel free to enjoy
it. Coffee is the most common source of antioxidants in the American diet and is associated with reduced risk of premature death. Two to three cups a day have been
healthy metabolism. Most important, Rothenberg
emphasizes, is to do something, and do it consistently. It could be yoga, tai chi, Zumba, or
another type of exercise class, joining a local walking group, or getting a dog and taking it for a walk twice a day. If you hate exercise, she
recommends trying a new activity that doesn’t have any bad memories associated with it.
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DIET “Shift as much as possible to an anti- inflammatory diet,” she says. This means eating whole, rather
than processed, foods, with lots of fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, healthy fats, and some nuts and seeds. In addition, if you don’t react well
to certain foods, avoid them. For example, if dairy products give you gas, bloating, or indigestion, don’t eat them.
shown to be beneficial, but go easy on sugar. For protein, the best sources, says
Rothenberg, are fish, chicken, and beans. For beef, choose organic, grass- fed varieties, if possible. Skip processed meats, such as hot
dogs and deli meats, as they have been found to be carcinogenic.
BOOST GUT HEALTH Enhancing your microbiome, the collection of beneficial organisms in your gut, is another essential part of healing. Beneficial organisms — probiotics
— are provided by foods that are fermented in traditional ways; “cultured” or similar wording should be part of the description on food labels.
Examples include yogurt,
sauerkraut, pickles, kefir, miso, and kimchi. One or more of these should be part of your daily diet.
In addition, gut organisms need
food to survive. They eat fibers found in vegetables and the skins of fruit that we can’t digest. In addition, adding one-quarter
teaspoon of potato starch (it’s tasteless) to cereal or other food once a day is a good way to feed helpful gut organisms. Avoiding processed foods can be
challenging, but it’s worth it. Many people feel better after a few
weeks of eating this way. And some experience bonus benefits, such as no longer needing blood pressure medication that they were required to take before their cancer diagnosis.
HANDLE STRESS “A lot of cancer survivors are very stressed out, for good reason,” says Rothenberg. Stress impairs the immune system,
which is needed to resist garden- variety infections and further disease. But there are ways to relieve it. If you were to do only one thing to
reduce stress, advises Rothenberg, it should be exercise. “Exercise raises your threshold
for feeling stress, and it will help to dissipate the stress that you have,” she explains. Whatever exercise you choose, do
it daily. Perhaps take one day off, but no more than that. Other ways to reduce anxiety and
enhance emotional well-being include spiritual practices and breathing exercises. Different things work best for different people. Rothenberg also encourages
her patients to learn new things. “Learning something new has a way of really invigorating people,” she says. It could be playing guitar,
painting, sculpture, knitting, pickleball, or anything else you find interesting. And it can lead to new friends — also beneficial. “Try to take it one step at a
time,” she says, “and celebrate the little victories.”
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