Tag: recovery

Posted by Christine Pope on in Cancer support, exercise, Fatigue, Health Care, Healthy Ageing, stress

Beating Cancer Fatigue: How to Support Recovery with Rest, Nutrition and Gentle Movement
Two jars of green smoothie with striped straws, surrounded by fresh cucumber and leafy greens on a wooden surface.

One of the most common and frustrating side effects of cancer treatment is fatigue — the kind that doesn’t always go away with a good night’s sleep. It can linger for weeks or months after treatment, leaving you feeling flat, foggy and frustrated.

Cancer-related fatigue is different from ordinary tiredness. It’s a whole-body exhaustion that affects your physical energy, mental focus, and motivation. The good news is that with the right mix of nutrition, gentle movement, supplements and restorative rest, you can gradually rebuild your strength and vitality.

Understanding Cancer-Related Fatigue

Cancer fatigue has many contributing factors, whether its the stress of the diagnosis and difficulty sleeping, medications that impact you with different side effects, inflammation as you recover from surgery or chemotherapy, low red blood cell counts or even changes in hormones. Treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation will deplete the body’s reserves, affecting energy metabolism and muscle recovery.

This means that recovery requires a whole-body approach: nourishing your body, rebuilding muscle, and supporting your nervous system to rest and repair.

1. Nourish with Adequate Protein

During and after treatment, protein needs are often higher than usual. Protein supports muscle repair, maintains blood sugar balance and helps regulate energy levels throughout the day. Without enough protein, your body struggles to rebuild tissue and produce essential enzymes and hormones that support recovery.

Usually people need around 1g per kilo of weight of protein daily however after surgery or treatment that will increase to 1.5- 2.0 g depending on your overall health.

How to include more protein:

  • Start the day with eggs, Greek yogurt or a protein smoothie.
  • Include lean meats, fish, tofu, legumes or lentils with lunch and dinner.
  • Add nuts, seeds, or hummus for healthy snacks.
  • For those with reduced appetite, protein powders or soups can be an easy way to boost intake.

Aim to include a source of protein at every meal — even a few mouthfuls can make a difference in stabilising blood sugar and maintaining energy.

2. Balance Blood Sugar for Consistent Energy

Many people recovering from treatment notice energy crashes after meals or when skipping food. This is often due to unstable blood sugar, which can worsen fatigue and brain fog.

To keep your energy steady:

  • Eat regularly, ideally every 4-5 hours.
  • Combine protein, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats in each meal (for example, chicken and quinoa salad with mint and shredded snow peas and cranberries with an olive oil dressing).
  • Avoid relying on sugary snacks or caffeine, which cause temporary energy spikes followed by a crash.
  • Stay hydrated — even mild dehydration can sap energy and concentration.
A woman practicing gentle yoga in a cozy, well-lit room, stretching her body with a focus on relaxation and recovery.

3. Move Gently to Rebuild Strength

It might sound counterintuitive, but one of the best ways to reduce fatigue is to move more — gently.

Gentle exercise improves circulation, oxygenation and mood, and helps reduce inflammation. It also stimulates muscle repair and improves sleep quality, all of which support recovery. Again its essential if you haven’t exercise in a while to go low and go slow.

Start slowly and build up gradually:

  • Begin with short walks, stretching or gentle yoga.
  • Aim for 10–15 minutes daily and increase as tolerated.
  • On low-energy days, focus on movement over intensity — even a few minutes counts.
  • Listen to your body and prioritise rest when you need it.

Regular movement helps reset your energy rhythms and supports your body’s natural repair processes.

4. Support Recovery with Targeted Supplements

While food provides the foundation, certain supplements can help support energy metabolism, muscle recovery and cellular repair. These should always be tailored to your individual needs, but some that may help include:

  • Magnesium: Supports muscle relaxation, energy production and sleep quality.
  • B Vitamins: Essential for energy metabolism and nerve repair, often depleted during treatment.
  • CoQ10: Supports mitochondrial energy production, particularly after chemotherapy.
  • Adaptogenic herbs such as Withania or rhodiola may help regulate stress response and resilience. Personally I do like the 5 mushroom Chinese combinations for energy and immune support however these are best suited to being supported by a practitioner to check on interactions with medications.

Always ensure your healthcare team is aware of any new supplement, especially during or soon after treatment.

5. Prioritise Rest and Recovery

Rest is not a luxury — it’s essential to healing. Cancer treatment places enormous stress on the body, and deep, restorative rest helps rebuild the immune system, hormones and nervous system balance.

Try to:

  • Create a regular sleep routine, aiming for 7–9 hours nightly.
  • Build restorative breaks into your day — even 20 minutes of lying down, meditation or quiet time can recharge you. Download the free meditations on The Meaning Of Life.TV for 30 days of options.
  • Avoid pushing through exhaustion; your body needs signals of safety and rest to heal.
  • Try mindfulness or gentle breathing to calm an overactive stress response and promote deeper sleep.

Recovery is not linear — some days will be better than others. The key is consistency over perfection.

6. Rebuilding Your Energy: A Holistic Perspective

Cancer fatigue is multifactorial — which means recovery needs to be multi-layered too. The most effective approach combines nutrient-rich food, balanced movement, stress management, and rest. Over time, these habits help restore your body’s energy systems, reduce inflammation and support emotional wellbeing.

Many years ago I remember asking a very experienced practitioner which change made the most difference? The response was that each intervention added about 16% so decide on how many of those changes you are prepared to implement.

Even small steps — like preparing a protein-rich breakfast or taking a slow walk in nature — signal to your body that you’re rebuilding. If you are not up to a walk by the beach to recharge then just start with a cuppa at a cafe somewhere peaceful.

🌿 Finding Your Energy Again

In my clinical practice, I often work with clients to create personalised recovery plans after cancer treatment — focusing on restoring energy, rebuilding strength and supporting overall vitality. Fatigue doesn’t have to define your recovery journey. With the right nutrition and self-care strategies, you can gradually reclaim your energy and quality of life.

If you’d like help creating a nutrition and recovery plan tailored to your needs, visit christinepopenutritionist.com to book a consultation. If you would like a meal plan that gets you started on recovery download my Better Brain Health recipes to get started today.

Posted by Christine Pope on in Fatigue, Health Care, Nutrition, Tea

Six ways to improve your recovery from the latest bug

After a round of the flu, covid or the latest bug circulating do you give yourself time to test and recover ? Actually do you focus on your recovery or are you just focussed on getting back to your routine as quickly as possible? To really support and build a strong immune system its important to focus on what will optimise your recovery whilst you are acutely unwell and then during the recovery time.

What are the key areas you want to focus on to make sure you recover well?

First up when you are sick make sure you are getting adequate rest, whether its actually sleeping or lying on the couch watching your favourite streaming series. It’s often a good idea to rewatch a favourite series, it requires less brain power to stay across stories you already know. For me it’s usually a comedy show, like The Big Bang, my all time favourite BBC series, Pride and Prejudice and you know I may want to add Bridgerton to that list. My rule of thumb is if you still need an afternoon nap you probably aren’t ready to go back to work, give yourself at least one day when you don’t need to sleep part of it.

For many people who can work from home the option often means they keep working even when not well. Sick leave is there to be used when you are unwell so make sure you use it to rest up and recover. Chances are the work you do when you are unwell is unlikely to be your best. Make sure you do use your sick leave or carer’s leave as intended. If you are able to ask for work from home maybe use it for a few days post recovery to make sure you get enough rest and also avoid travelling in the cold and being around other people who may be unwell.

delectable baked pumpkin pie
Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

Often one of the symptoms of being unwell is loss of appetite so its deal to have the option of light and nourishing foods available as you recover. Soups are ideal and Harris Farm has quite a range you can access via Uber Eats!! There are also a couple of other easy soup recipes in my other blog and probably one of my favourites is Asian Chicken Noodle Soup in Winter warmers – soups . Not a lot of ingredients and fairly quick to assemble. Generally its a good idea to keep a stock of chicken broth for these types of occasions and some rice noodles in the cupboard. That gives you most of the basics or if you are really tired just make up the rice noodle and pour the broth over it for a very quick variation.

One of my recent additions to the list of nourishing foods is rice congee or chicken congee. It’s basically a form of rice porridge but its very easy to eat when you aren’t well. Gentle on the stomach too which is a plus. This recipe from Taste.com is a an easy one to start with, Chicken Ginger congee .

Maintaining hydration is also critical whilst unwell however there are a range of teas that can be helpful to manage symptoms. Peppermint tea can be soothing if you have a cough as well as settling an upset stomach. Ginger can also be a good option for nausea and is easy to make up as a tea by slicing it and steeping in a teapot for 5-10 minutes. More tips on useful teas are in the blog Herbal teas for hydration .

Finally once you are back feeling more yourself make sure you pace your exercise and don’t just head back to the gym at full intensity. Start with some gentle walks or stretching and build back up over a few weeks. If you return to exercise and are really exhausted by it then take a few days more recovery time before heading back to the gym again and then reduce the intensity of your next session.

Need a bit more help recovering from recent infections? You can make an appointment with Christine Pope at Elemental Health at St Ives on 02 8084 0081 or online at Elemental Health .