Can simple dietary changes really improve the lives of those recovering from cancer?
The old saying goes that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. But a 2024 study led by Mariah Jackson, PhD, and a handful of other UNMC faculty, in collaboration with Mayo Clinic and the University of South Carolina School of Public Health, found in cancer survivors: “One month after completing an educational cooking class, participants significantly changed their diet-derived inflammation scores, which became more anti-inflammatory, while also significantly improving subjective measures of cognitive function.”
Meaning, they not only improved their health based on test results but also felt noticeably sharper mentally.
Dr. Jackson, assistant professor of medical nutrition in the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions, has filled what had been an institutional gap in establishing a new cancer-focused nutrition research agenda at UNMC. Now, in collaboration with teammates at Nebraska Medicine, the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center and the Great Plains IDeA-CTR, she is working to see the impact of this research reach those who need it most.
Dr. Jackson is a registered dietitian nutritionist who studies the effects of dietary patterns and disease development and prevention, and on improving patient outcomes through nutrition interventions.
She is principal investigator on funded research for the National Cancer Institute-designated Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center. And she continues to work with Nebraska Medicine’s registered dietitian nutritionists (RDN) to inform nutrition protocol at Nebraska Medicine and the cancer center.
As part of this effort, Nebraska Medicine has implemented registered dietitian nutritionists into its cancer care team.
Outreach has included cooking classes and a small but growing online cookbook of “cancer survivorship recipes.”
Much of this also is a part of Dr. Jackson’s Great Plains IDeA-CTR community-engaged research, which created a community-academic partnership to bring together cancer survivors, caregivers, health professionals and researchers. Direct input from the community was a vital part of designing the RESILIENCE Study (Researching the Effects of Survivorship, Inflammation and Neuro-Cognitive Enhancement through Cancer and Eating). This took the 2024 study to the next level, Dr. Jackson said, by incorporating personalized diet counseling and practical cooking classes to increase fiber intake in colorectal cancer survivors.
Through this study, an evidence-based cooking class now also is available at the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge in Omaha. These free classes are convenient for those staying at the lodge but open to anyone, Dr. Jackson said.
A key aspect of Dr. Jackson’s IDeA-CTR research is that this knowledge makes its way to the people who need it. And be informed by them as well.
“It’s important to talk with cancer survivors themselves,” Dr. Jackson said, and involve them in this research.
Behavioral change can be very difficult. Many of us may have tried to improve our diets, only to go back to old habits. Registered dietician nutritionists understand.
“There are so many levels that go into food choice,” Dr. Jackson said. “Including our time budgets, our energy budgets and our financial budgets.”
That’s part of Dr. Jackson’s research as well. She talks of showing us “simple swaps,” be they fresh, frozen or canned, and meeting people where they are.
“We’re looking for things you can throw together on a low-energy night,” Dr. Jackson said. On one of those hectic days when you don’t know what you’ll do for dinner, “there may be things in your cupboard” that have more nutritional benefits than you know.
We all know we should be eating more fruits and vegetables. But some of the knowledge this study is sharing is the further realization that these changes are possible and attainable. Dr. Jackson hopes that knowledge combined with easy food prep skills is “a lighthouse in the stormy sea,” for people, she said.
Science shows that our dietary choices can improve our health in many ways. Now UNMC is showing Nebraskans how to have the tools to do so, and more simply than we may have thought.