The low immunity or neutropenic diet is a type of diet that aims to strengthen the immune system and decrease the risk of infection in people who have weakened immune systems due to leukemia, bone marrow transplantation or chemotherapy treatment, for example.
In addition, it may be necessary to eat this diet for a prolonged period after surgery or treatment, and even, in some cases, the food goes through a sterilization process to ensure the destruction of any microorganism that may have contaminated the food during or after your preparation.
Thus, this type of diet is usually indicated when the person has a decrease in the number of defense cells in the body, the neutrophils, to values below 500 per mm³ of blood.
How the Low Immunity Diet Is Done
The diet for low immunity should be recommended by the nutritionist and consists mainly of eliminating foods that can increase the risk of infection, such as raw foods, for example. In addition to paying attention to the food consumed, it is important to be careful in preparing the food, washing your hands and kitchen utensils well, in addition to checking the validity of the food. Understand how food hygiene should be done.
The foods usually indicated in this type of diet are those that had to undergo any type of processing to eliminate possible microorganisms present in the food. Thus, raw foods or fresh fruits, for example, should not be consumed, as they may contain microorganisms that can cause infection in people with low immunity.
| Allowed foods | Prohibited foods |
| Cooked fruits | Raw fruits |
| Cooked vegetables | Cheese |
| Fresh bread | Yogurt |
| Ultra-pasteurized milk | Nuts, almonds, hazelnuts |
| Cookies and biscuits | Seeds |
| Pasteurized juices | Canned |
| Boiled soup | Raw dough |
| Meat, fish and boiled egg | Fried or poached egg |
| Pasteurized cheeses | Natural fruit juice |
Low immunity menu
The menu for low immunity should be made by a nutritionist or nutrologist according to the degree of weakening of the immune system. A menu option for low immunity is:
| Breakfast | Ultra-pasteurized milk with cereals and baked apples. |
| Lunch |
Grilled chicken leg with boiled rice and boiled carrots. For dessert, boiled banana. |
| Afternoon snack | Pasteurized fruit juice and fresh bread with pasteurized cheese. |
| Dinner |
Baked hake with boiled potatoes and boiled broccoli. For dessert, cooked pear. |
The diet for low immunity must be accompanied by a nutritionist or doctor, as supplementation may be necessary to ensure that the patient has all the necessary nutrients for the body.
To avoid weakening the immune system, it is recommended to consume foods rich in selenium, zinc, vitamins and minerals every day. So check out all the tips in the video prepared by our nutritionist:
