Cancer is contagious? 56-year-old Lao Hu raised this doubt after being diagnosed with thyroid cancer. A few months ago, he found his throat starting to hurt. At first, he thought it was just a common sore throat and didn’t pay much attention to it. However, in the following days, he noticed a sharp decrease in his body weight. This should have been a good thing theoretically because he had always wanted to lose weight. He felt that being overweight made him look weaker as he aged.
But he wasn’t just losing weight; his appetite increased significantly. Coupled with the difficulty in eating due to the throat pain, realizing the seriousness of the issue, he went to the hospital for an examination. After learning that he and his wife shared meals and living space, the doctor suggested that his wife also undergo an examination. The results showed that both of them were diagnosed with thyroid nodules.
After confirming that neither of them had a family history of thyroid diseases, genetic factors were preliminarily investigated. The couple expressed that they both enjoyed eating fish and seafood, but they only knew that excessive seafood consumption could lead to gout and never thought that seafood could be related to thyroid diseases.
After listening to Lao Hu’s description, the doctor suggested that it might be due to dietary habits. Thyroid cancer is generally not contagious, but some poor dietary habits indeed provide opportunities for cancer. It shows the extent to which poor dietary habits can damage human health!
According to the first large-scale study in the global dietary field released by The Lancet in 2017, 20% of global deaths were due to poor diet. As a populous country, China topped the list of the 20 leading countries in cancer mortality caused by dietary problems.
The study found that among the 15 poor dietary habits, three dietary patterns had the highest mortality rates. These were high salt intake, insufficient whole grains, and fruits intake. Contrary to what is commonly mentioned such as high oil and sugar consumption, they were not included.
How to avoid such risks?
– Avoid eating too salty
Chinese people pay attention to the color, aroma, and taste of food. Some people have heavy tastes and like to add seasonings, pickles, salted fish, etc., to their dishes. These flavorings are mostly stimulating, spicy, and contain large amounts of salt. Thyroid patients need to reduce iodine intake, as well as reduce the intake of spicy and stimulating foods to prevent thyroid nodules from enlarging.
– Eat more vegetables and fruits
Vegetables and fruits are rich in nutrients, but some foods are not suitable for thyroid patients, such as cruciferous vegetables or hot fruits like durian and lychee. These foods are not conducive to nodule recovery and will only accelerate thyroid enlargement.
– Supplement nutrition
– Eat less seafood
Seafood is one of the important factors causing surges in thyroid hormones because it contains high levels of iodine. Its presence leads to continuous thyroid enlargement, and in severe cases, it can cause complications such as gout. Moreover, many people may experience seafood allergies and poisoning due to individual constitution issues, so it is advisable to consume less seafood as much as possible.
