Rare steak & Sushi

[Miu48]

Is it ok to eat rare steak and sushi whilst undergoing V&O treatment? In the quest for successful and trouble free treatment, it’s no problem to omit these two things, but I thought I’d ask....

[cajunjeff]

A common side effect of V plus O is neutropenia, a shortage of neutrophils. Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that fights bacterial infections. You should be having monthly labs to check for neutropenia.

My guess, and I am not a doctor or expert, is that if you have low neutrophils and/or low immunoglobulins, that a doctor would caution you about any raw foods that might be more likely to have bacteria. If your labs are normal, then it’s probably more safe.

It’s a good question for your doctor for sure. Like a lot of things with Cll, the answer might be different from person to person and doctor to doctor, other than to say that if you are neutropenic, I suspect all doctors would warn against raw steak and sushi.

[SofiaDeo]

If the sushi has no sashimi, it should be OK. As good as fermented and raw foods generally are for us, best avoided or minimized during treatments that can make us neutropenic. But I also this this is a highly individual question, and someone's medical history will influence the answer.

I know there's argument about "the neutropenic diet", but IMO safe is better than sorry. And I agree with cajunjeff, best to have a discussion with the doc.

[Big_Dee]

Hello Miu48

Going with doctors guidance sounds best. I however eat steak medium, but skip the rice because I don't care for it. It is not that I don't like the taste of rice, but rather it is too bland. Red meat is one of the best sources of protein and iron. All our blood cells are protein based and really need all the help they can get.

[Mijoed in reply to Big_Dee]

I worked in Iran in the 80s. You would not believe how many ways they could prepare rice dishes.

[Shedman in reply to Mijoed]

Key thing with rice is to know that it has limited safe life once cooked - not of bacterial contamination after cooking, but of possible fungal contamination of the rice grains; cover and chill any leftover rapidly after a meal, reheat fully before eating leftovers and eat within 24 hours. [it’s worth looking rice food hygiene issues - it‘s not like most foods.]

Iranian friends’ rice dish: a memorable dish cooked in a covered saucepan, comprised a layer of sliced potato, followed by alternating minced beef cooked with onion and dill(?) .. and layers of part cooked basmati rice, cooked on a low heat, with saffron water added at intervals sufficient to complete without sticking. [as close as I remember]

[Mijoed in reply to Shedman]

Iraq Iran war had recently ended. I worked for an oilfield service company and we did many remote operations on western borders. Also worked in Mashhad and south of Ahwaz. I’ve never been so cold or so hot. +50 deg C to brutally cold. Not so many cows, but we always carried rice, flat bread and oil.If we couldn’t find a chicken then we ate rice. Never had any left over and never eaten so much rice in my life. In contrast, in Tehran, the caviar was cheapish, rice dishes plentiful, and food was good. We had a company house in Velenjak sp that was slightly on a hill over Tehran. Great view until the smog took over later in the day. Life was a bit of a challenge but I enjoyed it there.

[Jm954 Administrator]

I'm on Venetoclax and my neuts have been around the 1.5 level. I have continued to eat steak cooked rare and sushi but no raw fish.

[janvog]

Definitely not!!! I just read, a couple minutes ago an advice by Mayo or Webmed which listed food that "you never should eat raw" - and clearly never eat raw meat and abstain from sushi because of the raw fish. That is advice for both healthy and of course doubly important for those with health problems.

[Naka]

I definitely won't. Your neutrophils is probably low since it's a side effect of V and best to stay with cooked foods. Salads only if you can wash them yourself. I was told to stay away from salad bars and only eat salad that I have washed myself during early months of treatment with V&O

[Farrpottery]

My husband’s Oncologist told him no sushi and no tuna. Tuna has too much mercury and raw fish may make him sick.

[SofiaDeo in reply to Farrpottery]

Sushi isn't necessarily raw fish. Some types of sushi contain wholly cooked/dried ingredients, some don't. I eat sushi with cooked protein ingredients only, I don't like raw.