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Dietary Guide and Meal Options

Forward by Matt Carter, OOSO Chair of Trustees and former patient
By sharing our experiences of coping with oesophageal and stomach cancer, we hope that you find
this a practical and helpful guide to eating well, maintaining a nutritious diet and managing your
weight. We do this by providing dietary tips and real examples of meal options that work for us.
Whilst we believe our guidance is helpful, it should not be considered clinically definitive advice.
Specialist dieticians based at the Churchill Hospital, or your local hospital should always be consulted
if you have specific needs or concerns.

For your convenience, we have summarised our experiences and suggestions in 3 stages. Just click
on any stage and go that section:

1. Diagnosis and treatment phase (or as a PDF).
2. Post-surgery and recovery, the first year (or as a PDF).
3. Long term dietary tips and lifestyle beyond year 1 (or as a PDF).

We are eternally grateful to Liz Ward (Lead Dietician at the Churchill Hospital) for her overview and
support of this guide, and to Dr Ed White and former patient Peter Adams for sharing their in-depth
knowledge of diets through their editorial input.

Section 3: Long term living – healthy diet, healthy lifestyle

A healthy diet, body and mind go a long way towards a happy life. So of course, adopting a holistic
approach is the most crucial recipe of all. It is all about lifestyle.

Combining a healthy diet and happy home, full of fun and friends, exercise and stress-free living
would be perfection, but of course our lives are rarely like that. Cancer affects so many of us these
days, it is thought one in every two people will have a cancer at some point in their life. Rates of
cancer seem to be on the increase, and many believe modern lifestyles have so much to answer for.
In the hustle and bustle of busy living, it is so easy to let our habits drift and slide into convenient
ruts, when before we know it, a serious health issue is upon us.
So, every now and then, it’s useful just to stop and think, and reflect on our lifestyle. A healthy diet
won’t be as effective if other aspects of our lives aren’t what they could be. To help seed a few
thoughts, here’s one or two mindfulness tips – skip these if you think you’ve got it cracked already:

1) Self-awareness - a positive step towards making real change

• Ask yourself, “is my current lifestyle good for my own health and happiness, and others
around me? If not why not, and what can I positively do about it, even in the smallest of
ways?”. Being aware of one’s own strengths and weaknesses is a first positive step towards
doing something to look after yourself and others better.

2) Little things we can do to make a big difference

• Be kind to yourself. Do more things that make you happy. Spend more time with a partner,
family and friends, find a better balance at work, try a new hobby or activity, make new
friends or just do something you’ve always wanted to do but never thought you would or
could.