No salad?

QuiltingMama123
QuiltingMama123 Member Posts: 124
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
While reading through another posting, I read that several people had been told not to eat salads and other raw foods. I hadn't heard this. I've been living on salads and raw fruits and vegetables. They, along with spicy foods, are all that tasted normal while I was going through chemo.

Comments

  • lizzie17
    lizzie17 Member Posts: 548
    #2
    i think...
    I heard that also, but I think it was to rule out eating at salad bars.
  • webbwife50
    webbwife50 Member Posts: 394
    #3
    Bacteria?
    I think it has something to do with the bacteria you might encounter when eating "raw" foods.
  • Snowkitty
    Snowkitty Member Posts: 295
    #4
    When I was doing chemo (T/C,
    When I was doing chemo (T/C, 3 weeks apart), the second week my white blood count would bottom out. I couldn't tolerate the neupogen shots to keep WBC up. Counts would rise the week before chemo. So, I didn't eat salads the week my counts were down. I did the week after chemo and the week before chemo. Salads and raw foods, it seems, can't be entirely cleaned and probably contain a lot of bacteria. Normally you can tolerate these bacteria, but not when your counts are in the toilet.

    I am a salad eater and really craved them when I couldn't have them.

    Take care, Cindy
  • beetle25
    beetle25 Member Posts: 150 Member
    #5
    Snowkitty said:

    When I was doing chemo (T/C,
    When I was doing chemo (T/C, 3 weeks apart), the second week my white blood count would bottom out. I couldn't tolerate the neupogen shots to keep WBC up. Counts would rise the week before chemo. So, I didn't eat salads the week my counts were down. I did the week after chemo and the week before chemo. Salads and raw foods, it seems, can't be entirely cleaned and probably contain a lot of bacteria. Normally you can tolerate these bacteria, but not when your counts are in the toilet.

    I am a salad eater and really craved them when I couldn't have them.

    Take care, Cindy

    I was told no raw veggies or
    I was told no raw veggies or fruit until my counts were back to normal. It has to do with the bacteria and that it could give you an infection. The onc nurses would get on me about eating veggies and fruit, but my med onc told me as soon as my counts returned to normal following the chemo infusion which usually took about a week i could go back to fresh fruits and veggies
  • Sher43009
    Sher43009 Member Posts: 602 Member
    #6
    beetle25 said:

    I was told no raw veggies or
    I was told no raw veggies or fruit until my counts were back to normal. It has to do with the bacteria and that it could give you an infection. The onc nurses would get on me about eating veggies and fruit, but my med onc told me as soon as my counts returned to normal following the chemo infusion which usually took about a week i could go back to fresh fruits and veggies

    ACS Booklet
    The ACS has a booklet "Nutrition for the Person with Cancer during Treatment" that is wonderful. What foods to eat when the side effects kick in. It really helped me.

    Sher
  • seof
    seof Member Posts: 819 Member
    #7
    my doc
    The chemo nurses handed out a paper to all patients that included the caution against eating raw veggies/fruit. I asked the nurses and they said I should follow the guidelines. I asked my Oncologist. He said the precaution is there mainly for those who have chronically low white blood cell counts. The reason is because it is hard to wash things like lettuce sufficiently to kill the bacteria. However, he said he was not worried about it for most of his patients whose white counts do not stay low for a long time. I continued to eat at salad bars and bought the salad mixes at the store and ate fruit just like I always do, and I did not get sick from it.

    I guess use moderation in all things and do what your Doc. says to do in your case.

    seof.
  • Suzie-Q-Z
    Suzie-Q-Z Member Posts: 40
    #8
    raw vegies & fruit
    I have a friend who is on a strict macrobiotic diet and she said raw vegies are out because they are too hard to digest, cooking will let us get the essential nutrients out of them, and kill any questionable bacteria too. As far as fruit and bacteria, wash and peel should work for a lot (except berries, cherries & grapes of course, now that would be silly).
  • missrenee
    missrenee Member Posts: 2,136 Member
    #9
    Suzie-Q-Z said:

    raw vegies & fruit
    I have a friend who is on a strict macrobiotic diet and she said raw vegies are out because they are too hard to digest, cooking will let us get the essential nutrients out of them, and kill any questionable bacteria too. As far as fruit and bacteria, wash and peel should work for a lot (except berries, cherries & grapes of course, now that would be silly).

    My oncologist banned anything raw that couldn't be peeled
    So, that included salads, (which I love) and any other raw fruits/veggies that couldn't be washed and then peeled. She also banned sushi. She said some of the biggest offenders would be berries of any type. Reason being--if I was unlucky enough to catch a salmonella or e. coli infection, I could be in big trouble and not able to fight it off (even with antibiotics) because of the lowered white count and lowered immune system.

    Some days during chemo--all I would crave would be a nice big salad. At least that's what I thought. It probably would have tasted terrible just like everything else. I did eat oranges, bananas and cooked veggies.

    Hugs, Renee
  • kya911
    kya911 Member Posts: 157
    #10
    missrenee said:

    My oncologist banned anything raw that couldn't be peeled
    So, that included salads, (which I love) and any other raw fruits/veggies that couldn't be washed and then peeled. She also banned sushi. She said some of the biggest offenders would be berries of any type. Reason being--if I was unlucky enough to catch a salmonella or e. coli infection, I could be in big trouble and not able to fight it off (even with antibiotics) because of the lowered white count and lowered immune system.

    Some days during chemo--all I would crave would be a nice big salad. At least that's what I thought. It probably would have tasted terrible just like everything else. I did eat oranges, bananas and cooked veggies.

    Hugs, Renee

    My Dr said the same thing.
    My Dr said the same thing. No raw veggies. Fruit was to be washed & then peeled.
  • smalldoggroomer
    smalldoggroomer Member Posts: 1,184
    #11
    I was told not to eat salads
    I was told not to eat salads at salad bars or anything uncooked because of being handled by people and your immune system is down. You don't want to take any chances. But I was also told I could eat salad at home. Just wash it very well. Hope this helps Take care Kay
  • TraciInLA
    TraciInLA Member Posts: 1,994 Member
    #12
    smalldoggroomer said:

    I was told not to eat salads
    I was told not to eat salads at salad bars or anything uncooked because of being handled by people and your immune system is down. You don't want to take any chances. But I was also told I could eat salad at home. Just wash it very well. Hope this helps Take care Kay

    Taking some extra precautions made me feel "safer"
    I regularly interrogated my oncologist during chemo for any eating do's or don't's, and he always told me to eat whatever I wanted, and not to be overly concerned. I was on Neulasta, so my counts stayed nice and high.

    But I took a few extra precautions that made me feel like I was being proactive, and maybe keeping myself a little "safer." None of them can hurt, whether or not you're on chemo:

    1. I thoroughly rinsed any and all fruits and vegetables before eating them -- including the outsides of melons and bananas and bagged salad mixes.

    2. I didn't drink non-pasteurized juices (i.e., the fresh ones you get in the produce section) while I was doing chemo. I stuck to bottled shelf-stable ones (like Ocean Spray cranberry juice) and pasteurized refrigerated ones (like Minute Maid orange juice).

    3. I started washing the tops of all cans with soap and water before opening them (got this tip from the ACS booklet Sher mentions). I've continued doing that even now -- who knows what gets on a can in transit?

    Like I said -- I can't say whether or not any of these was necessary, but they can't hurt.

    Traci
  • knitterjan
    knitterjan Member Posts: 20
    #13
    TraciInLA said:

    Taking some extra precautions made me feel "safer"
    I regularly interrogated my oncologist during chemo for any eating do's or don't's, and he always told me to eat whatever I wanted, and not to be overly concerned. I was on Neulasta, so my counts stayed nice and high.

    But I took a few extra precautions that made me feel like I was being proactive, and maybe keeping myself a little "safer." None of them can hurt, whether or not you're on chemo:

    1. I thoroughly rinsed any and all fruits and vegetables before eating them -- including the outsides of melons and bananas and bagged salad mixes.

    2. I didn't drink non-pasteurized juices (i.e., the fresh ones you get in the produce section) while I was doing chemo. I stuck to bottled shelf-stable ones (like Ocean Spray cranberry juice) and pasteurized refrigerated ones (like Minute Maid orange juice).

    3. I started washing the tops of all cans with soap and water before opening them (got this tip from the ACS booklet Sher mentions). I've continued doing that even now -- who knows what gets on a can in transit?

    Like I said -- I can't say whether or not any of these was necessary, but they can't hurt.

    Traci

    Wish I could eat salad again
    Last March I was diagnosed with Stage IV, MET breast cancer to the liver, lungs and bones and told by my onc not to eat salads or any fresh fruit that couldn't be peeled. After 18 chemo treatments I had a one week respite when I was taking hormones and told that I could eat salad again. That was a treat! Unfortunately my body didn't respond to the hormones and I'm back on a different chemo now and off my beloved salads.

    Guess it's best to "safe."

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