Diet taboos for patients with uterine fibroids

For people who have undergone uterine fibroid-related treatments (including ablation, ablation, hysterectomy, etc.), the only foods that are clearly required to be avoided during the entire process are foods and health care products that are explicitly added with exogenous estrogen. The rest of the so-called "not to eat" vary from person to person, and there is no absolute list of taboos that is common to the entire population.

To be honest, I have been in the gynecology clinic for almost 10 years. I have seen too many patients who have undergone uterine fibroid surgery and live with a long list of contraindications found online. Last month, I met a 32-year-old girl who had undergone minimally invasive surgery only 3 months ago. When she came for a review, her hemoglobin was only 90. When I asked her, I found out that she did not even dare to eat pork, beef, and mutton. She said on the Internet that red meat is a "hair substance" and will promote the recurrence of fibroids. I really didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Let’s talk about the things that really need to be avoided first, just don’t touch them: those health products from unknown sources that boast of “ovarian care” and “anti-aging” are amazing, as well as snow clams and royal jelly (note that royal jelly is not ordinary honey). The content of animal-derived estrogen in these is supported by clear testing data. No matter how long it has been since the surgery or what your physical condition is, try not to touch them. There was a 40-year-old patient who recovered very well after surgery. However, after hearing from a friend that he ate snow clams to replenish qi and blood, he ate it twice a week for half a year. During the follow-up examination, two new 2cm fibroids appeared, and he had to undergo interventional treatment. It was a pity.

At this point, someone must be asking, can the soy product that is the most popular on the Internet be touched? There are indeed different views on this: mainstream Western medicine clinical research believes that soy isoflavones in soybeans are phytoestrogens, which are two-way regulatory components - when the estrogen level in the body is high, it will seize receptors and reduce the effect of estrogen. When the level is low, it will supplement. Normally, drinking 300ml of soy milk and eating a piece of old tofu every day will not increase the risk of recurrence at all. Some studies even show that people who eat soy products in moderation for a long time have a fibroid recurrence rate that is about 12% lower than those who do not eat it at all. ； However, some schools of traditional Chinese medicine believe that eating too much soybeans within six months after surgery may affect the flow of qi and blood, and it is recommended to consume a small amount. In fact, there is no need to worry about it at all. If you really feel uneasy, just drink less thick soy milk in the first 3 months after the operation. It is perfectly fine to eat a cold tofu or a bowl of bean curd. Just don’t eat soy products as your staple food three times a day.

There is also the issue of "fat foods" that people ask a lot. Beef, mutton, seafood, spicy food, etc., there is really no need to avoid them all. I have seen many patients who only eat millet porridge and vegetables after surgery. After half a month, they walk unsteadily, and their wounds heal much slower than those of people who eat normally. To put it bluntly, the wound is still in the edema stage in the first week after the operation. If you have allergies or are prone to getting angry and constipated when eating spicy food, you should be patient for the time being. Once the scabs on the wound fall off and defecation becomes normal, you can eat whatever you normally eat without any problem. There was a patient from the coast who was really hungry for steamed seabass two weeks after the operation. He secretly ate two of them. When he came for a review, his wounds were better than those of the patients in the same ward who drank plain porridge every day. After all, only with enough protein can tissue grow, right?

However, there is an invisible pitfall that many people have not noticed. Instead, they should pay more attention to it: try to avoid highly processed foods that are high in sugar and oil. It’s not that eating a bite of milk tea cake will cause fibroids to develop. It’s that eating these things for a long time will make you gain weight. The adipose tissue will synthesize endogenous estrogen on its own, which will increase the probability of recurrence. Last year, there was a 28-year-old girl who gained 22 pounds in half a year after the operation. She drank a cup of pearl milk tea every day for afternoon tea. During the follow-up examination, a 1cm small fibroid was found. Later, she kept her mouth shut and lost 10 pounds. The small fibroid disappeared on its own during the next check-up.

In fact, there is really no need to make dietary taboos like college entrance examination endorsements. Everyone's body constitution, surgical methods, and postoperative recovery conditions are different. If you eat something that others cannot touch, it may not be a problem for you. If you are really greedy and want to eat something, just eat two bites less. If you don’t feel uncomfortable after eating, it will be fine. Don’t put so much psychological burden on yourself - bad mood and long-term anxiety will affect endocrine more than eating two bites of so-called "taboo food", which will lead to problems. If you are really unsure, just ask the doctor casually during your next check-up. It is much more reliable than searching for messy information online for a long time.