What are the dietary taboos for liver cysts?

In fact, the vast majority of simple liver cysts do not have strict dietary taboos at all. Most of the statements circulated on the Internet that you cannot eat hair, egg yolks, and soy products have no scientific basis. Only a few special cases require targeted adjustments in diet.

Last week, I met a 42-year-old online ride-hailing driver, Brother Zhang, at the clinic. Last month, he was diagnosed with a 1.3cm simple liver cyst. He was so scared that he gave up his favorite braised food. He even dared to eat only egg whites for fear of stimulating the growth of the cyst. When he came to the clinic, his complexion was much worse than before. When I asked him, I found out that he had been almost completely vegetarian for the past half month and did not even dare to touch oil or water. In fact, it was completely unnecessary.

What we often call simple liver cysts is simply a benign small blister on the liver. Most of them are leftover from congenital development. They will neither become cancerous nor affect normal liver function. Whether the food you eat in your daily life is spicy or fresh, it will not directly stimulate this "blister". There is really no need to specifically avoid food.

Of course, it doesn't mean that you can eat and drink freely in any situation, it still depends on the score. If during the follow-up, it is found that the cyst has grown to more than 8cm and has compressed the adjacent stomach and intestines, and you always feel distended in the upper abdomen after eating. Then you should be careful not to overeat, and try to avoid things that are too sticky and greasy to be digested after a long meal. Otherwise, the stomach, which is already squeezed by the cyst and does not have enough space, will be burdened even more, and you will be the one to suffer. There is also a special kind of polycystic liver disease, which is a hereditary disease. If abnormal liver function occurs in the later stage, then like other patients with chronic liver disease, they should avoid alcohol, high-sugar and high-fat processed foods as much as possible to reduce the metabolic burden on the liver.

There is also a saying on the Internet that foods containing estrogen can stimulate the growth of cysts, such as soy products, royal jelly, etc. There is currently no clear clinical research to prove that daily dietary estrogen intake will affect the growth of cysts. If you are really worried about it, don’t go out of your way to take supplements that supplement estrogen. Drinking a cup of soy milk or eating a piece of tofu will have no effect at all.

I have met too many people who had dietary restrictions due to liver cysts. In the end, the cysts did not appear to be smaller, but instead turned sallow due to lack of nutrition. It is really not a problem. It is enough to eat a normal and balanced diet and have a follow-up B-ultrasound to observe the size once every six months to a year.