While fighting the blood cancer known as multiple myeloma, patients sometimes suffer from many gastrointestinal symptoms such as heartburn, bloating, constipation and indigestion.
It’s something that disproportionately affects the Black community, as African Americans are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with multiple myeloma than whites.
READ: Explore Your Multiple Myeloma Treatment Options
According to the Cancer Treatment Centers of America, nutritional therapy is one way to help multiple myeloma patients who undergo a stem cell transplant – which helps destroy the disease.
Nausea, constipation, diarrhea and other problems are typical side effects of multiple myeloma treatments, which can result in weight loss, malnutrition or delay in your treatment.
It’s important to partner with a dietician to keep tabs on your eating habits and any nutritional side effects.
READ: How Do I Know If My Multiple Myeloma Treatment Is Working?
Here are some tips to fight multiple myeloma with nutritional therapy:
Check your iron levels.
Some patients develop anemia, or low red blood cell count, because of their multiple myeloma. A physician may suggest boosting iron levels by eating foods with higher levels of iron. Those foods include lean red meat, raisins, kale, sweet potatoes and more.