Cancer Patients Should Protect Their Digestive System
Many cancer patients suffer from debilitaing side effects of radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy that include loss of appetite, difficulty in eating, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.Traditional Chinese medicine treatment focuses on regulating the body as a whole. In addition to prescribing the appropriate medicines, it recommends that patients regulate the qi and blood through their daily routine, together with care in diet, to enhance the body’s self-healing capability.
In the theory of Chinese medicine, qi is a kind of energy that similar to blood and body fluids, circulates continuously through the body to maintain human life.
Shu Rong, director of Dr. Rong’s Clinic in England, whose family has been practicing medicine for generations, said in the Epoch Times “Health 1+1” program that there is an intricate network inside the human body, where energy runs through the meridians, just like rivers and streams. If the flow of water in a stream slows down, sediment will accumulate, and sandbars will be formed. A similar analogy, is that if the energy of the human body is not flowing smoothly, blockages such as tumors will develop.
The energy in the human body—or “qi” comes from the “innate qi” passed on by the parents when one is born. In addition, qi is acquired from the human digestive system by absorbing nutrients, from which comes the “acquired qi.”
Chinese medicine believes that the most important organs in the digestive system are the spleen and stomach. Modern medicine treats the spleen as an organ that governs immunity, while in Chinese medicine, more than an anatomical organ the spleen carries an extra functional dimension—it is considered part of the digestive system.
In this regard, many modern TCM practitioners believe that the pancreas, which secretes digestive juices, is also part of this system.
Shu said: “When the qi and blood of the human body are lost during surgery, radiotherapy, and/or chemotherapy, the spleen and stomach must absorb extra nutrients to compensate. Therefore, regulating the spleen and stomach will form the primary recovery plan. And at the same time, individual conditioning should be done according to one’s specific situation.”
1. Pork Bone Soup for Reinforcing Qi and Strengthening the Spleen
Ingredients:- 250g (8.8 ounces) pork bones
- 9g (0.3 ounces) astragalus
- 7g (0.25 ounces) yam
- 7g (0.25 ounces) Atractylodes macrocephala
- 7g (0.25 ounces) lotus seeds
- 7g (0.25 ounces) Rehmannia glutinosa
- 5 jujubes (cut open)
- 5g (0.2 ounces) Hericium erinaceus
- 5g (0.2 ounces) cinnamon bark
- 3 slices of ginger
Add enough water and stew for an hour, salt to taste, and serve.
2. Pork Bone Soup for Invigorating Qi and the Stomach
Ingredients:- 250g (8.8 ounces) pork bones
- 9g (0.3 ounces) astragalus
- 7g (0.25 ounce) yam
- 5g (0.2 ounce) Atractylodes macrocephala
- 7g (0.25 ounce) lotus seeds
- 5g (0.2 ounces) bamboo rutabaga
- 7g (0.25 ounces) lentils
- 5g (0.2 ounces) perilla leaves (can be wrapped in soup bag)
- 5 jujubes (cut open)
- 3 slices of ginger
- 5g (0.2 ounce) cinnamon
Add enough water and stew for an hour, salt to taste, and serve.
3. Pork Bone Soup for Invigorating Qi and Detoxification
Ingredients:- 250g (8.8 ounces) pork bone
- 100g (3.5 ounces) mung bean
- 9g (0.32 ounces) astragalus
- 7g (0.25 ounce) of unprocessed Rehmannia root
- 7g (0.25 ounces) Polygonatum odoratum
- 7g (0.25 ounces) dendrobium
- 7g (0.25 ounces) Ophiopogon japonicus
- 7g (0.25 ounces) lily
- 7g (0.25 ounces) ginseng
- 3 slices of ginger
Add enough water and stew for an hour, salt to taste, and serve.
The Importance of Excreting Toxins After Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy
After chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy treatment, many patients are prone to dry throat, bitter mouth, upset, flushed face, and other uncomfortable conditions. This is the result of accumulation of harmful substances produced by radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy. To expel these toxins, it is necessary to first enhance qi, the life energy in the body, in order to push the toxins out of it. All the above three medicated diet recipes are beneficial to qi replenishment.Taking Astragalus Can Reduce Risk of Death in Patients
The ingredients mentioned above are all common ingredients of Chinese medicinal herbal soups. Among them, astragalus is useful in cancer treatment, and can improve the body’s immunity, enhance the ability of macrophages to kill cancer cells, and promote cancer cell apoptosis.For patients undergoing radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy, taking the decoction with astragalus reduces side effects and the effect of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
It should be noted that although astragalus has anti-cancer effects, more is not necessarily better. Taken in excess it can cause dizziness, poor sleep, flushed cheeks, and irritability.
Proper Diet Supplementation After Cancer Therapy as Essential
Shu recommends that cancer patients also eat a fungi called Ganoderma lucidum to replenish the body’s positive energy and inhibit harmful substances.Concerning fasting or abstaining from certain foods to “starve cancer cells to death,” Shu said that cancer cells are inherently stronger than normal cells. If patients refrain from eating, cancer cells will exhaust the body’s remaining nutrients. He pointed out that after radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy, the number of cancer cells in the body has decreased, and normal body cells are also weak. At this time, attention should be paid to the intake of nutrients to make the body stronger so that the remaining cancer cells can be eliminated.
Some of the herbs mentioned above may sound unfamiliar, however many of them can be found at your local health food and Asian grocery stores. Here are two recommendations for sourcing the herbs online:
