Malignant cancer is a type of deeline disease. As an important part of cancer treatment, a scientific and reasonable diet is crucial in improving patient’s nutrition condition, preventing the occurrence of malnutrition and dyscrasia, building up their physical condition and improving their quality of life. However, in real cases, many cancer patients hold the following common dietary misconceptions.
Misconception 1
Having soup can supplement nutrition needed
It is commonly believed that soup is rich in nutrients, so many families cook such soups for cancer patients as black bone chicken soup, oxtail soup, fish soup, sea cucumber soup, turtle soup, trotter soup, etc., and tell the patients to “have the soup instead of the food materials as the essences are all dissolved in the soup”.
Actually, the understanding is wrong.
There are very few nutrients in the soup. Take the fish soup and broth for example. The soup contains only non-protein nitrogen, purine, creatinine, little free amino acid, low amount of potassium, hence, soup is not a good resource of nutrients for the body. Large amount of soup intake will only affect the intake of other food and cause malnutrition.
If cancer patients who have dysphagia, dysmasesia, fever or are bedridden need to have liquid food, food material including grain, eggs, dairy products and vegetables, etc. can be smashed into paste or porridge, which is easy to swallow and digest.
Misconception 2
The more nutrients the patent takes, the faster the tumor grows.
Some malnourished cancer patients are taking a vegetarian diet, believing “cancer patients cannot have nutritious food, otherwise tumor will grow faster.” Some doctors even lay restrictions on what the patients eat.
In fact, the growth rate of cancer cells has nothing to do with what the patient is eating.
Tumor cells are always robbing nutrients from normal cells before their eternal end. Even if the patient is malnourished, cancer cells will continue to grow in any case. Putting the body in a hunger state will only deplete the nutrition of the patient and accelerate disease progression.
Meat, fish, eggs, dietary products, bean products are the main source of quality protein and the main building blocks for cell repair. Research findings of American Cancer Society show that dietary calorie of cancer patients should be 20% more than normal people. At present, no evidence suggests that tumor cells will grow faster as nutrition builds up in the body. Instead, there are many cases where cancer patients have gained long-term survival thanks to their good nutrition status and absence of dyscrasia.
Evidence has shown that well-nourished cancer patients have better tolerance of treatment and prognosis than those malnourished ones. There is no scientific basis that cancer cells can be starved.
Misconception 3
Stimulating food encourages cancer cells and it’s better to go vegetarian
Stimulating food is a folk belief which refers to the food that may cause recurrence of previous disease or current disease aggravation. It was recorded that bean sprout, chives, alfalfa, goose, chicken, dog meat, beef, seafood fall into the category of stimulating food. Many cancer patients have to stay away from these food for fear that they can cause tumor recurrence.
The relationship between stimulating food and tumor remains to be proven scientifically. Bu as of now, no such case as stimulating food causes tumor recurrence has been reported. Hence, the folk belief has no scientific basis.
Misconception 4
Blindly believe in anti-cancer food and health care products
While exchanging ideas on what they eat, many cancer patients blindly follow others’ suits, such as buying expensive anti-cancer food and health care products. Do these supplements really work?
Some nutrients or photochemicals do have anticancer effect, which, however, can only be displayed in natural food. Hence, there is no evidence that can prove that supplementing nutrients and photochemicals can have anticancer effect.
In fact, taking the supplements will bring no benefits to cancer patients, instead, it may do harm to cancer patients. The development of cancer is a process of cell proliferation and cell apoptosis. It is only detrimental to cancer patients to neglect normal food intake and spend a high price on anti-cancer food.
Misconception 5
Cancer patients should avoid pungent food
Avoid taking irritating food, such as pungent food seems to have become a conventional dietary requirement to all patients, but the conventional norm is groundless. It is a habit to have spicy food in some regions in China. However, there is no scientific basis that can prove that the occurrence rate and mortality of cancer in these regions is higher than that of other regions or having spicy food can speed up the growth rate of tumor.
As a taste sense, the taste of spicy is no different from the taste of sour, sweet and bitter. Many patients don’t have appetite for food unless they take spicy food. However, due to the misconception, they are restrained from taking any spicy food. As chemotherapy and radiotherapy can both cause loss of appetite, it is no good to cancer patient’s rehabilitation if they are to change the habit of eating spicy food. In fact, having appropriate amount of spicy food can increase the patient’s appetite and stimulate the secretion of digestive juice.
Misconception 6
As long as patients are on nutrition infusion, it’s ok not to have food intake
When cancer patients are not having good appetite and adequate food intake, some cancer patients, families, and even doctors believe that nutrition infusion is enough to supplement the body needs. However, the understanding is wrong.
It is a natural state to have food intake through gastrointestine. If patient is not taking food for a long time, intestinal mucosa atrophy will happen, which will cause disbalance of intestinal flora and hamper the barrier function of intestinal mucosa that will easily cause infection. An extensive body of research has shown that eating disorder caused by various reasons can be corrected by giving enteral nutrition support therapy and establishing effective nutrition support channel.
A correct understanding of the dietary misconception among cancer patients can provide a scientific dietary guidance to cancer patient, which can make them feel good, maintain their strength and energy alleviate the side effects of treatment, lower the risk of infection and enjoy a faster recovery.