Diet taboos for breast cancer patients

There is no food that breast cancer patients absolutely cannot touch, but Foods containing exogenous estrogens, highly processed foods high in sugar and fat, and alcohol are three categories that must be strictly restricted. ； As for the two controversial foods rumored online, soy products and "fat foods", there is no clear basis for taboos. You can adjust them according to your own situation and doctor's advice. There is no need to kill them all at once.

I have been in the breast clinic for 7 years, and the most common mistake I have seen is the indiscriminate supplementation of estrogen-containing products. There used to be a 52-year-old aunt, and all the indicators in the postoperative review were stable. I heard from the sisters in the community that snow clams can replenish qi and blood and resist aging. She took it for three months, and the estrogen level tripled when checked again. New small nodules grew in her chest, which scared her so much that she never dared to touch them again. Things like snow clams, placenta, anti-aging oral liquids and breast enhancement products sold in unqualified beauty salons all clearly contain exogenous estrogens. Especially for patients with positive hormone receptors (ER/PR), touching them is almost equivalent to "sending fuel" to cancer cells. No matter how fancy others say, don't touch them.

In addition to this obvious thunder, there are also bad eating habits that many people don't take seriously, which are actually more harmful. Not long ago, there was a 28-year-old triple-negative breast cancer patient who couldn't keep her mouth shut after the treatment. She drank a cup of full-sugar milk tea every day and ate fried chicken and barbecue every now and then. She gained 20 pounds in half a year. During the reexamination, not only did her blood lipids become high, but she was also found to have severe insulin resistance. We calculated that her risk of recurrence was nearly 30% higher than before. It’s not that you can’t eat a mouthful of milk tea or a bite of bacon. It’s perfectly fine to have a piece of cake on your birthday or two bites of grilled sausage at a dinner party with friends. However, you may be afraid of eating these high-sugar, high-trans-fat, salted, smoked, and highly processed red meat as a daily meal. Obesity itself is a clear high-risk factor for the recurrence of breast cancer. This should be understood clearly.

There is another thing that many people take chances with - alcohol. It is really not recommended to touch even half of it. The WHO has long classified alcohol as a Class I carcinogen. Whether it is red wine, white wine or beer, as long as it is consumed, it will affect estrogen metabolism. Especially for patients with positive hormone receptors, even if they drink a small glass of red wine every day, the risk of recurrence will increase. Don’t believe the saying that “drinking red wine softens blood vessels” may not be useful for ordinary people, let alone patients who have had cancer.

As for the two questions that have caused the most quarrels on the Internet and have been asked eight hundred times in my clinic, I have broken them into pieces and explained them clearly:

First of all, can soy products be eaten? Many people say that soybeans contain phytoestrogens, which can induce recurrence. In fact, the domestic CSCO breast cancer guidelines have clearly stated that normal consumption of soy products is safe. The soy isoflavones in soybeans are weak estrogen. When they enter the body, they compete with the strong estrogen in the body for receptors. This is equivalent to "occupying the manhole and not shitting", but it has a protective effect. Of course, some conservative clinicians will suggest that patients with positive hormone receptors should not take purified soy isoflavone health products, and there is no need to drink two to three liters of concentrated soy milk a day. There is nothing wrong with drinking a bowl of soy milk, eating a piece of tofu, and grabbing two handfuls of edamame as a snack.

Then, should we avoid "fawu"? This is actually the difference between the concepts of Chinese and Western medicine: Western medicine has no idea of ​​​​promoting food. As long as you are not allergic, chicken, seafood, beef and mutton are all high-quality proteins. It is best to eat them to replenish your body after surgery and during radiotherapy and chemotherapy. ； According to traditional Chinese medicine, it is not that hairy substances will cause recurrence, but if you have inflammatory reactions such as oral ulcers, severe constipation, or rashes during radiotherapy and chemotherapy, you should eat less spicy and hot beef, mutton, and seafood to avoid aggravating the discomfort. There was a patient who was so exaggerated that he didn’t even dare to eat eggs after chemotherapy, saying that eggs were hairy. In the end, he was so anemic that he couldn’t even endure the next chemotherapy. This was completely putting the cart before the horse.

In fact, I often tell patients, don’t make your diet a prison sentence. You don’t dare to touch this or eat that. Treating the disease is already very tiring. Occasionally, if you are craving for hot pot or a piece of cream cake, as long as you don’t make it every once in a while, it won’t have any impact at all. If we really want to say that the most important dietary principle is to eat well, have balanced nutrition, and control your weight within a normal range, it is much more effective than focusing on so-called taboos. Of course, if you have basic diseases such as diabetes and gout, the foods you should avoid should be based on the requirements of the basic diseases and do not need to be confused with breast cancer.