When Eminence Kids Foundation founder Boldijarre Koronczay was just four years old, he was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. Although he was only given a 0.1% chance of survival, his family and doctors persevered in helping Boldijarre stay strong and fight his battle with cancer. The Koronczays made sure he received good nutrition by feeding him a diet of natural, organic and biodynamic food – a key part of his healing process.
With time, Boldijarre made a complete recovery and to this day, the Koronczay family holds a firm belief that nourishing the body both inside and out is essential for total health and wellness. With this inspiration, they founded the Eminence Kids Foundation to donate organic fruits, vegetables and juices to sick children around the world
How Cancer Treatment Affects Nutrition
Good nutrition is essential during cancer treatment, but therapy for the illness can affect the appetite in many ways. Both chemotherapy and radiation therapy can suppress a child’s appetite, so it’s challenging to get the nourishment needed. Treatment can also affect the child’s senses of taste and smell, and these changes can make food taste unappetizing and even bitter or metallic. Chemotherapy medication may also make children feel nauseous, causing a loss of appetite and even vomiting. All these factors are frustrating obstacles to ensure that kids who are sick are getting the nutrition they need during treatment.
Why We Donate Organic Juice And Soup
Some of the organic produce and food we donate here from the Eminence Kids Foundaton include cold-pressed juice and soup. To explain why, we chatted with Rhone Levin, a registered dietician / nutritionist who works at Dell Children’s Blood and Cancer Center and is board-certified in oncology nutrition. Here’s her take on ideal food for cancer patients: “A common strategy to get food into children experiencing a lack of appetite is to offer smoothies and soups,” she says, “Sometimes drinking is easier than eating, when you don’t have a sense of hunger… Soups can be made with nourishing broths, meats or beans for protein, and cooked-soft vegetables.”
At our Vancouver, Canada location, we feel honored to have the opportunity to gather regularly as a company to cook and serve portions of organic soup for patients at BC Children’s Hospital. In Budapest, we deliver 650 servings of cold-pressed juice every month to the Semmelweiss Children’s Clinic. By encompassing liquid foods with our donations of organic fruits and vegetables, we are delivering food in a highly beneficial form for the children who need it the most. With fresh juice and delicious soups, we believe that we can help young patients meet their special nutritional needs.
How Good Nutrition Helps
For parents with kids in cancer therapy, getting enough nutrition is a primary goal. As Levin explains, “Extra calories, protein and micronutrients are required to keep up with the rapid-paced healing process.” Young patients benefit in many ways from this additional nourishment. The American Cancer Society lists the following advantages for patients during cancer treatment:
- Better tolerate treatment and treatment side effects
- Stay closer to the treatment plan schedule
- Heal and recover faster
- Have less risk of infection during treatment
- Have better strength and energy
- Keep up their weight and their body’s store of nutrients
- Do better at keeping up normal growth and development
- Feel better and have a better quality of life – they are less irritable, sleep better, and work better with the health care team
We believe that wholesome, organic nutrition is an essential part of the healing process and the key to wellness and long-lasting health. Through the Eminence Kids Foundation, we hope to spread the benefits of healthy eating to the kids who need it most. Join us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for more talk on the importance of organic nutrition and all the ways we can work together to help sick children in recovery.