^

Diet for rectal cancer

, medical expert
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
Fact-checked
х

All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.

We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.

If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.

Diet for rectal cancer is one of the important cogs in the complex mechanism of recovery.

Cancer is a disease of modern society. Most often, it affects people living in highly industrialized countries and huge megalopolises. And the number of patients is growing every year. The mortality rate from rectal cancer is also rapidly increasing. With each decade, this figure increases by 20 percent, and the main problem is that the disease is often diagnosed at late stages, when it is almost impossible to help the patient. But if this "infection" is recognized in time. There is every chance to return a person to normal life. Doctors in modern conditions cope with this disease quite effectively. The food that the patient eats plays an important role during the treatment and subsequent rehabilitation.

trusted-source[ 1 ], [ 2 ], [ 3 ], [ 4 ], [ 5 ]

What is the diet for rectal cancer?

During the resection of a malignant tumor, the surgeon, at the first stage of the operation, artificially forms an anal opening - a costoma. Subsequently, the patient undergoes repeated surgical intervention to restore the natural course of the rectum, or the patient remains with a costoma for the rest of his life. But in any case, the patient also has to endure radiation and chemotherapy.

In order for the patient's body, already weakened by the disease, to be able to cope with such loads normally. It is necessary to receive a full set of nutrients, that is, to adhere to a diet for rectal cancer, so it is worth reviewing and adjusting your daily diet. Recent studies have shown that the minimum percentage of cancer patients is observed in Asian countries, where people eat mainly rice, uncooked vegetables, seafood, fish, raw fruits, and the consumption of fatty animal foods is minimized.

In the preoperative period, a diet for rectal cancer helps maintain the body's immune system and help prevent the formation of cancer cells. The diet in this case should be based on certain principles:

  • First, all the patient's food must be fresh and of good quality. The food must be easily digestible.
  • It is necessary to completely stop consuming animal fats: lard, fatty meat, margarine and butter, smoked foods, mayonnaise and fried foods...
  • Introduce foods containing such an element as selenium into the patient's diet as much as possible. This element is capable of actively fighting cancer-infected cells. It is very unfortunate that this chemical element is found only in small quantities in the soil and water of our latitudes. However, the following products can be classified as selenium-containing:
    • Seafood and sea fish;
    • Beef and pork liver;
    • Eggs;
    • Cereals (especially unprocessed rice, wheat);
    • Broccoli, parsnips and parsley;
    • Almost all legumes;
    • Dried fruits, nuts, seeds;
  • It is necessary to minimize the consumption of sweet foods. Sugar is an excellent environment for more rapid cell metastasis.
  • Remove products that contain all kinds of chemical impurities and additives, various dyes, stabilizers and preservatives.

Postoperative period – a question of nutrition

It is worth remembering that the artificial anus created by the surgeon deprives the patient of the ability to control the seemingly natural process of going to the toilet. This nuance causes great discomfort to the patient. If possible, this problem is solved by using a colostomy bag. Not the last word in this situation is left to food. A rationally selected diet for rectal cancer will allow you to form and strengthen the necessary reflexes.

A patient who has undergone surgery is prescribed a dietary adjustment without fail. Its main goal is a gentle attitude towards the intestines, minimizing fermentation processes and diarrhea.

The patient spends the first postoperative day without food - fasting. He begins to receive food from the second day, little by little. Postoperative food is poor in vitamins and microelements, this deficiency is compensated for with medication in the first ten days. The daily weight of food should not exceed 2 kg, and the amount of liquid consumed should not exceed one and a half liters. Meals are fractional - four to six times a day.

Recipes for diet for rectal cancer

Advice to caregivers to provide the patient with a diet for rectal cancer:

  • To obtain a low-fat broth, which is then used to cook diet soups, you need to cook the broth in the traditional way, cool it, and skim off the fat that forms on the surface with a slotted spoon. The remaining liquid is the low-fat broth.
  • All dishes that require heat treatment are prepared only by steaming.
  • Avoid adding large amounts of seasonings that can irritate the inner lining of the intestines.
  • It is desirable that the patient have whole grain porridge on the table every day (if desired, it is worth adding sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, dried apricots or raisins, pumpkin), which must be cooked in water without adding fat, preferably in a pot.

Here is a selection of recipes that are included in the diet for rectal cancer:

Slimy pearl barley soup: This dish is prepared using 250g of lean meat broth. 25g of pearl barley is added to the "water". To improve the taste a little, season with 5g of butter (cream), sweeten a little. Exactly the same soup, if desired, can be prepared from other cereals.

Such viscous soups are easy to digest. Vegetables (recommended by a doctor), meat (lean), seafood, various cereals are suitable for their preparation. Boiled ingredients are ground three times in a blender or on a sieve, meat grinder. Bechamel sauce, introduced into the resulting product, will give the soup a soft consistency. After this, put butter in the dish.

Airy meatballs: Tender lean meat with bread soaked in a weak meat broth, carefully beat into mince. Form cutlets. Boil in boiling water or in a steamer. Eat with a light sauce.

Delicate soufflé: 137g lean fish, 25g light broth, 3g butter, 1/3 egg, a pinch of salt.

Boil the fish fillet in vegetable broth. It is better to take lean varieties. Cool the product slightly, remove the skin. Using a meat grinder, get minced meat. Add butter and yolk. Beat all the ingredients well, very carefully add the beaten egg whites. Put the resulting product in a greased container and steam it under a closed lid.

Fish dumplings: Clean lean fish from scales, bones and skin. Soak a small piece of bread in broth. Use a meat grinder to obtain a puree-like consistency. Add salt. Knead well. Beat the egg white and very carefully add to the mince. Using two tablespoons, prepare the dumplings. Cook in salted boiling water or in vegetable broth for several minutes.

Beef soufflé: Boil 103g of second-category beef, remove films and tendons, grind three times in a blender until fine texture. Combine the minced meat with béchamel sauce, add 1/4 of an egg (preferably the yolk), a little oil (butter). Combine with whites. Mix everything well. Transfer the prepared "dough" to a greased container suitable for baking. Put the future soufflé in a steam bath. Therefore, according to the same recipe, you can "bake" a soufflé from poultry.

trusted-source[ 6 ]

Rectal Cancer Diet Menu

The diet of a patient who has undergone such an operation should contain products rich in vitamins, microelements and coarse fiber. It should harmoniously combine proteins (which take on the body's construction functions, participate in metabolic processes and in the delivery of oxygen to all human organs), carbohydrates (an irreplaceable source of energy for the body, especially for a patient) and vitamins (which participate in the metabolic system, plastic reactions and as a counter of human life expectancy).

Let's try to consider the menu of a cancer patient over the course of a week.

trusted-source[ 7 ], [ 8 ]

Monday

1st breakfast:

  1. Fruits. Preferably fresh, even better if they are from your garden to avoid chemical treatment.

2nd breakfast:

  1. Omelette with cabbage, preferably with broccoli.
  2. A small piece of bread (it is better to use bread products made from coarsely ground flour).
  3. Tea. You can add milk if you wish.

Dinner:

  1. Chicken puree soup.
  2. Vegetable salad with sour cream dressing.
  3. Boiled breast (chicken or veal) in sour cream sauce.
  4. A piece of bread.
  5. Green tea.

Dinner:

  1. Buckwheat on water.
  2. Black tea.

2nd dinner:

  1. Yogurt, it's better if you make it yourself from live bacteria.

Tuesday

1st breakfast:

  1. A few berries or a small amount of fruit.
  2. White crackers.

2nd breakfast:

  1. Rice with dried apricots and nuts. Can be replaced with dried fruits.
  2. Black tea.

Dinner:

  1. Vegetable soup. Try to include broccoli in it.
  2. Bread made from coarsely ground flour.
  3. Chicken breast baked with avocado.
  4. Tomatoes stuffed with vegetables.
  5. Tea with milk.

Dinner:

  1. Yachka filled with dried fruits.
  2. Kefir.

2nd dinner:

  1. Acidophilus milk.

Wednesday

1st breakfast:

  1. Freshly squeezed juice.

2nd breakfast:

  1. Oatmeal with milk (preferably not whole milk).
  2. Warm milk.

Dinner:

  1. Vegetable puree soup.
  2. A piece of bread.
  3. Boiled beef.
  4. Mashed potatoes.
  5. Juice from fruits or berries.

Dinner:

  1. Fresh vegetables in salad. Dressing – vegetable oil.
  2. A piece of bread.
  3. A glass of your favorite juice, preferably freshly squeezed.

2nd dinner:

  1. Fruit or classic yogurt.

Thursday

1st breakfast:

  1. Carrot juice. No more than 1/2 cup.

2nd breakfast:

  1. Loose buckwheat with butter.
  2. Tea + milk.

Dinner:

  1. Light meatball soup with herbs.
  2. Fish dumplings.
  3. Cucumbers, tomatoes. Salad seasoned with olive oil.
  4. Warm herbal tea.

Dinner:

  1. Cheese babka.
  2. Cranberry juice.
  3. Rusk.

2nd dinner:

  1. Favorite fruits

Friday

1st breakfast:

  1. Vegetable juice. No more than 1/2 cup.

2nd breakfast:

  1. Millet, crumbly in water. Add prunes for better taste, if the patient tolerates them.
  2. Not hot tea.

Dinner:

  1. Cabbage soup.
  2. A small piece of bread.
  3. Vegetable salad (vinaigrette). Be sure to add broccoli to this salad.
  4. Warm herbal tea.

Dinner:

  1. Fish soufflé with rice.
  2. Berry juice.

2nd dinner:

  1. Fresh fruit.

Saturday

1st breakfast:

  1. A glass of warm milk.
  2. White unsweetened croutons.

2nd breakfast:

  1. Loose rice with nuts and dried apricots.
  2. Fruit juice (orange).

Dinner:

  1. Vegetable Lenten Borscht.
  2. Rye bread.
  3. Chicken fillet with apples.
  4. Mashed potatoes.
  5. Salad of any fresh vegetables, dressed with any vegetable oil.
  6. Green warm tea.

Dinner:

  1. Fish baked in sour cream sauce.
  2. A small amount of jam.
  3. Tea. Possibly with milk.

2nd dinner:

  1. Classic yogurt.
  2. Some berries.

Sunday

1st breakfast:

  1. Fruits. Fresh.

2nd breakfast:

  1. Millet.
  2. Acidophilus milk (1 glass).

Dinner:

  1. Cabbage puree soup.
  2. Bread. Preferably made from coarsely ground wheat.
  3. Turkey meat. Baked.
  4. Leaf salad dressed with lemon.
  5. Tea. Green tea is fine.

Dinner:

  1. Tomatoes with eggplant caviar.
  2. Tea.

2nd dinner:

  1. Curd mass with nuts.

This menu, compiled by professional nutritionists, will allow the patient to diversify his diet. It harmoniously combines all the elements that will allow the weakened body to resist the disease and put up a kind of barrier to the recurrence of the disease. The more seriously the patient and his relatives approach the diet for rectal cancer, if the frequency of food intake is observed, the patient will have a greater chance of defeating this terrible and insidious disease quite quickly.

Any healthy person leading an active lifestyle very rarely, and perhaps never, thinks about the correctness and rationality of their diet. Many people adhere to the principle of "I eat everything I like and as much as I want" in food. This approach to their diet often leads them to a hospital bed.

Revise your views on food - this may take you away from such a terrible disease as cancer. If this has happened - do not despair. Gather your will into a fist and help doctors save your life. And a diet for rectal cancer will help with this. Nutrition will not only help to stop the development of the disease, but will also contribute to a faster recovery. Be healthy!

What can you eat if you have rectal cancer?

The diet for rectal cancer must be approached very carefully. The patient's menu must be rational, since the patient's body must receive all the nutrients, as well as vitamins and minerals. What can you eat with rectal cancer? First of all, it is necessary to identify products that prevent further reproduction and growth of cancer cells. These include, first of all, vegetables:

  • Cereals: rice and buckwheat.
  • Flaxseed and olive oil.
  • Sea fish.
  • Nuts, seeds.
  • Beef liver.
  • Radishes and turnips are very healthy.
  • All types of cabbage.
  • Ginger is very useful, it has appeared on our shelves not so long ago, but has already won its customers.
  • All kinds of greenery.
  • Enzymes found in onions and garlic.
  • The queen of the garden is the pumpkin.
  • Many people's favorite eggplants, tomatoes, and a vegetable that is not familiar to everyone - avocado.
  • Soybeans.
  • And others.

Fruits:

  • Grapefruits and our favorite oranges are no longer so exotic for us.
  • Everyone's favorite watermelon.
  • Exotic kiwi and dates.
  • Sweet life - raspberries, viburnum, strawberries.
  • Gradually, fatty fish should be added to the patient’s diet; in tandem with vegetables, it very effectively blocks the growth of metastases.

To diversify the patient's menu, you can add the following products to it:

  • Bran.
  • Fresh vegetables and fruits.
  • Fermented milk products that will help with bowel function. Such as: yogurt (homemade is possible), low-fat cottage cheese (strained), kefir.
  • Wheat croutons, but not sweet.
  • Tea.
  • Slimy cereal soups.
  • Beef, veal, poultry, steamed or boiled.
  • Fruit and berry kissels.
  • All kinds of porridges prepared in low-fat broth or water.
  • Egg (as a recipe component).
  • Steamed or boiled fish.
  • Seafood.

After the patient has been discharged from the hospital, he/she is allowed to gradually expand the list of products that can be introduced into the diet under the supervision of a doctor. Such products must be added gradually and very carefully.

What should you not eat if you have rectal cancer?

Particular attention should be paid to alcohol, as well as fatty, fried and smoked foods, sweets. Such patients should absolutely not consume them. •

Eliminate foods containing methylxanthines (a complex substance that retains fluid in the body and stimulates the growth of connective tissue). Subsequently, such neoplasms can degenerate into cancerous tumors. This chemical is present in: caffeine-containing medications, coffee and chocolate, tea and cocoa. A significant amount of it is found in fast food (cheeseburgers, etc.)

In the first ten days after surgery, the following should be excluded from the diet: milk and dairy products, whole milk porridge, legumes. As well as carbonated drinks, fruits, sweets: candies, jams, honey, spices... Food for such a patient must be warm.

You are reporting a typo in the following text:
Simply click the "Send typo report" button to complete the report. You can also include a comment.