Complementary and alternative diets

Many theories exist about whether diet can increase the risk of getting breast cancer or help prevent it. People with breast cancer often choose to change their lifestyles to improve their chances of staying well, yet little is known about whether such changes improve outcomes.

In addition, some complementary or alternative diets can be restrictive or harmful and may lead to a deficiency of nutrients or complications such as anaemia (a lack of red blood cells) or osteoporosis (thinner bones).

If you are thinking about changing your diet or would like to find out more about different diets, you should talk your specialist team and you can ask to see a dietitian.

The Bristol approach to healthy eating

The Bristol diet is part of the Penny Brohn Cancer Care programme of care and treatment. Both the programme and the diet aim to help people heal themselves. The diet encourages people to think positively about nutrition and to eat whole foods, preferably organic, that are low in fat
with little or no salt, sugar or stimulants such as caffeine or alcohol.

Dairy-free diet

This diet was originally based on the assumption that people living in countries that do not eat dairy as part of their regular diet (such as China) are less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer. Whilst there are supporters of the theory that dairy foods cause breast cancer, there are no convincing, high quality studies to support this. Remember dairy foods are an important source of calcium, important for bone health.

In a dairy-free diet, all dairy foods are eliminated from the diet and replaced with soya or other alternatives. Consumption of processed foods is also restricted.

Macrobiotics

This diet is a holistic approach based on the Chinese principle of yin and yang. Foods classed as either yin or yang are consumed evenly to rebalance the body’s positive and negative energies. This diet is high in wholegrains and low in fat and protein.

Gerson diet

Aiming to detoxify the body, the Gerson diet is a nutrition-based alternative therapy. It consists of raw and organic food, vegetarian juices and coffee enemas. Promoters of this diet have claimed that it can cure cancer, but there is no reliable scientific evidence to support this.