Can’t you even drink coffee if you have colorectal cancer?

There's a myth that coffee should not be drunk because it can dehydrate your body and increase your risk of constipation. Is this true, however? The answer is no.

"People, who don't know much, think that if you are constipated for a long time, you might get colon cancer," said Professor Cha Jae-myung of the Department of Gastroenterology at Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong on the YouTube channel with the same name as the hospital.

It's true that if you drink a lot of coffee and don't drink water, you can become dehydrated and constipated, but according to Professor Cha, coffee doesn't have to be taboo. Just make sure you drink enough water to avoid dehydration when you drink coffee.

"If you like coffee, you can drink some, but if you drink a lot of coffee, it can dehydrate you, so colon cancer patients need to drink plenty of water with it," he said.

There is also a myth that you shouldn't eat persimmons after colon cancer surgery, which is partly true and partly false.

"It's true to a certain extent," Dr. Cha said. "Eating persimmons can cause some constipation. The ‘tannin’ component in persimmons is slightly constipating, so if you eat a lot of persimmons, especially dried persimmons, you may become constipated."

However, that's not to say that you should stop eating persimmons or dried persimmons completely after colon cancer surgery, Professor Cha added.

"After colorectal cancer surgery, people caution against eating persimmons because you may suffer from constipation because you may temporarily lose bowel motility," he said. "However, it's not a big deal if you don't eat too much to cause constipation. If you get constipated, you can cut down on the fruit."

In addition, many people think that red and processed meats, which have been linked to colorectal cancer, should be completely cut off after colorectal cancer surgery, but this is not true, either, according to the professor.

"After colorectal cancer surgery, you need to eat plenty of protein, so it's good to eat a lot of meat regardless of whether they are white or red,” Cha said. “Processed meats may not be good for colorectal cancer patients, but it's difficult to tell them to stop eating processed food altogether."

In general, many studies suggest that there is an environmental causal link, with red meat causing colorectal cancer slightly more than chicken breasts or fish. However, there is no evidence that continuing to eat red meat leads to colorectal cancer in straightly causal ways, and there is no evidence that stopping eating red meat after colorectal cancer surgery prevents colorectal cancer from recurring, he said.

On the contrary, colorectal cancer patients need to eat a good mix of proteins, including red meat, after surgery.

"Even if you have colon cancer, you don't have to stop eating red meat completely. After surgery, you need to recover quickly and restore your nutrition so you can eat a lot of meat," Professor Cha said. "It is most important to eat well because not eating too much meat can cause you to not recover quickly."