Sue’s workshops make healthy eating easier for cancer patients

For people with cancer, or following treatment for cancer, diet eating can pose lots of problems and that’s where Sue Atkinson comes in.

Sue, who lives in St Andrews, offers healthy eating workshops at Maggie’s Centre in Dundee.

The once a month workshop has evolved into more frequent workshops that include cooking demonstrations on the topics being covered.

“I am also a part of the ‘Where Now’ course in Maggie’s Dundee, which offers advice and support for people who are finishing treatment,” says Sue.

“I attend a variety of support groups to discuss healthy eating for cancer at Maggie’s,” she continues.

“I love meeting such wonderful people who are at a difficult time in their lives and offering some very informal, practical advice on healthy eating, and working alongside them with their eating challenges.

“I have benefited from spending time with such a wide variety of people who deal with their prognoses with such positive spirits,” reflects Sue.

“When a person is diagnosed with cancer the most important thing is to find ways to eat as well as possible if challenges like nausea, loss of appetite, taste changes, constipation, and diarrhoea make eating difficult.

“After treatments are finished I have seen a great desire from many cancer sufferers to eat more healthily to try to avoid any reoccurrence of cancer. There are recognised dietary effects on us being more vulnerable to certain cancers, for example, obesity, low fibre diet, a high intake of red meat.”

www.maggiescentres.org