Diet taboos for breast cancer patients

There is currently no absolute fasting list that applies to all breast cancer patients. There are only three categories of foods that clearly need to be avoided clinically - high-risk supplements that clearly contain animal estrogen/estrogen-like activity, foods that are clearly carcinogenic, and foods that will aggravate adverse reactions or interfere with drug efficacy during the treatment cycle. Most of the other "hair-raising foods" and "hormone foods" spread online are misunderstandings. Whether or not to avoid foods depends entirely on the individual's physical condition and stage of treatment. There is no need to apply one-size-fits-all.

I just met Aunt Zhang in the outpatient clinic last week who was 2 months post-surgery. She went home and heard from her old sister that royal jelly replenishes qi and blood, so she secretly took it for half a month. During the reexamination, the estradiol level was higher than before the operation, and she was scolded by the bedside doctor for a long time. Many people are confused about the estrogen risks of supplements, such as royal jelly, purple river car (placenta), snow clam, deer fetus ointment, etc., which are all clearly known to have high animal estrogen activity. Regardless of whether you are hormone receptor positive or negative, it is recommended not to take them, especially for patients who are undergoing endocrine therapy. Taking these supplements can easily disrupt hormone levels and increase the risk of recurrence.

When it comes to estrogen, many people's first reaction is whether soy milk can be drunk? Doctors in our department often argue about this issue privately. Old-school surgeons sometimes tell patients to drink less. After all, soy isoflavones are phytoestrogens and may cause irritation. ； But now more internal medicine and nutrition doctors support drinking in moderation - the affinity between phytoestrogens and human estrogen is only one thousandth, but it can be regulated in both directions. When estrogen is high in your body, it grabs receptors, and when it is low, it can make up for the gap. Drinking a cup of 200ml of light soy milk every day is completely fine. I have seen patients who drank soy milk every day and had no problems after five years of reexamination. There is really no need to dare to touch soy products because of this. Of course, if you drink three to five liters of thick soy milk a day, you won’t be able to handle any good stuff, just an appropriate amount. By the way, I would like to mention the question that many people ask, "Can instant chicken be eaten?" Nowadays, white-feathered chickens from regular breeding are a normal result of breed selection and are ready for sale in 40 days. There is no need to take estrogen at all (taking hormones will increase the cost of breeding, so merchants will not engage in this kind of loss-making business). You can eat chicken purchased from regular channels with confidence.

There is another category of absolute taboos that are not controversial, which are first-level carcinogens such as tobacco, alcohol, moldy food, and processed meat products. Don't listen to nonsense like "Chemotherapy requires nutritional supplements and alcohol to activate blood circulation" and "home-cured bacon is healthy." The intestines and stomach are already weak during chemotherapy. When nitrites and aflatoxins enter, they not only increase the burden on the liver and kidneys, but also cause cancer risks. It is really not a mistake to step into the trap just for the sake of food. Last time, a patient ate pickled fish brought from home during chemotherapy and had diarrhea for three days. The chemotherapy was postponed for a week, which was not worth the gain.

Also, you need to adjust your diet according to the pace of your treatment. There is no fixed standard. For example, if you have oral ulcers or severe gastrointestinal reactions a few days before chemotherapy, avoid touching things that are too hot, spicy, or too hard. I have seen people who ate hot pot so painful that they couldn’t drink water for three days. It was really painful. ； If you are taking CDK4/6 inhibitors or endocrine drugs, remember not to touch fruits such as grapefruit and Seville oranges. The furanocoumarins in them will affect the speed of liver metabolism of drugs, which will either reduce the efficacy of the drug or increase the side effects several times. There was a 30-year-old girl who took a cup of grapefruit juice every day when taking targeted drugs. In less than half a month, her rash was completely broken. The blood drug concentration was twice as fast as it was checked. She gradually recovered after stopping the grapefruit juice.

As for whether the "fawu" that everyone is most concerned about can be eaten, this must take into account the different perspectives of Chinese and Western medicine. In the eyes of Western medicine, there is no such thing as food poisoning. As long as you are not allergic, shrimp, crab, beef, and mutton are all high-quality proteins. Especially during chemotherapy, you are lacking in nutrients. Eating more can help you cope with the side effects. ； However, the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association recommends that if you have just had surgery and the wound has not healed, or you are suffering from rashes or eczema caused by targeted drugs, you should not eat allogeneic proteins such as shrimp and crab for the time being to avoid aggravating allergies or inflammatory reactions.

I have been in the breast department for almost 6 years, and I have seen too many patients make more than ten pages of taboo lists for themselves. They even dare not eat eggs and tofu. In the end, they lose only 80 pounds and cannot handle chemotherapy. It is really unnecessary. The core of diet is balance. As long as you avoid the three categories mentioned above that are clearly risky, occasionally you want to have milk tea or ice cream. What's wrong with taking a bite? A good mood can help your condition much more than eating two more bites of "healthy food". If you are really not sure whether something can be eaten or not, just take a photo and ask your doctor during your next checkup. Don't scare yourself by searching online for a long time. It's better than anything else.