Diet taboos for cancer patients

Smoking, alcohol, and foods that are known to cause allergies. All other so-called "taboos" must be judged based on your treatment stage, tumor type, personal constitution and even underlying diseases. There is no one-size-fits-all standard.

Last week, I went to the oncology department with my elder who was having a postoperative review. While waiting for the diagnosis, I met an aunt who was three months post-operative for lung cancer. She was holding a crumpled handwritten list in her hand. It listed chicken, beef, seafood, and mangoes that should not be touched. She said that they were all "fat" and eating them would cause the tumor to relapse. As a result, the doctor looked at her blood test report and found that the albumin was only 32g/L, almost 10 points lower than the normal value. He directly said, "If you continue to be like this, the tumor will not recur, and you will collapse first."

Having said this, someone must ask, is there any truth in what the elders said about hair growth? This is actually the difference between the concepts of Chinese and Western medicine. There is no need to say who is right and who is wrong. There is no concept of "food" in the Western medicine system. Doctors usually only give you restrictions during special stages: for example, during chemotherapy, the gastrointestinal mucosa is fragile, so don't touch things that are too hot, too spicy, or too greasy, so as not to aggravate vomiting and diarrhea. ； Patients taking targeted drugs should avoid fruits that inhibit CYP3A4 enzyme activity, such as grapefruit, star fruit, and Seville oranges, to avoid affecting drug metabolism and increasing the risk of side effects. ； Patients undergoing head and neck radiotherapy have oral mucosal ulcers, so avoid chewing hard bones or eating hot pot, otherwise they will be in pain and may easily cause infection.

The "fading things" mentioned in traditional Chinese medicine are actually classified into syndrome types and are not universally taboo for everyone. For example, if you have a damp-heat constitution and are prone to dry mouth and sticky stools, you should eat less hot mutton, durian, and wine, otherwise it will easily aggravate your internal heat. ； If you have a weak and cold constitution, your hands and feet are usually cold, and you have diarrhea after eating something cold, then you should avoid cold things such as crabs, iced milk tea, and pickled raw vegetables. But the premise is that you have to find a traditional Chinese medicine doctor in a regular public hospital to diagnose syndrome. Don’t listen to Aunt Zhang and Uncle Li in the community and just follow the taboos if they say you can’t eat them. In the end, it will be your body that will suffer.

There is also a more bizarre saying that eating less nutrients, especially meat, can "starve cancer cells to death." I have actually seen patients who believe this. Last year, there was an uncle in the community who had undergone gastric cancer surgery. He believed this statement and only drank millet porridge with a little green vegetables every day. He didn't even dare to eat eggs. He lost 24 pounds in three months. When he went for a follow-up check-up, his tumor markers rose directly. The doctor said that he couldn't keep up with his nutrition, his immunity had dropped too much, and the cancer cells that had been suppressed had reared their head again. Think about it, cancer cells are much more capable of grabbing nutrients than normal cells. If you don’t eat, only your normal cells and immune cells will be hungry. Should cancer cells grow or grow? It’s not a good deal no matter how you calculate it, right?

As for the question that everyone asks the most, "Can I eat sweet food?", there is indeed no unified conclusion in the industry. Some studies believe that a high-sugar diet will change the inflammatory environment in the body, which may be detrimental to tumor control. However, there is no clear clinical evidence that eating sugar in staple foods and fruits will directly lead to tumor progression. My suggestion is that if you are diabetic or obese, you should avoid refined added sugars such as milk tea, cakes, and cola. ； But if you have no appetite during normal treatment and want to eat sweet ice cream or oranges, you can eat it. It is better than not being able to eat anything at all.

I was chatting with nurses in the oncology department before, and they said that the most troublesome thing is that family members randomly bring "tonics" to patients, such as cordyceps, Ganoderma spore powder, and a certain brand of anti-cancer nutritional solution. As a result, many patients have liver function tests after taking them, and their transaminases directly increase, which in turn delays treatment. It’s not that you can’t eat these things, but you must ask your attending doctor first to see if they will conflict with the medicine you are currently taking. It will not only cost you money, but also help you.

In fact, at the end of the day, cancer treatment itself is painful enough. Many people have a bitter taste in their mouths and a loss of appetite during treatment. They finally find something they want to eat, but they dare not eat it because of unfounded taboos. The quality of life is also very poor. Many patients I have come into contact with who have a long survival period are not so particular. As long as they don’t feel uncomfortable or allergic to food, they can eat whatever they want, their nutrition is up to date, and they are in a good mood, their immunity will be good. This is the best "specific medicine" to fight tumors.