Nutrition and Exercise During Advanced Breast Cancer Treatment

If you have breast cancer, you may feel frightened about what comes next. You may be asking yourself big questions about how to maintain your health. And while no one can predict the future, you have control over how you choose to get through your treatment. Science confirms that choices you make today may affect how your body handles cancer and beyond.^1-7

What can make a difference?

Maintaining your health during cancer treatment includes more than just one measure. It is like a puzzle with many pieces that fit together to make the best possible picture. Two important pieces are physical activity and a healthy diet.^1,2,6,7

No matter how you have lived or what you have eaten before today, changes you make going forward count. Every good decision can make you stronger for the fight.^1,2,6,7

Several studies from 2022 and 2023 show that nutrition and activity benefit people during cancer treatment. People in the studies had fewer side effects, greater strength, and better moods than people who did not eat well or exercise.^2-6

One study followed women receiving chemotherapy who ate a healthy diet and exercised. At the end of the study, over half of those women no longer had tumor tissue. This is called pathological complete response. During the study, these women were counseled on certain exercises, such as moderate to vigorous intensity exercise for at least 150 minutes per week or vigorous intensity exercise for at least 75 minutes per week. Also, they were counseled on diet, such as eating at least 5 servings of fruits or vegetables each day.²

What can physical activity do for me?

While in cancer treatment, you may have upsetting side effects. Nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and pain are just a few. Getting physically active may be the last thing you feel like doing. But exercise may be just what you need.^1-3,5

Being active means moving your body more, instead of sitting or lying down. Exercises like brisk walking, swimming, or biking for 30 minutes a day can do wonders. And strength training twice a week helps keep muscles strong.^3,5

In a 2022 review of 42 studies about exercise and breast cancer, exercise improved:^3,5

• Ability to get through treatment
• Quality of life
• Strength and energy
• Sleep
• Tiredness
• Worry and sadness
• Heart health (more oxygen intake during exercise)
• Numbness and pain in hands and feet

What can healthy nutrition do for me?

Physical activity is only one piece of the health puzzle during and after cancer treatment. Your food choices make up a vital piece and affect how well your body runs. A healthy diet can improve how your body systems work, how strong you are, how you feel, and how you handle stress.^1-4

No known food, supplement, or eating program can prevent or cure cancer. But many studies have shown that a healthy diet can help your body better handle cancer and its treatment. Study information has grouped foods into those that harm your health and those that improve it.^4,7

Foods that can harm your health

Unhealthy diets may potentially encourage tumor formation over time. The following should be limited in a healthy eating plan.^2-4,8

• Saturated fats (butter, coconut oil, cheese, fried foods, baked goods)
• Red meat and deli meat
• Refined carbohydrates (white flour, pastries, pancakes and waffles, crackers, pretzels)
• Alcohol

Those foods can increase cancer-related hormones in your blood. Normally, these hormones stay at a helpful level and carry messages in the body. But when they increase, they can become substances that can promote breast cancer.⁴

• Sex hormones (endogenous estrogens)
• Growth hormones (insulin-like growth factors)
• Signaling hormones (pro-inflammatory cytokines)

Foods that can improve your health

Happily, many foods can help keep you strong during your treatment. They include:^1-3,5-7,9

• Fresh fruits and vegetables
• Unsaturated fats (olive oil, olives, avocado, salmon, tuna, nuts, seeds)
• Whole grains
• Beans and lentils
• Soy proteins (tofu, tempeh, edamame, soybeans, soy drinks)

By adding these foods to your meals, you increase your polyphenols, fiber, and phytochemicals. These are fancy words for tiny warriors in the fight against breast cancer. They can affect cancer growth by:^4,10,11

• Controlling how cells send out signals
• Stopping tumor-friendly proteins
• Stopping estrogen from being made (estrogen feeds tumors)
• Stopping cells from accepting estrogen
• Stopping cancer-causing substances from attacking cells
• Stopping and getting rid of cell changes that lead to cancer
• Binding to estrogen to keep blood levels low

It is not one single food that keeps you healthy and strong, but a balance of foods. The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) came up with the “New American Plate” to describe an ideal mix. It shows pictures of a typical plate versus plates that are proven to be healthy. You can find this, with details about how to start eating in a healthy way, on the AICR website.¹²

What's next?

Connect with your cancer doctor to learn which food and exercise plan will help you most. They can suggest a safe, helpful program that fits your life and abilities. You can also ask for a referral to a registered cancer dietitian, cancer-certified fitness professional, or a nearby cancer rehab/exercise program.^1,4,5