Cancer cookbook: healthy recipes, nutrition tips

At age 27, Jean LaMantia had just started her practice as a dietitian. She was trained to work with cancer patients, when suddenly the tables turned and she became one herself. After starting chemotherapy, she remembers the nausea hitting her like a fist. “I thought I knew about nausea because I had been on family car trips and I’d had the flu. But my experience with nausea made me think there should be another word for this because this is so extreme, it doesn’t even deserve to be called the same thing.”

The cancer cookbook includes a variety of recipes for different skill levels, energy levels and appetites.

Jean went from an active young woman with a healthy appetite to not being able to look at food, even on the television. During one week in hospital, she dropped 10 pounds. Sick, weak and worried, it was her oncologist, Dr. Neil Berinstein, who offered her some comfort, telling her just to drink what she could. She did, and never forgot what a relief it was to be given some reliable nutritional guidance when she needed it most.

Now, years later, Jean has consulted with Dr. Berinstein to write the book she wished she’d had access to as a cancer patient. The Essential Cancer Treatment Nutrition Guide & Cookbook is research-based, and offers everything from tips on managing side effects of treatment to 150 recipe options suitable for various stages in the cancer journey. If you want to get the most nutritional punch out of every meal, this is the book for you.

The Melon Mint Frosty is a great example. Perfect to combat dehydration, nausea, dry mouth and low appetite, Jean whipped it up quickly when I met her for filming a few weeks ago. As she got ready to serve it, she said not to forget about the importance of presentation and portion size. Jean divided her creation between a beautiful wine glass, a regular drinking glass, a covered cup with a straw and a shot glass. Her message seemed to permeate back to that moment with Dr. Berinstein: drink what you can, however you can. It was delicious.

The book is available online through most major bookstores, and also at the Patient and Family Nutrition Resource Centre (TG 261) at the Odette Cancer Centre.