Diet and lifestyle after a transplant

As you recover, maintaining or working towards a healthier diet or lifestyle can help boost your confidence and in some cases help with managing side effects such as fatigue.

If you’re thinking about making lifestyle changes, ask your GP, transplant team, dietitian or physiotherapist for help.

After a transplant it’s natural to want to make changes that will help reduce the risk of your condition returning.  But further scientific research is needed before we can fully understand the role of diet and lifestyle on cancer risk for people recovering from cancer.

Based on the available evidence, the World Cancer Research Fund advises people who’ve had cancer in the past to follow their cancer prevention recommendations:

1. Maintain a healthy weight
   Be as lean as possible without becoming underweight.
    
2. Move more
   Be active for at least 30 minutes a day.
    
3. Eat well
   Avoid sugary drinks. Limit consumption of high-calorie foods (particularly processed foods high in added sugar, or low in fibre or high in fat).
    
4. Enjoy a plant based diet
   Eat more vegetables, fruits, wholegrains and pulses such as beans.
    
5. Reduce red meat
   Cut down on beef, pork and lamb, and avoid processed meat.
    
6. Cut down on alcohol
   Limit alcoholic drinks to two for men and one for women a day.
    
7. Eat less salt
   Limit consumption of salty food and food processed with salt.
    
8. For cancer prevention don’t use supplements
   Supplements contain vitamins, minerals and other components of food. Aim to get all your nutrients by eating a healthy, balanced diet. But if you’re not absorbing enough nutrients from your diet, or you can’t eat a normal diet, you may need to take some supplements. Ask your dietitian or doctor for advice.

For more information, read World Cancer Research Fund’s leaflet, ‘Healthy Living after Cancer’.

Find more tips and ideas for exercise during recovery on our page about keeping active after a transplant.

Information published: 10/10/16
Next review due: 10/10/19