Gastric cancer dietary taboos

The first is irritating/high-risk carcinogens that can directly damage the gastric mucosa, the second is indigestible foods that will greatly increase the digestive burden, and the third is foods that will definitely cause discomfort after being eaten by oneself. In addition, there is no need to excessively restrict food. Prioritizing adequate and balanced nutritional intake is more important for recovery.

I met 62-year-old Zhou during a follow-up visit a while ago. Half a year after surgery for gastric adenocarcinoma, he lost almost 30 pounds. His albumin was only 32g/L. Even the scheduled adjuvant chemotherapy was postponed. After asking, I found out that his family had made a two-page list of taboos for him. Eggs, fish and shrimps were forbidden to touch, and spicy foods such as chili peppers, onions, ginger, and garlic were all banned. He drank millet porridge with boiled vegetables every day, and even apples had to be steamed until they were rotten before he even dared to take a few bites, for fear of burdening his stomach.

This kind of excessive food taboos is really seen too often, especially when it comes to many controversial dietary issues. In fact, there is no one-size-fits-all standard answer. Take the most frequently asked question "can you eat spicy food?" In the early years, clinical practice did require patients to completely abstain from spicy food. However, in the past two years, more and more follow-up data have shown that if the patient has a long-term habit of eating spicy food, the mucosa has recovered well after surgery, and there are no active ulcers or erosions, it is perfectly fine to eat a small amount of spicy food within tolerance. On the contrary, it can improve appetite and prevent you from feeling nauseated by eating bland and tasteless food every day. The judgment logic of traditional Chinese medicine is more subdivided: If you are a patient with stomach heat syndrome who is prone to dry mouth and stomach pain and pantothenic acid, you should try to avoid spicy food. ； However, if you are a patient with stomach cold who is usually afraid of cold and gets stomachache after eating something cold, eating a small amount of warm and spicy food such as pepper and ginger can relieve stomach discomfort.

As for the mythical taboo of "eating food", there is no such concept in the Western medicine system. As long as you are not allergic, fish, shrimp, poultry, and eggs are excellent sources of high-quality protein, and the nutritional supplement efficiency is much higher than drinking ten bowls of white porridge. There was a 28-year-old patient with early-stage gastric cancer. After the operation, he heard the old man say that chicken is a "hairy thing". He didn't dare to touch a piece of chicken for half a year, and he only dared to eat egg whites. In the end, he was diagnosed with severe iron deficiency anemia, and he couldn't even go to work normally. Of course, this does not mean that the traditional theory of hair loss is completely unreasonable. Some patients are intolerant to mutton and seafood and suffer from acid reflux and bloating after eating it. Just avoid it. The core reference standard is always your own body's reaction, rather than being blocked one by one from a random list of hair growth products found online.

What we really need to avoid are those high-risk foods for which there is clear evidence. For example, alcohol, whether it is white wine, red wine or fruit wine claimed to be "health-preserving", is a first-level carcinogen and is extremely irritating to the damaged gastric mucosa. Don't listen to people's deception of "drink less to promote blood circulation". It is really not worth gambling on your health. There are also foods that have been pickled for a long time, such as pickled sauerkraut from the Northeast, cured fish and bacon from the South, and canned pickles sold in supermarkets. The nitrite content is not low. Long-term consumption will increase the risk of recurrence of gastric cancer. If you are really greedy during the New Year and the holidays, just bite a small piece to satisfy your craving. Don't just eat porridge for every meal. You also need to change the habit of stuffing your mouth with freshly fried crispy pork, hard roasted rice balls, and boiling hot pot. Food that is too hard can easily scratch the fragile gastric mucosa, and those with anastomosis after surgery may even cause bleeding. Repeated high-temperature stimulation will also increase the probability of mucosal lesions.

I have been in the oncology department for almost 8 years, and I have seen too many patients who practice their taboos as if they were practicing asceticism. They dare not touch this or eat that. In the end, their nutrition failed to keep up, and their recovery was worse than those patients who relaxed their diet appropriately. To be honest, the stomach is designed to digest food. Don’t think of it as a glass vase that breaks at the touch of a touch. Just avoid the core pitfalls mentioned above and occasionally eat what you want. For example, if it’s too hot in the summer and you want to eat less than half a cup of ice cream, and you don’t feel pain or acid reflux after eating it, just eat it. A good mood will have a much greater impact on improving immunity than worrying about that bite of ice cream.

If you are really unsure about whether something is edible, just try a small amount. If you feel no discomfort after eating it, you can eat more appropriately next time. If you feel pain, acid reflux, or bloating after eating it, just avoid it next time. It will be more effective than reading ten popular science posts. After all, everyone’s condition and tolerance are different, so how can there be any universally applicable contraindication list?