Diet taboos for advanced lung cancer

Foods that you are clearly allergic to, extremely irritating/heavily processed foods that will aggravate mucosal damage, foods that clearly conflict with the current treatment plan, and other so-called "food taboos" and "starvation therapies" mostly have no scientific basis. There is no need to excessively restrict diet but will affect nutritional intake.

Over the years I have been in the clinic, I have seen too many family members who have made mistakes. The patient has lost his appetite just after chemotherapy and wants to drink thicker old hen soup. The family insists that chicken is "fat" and forces him to drink white porridge with vegetables. Within half a month, the patient's albumin is so low that he needs intravenous infusion of human albumin, but he suffers a lot more. At this point, some people may ask, should we avoid the "fawu" that has been passed down by the elders for so long?

The controversy over hair-raising foods has actually been going on for a long time. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that hair-raising foods refer to foods that can induce old diseases and aggravate existing ones. The core points are foods that are likely to cause allergies and heat and dryness, rather than generalized chicken, duck, fish, cattle, and sheep.； Modern nutrition believes that as long as there are no allergies or intolerances, these high-quality protein-rich foods can help patients maintain weight, improve immunity, and better tolerate treatment. There is actually no conflict between the two views. If the patient is taking traditional Chinese medicine for conditioning at the same time, he or she can directly consult the prescribing Chinese medicine practitioner to find out whether there are any taboos for his or her personal constitution. There is no need to blindly follow the general list on the Internet. For example, if the patient is allergic to shrimps and crabs, then shrimps and crabs are his "food", but if he never feels uncomfortable after eating them, steamed shrimps are more nutritious than three bowls of white porridge, and he can eat them normally.

In addition to these taboos that vary from person to person, there are also several categories that should be avoided no matter what the circumstances. For example, when you have just finished chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or immunotherapy and you have oral mucositis or esophageal mucosal damage, don't touch freshly baked fried food, super spicy hot pot, and salty pickled products. These things will scratch the damaged mucosa and make you unable to eat. It is a trivial matter, but it is more troublesome to cause infection and delay treatment. There was an old man who suffered from oral ulcers after chemotherapy. He secretly ate spicy pickled radish brought by his grandson. The pain lasted for three days without drinking any water. In the end, he had to use painkillers to recover. It was a completely unnecessary suffering. There are also clear carcinogens such as betel nut, alcoholic drinks, and moldy food. Whether during the treatment or recovery period, they must be completely avoided without room for negotiation.

Oh, by the way, there is another type of taboo that is most easily overlooked, and it is directly related to the treatment you are using. For example, patients who are taking targeted drugs should absolutely avoid fruits such as grapefruit and Seville oranges. The furanocoumarins contained in them will inhibit the activity of liver metabolic enzymes, causing the blood concentration of targeted drugs to increase abnormally, and the side effects will also double. There was a patient who drank freshly squeezed grapefruit juice every day while taking osimertinib. During the reexamination, the blood drug concentration was more than double the normal value, and the side effects of rash and diarrhea were much more severe than before. After stopping the grapefruit juice, the symptoms gradually eased. If you are taking anticoagulants such as warfarin, you don’t have to completely avoid foods rich in vitamin K such as spinach and cabbage. You just need to maintain a stable intake. Don’t eat half a kilogram in one meal today and not touch one in the next half month, otherwise it will be difficult to adjust the dosage.

There is another widely circulated misunderstanding that needs to be mentioned, which is the so-called "starving cancer cells to death". Many people think that eating less nutritious food can starve cancer cells to death. This is completely putting the cart before the horse - cancer cells have a much stronger ability to snatch nutrients than normal cells. What you will starve of when you go on a diet are normal immune cells and muscle cells. If your immunity collapses, let alone treatment, various infection complications will come to your doorstep. Last year, a patient's family believed this and refused to give the patient eggs. He forced the patient to suffer severe malnutrition and the original chemotherapy plan could not be used at all. It was a pity.

I often tell my family members that the core of diet in the late stage of lung cancer is always to "eat what you can, eat nutritiously, and eat happily." Don't be tied up by a bunch of inexplicable taboos. For example, an old man likes to take two bites of sauced elbows throughout his life. As long as he doesn't have high blood fat and has no digestion problems, what's wrong with eating just half a piece? It was much better than being forced to take so-called "anti-cancer supplements" that he couldn't swallow every day. After all, eating well, sleeping well, and being in a good mood are the foundation for surviving treatment and maintaining quality of life.