Managing Your Overall Health with an MPN
Accredited Practising Dietitian Nathalie Cook, OAM, is an experienced, knowledgeable dietitian who also has polycythaemia vera. This has given her an even greater understanding of the importance of diet to MPN patients. Her knowledge and skills of medical nutrition therapy help people living with blood cancer understand the link between nutrition, disease management and wellness.
Nathalie emphasises the benefits of an anti-inflammatory diet for MPN patients, something which Dr Angela Fleischman from the USA (UC Irvine Health) is also researching – see Dr Fleischman’s presentation HERE (courtesy of the MPN Education Foundation).
Nathalie also presents to Australian and international audiences about these issues. Below are her most relevant presentations.
- “Nutrition and MPN” presentation from 2022 International MPN Horizons conference.
PDF of slides from this talk are available HERE. - “Keeping well with MPNs” – Feb 2020 at the MPN Patient Education morning, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
- Nathalie has also written about the importance of maintaining muscle strength with an MPN: ‘Keeping muscles strong through healthy eating and physical activity to stay well with MPN’.
Leukaemia Foundation’s publication ‘Eating Well – a guide for patients and their support people’
Nathalie has recently collaborated with the Leukaemia Foundation in updating the excellent publication ‘Eating Well – a guide for patients and their support people’. The booklet, published in 2022, is based on expert, up to date, evidence based information. Please note it has a broader audience than MPN patients, having been written with all blood cancer patients in mind, including those going through intensive treatment.
Healthy Hearts
One of the most important self-management things we can do with MPN is to look after our cardiovascular health, to reduce risk of blood clots. Eating a diet rich in high fibre plant foods (fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains), and including moderate amounts of lean proteins, low fat dairy and heart-healthy fats like olive oil, nuts and seeds protects our heart health. The two booklets below (one from the Heart Foundation and the other from the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute) are a treasure trove of information to help guide healthy eating habits.
Download ‘How to eat well for a healthy heart’, PDF from the Australian Heart Foundation
Download “Eating for a healthy heart’, PDF from the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute. An excellent 5 page summary booklet
