ONCOLOGY AND FOOD

Oncology and Food” is a project whose aim is to spread the culture of healthy eating both in  the general public  and  patients with oncological pathologies,  to prevent the side effects of drugs (chemotherapy, immunotherapy, molecular targeted therapy) and to ensure 100% adherence to therapies.
In the age of precision medicine, caring about nutrition can be compared to  the  finishings  of an haute couture dress.

This confirms the importance of adhering to the therapies proposed by the oncologist, without ever replacing them with “pseudo-cures” based on dietary programs with no scientific basis.

Oncology and Food also uses web support to create a network connecting the patients and the hospital by means of an easy and intuitive navigation with a drop-down menu designed for the user.

It will be possible not only to find information about traditional drugs, new molecules and side effect, but also give an answer to the patient’s more and more frequent question for nutritional advice during medical therapy.
Patients will find useful tips to deal with their therapy, easy cooking recipes especially designed for them by a chef.

Oncology and Food also deals with   scientific research projects whose aim is to prevent and reduce the incidence of side effects of drugs, differentiated by  pathologies and type of oncological therapy.

One of these projects is already in place in the Oncology Unit of the Hospital Sant’Antonio Abate of Gallarate of the ASST Valle Olona: the project “HEAT” (Health Eating and Toxicity). It has been approved by the Scientific Ethics Committee of Varese and  its main objective is the reduction of the incidence of diarrhea in patients undergoing traditional oncological medical chemotherapy.

HOW THIS THE NEED CAME ABOUT

Oncology and Food’s goal is to make a continuity of therapy and care for patients under treatment in the Unit of Oncology of Gallarate Hospital, possible.

It is the result of a path undertaken in May 2014, through a project known as USOI (Individualized Support Therapy Unit), which manages side effects from drugs (oral administration molecules, traditional chemotherapy, immunotherapy) preventing unnecessary accesses to the emergency room, and creating a preferential pathway for patients suffering with toxicity that cannot be managed at home.

With most drug therapies, we can control and reduce some of the side effects of those drugs but we cannot always prevent them. Drug therapy is not enough to ensure adherence to oncological medical therapies.

Therefore, alongside drugs, which must never be substituted, patients will be guaranteed a personalized nutrition program tailored to their clinical needs (side effects such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, high-calorie nutritional support for patients undergoing gastrectomy, etc.).

NORMALISM IN FOOD

Hence, Normalism in Food was born; this neologism indicates a non-extreme concept of healthy food. It is essentially designed in compliance with the 10 rules established by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF).

Normalism is not in contrast with other groups or schools of thought, such as veganism and vegetarianism whose choice we share in its ethical aspect, provided that diet regimes are balanced. Therefore, do not be surprised to find vegan or vegetarian recipes on the website. You can follow the principle on which they are based and keep in compliance with the rules of healthy eating for the prevention of metabolic and oncological diseases.

When we speak about Normalism we also refer to the ability to design a high-calorie diet (without violating the 10 rules of WCFR) for patients undergoing total gastrectomy, or disabling surgeries such as those for head and neck cancers, which often cause a state of low nutrition incompatible with the onset of any cancer medical therapy.

It can often happen that, while focusing on the choice of the best treatment for the patient, oncologists do not take into consideration that therapeutic success may depend on adherence to the proposed therapy. One example is the adjuvant (precautionary) therapy administered after gastrectomy surgery. The post-surgery nutritional status and the patient’s frail clinical conditions are frequently a cause of delay, interruption or suspension of the therapy resulting in loss of therapeutic efficacy.

Normalism also helps the patient not to identify himself/herself with their pathological condition, but to maintain as much as possible a normal lifestyle, as close as possible to the one before the diagnosis.
The patient will not have to go in frantic search of difficult-to-find foods.  He/she will be accompanied in choosing a diet that suits their current needs according to the side effects of the therapy.

It will also be Normal to treat oneself to the “sin of gluttony” forgetting about codes of perfection because cooking also includes the ingredients of culture, pleasure, and quality of life.