Global Health Asia-Pacific September 2020 September 2020 | Page 65

the incidence of these two types of cancer will also
increase.
In one of my earlier columns, I inadvertently
offended one reader when I wrote� �Don’t listen to old
wives’ tales. Cancer patients often think they cannot
eat dairy products, meat or sugar because these will
make the cancer grow faster. Some start taking only
organic foods or become vegetarian. I tell them a
balanced diet is especially important when they are
undergoing chemotherapy.”
This reader was so upset that he wrote a blog post
about me which he entitled, “A Rude, Wrong Cancer
Doctor.�
To some, their dietary preference is one of personal
choice and belief. This is a subject that ought to
be handled with sensitivity. To call organic foods
and vegetarian diets “old wives’ tales” is indeed
inappropriate.
But I do know from personal experience that
patients who are vegetarian tend to be more
anaemic and often require a blood transfusion during
chemotherapy. I did not intend to offend. The point
I was trying to make was about the importance of a
balanced diet during chemotherapy.
During treatment, cancer patients should not go
to the extreme of “healthy eating” and end up losing
weight. Many are fearful of taking sugar as they think
it will promote faster cancer growth. There’s no data
to suggest that this is so. Except for those who don’t
take meat for religious reasons, I often encourage
patients to take some meat during treatment.
Many patients are very curious about what I eat.
Truth be told, I love my food. I eat almost anything,
but I prefer meat to vegetables and Asian meals
to Western ones. When I was younger, I hated
vegetables, but in recent years, I’ve acquired a
taste for greens prepared in certain ways – stewed
cucumber with garlic and shrimps, fried sambal
kangkong, fresh lettuce with Caesar salad dressing,
and watercress in pork rib soup.
I’m not proud of my dietary habits. I eat lots of
meat. At times, I can finish a whole chicken by myself
in one sitting. As a doctor, I should know better and be
more restrained in what I eat. I try to make up for my
indiscretions by maintaining a reasonable body mass
index – a measure of body fat based on weight and
height – through exercise.
�atients have many concerns about what they
should and should not eat during cancer treatment.
The bottom line is this: I really do not think that there is
any perfect diet for the cancer patient.
The general rules are: Eat a balanced diet. Eat
everything but in moderation. And refrain, if you can,
from fried wanton in laksa gravy for breakfast. n
Dr Ang Peng Tiam is the medical
director of the Parkway Cancer Centre
in Singapore. He is a council member of
the Singapore Cancer Society and the
past president of the Singapore Society
of Oncology. He held the concurrent post
of Director of the Oncology Centre and
Clinical Associate Professor at the Faculty
of Medicine of the National University of
Singapore.
THE OPINIONS AND VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS COLUMN ARE THOSE OF
THE AUTHOR AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF GLOBAL
HEALTH ASIA-PACIFIC OR ITS EMPLOYEES.
But I do know
from personal
experience
that patients
who are
vegetarian
tend to be
more anaemic
and often
require
a blood
transfusion
during
chemotherapy.
GlobalHealthAsiaPacific.com
SEPTEMBER 2020
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