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Our 24/7 cancer helpline provides support for people dealing with cancer. We can connect you with trained cancer information specialists who will answer questions about a cancer diagnosis and provide guidance and a compassionate ear.
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At our National Cancer Information Center trained Cancer Information Specialists can answer questions 24 hours a day, every day of the year to empower you with accurate, up-to-date information to help you make educated health decisions. We connect patients, caregivers, and family members with valuable services and resources.
Or ask us how you can get involved and support the fight against cancer. Some of the topics we can assist with include:
For medical questions, we encourage you to review our information with your doctor.
Survivorship: During and After Treatment
Cancer and its treatment can weaken your body’s immune system by affecting the blood cells that protect us against disease and germs. As a result, your body can’t fight infection and disease as well as a healthy person’s body can.
During your treatment for cancer, there will be times when your body won’t be able to defend itself very well. This is because you might not have enough infection-fighting white blood cells for a while. You may be told to try to avoid exposure to possible infection-causing germs. It's important to know that you can't raise your white blood cell counts by avoiding or eating certain kinds of foods. But here are some tips for handling, planning, and preparing food when your immune system is recovering:
|
Recommended |
Avoid (do not eat) |
Meat, poultry, fish, tofu, and nuts |
Ensure all meats, poultry, and fish are cooked thoroughly. Use a food thermometer to be sure that meat and poultry reach the proper temperature when cooked. When using tofu from the refrigerated section (not shelf-stable), cut it into 1-inch cubes or smaller and boil 5 minutes in water or broth before eating or using in recipes. You don’t have to do this if using aseptically packaged, shelf-stable tofu. Vacuum-sealed nuts and shelf-stable nut butters |
Raw or lightly cooked fish, shellfish, lox, sushi, or sashimi Raw nuts or fresh nut butters |
Eggs |
Cook eggs until the yolks and whites are solid, not runny Pasteurized eggs or egg custard Pasteurized eggnog
|
Raw or soft-cooked eggs. This includes over-easy, poached, soft-boiled, and sunny side up. Foods that may contain raw eggs, such as Caesar salad dressing, homemade eggnog, smoothies, raw cookie dough, hollandaise sauce, and homemade mayonnaise
|
Milk and dairy products |
Only pasteurized milk, yogurt, cheese, or other dairy products |
Soft, mold-ripened or blue-veined cheeses, including Brie, Camembert, Roquefort, Stilton, Gorgonzola, and blue cheese Mexican-style cheeses, such as queso blanco fresco, since they are often made with unpasteurized milk
|
Breads, cereal, rice, and pasta |
Breads, bagels, muffins, rolls, cereals, crackers, noodles, pasta, potatoes, and rice are safe to eat as long as they are purchased as wrapped, pre-packaged items, not sold in self-service bins. |
Bulk-bin sources of cereals, grains, and other foods |
Fruits and vegetables |
Raw vegetables and fruits and fresh herbs are safe to eat if washed under running water and lightly scrubbed with a vegetable brush. |
Fresh salsas and salad dressings found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. Choose shelf-stable salsa and dressings instead. Any raw vegetable sprouts (including alfalfa, radish, broccoli, or mung bean sprouts)
|
Desserts and sweets |
Fruit pies, cakes, and cookies, flavored gelatin; commercial ice cream, sherbet, sorbet, and popsicles Sugar Commercially prepared and pasteurized jam, jelly, preserves, syrup, and molasses
|
Unrefrigerated, cream-filled pastry products Raw honey or honeycomb. Select a commercial, grade A, heat-treated honey instead.
|
Water and beverages |
Drink only water from city or municipal water services or commercially bottled water. Pasteurized fruit and vegetable juices, soda, coffee, and tea
|
Water straight from lakes, rivers, streams, or springs Well water unless you check with your cancer care team first Unpasteurized fruit and vegetable juices Sun tea (Make tea with boiling water, and use commercially prepared tea bags instead.) Vitamin- or herbal-supplemented waters (These provide little, if any, health benefit.)
|
+ Adapted from Grant BL, Bloch AS, Hamilton KK, Thomson CA. American Cancer Society Complete Guide to Nutrition for Cancer Survivors, 2nd Edition. Atlanta, GA: American Cancer Society; 2010.
The American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team
Our team is made up of doctors and oncology certified nurses with deep knowledge of cancer care as well as journalists, editors, and translators with extensive experience in medical writing.
Last Revised: July 15, 2019
American Cancer Society medical information is copyrighted material. For reprint requests, please see our Content Usage Policy.