diet chemotherapy low white count

After a diagnosis of any cancer it would be very wise to generally improve the diet. Along with other lifestyle issues such exercise and giving up smoking, scientific evidence has showed that a healthy diet is likely to help to:

In general no specific diet is required unless you have certain specific drugs such a procarbazine have a persistently low white blood count or have a specific symptom develops such as:-

As a rule it is generally advisable to avoid foods which may cause food poisoning - cheap take away's, be more careful eating out and ensure all food have not passed their self life and avoid foods if there are doubts concerning their storage. Some chemotherapy regimens, usually for lymphoma and leaukaemia or following high dose chemotherapy required a dietary change to avoid food which are more likely to contain infective materials. These food are only a guide and it is still important to maintain and adequate level of nutrition, depending on what patients are able to eat and what they fancy. The risk of infection also depends on how foods are prepared:-

Dietary change - if prolonged neutropenia expected during chemotherapy (neutrophil count <0.5)
Foods allowed	Foods best to avoid
Meat Freshly cooked hot meat/ poultry and vacuum packed cold meats / poultry.*	Meat Raw or partly cooked meat / poultry /cold meats, e.g. chicken, pork, salami (sold loose), pate and pork pies.
Fish Freshly cooked fish. Tinned fish or tinned meat . Ready made cook / freeze or cook / chill meals, (Marks and Spencer only )*.	Fish Shellfish, e.g. prawns, shrimps, crab. Raw fish, e.g. sushi.
Eggs Hard boiled eggs or well cooked omelette and scrambled eggs.	Eggs Products containing uncooked eggs, e.g. home-made mayonnaise, meringue, mousse, cheesecake.
Milk Pasteurised / sterilised / UHT milk*.	Milk Unpasteurised milk-cows, goats or sheep.
Milk Products Tinned evaporated / condensed milk . Skimmed milk powder in cooking. Baby milks -ready to feed. Butter / margarine -pre -packed portions (in hospital ). Hard cheeses (cooked or individually wrapped) Processed cheese (individually wrapped ) e.g. Dairylea triangles, plain Philadelphia. Pasteurised youghurt / fromage fraise and dessert. Ice craem -individually wrapped portions from major producers e.g. Walls, Lyons Maid.	Milk Products Soft and ripened cheese eg cottage cheese, cream cheese, Brie, Camembert. Blue cheeses, eg Stilton, Danish Blue . Large tubs / jars of cheese spread . Live yoghurt, fromage frais. Artificial cream / topping.
Bread - Cereals Bread / chappatis / pitta . Breakfast cereals, eg cornflakes, branflakes,Weetabix, Readybrek. Porridge. Pasta / Rice .	Bread -Cereals Cereals containing nuts and dried fruit, eg museli.
Fruit and Veg Cooked or tinned fruit and vegetables, potato. Well cooked pulses, eg baked beans, lentils.	Fruit and Veg Fresh raw fruit. Dried fruit. Fresh raw salad vegetables,e.g.tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, coleslaw, potato salad.
Pudding, Cakes Freshly baked / tinned puddings* and cakes e.g.rice pudding, custard sauce, sponge, fruit cake, ready prepared custards*. Jellies - made up in individual portions. Individual tubs of mousse, fruit fools, jelly, fresh cream trifle.	Pudding, Cakes Cakes and puddings decorated with dried fruit. Puddings made with cold milk,e.g.Angel Delight, instant whips..
Sweets - Snacks Jam / marmalade - individual portions whilst in hospital. Sweets, e.g. boiled sweets, toffees, mints, plain or milk chocolate - individual double wrapped portions, e.g. Funsize Mars, Penguin, Kitkat, Club (well known brands). Soups, tinned * / dried / home-made. Crisps - individual portions. Dry roasted peanuts - individually wrapped . Crackers / biscuits - individual portions .	Sweets - Snacks Large packets of biscuits open to the air. Nuts. Cream filled chocolates,e.g.orange or coffee creams. Chocolate containing nuts or dried fruit, e.g. Bounty, Fruit & Nut, Snickers.
Drinks Tap water- allow tap to run ideally for 3 minutes first. Tea / coffee / Maxpax drinks. Canned / UHT tetra pak drinks e.g. fruit juice, squash*. Canned fizzy drinks -pour into a glass. Alcohol - (speak to your doctor first), e.g. wine, spirits, tins of beer, cider, lager.	Drinks Bottled water. Ice - only from the ward. Large carton / bottles of sqash or fruit juice. Draught and bottled beer, cider and lager .
Special Products Complan / Build up, made up and drunk in less than two hours. Ensure Plus* , Fortisip, Maxijul , liquid Polycal*. Maxijul powder - sachets or small tubs.	Special Products
Miscellaneous Spicy dishes - e.g. curry, chilli . Jars or cans of baby food *.	Miscellaneous Uncooked herbs and spices, e.g. pepper.

Further general information Your doctors and specialist nurses are in an ideal position to give you relevant information on your disease and treatment as they know your individual circumstances. Cancerbackup has a help line (0808 800 1234) and a prize winning video available in English, Italian, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati & Hindi explaining Radiotherapy & Chemotherapy. Cancernet.co.uk has over 500 pages describing cancer, its management, practical tips and tool which patients, their carers and their doctors have found helpful during the cancer journey.