Beth Wittmer Discusses Diet Restrictions With Neutropenia

Patients with neutropenia or at risk of it need to be cautious of their diet, said Beth Wittmer, RN, OCN, manager of care management at Florida Cancer Specialists and Research Institute.

Transcript

Getting people to modify their diets can be difficult. Is that the same with patients who develop neutropenia?

Not really, because once we warn them that those type of things [their diet] can cause potential bacteria, just like a common cold in somebody else could turn into pneumonia for them, making them really aware of the things that are high alerts. So, being cautious of their diet.

Once the white cells go back up, then I would say, “Hey, you’re good to go, you can have a salad. But during this time, when your white blood cells are low like this, just stay away and avoid that. You can have cooked vegetables, you could take canned fruit, but not eat it raw.”