Cancer survivors often have poor diets, which can affect their long-term health

Neither group ate very well, but the cancer survivors generally had less nutritious habits than the other people in the study, researchers report in the journal Cancer.

Results from over 1,500 USA adult cancer survivors showed that they were less likely than others who had never had cancer to adhere to national dietary guidelines-failing to consoume the recommended daily amounts of vitamin D, vitamin E, calcium and potassium, according to Health Day.

With so many studies linking the benefits of a healthy diet, and the risks of a poor diet, to health and disease, it seems like better diets could help cancer survivors regain their health to live a longer, healthier life. The two groups were matched by age, sex and race and ethnicity.

Compared with individuals with no history of cancer, cancer survivors consumed less fiber and more empty calories, such as those from solid fats or added sugars. They also ate more empty calories, which means more refined sugars and fat.

From these types, they found that lung cancer survivors had the worst diets while breast cancer survivors had the healthiest diets.

“Cancer survivors are usually motivated to improve their health, so I think it is remarkable that they are still burdened by a sub-optimal diet”, she said. Especially since survivors have an elevated risk of chronic health problems. The researchers suggest that oncology care providers should place a greater emphasis on the benefits of a healthy diet, helping cancer survivors improve their diet for the benefit of their health. “A small change can potentially have a large impact to a high-risk population”.

Among those who once had cancer, older people were found to have a healthier diet than younger people, and those who had a college education had a significantly more healthy diet than those who were less educated.

However, researchers cautioned that at this time, they are still uncertain why cancer patients have worse diets than those who never dealt with the disease. The researchers then assigned each person’s diet a score, with a score of 100 for diets that contained all the recommended servings of foods without the non-nutritious foods. People who had breast cancer had the healthiest diet, while those who had lung cancer had the worst diet.

Survivors who were current smokers had significantly worse diet quality than non-smokers or former smokers. A few cancer survivors also suffer from weight loss and are encouraged to eat whatever high calorie and high protein foods they want, she noted.

Survivors may be dealing with altered taste, decreased appetite and fatigue which can all contribute to a lack of ability or interest needed to prepare and eat healthy meals, Heller said by email.

The study was funded by the Boston Nutrition Obesity Research Center, the National Center for Research Resources, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, the National Institutes of Health, and Tufts University.