Eating yoghurt during Chemotherapy

Dear Mazzamoo2a9db3,

Welcome to our online community, I notice you have joined some of our forums and we hope you are finding this a helpful and supportive place to visit.

Thank you for your question about diet while on chemotherapy. My name is Luzia and I am one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialists on the Macmillan Support Line.

I can appreciate that you are considering what is best to eat while on chemotherapy. In general, cancer experts and Macmillan advocate following a healthy balanced diet. More general information is in our booklet Healthy Eating and Cancer.

Food Safety when immunity is low has more specific information. If you do develop any problems such as with your mouth the booklet Eating problems and Cancer would be very helpful.

In general, when undergoing chemotherapy, it's recommended to avoid foods with live cultures, as they can sometimes contain bacteria that may not be safe for someone with a compromised immune system. While Greek-style and natural thick yogurts may seem like good options, many of these do contain live cultures, which is why they are often not recommended during chemotherapy.

When yogurts are made with pasteurised milk, harmful bacteria do get killed. However, the fermentation process requires certain live bacteria that get added. For non-live yoghurt they do a further heat treatment after fermentation. In this case, it’s generally safer to avoid yogurts with live cultures while you're on chemotherapy, especially with treatments like Paclitaxel and Carboplatin, which can suppress your immune system.

In terms of brands of yoghurts, we could not recommend any specific ones as each brand produces a variety of yoghurts. It is always best for you to read the labels and check.

Before making changes to your diet, it might be a good idea to talk to a dietitian, your GP, or specialist nurse. This may be especially useful if you have any special dietary requirements or medical needs.

This must be a very difficult time for you with starting 6 months of chemotherapy. Please call one of our nurses directly if you want to talk over your situation. We may then be able to give you further information.

Take care,

Luzia

Cancer Information Nurse Specialist

Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email. If you think it may be useful to chat things over in real time, we have our webchat service available 7 days a week 8am-8pm.

Ref: LzM/AMc

Hi there, 

I have just started chemo therapy for the next 6 months. Reading the list of foods that are to be avoided it says pro biotic and live yoghurts, but recommends Greek style or natural thick yogurts - having checked my Greek style and natural ones in the fridge when I got home , I see they contain live cultures but are made with pasteurised milk. Im confused can I eat these, or if not can you recommend a brand that is available in UK that is safe to eat as I feel yogurt is an easy way to get calories and nutrients in if I develop a sore mouth . I am on Paclitaxel and Carboplatin to manage metastatic rectal cancer.

Thank you Marilyn