What food should I avoid while on Stelara?

There are no known interactions between Stelara (ustekinumab) and food. However, there may be interactions that have not yet been studied, and it’s important to ask your health care provider if you’ll need to make any dietary changes while on Stelara.

Be sure to also tell your health care provider about any drugs you take, including vitamins and supplements, which can have unknown or potentially dangerous interactions with other medications. Dietary changes may be recommended according to your condition. For example, patients taking Stelara for moderate to severely active Crohn’s disease may be advised to avoid foods known to worsen their symptoms.

Taking Stelara may increase your risk of infections, and patients being treated with Stelara may be advised to make changes to protect themselves, such as staying away from sick individuals and uncooked or potentially contaminated foods. Infection with salmonella from eating undercooked meat, poultry and eggs may be more serious in some patients taking Stelara.

Patients will not be able to receive “live” vaccines while taking Stelara and should avoid individuals who have recently received a live vaccine, such as those used to protect against measles/mumps/rubella, rotavirus, smallpox, chickenpox and yellow fever.