The diet for low immunity or neutropenic diet is a diet that reduces bacteria and other microorganisms in food, to protect patients who have weakened immune systems, possible infections such as leukemia, bone marrow transplant or in patients who chemotherapy, for example.
In addition, it may be necessary to do this diet for an extended period after surgery or treatment, and even in some cases the food undergoes a sterilization process to ensure the destruction of any microorganism that may have contaminated the food during or after their preparation.
This diet is necessary when the patient has a decrease in the number of the body's defense cells, called neutrophils, to values below 500 per mm3.
How to Make Low Immunity Diet
The diet for low immunity consists mainly of eliminating all raw foods from the diet, such as fruit salad, nuts or salads, for example, by eating only cooked foods such as cooked apple, soup, boiled or pasteurized egg.
In addition, drinks that have not been pasteurized, such as natural fruit juice, for example, can not be consumed because they may contain microorganisms and cause infections for those with low immunity. Thus, the only permitted beverages in the diet for low immunity are those that have been subjected to a pasteurizing process such as ultrapasteurized milk or some packet juices.
In addition to the choice of food, it is important to be careful in food preparation by thoroughly washing hands, cooking utensils and always checking the validity of food labels.
Low Immunity Diet Menu
An example of a menu for those with low immunity may be:
- Breakfast - ultrapasteurized milk with cereals and cooked apple.
- Lunch - well grilled chicken thigh with cooked rice and boiled carrots. For baked banana dessert.
- Snack - pasteurized fruit juice and bread with pasteurized cheese.
- Dinner - cooked hake with boiled potatoes and boiled broccoli. Cooked pear for dessert.
The diet for low immunity should be accompanied by a nutritionist or physician as supplementation may be necessary to ensure that the patient has all the nutrients needed by the body.
Check out all the tips in the video prepared by our nutritionist:
See too:
- Foods that fight cancer
- Reishi Mushroom to strengthen immune system
