Has anyone been told to avoid pate, thought i would try it to help Hb count but have feeling we are meant to avoid it. Also can you drink actimel or other similar yogurts?
hi, i was advised to avoid all the foods you would if you were pregnant so no mouldy cheese (including brie), no raw eggs - which i didnt think would matter until someone pointed out the snowball at christmas i was enjoying was a no-no (gutted), no live yogurts, and no unpasturised dairy products. i also avoided buying any “whoopsed” products in asda and wash all fruit and veg thoroughly.
hope this helps
x
p.s cant help with the pate question tho cos i’m a veggiebum!
Hi there
Re pate, the information I had said to:
“Avoid pate and be cautious with take-aways and delicatessen type foods, for example, cold meats”
Meat is okay if thoroughly cooked and you can fancy it, also dried apricots are a good source of iron.
I only ate a very small amount of chicken and no other meat etc during my chemo but my haemoglobin stayed up okay.
take care and hope it goes well
Elinda x
You will be pleased to know that CHOCOLATE is full of iron…I used to work for the Blood Transfusion Service and that is why they offer chocolate biscuits after donating blood. Watercress is also high in iron ( makes lovely soup if you don’t like it much…can give easy-peasy recipe if anyone wants it). For meat eaters, liver is good and rhubarb is good if you are not. Love Val
Hi I live in France (home of soft cheese and pate!)
Have never been told to lay off any foods like that. Indeed, have even been given pate for lunch in chemo unit.
Even in France, most soft cheeses are pasteurised nowadays.
Agree with the advice about steering clear of anything past its sell-by date (tho’ I don’t follow it myself!)
I think you should eat what you fancy, basically. If your sense of taste is affected, you may have to settle for what actually seems to have flavour for you. If you can eat healthily, all the better, but it’s better to eat unhealthily than to eat nothing at all.
I was advised against green tea, pro-biotics and vitamin supplemments whilst on chemotherapy, btw.
X
S
Hi,
I read that you should avoid prebiotic stuff. Plus bottled water is not good, unless it is fizzy. I’ve just been going with what I fancy to be fair as my taste buds are a little squiffy. After my first chemo it was, tinned spaghetti (only disney princess shaped ones!!) on toast and after my second one Jacket potato and cottage cheese and sometimes brie, plus raw vegetables and houmus.
Can’t comment on pate as I’m a veggie too.
Em x
Interesting…
I was told never to touch bottled water of any kind during chemotherapy!
Hey-ho! 
X
S
i was told not to eat sushi, anything from a deli counter that isnt prewrapped, and no soft cheese.
Can anyone tell me why adviseable not to touch bottled water??
Hi Richo
I was told it’s because the water has been standing in the bottles for a while, which gives bacteria the chance to breed. So it would be a bit like drinking out of a swamp for our depressed immune systems.
Also, there is an air gap above the water, so any bacteria in that atmosphere have the opportunity to cntaminate the water, too.
Tap water is fresh, running and chlorinated, so safer.
X
S
Its amazing all the info I am getting from this site… just great. I am newly diagnosed and waiting for treatment to start so just trying to get as much info and how to make life easier once chemo starts. I know you have to drink lots, and at momemt am drinking bottled water. When you go in for chemo do you need to take in drinks and if bottled water not advised what do you do?? Sorry if I sound thick, but I just feel I need to be as prepared as possible for this.
Thanks
Anne x
Hi Richo
You don’t sound thick at all - perfectly sensible questions!
I’ve had chemo in the UK - back in 2004 - I don’t remember anything to eat or drink being provided at that time.
You could always take some freshly boiled tapwater in with you, perhaps with a slice of lemon in. Or a juice drink in a carton. And some fruit or biscuits.
I had FEC in the UK. I was advised by a friend (a former chemo nurse who had herself been treated for bc) to line my gut with carbohydrate as close as possible to the treatment. If you can protect the cells in your gut, you are a lot less likely to feel, and be, sick.
Mashed potato is good, as is pasta, but for practicality I used to make flapjacks or parkin and take those in, trying to finish eating just as they were starting to put the first drug through.
It worked very well for me - I was never sick once I’d started doing that.
X
S
I know that grapefruit is something you should not eat when on chemo. There is lots of info if you Google it.
I wasn’t given any advice about foods to avoid during chemo but I did some research myself and found:
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there is an increased risk of food poisoning if your immune system is compromised so you should avoid undercooked meat, fish and eggs and unpasteurised milk and cheese.
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probiotic drinks and yoghurs contain live bacteria and are sometimes recommended to be avoided
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these foods only need to be avoided if you are neutropenic (low neutrophils) but the problem is knowing that you are as you may show no symptoms!
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Grapefruit and grapefruit juice can interact with medication so avoid them.
I’m having Neulasta injections after each chemo and my blood counts have been normal throughout so far (3rd FEC yesterday) so I’ve been eating whatever I fancy, including pate and sushi! I’ve also read one (admittedly small) study that suggests that probiotic drinks (specifically Yakult) may improve bowel health and reduce the risk of infections during chemo, it needs more follow up to confirm though. I was suffering badly with heartburn and that’brick in your stomach’ feeling so I decided to risk having a Yakult each day and I do feel much better for it and haven’t needed the gaviscon since - has to be a personal choice though.
HTH
All very odd - I was told I can eat and drink what ever I feel like and my mother who has BC at the same time as me (yes I know) has a whole list of things to avoid !!!
I avoid blue cheese and that is about all really - I guess thinking about it I would avoid boiled rice in a restaurant cause that is a common cause of food poisoning but that is about all.
the laugh is that having been told I can eat and drink what I like I don’t feel like eating or drinking my fav things !! instead I eat Mini cheddars (yuk) and drink diet coke (yuk yuk) - with luck this will pass post mid March when chemo ends
Good luck xx
I asked my oncologist about diet during chemo and she said just to eat normally as it was more important that I kept eating things I liked than try to change diet and end up losing weight. So I did just that and ended up putting a stone on by the end of chemo but I think that was due to the steroids as well. I did find however that I could no longer have grapefruit and other acidic things because of heartburn. 2 years later I still can’t and a few things set off the reflux.
Oh, I don’t like cheese anyway !
likewise, just eating for the olympics, put on at least a stone, but think maybe hula hoops with a peanut inside not to good for the old weight!!!
I had a takeaway in my low week and got poisoned leading to a stay in hospital!!The nurse said there is always questionable hygiene in takeaway places so best to avoid in that low 2nd week with no immunity!! Only happened the once and i did still eat takeaways!!
I’ve not been told to avoid anything. I may not have fancied some things, but haven’t particulalry avoided things.
Re the bottled water, I took a bottle of water in to the chemo unit for the first session and drank it all the way through. The nurse didn’t say anything.
My chemo unit provides drink for me and my husband - they have a water dispenser (basically a big bottle of water), squash, tea, coffee and hot chocolate. It must vary from hospital to hospital.
Am I unusual in that I have lost weight during chemo - I have only had 2 cycles but have lost about 6lbs already?
Caroline