5 Abstain taboo of people with cancer

Cancer patients do not eat sugar, soybeans that replace with honey . are wrong.

Experts of Parkway Cancer Center, Singapore, said that a proper understanding of nutritional needs and scientific diets plays a very important role in the fight against cancer. In fact, cancer patients often go to networking forums to learn or follow their friends, relatives recommend abstaining from certain foods or supplementing functional foods. These sources of information are sometimes contradictory and confusing, difficult to understand or completely without a scientific basis.

Doctors summarize 5 common misconceptions about the diet of cancer patients as follows:

Do not eat sugar

One of the main sources of energy for the body is carbohydrate, which is also the only source of energy for the brain. Carbohydrates are converted into simple sugars during digestion, which is the simplest nutrient absorbed by cells.

Carbohydrates are found in the foods we eat every day such as fruits, dairy products, rice, noodles, biscuits, legumes, starchy vegetables such as potatoes, corn, tapioca and virtually all kinds of sweet drinks and desserts.

Doctors advise cancer patients not to abstain from sugar completely. However, it is not advisable to consume more sugar because they have no other nutritional value other than providing calories. Excessive single sugar consumption also increases blood sugar faster than carbohydrate absorption from food. When blood sugar is high, the pancreas produces insulin to metabolize the pathway to excess insulin syndrome in the blood, or when the body produces excess insulin that also causes an inflammatory reaction, which increases the risk of cancer.

Cancer patients do not need to abstain from sugar completely.(Artwork: Faiza Alam).

Do not eat milk and dairy products

Recombinant growth hormone cow (rbGH) is a synthetic cow hormone that is injected into dairy cows so that they grow faster and produce more milk. This hormone is not harmful, but many are concerned they may increase the levels of chemicals in the body and lead to cancer.

So far, there is no evidence to prove that, but many countries such as Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the European Union have banned the use of rbGH. Meanwhile, the US Food and Drug Administration still endorsed the use of rbGH within the biological limit of no human body. Oncologists also do not advise patients to completely abandon cow's milk and dairy products.

Eat honey instead of sugar

Honey is composed of fructose (about 38%), glucose (31%), water (17%) and carbohydrate maltose (malt sugar), sucrose (sugar) and several other complex carbohydrates. This type of food contains only small amounts of vitamins and minerals such as vitamin C, iron, calcium, phosphate .

Honey is very good because of its antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant properties. However, patients who are receiving chemotherapy, radiation therapy or during stem cell transplantation that use honey will not be safe. Because most honey today is not pasteurized, it can contain pollen and bacteria, which cause allergies and infections. You can buy sterilized honey for use but it has the disadvantage of not keeping the original nutrients because the active enzyme has been destroyed under high temperatures during the sterilization process.

Do not eat red meat

Red meats provide nutrients not found in white meat like iron, zinc and vitamin B12. These nutrients are essential for red blood cell formation and hemoglobin. Adding red meat once or twice a week will help provide the necessary nutrients. However, do not eat red meat regularly or consume high-fat foods because it increases the risk of coronary artery disease and cancer.

Breast cancer patients abstain from eating soy

Isoflavones are plant nutrients found in soybeans, or phyto-estrogen. This is the type of plant estrogen that acts as estrogen in the human body. Many studies around the world show that soy phyto-estrogen does not cause a negative reaction to breast cancer patients. Therefore, doctors still recommend cancer patients should eat soy and soy products.