Dietary taboos for patients with colon cancer

The first is processed meat products, the second is refined processed foods high in sugar and fat, and the third is rough foods that are highly irritating and difficult to digest. All contraindications must be flexibly adjusted based on your stage of treatment and body tolerance. Don’t stick to the unified list online.

Let’s first talk about the processed meat products that people ask about most, such as sausages readily available in convenience stores, bacon for breakfast sandwiches, salted meat and fish marinated at home for more than half a year, and luncheon meat ready to eat out of a can. The WHO has long classified this type of food into a list of carcinogens. A large-sample study by the European Food Safety Authority also shows that consuming 50g of processed meat per day (about the amount of an ordinary grilled sausage) will increase the risk of colorectal cancer incidence and recurrence by about 18%. However, there are different views on this issue. Some doctors who specialize in chronic disease nutrition will think that if you have completed treatment for more than 2 years, all reexamination indicators are stable, and you are really hungry during the holidays, it is not a big deal to eat one or two bites to satisfy your cravings. There was a 62-year-old post-surgery patient who made soy pork every year at home. He quit it for two years before, and secretly bit into half a piece during the Chinese New Year last year. He was so frightened that he had to lose sleep for a week and came for a review. The results showed that there were no problems. The doctor said with a smile, the harm of your anxiety is greater than that bite of soy pork. Of course, if you are still in the first year of chemotherapy and postoperative recovery, it is best not to touch a bite. There is no need to take unnecessary risks.

What is more easily overlooked than processed meat is actually refined food that is high in sugar and fat. For example, the full-sugar pearl milk tea, the cream-covered chiffon cake, and the golden and crispy fried chicken steak from a roadside stall that you usually drink. When these things enter the intestines, the harmful bacteria will be happy. The fermented metabolites will repeatedly stimulate the damaged intestinal mucosa. Many studies have confirmed that high-sugar diets can promote the proliferation of tumor cells. This direction is also controversial. Some strict schools require patients to completely cut out refined sugar and replace all white rice with whole grains. However, many clinicians do not actually agree with such an extreme approach. Let’s just talk about patients during chemotherapy. Many people have bitter mouths, swollen esophagus, and can’t swallow anything. They just want something sweet to smooth their throats. So it’s better to let them eat two bites of cake than to suffer from electrolyte imbalance due to hunger, right? There was a 28-year-old chemotherapy patient who vomited everything he ate. The only thing he could swallow was strawberry-flavored ice cream. The doctor specifically told his family that he was allowed to eat half a box every day. It was a good thing that he could eat something. He could adjust his diet after the reaction of chemotherapy passed.

Another pitfall that people tend to go to extremes is highly irritating and difficult-to-digest foods. I have seen many patients who had just undergone surgery three months ago. They were told to "eat more whole grains to clear the intestinal tract" and gnawed whole corns. As a result, they suffered abdominal pain and bloating after eating. When they went to the hospital for a checkup, it was found that the rough corn kernels had scraped into the anastomosis that had not yet grown. They suffered for nothing. It’s not that whole grains are bad, but they need to be staged: in the first six months to one year after surgery, try to eat soft whole grain porridge and polenta, whole hard nuts, uncooked brown rice, heart-burning butter hot pot, and tooth-piercing cold drinks. Try not to touch them. Wait until the gastrointestinal function is completely restored, and then slowly try a small amount. If you feel no discomfort after eating, then continue eating. If you have flatulence and diarrhea after eating, don't touch it no matter how healthy others say it is.

Oh, by the way, I also asked if I can drink alcohol. This is not controversial. Whether it is liquor, beer or so-called "healthy red wine", try not to touch it. Alcohol is a clear carcinogen, and it is a real irritant to the intestinal mucosa. Don't believe the saying "drink a small amount to activate blood circulation". There is really no need to take this risk.

I was chatting with nutritionists in the oncology department before, and the most common thing they said was, don’t put dietary restrictions into jail. Many patients dare not eat this or that, and end up so skinny that their immunity cannot improve, making them more prone to problems. The core of diet has always been "your intestines are comfortable" + "nutrition is sufficient". Taboos are just to draw a big red line for you, not to put shackles on you. If you are really unsure, bring a small notebook with you to your next check-up and ask your attending doctor or nutritionist. It is much more reliable than searching for those strange "carcinogenic food lists" online.