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Cancer Diet: What to Eat and What to Avoid During Treatment
By Raveena M Prakash
Chemotherapy is an effective cancer treatment that uses drugs to destroy cancer cells and prevent tumor growth in patients. Getting chemotherapy can affect the patient’s overall health in ways beyond any other cancer treatments. It's crucial to understand what foods to avoid while on chemotherapy and what foods to eat during chemo to improve immunity. If you are diagnosed with cancer and undergoing chemotherapy or concerned about your diet after chemotherapy, then read further!
In this article, we’ll discover more about what foods to avoid while on chemo, foods to improve the immune system, side effects of chemotherapy, and why diet is important in chemotherapy.
What foods to avoid while on chemotherapy
There are some foods to avoid while on chemotherapy that might increase the risk of many foodborne diseases and infections in patients. Understanding what foods to avoid during chemotherapy might help to reduce the risk of several diseases.
These may include:
Smoked or dried foods: Foods prepared with smoking, drying, and exposure to heat and salting should be avoided while on chemotherapy. These types of foods often contain many types of bacteria, which are harmful to some patients.
Unpasteurized milk products: Foods that are in their raw forms, including raw milk, yogurt, and cheeses, should be avoided during chemotherapy. Trying to avoid consuming foods that haven’t undergone any sterilization would harm the patients.
Unwashed fruits, vegetables: Eating unwashed raw fruits and vegetables often results in several bacteria and pathogens, which might negatively impact the health of many patients. Avoid products labeled as fresh fruits and unpasteurized, squeezed fresh juices, along with avoiding raw sprouts. Use cooked sprouts instead of raw sprouts.
Undercooked foods and meat: Foods that are undercooked should be avoided in the diet of a cancer patient who is undergoing any type of cancer treatment. Stop eating foods that are raw, such as sushi, sashimi, and lox.
Soft cooked eggs or raw eggs: Eating soft-cooked eggs and raw eggs would possibly carry bacteria such as Salmonella bacteria. However, food products with raw eggs should also be avoided during chemotherapy.
Raw nuts: Stop consuming raw nuts and their products like fresh nut butter would also help to lower the risk of any foodborne diseases in patients.
Foods to boost immune system while on chemotherapy
There are some foods that help the immune system while patients are undergoing chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is often used to destroy cancer cells. It can also affect some healthy white blood cells in the body, resulting in the weakening of the immune system. Certain foods that are known to improve and support the immune system. These foods are rich in vitamins A, C, and E, and additionally, zinc and selenium, which are also beneficial to boost the immune system.
These may include:
- Broccoli
- Sweet potatoes
- Pumpkin seeds
- Salmon
- Lentils
- Butternut Squash
- Eggs
Why is diet important in chemotherapy?
Managing the diet after chemotherapy is essential to lower the risk of any foodborne diseases and infections. Consuming foods that are healthy and supporting the treatments would also reduce the side effects of cancer treatments and chemotherapy.
A healthy, well-balanced diet that contains nutrient-rich foods, including fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, and carbohydrates, helps patients with the need for extra proteins and calories than usual. Patients undergoing chemotherapy may need to increase the consumption of healthy proteins and calories by eating protein-rich foods such as eggs, fish, and beans.
Side effects of chemotherapy
Patients often experience some side effects after chemotherapy treatments because these chemo drugs damage the normal, healthy cells in the body. The intensity of side effects mainly depends on the dosage of drugs.
Common side effects of chemotherapy may include:
- Fatigue: This is one of the most common side effects of chemotherapy. Chemotherapy often causes low blood counts in patients that might cause lowering the count of blood cells, which leads to weakness and fatigue in patients.
- Pain: Another common side effect of chemotherapy is experiencing pain after the treatments. However, it will reduce eventually. In some patients, they might experience mild pain, and in others it can be severe, depending on the doses of drugs used in the treatment.
- Hair loss: Many patients experience hair fall in the first three weeks of starting chemotherapy. However, the hair loss might be permanent, but after completing the treatment, the hair can start regrowing within two to three months.
- Skin damage or change: Chemotherapy might cause irritation on the skin leading to rashes, and skin damage and changes in patients.
- Nausea and vomiting: Chemotherapy also causes nausea and vomiting after their treatment. Most patients become sensitive to the sun and get sunburn quickly.
- Loss of appetite: Chemotherapy can usually cause loss of appetite and taste in many patients.
- Weakened immune system: Chemotherapy affects the patient’s body, mainly lowering the number of white blood cells; this often increases the risk of getting sick.
- Bruising and bleeding: Patients who are undergoing chemotherapy often face low levels of platelets in the body, causing more injuries and bleeding than usual.
- Fertility issues: Chemo drugs often reduce the levels of estrogen and testosterone; it can impact your sex drive and the ability to have children.
Consult Today
Patients undergoing cancer treatments need to monitor the foods they are consuming during chemotherapy. Understanding what to eat and what not to eat during chemotherapy often avoids the risk of any infections and other complications. However, anyone can get unwell because of eating raw, undercooked foods, while a patient undergoing chemotherapy might easily get triggered due to their weakened immune system and cause serious health issues.
At Oncare, we understand the value of a healthy, balanced diet and nutrition for fighting the side effects of chemotherapy and getting better treatment outcomes from cancer. We provide proper guidance before and after any major treatments. We offer awareness and explain the connection of nutrition and cancer and its role in battling the side effects of cancer treatments to our patients.
If you or any loved ones of yours are diagnosed with cancer, then visit Oncare Cancer Center and book an appointment with our cancer specialists today. Get an estimated cost of cancer treatments today!
Frequently Asked Questions
There are some foods every cancer patient should add in their diet to boost their immune system.
These may include:
- Sweet potato
- Broccoli
- Pumpkin seeds
- Lentils
- Salmon
- Eggs
Cancer treatments, mainly chemotherapy, often affect the patient's body and cause several side effects. However, diet management is important to avoid getting any infection and keep the patient healthy.
There are some foods to avoid while on chemotherapy, these may include:
- Raw or undercooked foods
- Raw fish, meats, and shellfish
- Avoid eating soft eggs or raw eggs
- Unpasteurized milk products
- Unwashed fruits and vegetables
- Raw fruits and vegetables
- Water melon and cantaloupe
Cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy often develop several types of side effects on patients.
These may include:
- Hair loss
- Anemia
- Nausea and vomiting
- Bleeding and bruising
- Infection
- Diarrhea
- Fatigue
- Loss of appetite
- Constipation
- Dry skin, rashes and itchiness