Hi. There is a bit of debate going on in the breast cancer group about whether or not eating live yoghurts and kefir is good or not while going through chemotherapy. Some people are saying they are good as replace what chemo has stripped out and others like myself are avoiding having seen things on Dr google. Are you able to advise?
Thank you for getting in touch. My name is Gemma, and I am one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialists on the Macmillan Support Line.
As probiotics are living micro-organisms, it is generally recommended that these should be avoided while going through chemotherapy. You will find his listed in our Healthy Eating and Cancer booklet on page 47. Live yogurts and Kefir contain large amounts of these probiotics.
Probiotic foods and supplements contain healthy bacteria that can help with gut health. There’s conflicting advice regarding probiotics during cancer treatment. Some studies suggest probiotics could help prevent and reduce diarrhoea and other side-effects caused by chemotherapy. However, you may be advised to avoid concentrated probiotics, for example in capsules or in bio-yoghurts such as live yogurts and Kefir if your immunity is low during your treatment, as their safety in this situation hasn’t been checked.
As with taking any supplements it is always best to speak to your own healthcare teams for individualised advice.
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