Diet taboos for pulmonary nodules

There is currently no evidence-based medical evidence to prove that a certain food can directly cause the malignant transformation of pulmonary nodules. The rumors on the Internet that "you cannot eat eggs, you cannot touch seafood, and patients with nodules must have their hair cut off" are all pseudo-taboos. The dietary principles that really need to be paid attention to are essentially to avoid the type of diet that will aggravate the body's inflammatory response and reduce immunity in the long term. There is no need to shrink from living a small nodule.

Not long ago, I met a girl born in 1995 in the outpatient clinic. Her physical examination revealed pure ground glass nodules of 3 mm. She searched the "nodule taboo list" of a certain red book. She has not touched shrimps, eggs, milk, and even her favorite mango for three months. When she came for a follow-up examination, her face was as yellow as a layer of gray. She said that she had been catching colds frequently in the past two months. After a follow-up CT scan, it was found that although the nodules had not grown, the ground glass density was a little higher than before - it was due to a weakened immunity.

Speaking of which, we have to mention the term "fawu" that many people believe in. Fawu in the context of traditional Chinese medicine is actually aimed at allergic diseases, sores, swelling and toxins. Eating it may induce allergies, aggravate redness and swelling, and has nothing to do with lung nodules. There is no concept of fat in modern medicine. Eggs, fish and shrimp are all high-quality protein sources. As long as you are not allergic to them, they can help the body repair mucous membranes and improve immunity, which is only good for the recovery of nodules. There are veteran Chinese medicine practitioners around me who usually tell patients that as long as they have no history of allergies, they should eat what they should eat and don’t ruin their bodies by blindly restricting foods.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that you don’t need to avoid anything if you have nodules. There are certain types of things that you should touch as little as possible. It doesn’t mean that eating one bite will make the nodules worse, but eating them for a long time will indeed increase the risk of nodule progression.

The first to bear the brunt are highly processed foods that are high in sugar, salt, and oil. The puffed crisps covered with three layers of sugar that you usually eat, the spicy fried skewers you buy on the way to get off work, and the spicy hotpot with heavy oil, salt, and oil that you eat for three days in a row. These foods are enjoyable to eat, but long-term consumption will keep the body in a low-level chronic inflammation state. Last year, our department counted more than 600 patients with pulmonary nodules who had been followed up for the past two years. People who maintained a high-oil and high-sugar diet for a long time had a 27% higher probability of enlargement and density of nodules than those who had a light and balanced diet. However, some friends from the nutrition department have mentioned to me that as long as the overall diet is balanced, it is perfectly fine to have a craving for hot pot and drink a cup of milk tea from time to time. There is no need to completely deprive yourself of happiness just for a small nodule. I have an old patient, a 42-year-old man, who was diagnosed with a 4mm solid nodule. He drinks a cup of pearl milk tea and grilled skewers once a week. He usually eats three light meals and runs three times a week. After nearly 3 years of follow-up, the nodules have not changed at all and are completely fine.

There is another category that is completely uncontroversial. You should quit if you can: smoking (including second-hand smoke and third-hand smoke), high-alcohol liquor, and long-term exposure to high-temperature kitchen fumes. Needless to say, there is no need to talk about cigarettes. Tar and nicotine have clear damage to the respiratory mucosa. No matter whether there are pulmonary nodules or not, they should be touched less. Many people think that drinking some medicinal wine can moisturize the lungs. Don’t be silly. No matter what precious medicinal materials are brewed, alcohol itself is a carcinogen. Drinking it will reduce the resistance of the respiratory tract, which is not worth the gain. I have seen many old smokers who stopped smoking after being diagnosed with nodules, but continued to drink alcohol. During follow-up, the probability of nodule progression is still much higher than that of people who have quit everything.

Another pitfall that many people fall into is that when they develop nodules, they crazily supplement with "lung-moistening foods", such as lilies, pear, cordyceps, and bird's nests. There was a 60-year-old aunt who was diagnosed with a 5mm ground glass nodule. I heard others said that lily can eliminate the nodule, so she stewed a large pot of lily and tremella soup with rock sugar every day. After drinking it for two months, I checked again and found that the nodule had not changed. My fasting blood sugar soared to 7.9, and I was almost diagnosed with diabetes. In fact, moisturizing the lungs according to Chinese medicine also requires syndrome differentiation. If you have a weak spleen and stomach and often have diarrhea, drinking cold lily soup every day will damage the spleen and stomach, reduce immunity, and be bad for nodules. At present, no food has been proven to directly eliminate pulmonary nodules. Don't make up for it blindly, as it will be more troublesome to make up for other problems.

To be honest, there are too many people with pulmonary nodules detected in physical examinations now. At least 3 out of 10 people who go for CT can detect nodules, and more than 90% of them are benign, so there is no need to worry about it. What is more important than thinking about what you can and cannot eat every day is to have a regular schedule, don’t stay up late, have regular follow-up examinations, and don’t scare yourself by searching for nodule-related content on your mobile phone every day. Emotional anxiety will actually lower immunity, which is really not good for nodules. Eating well, drinking well, sleeping well is better than anything else.