Maintaining a healthy body weight and composition has proven to play a significant role in improving outcomes and decreasing your overall risk of developing cancer or a recurrence. More specifically, minimizing body fat and supporting lean muscle mass seems to provide the most benefit. If your goal is to lose body fat, here are some simple but clever diet hacks that can help make this more achievable: 

• Front-load with a salad or soup: Starting meals with a salad or soup is a great way to increase daily consumption of vegetables. The added fiber from vegetables will also help you feel fuller and prevent you from overeating during the main meal. 


• Stay hydrated: Drinking at least 1.5-2 liters of water per day is important for staying hydrated, reducing the amount you eat, and curbing cravings. To enhance the taste of water, you can add cucumbers, lemons, mint leaves, or any fruit of your choice! 


• Apple cider vinegar: Studies have shown that consuming apple cider vinegar can be helpful in reducing visceral fat, which is the abdominal fat surrounding our organs that has been linked to increased risk of cancer, among other chronic diseases. Other benefits of apple cider vinegar include reductions in blood sugar spikes and insulin levels, which leads to less cravings. We recommend diluting 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in water and drinking it 10-15 minutes before meals. 


• Cumin and black cumin: Adding these spices to soups, marinades, salads, or vegetables, has been shown to help decrease waist circumference, body fat, cholesterol, blood pressure and can improve blood sugar regulation. Studies have shown benefits with using as little as 1 teaspoon per day. 


• Intermittent fasting: This pattern of eating helps improve carbohydrate metabolism, promotes metabolic flexibility (burning fat as fuel), and regulates blood sugar levels, all of which can benefit weight loss. Coupling this with consuming more calories earlier in the day versus larger meals at night is even more advantageous. Our recommendation is to try starting with a 12-13 hour overnight fast and make breakfast or lunch your biggest meal of the day. Intermittent fasting is not for everyone, so we recommend consulting a naturopathic doctor or other health-care professional before taking on any fasting regimen. 

Author: Natalia Ramirez, CCNM Integrative Cancer Centre Intern