Nutrition

Nutrition Program

In addition to exercise, a healthy diet helps to achieve a positive long-term outcome following breast cancer treatment. After a diagnosis of breast cancer it is essential to re-evaluate your nutrition habits to look for improvement opportunities.

Hope Chest offers a nutrition program based on the National Cancer Institute guidelines for cancer prevention.

These guidelines reduce the chance of breast cancer recurrence. Our nutrition program educates our members on how to achieve a healthier nutrition regimen with a focus on:

• Increasing consumption of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

• Decreasing daily fat intake to less than 30 percent of your calories in a day.

• Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight.  

Fruits, Vegetables,
and Whole Grains

Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are known to contain properties that may prevent cancer such as phytochemicals. Whole grains are unprocessed foods that are high in complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. High fiber intake may have a positive benefit by altering the hormonal actions of breast cancer and other hormonal-dependent cancers. Daily fiber intake should be 25 to 30 grams of insoluble and soluble fiber. (Johns Hopkins Medicine, 2020)

Healthy Body Weight

Women who are overweight or obese have higher levels of circulating estrogen than women at their ideal body weight. Reducing weight helps to lower the risk of recurrence of hormone-responsive cancer. Overweight or obese are defined by body mass index (BMI) that is greater than 25 or 30, respectively.  Many studies have demonstrated an association between body mass index and breast cancer in postmenopausal women. (Johns Hopkins Medicine, 2020)