Is there a banned food list for chemo? No one told me!
I ate whatever I felt like and that varied tremendously depending on what tasted strange and how nauseous I was.
I wonder how many banned foods I ate?
OK, so here’s the Christie’s food lists. For those not in the North West, the Christie is the largest cancer centre in Europe, treating more than 40,000 patients each year. Very research focussed. Also seriously scary!
Avoid
Cheese; Brie, Stilton and other blue cheeses
Meat & alternatives; pate, shellfish, rare meat
Live yoghurts; eg Ski, Shape and Yeo valley
Eggs; runny or soft-boiled
Peanut butter
Black pepper; ground onto food. Can be used in cooking.
Eat
Cheese; cheddar, Philadelphia, cottage cheese
Meat; lamb, beef, pork, chicken (well cooked)
Any milk
Yoghurts; Amore, Muller range (any flavour as contain no live bacteria)
Eggs; hard boiled, scrambled, omelettes
Brazil nuts – good source of protein
Fruit and vegetables – 5 a day! (Remember good food hygiene and ALWAYS REWASH)
Frankfurter sausage wrapped in white bread lightly toasted and thinly spread with mild mustard. Served with a side order of white rice or ravioli.
I’ve just finished FEC3/TAX3 and wasn’t told to avoid anything. Spent over a week in the Christie (line infection) and was never given any food advice. Incidently, the food they gave me was reasonable for hospital fare and on my birthday they brought a huge home made gooey chocolate cake for me to share with the ward. A wonderful place full of exceptional people.
what does black pepper do? I ate it quite a lot 
M
Just spotted this thread and wonder if anyone can tell me if mayonnaise is allowed while on chemo? it really is one of my weaknesses
Thanks penny , I thought fresh made mayo would prob be a no no , but I just use the usual hellman type, I will remember to buy smaller size and cut it down a bit , always keep it in fridge once opened so unless I’m told otherwise will probably chance a small dollop occasionally
Millymolly_m; Black Peppercorns can sit about in pepper grinders for ages picking up fungus and maybe that’s why they are on the no no list at Christie’s. I can’t work it out! All I can say is that in my house, as with mayonnaise, black pepper shakers don’t stay filled for very long.
I am also trying to get my head around the no peanut butter rule. Americans do eat a lot of the stuff and I don’t see it on American Cancer websites. Again- is this the sort of product which lives in people’s store cupboards and goes quietly mouldy or rancid? The subject makes me feel a little ill- must go and make a PB and J sarnie to ease the feeling a bit…
Mayonnaise is perfectly fine to eat as long as the eggs used to make it are pasturised. Helmans and Heinz and other similar brands always use pasturised eggs, so no problems there. The problems only start if you make your own.
My problem has been avoiding runny eggs! I love eggs, especially poached or fried. I have cut down but do admit to having had a few!
Lager and Lime, only made with non alc lager. yes, it is a nursery food because we had Danish light ale (non alc) in my nursery!
Also: Cream of tomato soup not only great on strips of bread but also on pasta of all kinds. Works out cheaper than buying big tins of spaghetti for a family.
for me, comfort food is a soft boiled egg… and I never gave it a thought! Had a few! I did avoid unpasturised cheeses/yoghurt. What surprised me on the list was take away food - some reheat the rice apparently. I rang my local Indian Restaurant and they reassured me all the rice was freshly cooked, so we ordered stuff from there quite happily and it cut through the taste, until my mouth was raw with thrush and/or ulcers, then it cut through me!
My only tip for weight gain is to eat little in the first (for me grotty) week, just a little of what you fancy (and melon is good to cut through the taste)… then weeks 2&3 eat what you like! I had lots of cream teas in 3rd weeks… and ended up the same weight as I started, cause I didn’t eat much when it tasted horrid… worked for me…
go well, Jane
Crumpets with a little bit of butter melted on them - in fact had one at teatime this evening 
Plain Rice crackers with either Marmite or dark chocolate spread. If you haven’t got any dark chocolate spread just sections of dark chocolate bar cut up roughly on top. Very tasty even if you are recovering from Docitaxel.
Hi everyone,
Been on a bit of a whirl wind recently. had 3 FEC so far and a new chemo on 1st August and went down hill rapidly and couldn’t eat or drink. Ended up in hospital being treated for Neutropenic sepsis. Came home a week ago and I have just stopped being sick and am slowly eating again. Still struggling to enjoy food again.
I also have strange food cravings until this happened which was chips for some reason.
My poor husband has tried all sorts to get me eating again, I did enjoy a strawberry milkshake yesterday. It was also my 1st day without being ill. When I can’t eat or drink I find flavoured water soothing, but obviously not very nutritious.
At times I want to give up with the treatment as I can’t deal with feeling so ill, do other’s feel the same? and if so how do you keep going? I still have 2 more treatments to go, which they have changed. Then I start the herceptin for a year.
Yikes I did not know about black pepper…put loads on my soup yesterday. Things I was told to avoid that I have not seen on the list is to avoid all take aways, prawns, shellfish, and don’t eat any salad etc from a salad bar. We need a universal list!
I enjoyed a tin of Ambrosia tapioca at lunchtime…tasted like nectar lol.
Bumping up the list for Red Mouse.
Hi I started my first chemotherapy last Thursday, haven’t really been told to avoid anything? Have just been eating stuff I really fancy, enjoyed a sausage sandwich on white bread with mustard yesterday, very healthy (not!). My taste in my mouth is disgusting, does it get any better? Fresh pineapple does help though xx
It does get better - and eating whatever you feel like eating is what we all do/did! This is one time in our lives when healthy eating can temporarily be put on hold. Plenty to time to get back on that wagon.
Jane x
Bumping the thread up for Chaise.