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Nutrition Services for Cancer Patients
Nutrition Services for Cancer Patients
Nutrition is an important part of life, cancer treatment, recovery, and prevention. Food is one of the few things you can be in control of during your treatment. The oncology certified registered dietitians at the Stanford Cancer Center are here to help you make informed choices about nutrition, answer your nutrition-related questions, and help you to achieve and maintain good health.
Care and Treatment
Prostate Cancer Nutrition Recommendations
Check out our recipe gallery for recipes containing foods known to reduce the risk of prostate cancer.
Step 1. Fruits and vegetables
- Eat 8-10 servings (about ½ cup=1 serving) of colorful fruits and vegetable daily
(especially nutritious choices include: broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, Brussels sprouts, arugula, garlic, leeks, onions, carrots, sweet potato, berries, melon, citrus fruits, grapes, herbs and spices) - Consume adequate lycopene:
- ¾ cup of tomato sauce or 12 oz of tomato juice or 6 T of tomato paste
- Consider drinking pomegranate concentrate 1 oz per day
Step 2. Grains and legumes
- Limit processed and refined grains, flours, sugars
- Achieve 25-35 grams of fiber from food daily
- include 1-2 tablespoons per day of ground flaxseeds
- Avoid overconsumption of foods high in carbohydrates
Step 3. Fats and oils
- Limit intake of butter, sour cream, cream cheese, and whole milk/dairy
- Limit intake of linoleic acid found in corn oil, safflower oil, cottonseed oil
- Instead, eat more olive oil, nuts & seeds (especially walnuts, pumpkin seeds, hempseeds, chia seeds, flax seeds), avocado, cold-water fish
- Eat 2 brazil nuts per day for adequate selenium (or may consume via halibut, sardines, and shrimp)
- Eat more wheat germ, sunflower seeds, almonds and hazelnuts for vitamin E
Step 4. Animal foods
- Limit red meat (beef, pork, lamb) intake to 18 oz of cooked weight per week.
- Avoid processed meats (ham, bacon, salami, hot dogs, sausages, pastrami).
- Limit intake of flame grilled meats (grilled veggies are a great alternative!). Instead, replace meats with soyfoods, try for 1 serving per day of soyfood (tofu, edamame, tempeh, soynuts, etc)
- Limit dairy intake to less than 2 servings per day, preferably lower fat versions (8oz of milk or yogurt, 1 oz of cheese, ½ cup of ice cream).
Step 5. Beverages
- Limit alcohol intake to 2 drinks per day.
- Increase consumption of green tea to 1-4 cups per day.
- Avoid sugar-sweetened drinks (like soda, juices, sports drinks, sweet teas).
Step 6. Other factors
- Consume adequate, but not excessive calcium.
- Total intake from foods and supplements not to exceed 1200mg per day.
- Only take calcium supplements if recommended by your doctor.
- Do not consume foods that were reheated in plastic containers in the microwave.
Step 7. Exercise
Try for 3 hours per week of vigorous activity such as biking, tennis, jogging, swimming, etc. Brisk walking can count, if it intense enough to increase your heart rate.
Step 8. Avoid gaining weight
(Unless you are underweight.) Lose weight if you are overweight.
Step 9. Quit Smoking, today!
Need help quitting smoking? Visit Stanford's Smoking Cessation Program to learn more.
Myths about nutrition and cancer
Dispelling some myths:
- Coffee does not increase your risk of cancer (but we are not talking Frappuccinos, here!)
- Lycopene, selenium, vitamin E supplements do not lower the risk of prostate cancer
- It's not as simple as "sugar feeds cancer"—Insulin is the key factor.
To control insulin levels in your body, choose minimally processed grains and include healthy fats; exercise nearly everyday; keep your body fat, especially belly fat low.
Major nutrition and prostate cancer studies and cohorts
- Health Professionals Follow Up Study
- CaPSURE Study
- SELECT Trial
- NHANES
Additional information
- Learn more about prostate cancer.
- View the NCI's Prostate Cancer, Nutrition, and Dietary Supplements guide.



Recipes
Cancer Fighting Recipe of the Week: Week 3
In honor of Colon Cancer Awareness month, we'll be featuring four colorectal cancer friendly recipes each week during the month of March.
Basil Broccoi
Broccoli, cabbage, collard greens, kale, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts are all cruciferous vegetables. This vegetable family contains powerful phytochemicals, including carotenoids, indoles and glucosinolates and isothiocyanates, which have been studied and shown to slow the growth of many cancers.
- Asparagus and Scallion Soup with Almonds
- Black Bean and Corn Salad
- Broccoli Sunflower Salad
- Butternut Squash Soup
- California Citrus Greens Salad with Garlic Dressing
- Carrot and Apple Soup
- Creamy Irish Soup
- Crunchy Chicken Salad
- Curried Chicken Salad
- Curried Chickpea Salad with Walnuts
- Easy Pea Soup with Tarragon
- Egyptian Red Lentil Soup
- Fall Stew in a Pumpkin with Poblano-Cucumber Salsa
- Pumpkin Bisque
- Roasted Asparagus Salad
- Salmon Salad with Pimento and Herbs
- Shredded Carrot and Beet Salad
- Spicy Black Bean Salad
- Spinach Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette
- Spinach, Red Bell Pepper and Feta Cheese Salad with Yogurt Dressing
- Spring Pea Soup
- Summer Rice Salad
- Sweet and Spicy Carrot Salad
- Vegetable Soup
- Whole Grain Salad
- 10 Minute Italian Chicken Stir Fry
- Anytime Burrito
- Baked Tofu Kabobs
- Barley, Turkey & Butternut Squash Casserole
- Bean and Vegetable Enchilada Casserole
- Bean Surprise
- Broiled Portobello Mushrooms
- Cajun Salmon over Polenta
- Chicken Chili
- Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- Cranberry Salmon
- Cranberry-Turkey Salad Sandwiches
- Crispy Parmesan Turkey Cutlets
- Crunchy Veggie Wrap
- Easy Spinach Lasagna
- Eating Well Sloppy Joe
- Egg, Spinach, and Bacon Sandwiches
- Fish Filet with Squash and Herbs
- Greek-Style Scallops
- Grilled Ginger Tuna
- Grilled Halibut with a Tomato-Herb Sauce
- Grilled Portobello Burgers
- Grilled Vegetable Polenta with Pan Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Sauce
- Halibut with Citrus and Garlic
- Healthy Jambalaya
- Hearty Beef Stew with Winter Vegetables
- Hearty Mediterranean Stew
- Herbed Polenta with Grilled Portobello Mushrooms
- Indonesian Salmon
- Lasagna Rolls
- Lemon Dijon Salmon
- Mediterranean Grilled Veggie Pockets
- Molasses-Cured Pork Loin with Apples
- Mushroom Goulash
- New American Plate "Tetrazzini" Casserole
- New Tuna Salad
- Peppers Stuffed with Barley, Parmesan and Onion
- Pizza Meat Loaf
- Pumpkin Gnocchi
- Quinoa and Mushroom Pilaf with Dill
- Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
- Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Maple Mustard Sauce
- Scallion Crusted Arctic Char
- Seared Scallops with Beet Puree and Arugula Salad
- Soft Tacos with Southwestern Vegetables
- Spaghetti alla Carbonara
- Speedy Summer Ratatouille
- Spicy Broccoli, Cauliflower and Tofu
- Steamed Halibut on Spinach with Lemon Sauce
- Stuffed Cornish Hens
- Summer Tofu Kebab with Peanut Sauce
- Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Sweet and Sour Tofu
- Tofu Cutlets Marsala
- Turkey & Cranberry Wrap
- Turkey Reuben Grilled Sandwiches
- Udon Noodles with Spicy Peanut Ginger Sauce
- Veggie Pita Pizzas
- White Wine Coq au Vin
- Whole Wheat Pasta with Fennel, Peas and Arugula
- Zesty Roasted Chicken
For Patients
PREPARE FOR YOUR APPOINTMENT
- Bring your photo ID and Insurance Card
- Maps, directions, parking, public transit options, and contact information
Ask your physician for a REFERRAL for a Cancer Center Nutrition Appointment
Our dietitians are available for 45 minute consults by appointment only, Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Download our nutrition appointment flyer.
Questions about your appointment or need to make a change?
RESOURCES
For Health Care Professionals
Our dietitians are available for 45 minute consults by appointment only on: Mondays – Friday, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
HOW TO REFER
Call us at 1-650-498-6000 to refer a new patient for a nutrition consultation. If you wish to refer a patient to the Stanford Cancer Center, please call the Physician Helpline.
Download our nutrition appointment flyer.
Returning Patient
Questions about your appointment or need to make a change? Call:
Nutrition Services for Cancer Patients at Stanford Cancer Center Palo Alto
650-498-6000
Nutrition Services for Cancer Patients at Stanford Cancer Center South Bay
408-426-4900