Diet taboos for nasopharyngeal tumors

You must not touch moldy, pickled, or high-nitrite foods, and you should try to touch as little as possible spicy, hot, high-sugar and high-fat foods. As long as you don’t feel uncomfortable or allergic after eating other foods, you can basically eat them normally. There is no need to blindly avoid food and starve the body.

The first thing that needs to be singled out is pickled food. This is currently the only dietary factor that has been clearly proven to be directly related to the risk of nasopharyngeal tumor occurrence and recurrence. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Fujian and other regions with a high incidence of nasopharyngeal tumors have the eating habit of eating cured fish, bacon, and salty pickles all year round. High nitrites long-term irritation of the nasopharyngeal mucosa is a high-risk inducement. I previously followed up an old patient in Jiangmen. His family would pickle a jar of salted fish heads for meals every year. After he was diagnosed, he still couldn't bear to throw them away. He would occasionally carry two pieces with his family behind his back to eat. As a result, the EB virus titer never dropped after radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The doctor in charge of the bed asked him three times before telling the truth. After he stopped pickling food, he checked again two months later and the index dropped steadily. Do you think this is a loss? As for the aflatoxin in moldy peanuts and corn, needless to say, you should not touch it regardless of whether you are sick or not. Cancer patients with low immunity should avoid it completely.

Having said this, someone must ask, what about the "hair thing" that everyone spreads so miraculously? Can’t we eat chicken, duck, fish, and seafood? This is actually the most controversial point at present. There are indeed differences in opinions in different fields: Traditional Chinese medicine schools recommend that patients in the acute stage of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, with obvious oral mucosal ulcers, and dry mouth and fever symptoms, temporarily eat less warm and dry foods such as mutton, goose, and durian to avoid aggravating the irritation reaction. ； But the view of modern clinical nutrition is that as long as you are not allergic to these foods before and do not experience discomfort such as bloating or sore throat after eating them, you can eat them, or even eat more. After all, immune cells also need food and grass to kill tumors. During radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the body is greatly depleted and high-quality protein cannot keep up. White blood cells and albumin are lost quickly, and even treatment cannot be carried out on time, which in turn delays the condition. I met a patient last week who didn't even dare to touch eggs after the diagnosis. He only drank white porridge with vegetables every day. In the end, his albumin level was so low that he had to undergo intravenous infusion of human albumin, which cost tens of thousands more. He also postponed chemotherapy for two weeks. It was completely unnecessary.

Of course, this does not mean that except for the minefields mentioned above, you can take advantage of everything. You still have to flexibly adjust according to your treatment status. There are no rigid rules. For example, in the first two weeks of radiotherapy, most people will have oral mucosal ulcers, which will hurt even if they eat lukewarm noodles. At this time, don't try to rinse the freshly rolled hot pot or gnaw on the hard fried peanut crisps. It can be scraped until the mucous membranes are so painful that they shed tears. If the ulcer is infected, it will be more troublesome. During chemotherapy, it is easy to feel nauseated and nauseated. The sweet and greasy butter cake and the fat and oily braised pork elbow are temporarily put away. It is easier to vomit after eating them, and no nutrients can be absorbed. If you have a history of food allergies, such as getting a rash after eating shrimp before, and your immunity is already messed up during treatment, don't blindly try new ingredients to avoid causing other problems.

To be honest, I have seen too many patients searching for "taboo lists" in patient groups every day. They cannot eat this or touch that. In the end, they starve themselves to the point of becoming sallow and skinny. On the contrary, they do not recover as well as those patients who eat everything appropriately and keep up with nutrition. There used to be a girl in her 20s who secretly ordered milk tea with 30% sugar during chemotherapy. Of course, I am not encouraging everyone to drink more milk tea. I am just saying that you should not push yourself too hard. Occasionally, you will be craving for a small cake or take a few bites of a crisp peach. As long as you are not uncomfortable, you will be in a good mood, which will also help your recovery.

If you are really not sure whether something can be eaten, don’t ask the “old experience” passed down in the patient group. Everyone’s treatment stage and body reaction are different. Go directly to your bedside doctor or nutritionist, who can give you accurate information in two minutes, which is much better than guessing for half a day.