As a major treatment for cancer, chemotherapy can deliver therapeutic effect to the primary lesion, metastases and subclinical metastases; it can also reduce the occurrence rate of postoperative recurrence and distant metastases of early and medium stage cancer. Chemotherapy drug kills cancer cells while it also destroys normal cells and immune cells. The common side effects of chemotherapy are bone marrow suppression, gastrointestinal reaction, hair loss, urinary tract toxicity, cardiotoxicity, etc. To prevent and minimize the side effects, cancer patients are advised to have traditional Chinese medicine during chemotherapy, take decoction that can tonify the kidney, the spleen, the stomach and produce blood and receive acupuncture and moxibustion.
Chinese traditional and Western medicine compliment to each other in treating cancer, especially during the course of chemotherapy as the combination of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine can prevent and minimize the side effects of chemotherapy and help patients tide over courses of chemotherapy. Notably, cancer patients should take traditional Chinese medicine as directed by traditional Chinese physician instead of randomly taking anti-cancer folk prescription or anti-cancer secret prescription.
In addition, diet adjustment is also very important during chemotherapy. Patients should have more food rich in protein, such as dairy products, lean meat, fish, animal liver, red dates, etc. and avoid oily, cold and nondigestible food.
For patients who have low white blood cell count and immunosuppression, herbs and food materials, such as Chinese date, astragalus membranaceus, ginseng, longan pulp, angelica sinensis, polygonatum kingianum, polygonum multiflorum, mud fish, quail will help increase the white blood cell count.
For patients who have poor appetite, dyspepsia, nausea and vomiting, ingredients that can activate spleen, promote appetite, regulate vital energy and control vomiting can be added into daily diet. The ingredients include crataegus, white hyacinth bean, turnip, mushroom, dried orange peel, perilla leaf, and Chinese parsley.
Food therapy during chemotherapy
●Stewed young pigeon with American ginseng and yam
Ingredients: 1 young pigeon, 15g sliced American Ginseng, 30g yam, 10 red dates, 6 pieces of ginger (for patient who have deficiency-cold syndrome, add 5g red ginseng)
Directions: wash American ginseng, yam, red dates (without pit), ginger and the young pigeon. Cut the young pigeon into bite size. Put all ingredients into a stew pot. Add appropriate amount of boiled water into the stew pot. Simmer gently for 2 hours. Add salt for taste. Serve warm.
Efficacy: it is sultable for people who have damaged Yinqi, fatigue, loss of appetite, dry mouth after chemotherapy.
●Beef soup with astragalus membranaceus, caulis spatholobi and red dates
Ingredients: 30g Astragalus membranaceus, 30g Caulis Spatholobi, 5red dates, 150g beef, 3 slices of ginger.
Directions: dice the beef and put all the ingredients into a clay pot. Simmer gently for 2 hours. Add salt for taste. Serve warm.
Efficacy: It can tonify qi and produce blood. It is especially suitable for those who have bone marrow suppression and declined WBC after chemotherapy.
●Stewed soft-shelled turtle with yam and longan
Ingredients: 1 soft-shelled turtle (about 250g), 30g yam, 20g longan pulp, 21g pseudo-ginseng (for patient who have deficiency-cold syndrome, add 6g red ginseng).
Directions: wash the pseudo-ginseng and longan pulp, immerse yam in water for half an hour. Cut the soft-shelled turtle into pieces and put all ingredients into a stew pot. Add moderate amount of boiled water into the pot. Simmer gently for 1-2 hours. Add salt for taste. Serve warm
Efficacy: two to three days after chemotherapy, patients tend to have fatigue and weakness. Some patients have nausea, vomiting. The soup can tonify the spleen and produce blood, remove blood stasis. It is especially good for patients who have the syndrome of asthenia of qi and blood after chemotherapy.
●Lean meat soup with lucid ganoderma and astragalus membranaceus
Ingredients: 15g lucid ganoderma, 15g astragalus membranaceus, 15g rhizoma polygonati, 15g caulis spatholobi, 100g lean meat
Directions: boil all the medical materials for half an hour and then remove the slag. Put the lean meat into the pressure-cooker and stew for half an hour. Add oil and salt for taste. It can replenish qi to invigorate the spleen, nourish blood, and enhance the immunity.
Efficacy: the soup is suitable for patients who have dizziness, weakness, poor appetite and fatigue after chemotherapy. Purple lucid ganoderma or rainbow conk can replace lucid ganoderma if the lucid ganoderma is too expensive.