Nutritional Support for Cancer Care
Dietary Strategies for Cancer Patients
At Paracelsus Natural Family Health Center in Pasadena and Redlands, proper nutrition is a fundamental component of comprehensive cancer care. Dr. Simon Barker combines evidence-based nutritional science with clinical experience to create practical, effective dietary strategies for cancer patients at all stages of treatment and recovery.
Rather than promoting a one-size-fits-all “cancer diet,” we develop individualized nutritional strategies that support your body during conventional cancer treatments, help manage treatment side effects, maintain strength and energy, optimize immune function, and support recovery and healing while potentially reducing the risk of recurrence.
What Makes Our Nutritional Approach Different
Personalized Assessment – We recognize that each patient’s nutritional needs are unique, based on their cancer type and stage, conventional treatment regimen, current nutritional status, digestive function, and food preferences. Every plan is customized to your specific situation.
Evidence-Based Guidelines – Our anti-cancer diet recommendations are based on research and clinical experience, emphasizing colorful vegetables and fruits rich in phytonutrients, cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and kale, omega-3 rich foods, and medicinal culinary herbs and spices like turmeric and ginger.
Treatment Integration – We coordinate nutritional strategies with your conventional treatments, carefully timing recommendations around chemotherapy and radiation sessions while addressing treatment-related eating challenges.
Comprehensive Support – Our approach addresses not just what to eat, but practical implementation including meal planning guides, recipe suggestions, shopping lists, and strategies for eating during low-energy periods.
How Nutritional Support Works
During Active Treatment – We focus on managing treatment side effects through dietary approaches to address nausea, taste changes, and digestive disturbances while preventing weight loss and supporting normal cell function without interfering with conventional treatments.
Targeted Supplement Strategy – When appropriate, we may recommend specific vitamins and minerals to address deficiencies, enzymes to support digestion, probiotics for gut health, carefully timed antioxidants, and selected medicinal mushrooms for immune support.
Recovery and Survivorship – After treatment, nutritional focus shifts to supporting tissue repair, reducing inflammation, optimizing immune function, managing lingering side effects, and implementing evidence-based dietary patterns associated with better long-term outcomes.
Research-Based Dietary Strategies We Use
Our anti-cancer diet guidelines emphasize foods rich in phytonutrients with potential anti-cancer properties, cruciferous vegetables containing compounds that may help detoxify carcinogens, omega-3 rich foods like wild-caught fish and flaxseeds to help manage inflammation, fiber-rich legumes and vegetables to support digestive health and hormone balance, and medicinal culinary herbs and spices with potential anti-cancer properties.
We also address foods to moderate or avoid, including refined sugars that may promote inflammation, processed foods containing problematic additives, excess animal protein particularly processed meats, alcohol that may interfere with treatments, and charred or overcooked foods that may contain carcinogenic compounds.
Specialized Approaches We Offer
Fasting Protocols – Fasting can be a valuable component in a natural cancer protocol. Fasting or fasting-mimicking diets during chemotherapy may be beneficial for some patients, while intermittent fasting timing and appropriateness vary between patients. Longer term water fasts may be useful at certain times, always under professional supervision.
Treatment Timing Strategies – We address when to eat relative to treatment sessions, how to modify the diet during high-symptom periods, strategies for eating when appetite is poor, and quick nutrient-dense options for low-energy days.
Comprehensive Assessment – Our evaluation includes detailed dietary analysis, symptom evaluation, body composition assessment, laboratory testing when appropriate, and medication and supplement review to avoid potential interactions.
Benefits of Targeted Nutritional Support
Research and clinical experience demonstrate that personalized nutritional support may help maintain strength and energy during intensive treatments, reduce the severity of treatment side effects like nausea and fatigue, support completion of conventional treatment protocols, enhance immune function and recovery, provide practical tools for managing eating challenges, and potentially support long-term wellness and reduce recurrence risk through evidence-based dietary patterns.
Patients often experience improved treatment tolerance, better energy levels, and enhanced overall wellbeing when following individualized nutritional protocols designed for their specific cancer care needs.
Ready to Learn More About Nutritional Support?
Dr. Barker provides evidence-based nutritional guidance that addresses your unique needs as a cancer patient, creating practical dietary strategies that support your conventional treatment while optimizing your body’s natural healing abilities.
Explore our complete Integrative Cancer Treatments → or learn about Mistletoe Therapy → for cancer care
Questions about nutritional support during cancer treatment?
Call either office to discuss how personalized dietary strategies can complement your current treatment plan and support your commitment to comprehensive cancer care.
Call either office to discuss how personalized dietary strategies can complement your current treatment plan and support your commitment to comprehensive cancer care.