Diet and food guidance for ovarian cancer

No food or diet treats or cures ovarian cancer. Good nutrition helps you stay strong during treatment and recover. Your oncology team and a dietitian can tailor advice.

Helpful habits

• Small, frequent meals if you feel full quickly or have little appetite
• Enough protein: dal, eggs, dairy, fish, chicken, tofu and nuts help healing and keep muscle
• Vegetables, fruit and whole grains for fibre and vitamins
• Fluids: water, soups, coconut water and oral rehydration, especially during chemotherapy
• Calorie boosters if weight is falling, such as milk-based drinks, nut butters and ghee in moderation
• Fibre and fluids to manage constipation

During chemotherapy

• Eat what you can tolerate, such as bland, dry foods for nausea
• Wash fruit and vegetables, cook food well and avoid raw eggs, unpasteurised milk and street food when blood counts are low
• Ask about food safety during neutropenia

Be careful with

• High-dose supplements, antioxidant pills and herbal products. Some interfere with chemotherapy or targeted drugs, or harm the liver.
• Strict or "cancer-curing" diets, extreme fasting and alkaline diets. They are not proven and can cause malnutrition.

Ayurvedic view

Traditional advice favours warm, light, easily digested meals during illness. This is a supportive framework. Tell your oncologist about any Ayurvedic product before using it.

See a doctor if you are losing weight, cannot eat for more than a day or two, or have repeated vomiting.

Remember

Eat to keep strength. Food supports treatment, but it does not replace it.