Does a balanced diet limit the spread of cancer cells

Currently there is no evidence-based medical evidence to prove that a balanced diet can directly block the spread of cancer cells. It is said on the Internet that eating can "starve cancer cells" and "stop metastasis". Most of them are over-amplification of basic research conclusions.

Last month, I picked up a little girl who had just undergone breast cancer surgery. She posted a short video saying that a vegetarian diet could prevent recurrence. She even dared not touch eggs and milk. She lost 12 pounds in three weeks after the operation. During the follow-up examination, her white blood cells were so low that she could not undergo follow-up adjuvant chemotherapy. The attending doctor was so worried that she transferred her to me to adjust her diet. It took almost a month to supplement her nutrition. Fortunately, there were no signs of recurrence for the time being. If something went wrong because of the delay in chemotherapy, it would be really worth it.

But don’t think that diet is completely unimportant. There are indeed many related research directions in the academic world. For example, some basic experiments have found that an unbalanced diet with long-term high sugar, high fat, and a large amount of processed meat will increase the level of chronic inflammation in the body, which is equivalent to paving a "hotbed" for the growth and metastasis of cancer cells. ; There are also some small sample clinical studies showing that a balanced diet that meets the patient's metabolic characteristics can help patients better tolerate the side effects of radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy. Improved treatment consistency can naturally reduce the probability of cancer cell spread. However, this effect is indirect and cannot be directly equated to "diet restricting the spread."

There are also some controversial studies. For example, some teams believe that the ketogenic diet can inhibit the metastasis of certain types of tumors by reducing glucose supply. However, most of these studies remain at the stage of cell experiments or mouse experiments, and the effects on humans have not been confirmed. Moreover, the ketogenic diet has many contraindications. Patients with poor liver and kidney function may easily cause problems if they try it blindly. We generally do not actively recommend it in clinical practice.

In fact, you can compare cancer cells to "food-grabbing rats" mixed in the body. If you go on a hunger strike to starve the rats, you will definitely be unable to bear it in the end, and the rats will steal the nutrients your body reserves and continue to act like monsters. But if you eat well and keep your immune cells and various organs strong, you can not only withstand the blows of various anti-cancer treatments, but also allow the body's own "rat-catching team" to have the strength to work, which indirectly reduces the probability of rats running around and causing damage.

Don't believe in any "special anti-cancer recipes", and don't make random diets because you think they are useless. According to the requirements of the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents, eating meat, eggs, milk, vegetables, fruits, and whole grains together, and avoiding smoked, roasted, fried, and high-sugar processed foods, is the best nutritional support for cancer patients. If you really want to adjust your dietary pattern, you must seek evaluation from a doctor in the clinical nutrition department. Don't try blindly on your own and delay treatment.