Diet taboos for cancer patients

Avoid clearly harmful foods, adapt to the current stage of treatment, and respect individual tolerance. Most of the statements circulated on the Internet such as "Absolutely not eat food" and "Completely quit sugar to starve cancer cells to death" are extreme misunderstandings. There is no need to overly restrict food for unfounded taboos, which will instead drag down the body's immunity.

Speaking of the most mythical taboo, it must be the saying of "fawu". This topic itself has a different cognitive logic: "Fa Wu" in the context of traditional Chinese medicine refers to foods that can easily aggravate sores and induce allergies. This corresponds to the specific stages of cancer patients, such as when the postoperative wound is not healed or the oral mucosa is ruptured during radiotherapy. It is really necessary to try to avoid spicy stimuli, seafood and other foods that can easily cause blood vessel dilation or allergies to avoid aggravating discomfort. ； But from the perspective of modern nutrition, as long as you are not allergic to ingredients such as chicken, duck, fish, and shrimp, they are all high-quality sources of protein, and are much more efficient in replenishing nutrients than drinking white porridge every day. I once met an aunt who had undergone lung cancer surgery in the outpatient clinic. I heard from fellow patients in the community that "chicken is a hairy thing and will relapse if you eat it." She didn't touch meat for three months and drank millet porridge with stir-fried cabbage every day. When she came for a follow-up examination, her face was sallow and she was wobbly. The blood albumin test was only 28g/L, 10g less than the lowest normal value. She couldn't do the scheduled chemotherapy. She had to wait for a week to recover from albumin. It was really not worth the loss.

Apart from hair products, the most frequently asked question is "should I give up sugar completely?" Many people think that "cancer cells love to eat sugar, and cutting off sugar will starve the cancer cells to death." This logic is like directly cutting off the entire city's food in order to catch a few thieves in the city. In the end, all normal cells will starve to death, while cancer cells will rob normal cells of nutrients to live better. The current academic consensus is that there is no need to completely cut out sugar. What needs to be reduced is refined added sugar, such as extra white sugar in milk tea, cakes, and carbonated drinks. Carbohydrates in whole grains and grains should still be eaten normally. After all, the operation of normal tissues such as the brain and muscles are completely powered by carbohydrates. There was a patient with intestinal cancer who believed in the theory of "ketogenic anti-cancer" and completely stopped eating staple food. He only ate fatty meat and vegetables. Within half a month, he went to the emergency room due to ketoacidosis, which delayed his treatment.

Compared with these divergent opinions, the taboos at different stages of treatment are more practical and are based on solid clinical experience gained over many years. For example, during chemotherapy, the gastrointestinal mucosa of patients is fragile and their white blood cells are low, so they should avoid foods that may carry pathogenic bacteria, such as raw and cold sashimi, undercooked soft-boiled eggs, and braised food from roadside stalls. I have seen several patients who were greedy for ice cream during chemotherapy. They suffered from vomiting and diarrhea for a week, and had to postpone chemotherapy. ； If you are a patient undergoing head and neck radiotherapy and have ulcers in your mouth or throat, avoid touching things that are too hot, hard, or spicy. Otherwise, the pain will make you unable to drink water, which will affect your nutritional intake. ； Patients who are prone to diarrhea after abdominal radiotherapy should temporarily avoid foods with too much crude fiber such as celery, leeks, and dragon fruit, otherwise they will aggravate gastrointestinal peristalsis and make diarrhea more severe.

Of course, there are a few "hard taboos" that almost all patients should avoid. The first ones to bear the brunt are tobacco and alcohol, moldy food, and leftovers pickled for more than 3 days. These clear first-level carcinogens should really not be touched.； If you are taking targeted drugs, you must avoid grapefruit, grapefruit and related juices. The ingredients in grapefruit will affect the enzymes in the liver that metabolize targeted drugs, causing the drugs to accumulate in the body, which will either reduce the effect or double the side effects. This has been clearly confirmed and is not controversial. There are also those "anti-cancer miracle drugs" that are touted as magical, such as broken spore powder, cordyceps, etc., which does not mean that they cannot be eaten at all, but don't treat them as a meal, let alone spend all your savings to buy these. I have seen too many patients save their food money to buy supplements, and end up in the hospital due to malnutrition. It is really unnecessary.

In fact, to put it bluntly, the diet of cancer patients really does not have so many twists and turns. It can be eaten, eaten well, and nutritious, which is better than any expensive supplements. If you are really unsure about something, ask the attending doctor or nutritionist. Don't listen to the "experience" passed down by patients in the community. After all, everyone's condition, treatment plan, and physique are different. What works for others may not be suitable for you, right?