Nutrition

Healthy eating can become challenging during cancer treatment as both the disease and treatments may affect your appetite and food preferences. Stay flexible and open to trying new foods and eating patterns.

What Foods Help with Chemotherapy Side Effects?
Eating small, frequent, lightly seasoned meals and avoiding fried, fatty, heavy, and spicy foods during treatment may help to manage side effects of your treatment.

For nausea: Try ginger tea, crackers, toast, or small frequent meals
For mouth sores: Choose soft, cool foods like smoothies, yogurt, or ice cream
For diarrhea: Focus on bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast (BRAT diet)
For constipation: Include prunes, warm liquids, and gentle fiberhigh fiber foods when tolerated
For taste changes: Use plastic utensils, try cold foods, or add mild seasonings

Your Treatment Diet Priorities
Hydration comes first: Aim for 8 cups (64 ounces) of non-caffeinated, non-alcoholic fluids daily. Water, juices, milk, soup, ice cream, and popsicles all count toward your fluid intake.

Calories matter: Eat enough calories to roughly maintain your weight. Weight changes of 3-5 pounds are normal but try not to lose or gain more than 10 pounds.

Protein is essential: Focus on lean proteins such as chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, dairy products, legumes, tofu, nuts and seeds. Vegetarians should emphasize legumes and nut butters.

Ideal Foods During Treatment

• Plenty of vegetables and fruits (when appetite allows)
• Moderate amounts of whole grains and plant-based proteins like nuts, beans, and lentils
• Modest portions of fish, poultry, lean meats, and low-fat dairy

What to Do When Nothing Tastes Good
This is one of the most frustrating parts of treatment, but these strategies can help:

• Try temperature changes: Cold foods often taste better than hot
• Experiment with textures: Smoothies, soups, or crunchy foods
• Use strong flavors: Pickles, lemon, or mint when tolerated
• Eat by the clock: Even if not hungry, try small amounts every 2-3 hours
• Focus on calories: Any food is better than no food during these times

Managing Challenges

• Good appetite: Include plenty of vegetables and fruits for cancer-fighting nutrients
• Poor appetite: Any calories are important, even if they're not the healthiest foods
• Taste changes: Taste changes are frequent and unpredictable. You may like something one day and think it tastes terrible the next. Be sure to keep your mouth clean and healthy. Rinsing before eating can help taste buds work better – salt water, water and baking soda, water and lemon, whatever feels best to you. A commercial alcohol-free mouthwash can be used.
• Side effects: Contact our dietitian nutritionists for help managing constipation, diarrhea, taste changes, and other eating challenges

When to call your dietitian nutritionist or cancer care team immediately
Contact your care team right away if you experience:

• Severe nausea or vomiting lasting more than 24 hours
• Unable to keep fluids down for more than 12 hours
• Unintentional weight loss of more than 5 pounds in a week
• Severe mouth sores that prevent eating or drinking
• Persistent diarrhea (more than 4 loose stools per day)
• Complete loss of appetite for more than 48 hours
• Signs of dehydration (dizziness, dark urine, dry mouth)

Don't wait—early intervention can prevent small problems from becoming bigger ones.

Cancer and cancer treatment can weaken your immune system. When you receive chemotherapy, doctors monitor a type of white blood cell called neutrophil, which is part of the immune system. People with neutropenia (a low neutrophil count) have a higher risk for infection, so it's important to follow safe food handling and cooking practices to minimize this risk.

Safe Food Handling

• Wash hands, utensils, and countertops before and after food preparation
• Store perishable items in the refrigerator within two hours
• Thaw meat safely in the refrigerator or microwave
• Clean and rinse all fruits and vegetables, including packaged salads
• Cook meat, poultry, fish, seafood, and eggs thoroughly. Use a meat thermometer to ensure proper cooking temperatures. This means no sushi, sashimi, oysters on the half shell, or other raw fish and seafood during treatment.
• Use separate cutting boards for meat and produce
• Choose pasteurized dairy and juice products

What to avoid:

• No raw or undercooked fish, seafood, meat, poultry, or eggs (this includes sushi, sashimi, oysters on the half shell, rare steaks, and runny eggs)
• Raw vegetable sprouts
• Moldy or expired foods (check the sell-by and use-by dates and
  follow them)
• Foods that look or smell strange
• Precut produce from grocery stores
• Eggs with cracked shells
• Deli foods, self-serve and buffet items
• Foods from bulk containers
• Badly damaged or rusted cans of food

Special considerations for food safety when dining out

When dining out, here are helpful tips to keep your food safe when you are at the restaurant and if you bring back leftovers.

• Eat early or during times when restaurants are less crowded.
• Avoid fast food restaurants, buffets and salad bars where food
  is prepared in advance and sitting out.
• Use single-serve condiment packages.
• Make sure utensils are clean and only touching a napkin or
  clean cloth.
• Box any leftovers yourself.

Microwave cooking tips:

• Rotate dish a quarter turn once or twice during cooking if there is
  no turntable.
• Stir often and heat to 165 degrees.

Safe Cooking Temperatures
Use a food thermometer to check whether your food has reached a safe internal minimum to kill germs that cause food poisoning.

• Eggs/Egg Dishes: 160°F
• Ground Poultry: 165°F
• Ground Beef/Pork/Veal/Lamb: 160°F
• Fresh Poultry: 165°F
• Fresh Beef, Pork, Veal, Lamb: 145°F (or 170°F if neutropenic)
• Fish with fins: 145°F
• Shrimp/Lobster/Crab/Scallops: Cook until flesh is pearly or white and opaque
• Leftovers and Casseroles: 165°F

Some cancer treatments, particularly prostate radiation therapy, may require specific dietary modifications to help reduce intestinal gas, bloating, and digestive disruptions. Your healthcare team will let you know if you need to follow these guidelines. You may be recommended to have a low residue or low fat diet.

Low Residue Diet
A low residue diet limits indigestible and non-absorbable foods such as fiber found in fruits and vegetables, seeds, nuts, and fibrous meats. This helps reduce bowel movements and minimize digestive tract irritation during treatment.

Foods to Avoid:

• Wheat, barley, and oats
• Brown or wild rice
• Raw fruits and vegetables
• Broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage
• Dried beans, peas, and lentils
• Seeds, nuts, and popcorn
• Pickles, relish, and olives
• Juices with pulp

Recommended Foods:

• Refined breads and white bread
• White rice
• Well-cooked vegetables like carrots, beets, green beans, and wax beans
• Avocado
• Peeled fruits such as apples and pears
• Applesauce
• Eggs
• Ground and tender cooked meats
• Creamy peanut butter and nut butters (without pieces)

Low Fat Diet
Lower fat foods help decrease intestinal gas, bloating, and digestive disruptions during radiation treatment.

Foods to Avoid:

• Fried meats and meats with skin
• Fried vegetables, including starchy vegetables like french fries
• Fried chips and snacks
• Fried fruits and desserts
• Dairy products (milk, yogurt, ice cream)
• Soda, beer, and fizzy water

Recommended Foods:

• Foods that are baked, grilled, or roasted
• Plant-based fats like nut butters and avocado
• Baked snacks and vegetables
• Baked fruits

These dietary restrictions are typically temporary and specific to certain treatments. Your oncology dietitian will provide personalized guidance on when to follow these guidelines and when you can return to your regular diet.

Practical Support

• Grocery shopping: Ask for specific lists rather than "what do you need?"
• Meal preparation: Make large batches that can be frozen in small portions
• Hydration reminders: Gentle encouragement to drink fluids throughout the day
• Food safety: Help maintain clean kitchen practices

Emotional Support

• Follow their lead: Let the patient guide food choices—what sounds good can change daily
• Don't take it personally: If they can't eat what you prepared, it's not about your cooking
• Stay flexible: Be ready to try different foods and restaurants
• Celebrate small wins: Acknowledge when they finish a meal or try something new

When to Be Concerned

Contact the care team if your loved one:

• Hasn't eaten anything in 24 hours
• Is vomiting and can't keep fluids down
• Shows signs of dehydration (dark urine, dizziness)
• Has lost more than 10 pounds unintentionally
• Develops mouth sores that prevent eating

What NOT to Do:

• Don't force eating when they feel nauseous
• Avoid saying "you need to eat" when they're struggling
• Don't offer too many choices when they're overwhelmed
• Resist sharing diet advice from the internet

During radiation treatment, staying well-hydrated is especially important.

Aim for at least 64 ounces (8 cups) of fluids daily, but you may need more if you experience side effects like diarrhea. The best way to monitor your hydration is checking your urine color—it should be pale yellow like straw.

Most experts recommend avoiding supplements during treatment because they can interfere with your treatment. Getting vitamins and minerals through a well-rounded diet is the best approach for optimal nutrition.

Currently, no studies prove that special diets or supplement strategies effectively treat cancer. Always discuss any supplements with your oncology care team before taking them.