diet while on chemo

pie · 08-21-2010, 05:52 AM

I am starting TCH next week and my oncologist gave me a booklet of what to eat and not to eat during therapy. Does this mean I have to stick to these foods for the entire 18 weeks or will I be able to eat more normally during part of the 21 day interval? There are not alot of choices.

Becky · 08-21-2010, 05:59 AM

I really didn't think there were things not to eat. Obviously, if you can, you should choose nourishing foods - veggies, fruit, whole grain, fish, chicken. But, you never know what you are going to feel like and what will taste good to you. Believe it or not, I met a woman who finished chemo just as I was starting mine (6 years ago we did not get TCH but AC followed by taxol and Herceptin wasn't approved yet) - this woman could only eat popcorn. Go figure!

I would be interested in what you shouldn't eat as perhaps we could give some insight to the list.

pie · 08-21-2010, 06:49 AM

Some of the foods that were on the not to eat list were: tomatoes, citrus fruits, wine, carbonated and caffeine drinks, no meats other than chicken and lean beef, flavored yogurt and sugary foods.

Lori R · 08-21-2010, 06:59 AM

Pie,
As Becky indicated, eating healthy is part of recharging your immune system to give your body the best chance possible to rally against the cancer. So, I do encourage you to try to follow the list as it sounds like it is encouraging a vitamin packed menu.

However....all things in moderation right?? I missed coffee terribly so I cut back and just had a cup a day. Tomatoes and citrus food tasted funny so I didn't want them and they seemed to encourage mouth sores. I still would eat pizza that had the tomatoe sauce but as my mouth became more sensitive, pizza that I didn't consider spicey all of a sudden became too spicey to eat.

I was always a sugar lover (wine, cookies, twizzlers) and I am convinced sugar played a role in my cancer. So for me, eliminating sugar based items such as wine, cookies etc. was a top priority for me. It took about a week and then I didn't crave it any more. I wish I would have eliminated sugar from my diet much much earlier.

Your body will tell you what it craves and what it can tolerate.

Good luck and come back with any other questions!!

Jackie07 · 08-21-2010, 08:12 AM

Pie,

I think tomatoes and citrus fruits are listed because they tend to make patients to throw up. The acid is too much for the weak lining of our digest tract. My 2nd Sister was here during my 2007 recover and she put tomatoes in my (light, watery) soup every day because she read it somewhere about lycophine beine good for our system. But I think I did refrain from tomatoes during first week after chemo when I was still feeling nausiated easily.

I don't drink wine, carbonated and caffeine drinks, so it wasn't a problem for me. I think the concern might be the interaction (of wine) to chemo drugs and draining too much fluid from your cells (caffeine forces fluids out of the cells through osmosis.)

The meats situation is probably just the concern over our digestive system (the lining of the intestines being affected by chemo because they are fast growing cells) and we want to lessen the burden on it. Yogurt is supposed to be good, so just avoid the 'flavored' ones. Sugary foods causes rush of glucose in our blood and changes the chemical content, plus it probably induces more nausea.

ElaineM · 08-21-2010, 11:20 AM

I ate everything I wanted to eat, including the things on your doctor's list. I just eat healthy, nourishing food and do not eat junk food of any kind. I never had mouth sores. I never was nauseous. I never threw up. I never needed medicine or shots to prevent those problems and I never needed shots for my blood counts. Go figure. I think this topic is one for Tanya, our registered dietician who specializes in oncology. Hopefully she will see this post and reply to your request.