Those people who have weakened immune systems should be on a neutropenic diet. The people will get protection from bacteria and other harmful organisms found in some food and drinks if they have this diet. Your body may face difficulties in protecting itself from these bacteria if your immune system is not working properly. All the bacteria will get destroyed if food is completely cooked.
People who need Neutropenic Diet
Before and after some types of chemotherapy and other cancer treatments, the oncologists in Kolkata often recommend this diet. The doctor determines the body’s ability to fight off the infection on the basis of a blood test called an absolute neutrophil count (ANC). This routine blood test is done by many cancer patients. The doctor asks a patient to follow a neutropenic diet when the ANC is less than 500 cells / mm3. The patient should follow this diet until the doctor tells the patient to resume his or her regular diet. Some patients, who are undergoing autologous stem cell transplants, typically follow this diet during the pre-transplant chemotherapy and for the first 3 or more months after transplant. This diet is also for those patients who are undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplants, during the pre-transplant chemotherapy and the diet continues on until the patients stop taking immunosuppressive drugs.
General Tips
Here we have given some general tips to follow when you are on a neutropenic diet. You should also consult your cancer doctor in Kolkata if you want to know more about the diet and safe food preparation.
- You should go for cooked vegetables, canned fruits and juices. You should avoid all fresh fruits, fresh vegetables and fresh garnishes.
- The meat you consume should be well-cooked. The same is for eggs also.The consumption of raw or rare-cooked meat, fish and eggs is a big no for you.
- Instead of freshly sliced meats, you should buy vacuum-packed lunch meats.
- You can eat baked products with nuts but you should not eat raw nuts.
- Eat only pasteurized dairy products. Avoid yoghurt and yoghurt products with live and active cultures.
- The way you handle foods is very important. Before handling foods, wash your hands properly. All the surfaces of the kitchen, cutting boards and cutting utensils should be thoroughly clean. The hot food should remain hot and the cold food should remain cold.
- You may use tap water at home. You can also use bottled water if ‘reverse osmosis’ or ‘distillation’ or ‘filtered through an absolute 1 micron or smaller filter’ is printed on the label of the bottle. If you boil well water for at least 1 minute, it is ok.
