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No appetite? How to get nutrition during cancer treatment
Increasing calories
During illness, treatment or recovery, your need for calories may be greater than usual. The following suggestions can help increase the number of calories you consume:
- Use butter or margarine generously on potatoes, bread, toast, hot cereal, rice, noodles, vegetables and in soups.
- Spread peanut butter — which is high in protein — on toast, bread, apple or banana slices, crackers or celery.
- Add powdered creamer or dry milk powder to hot cocoa, milkshakes, hot cereal, gravy, sauces, meatloaf, cream soups or puddings.
- Meat, chicken or fish that has been breaded or fried is higher in calories than meats that are baked, broiled or roasted.
- Top hot cereal with brown sugar, honey, dried fruit or cream.
- Top pie, cake, gelatin or pudding with ice cream, whipped cream or cream.
- Use fruit canned in heavy syrup. It has more calories than does fresh or juice-packed fruit. If you prefer fresh fruit, add sugar and cream.
- Drink beverages that contain calories. Good choices include fruit juice, lemonade, fruit-flavored drinks, malts, floats, soda pop, cocoa, milkshakes and eggnog. Nutritional supplement drinks are convenient options. Water, black coffee and tea have no calories, and bouillon and broth contain very few calories.
Though some of these suggestions add more fat and sugar to your diet, this shouldn't be a concern since you're only adding the extra calories until you can get your appetite back on track. Check with your doctor or a dietitian if you have concerns about changing the way you eat.
Increasing protein
Protein is important for growth, health and repair of your body. If you've been ill, you may need extra protein. Some suggestions include:
- Add extra meat, poultry, fish or beans (pinto, navy, black, kidney) to casseroles, soups or stews.
- Make your own high-protein milk: Add 1/4 cup (59 milliliters) powdered milk to 1 cup (237 milliliters) whole milk, or 1 cup (237 milliliters) powdered milk to 1 quart (about 1 liter) whole milk. Use it as a beverage, add it to malts or shakes, or use it in cooking.
- Try a commercially prepared protein supplement.
If illness has made red meat — beef, pork or lamb — less appealing to you, try the following foods, which also are good sources of protein:
- Cheese
- Cottage cheese
- Beans
- Lentils
- Eggs
- Fish
- Poultry
- Nuts
- Peanut butter
- Milk
- Milkshakes
- Custard
- Pudding
- Yogurt
Fluids
Drinking plenty of fluids also is key to helping your body during treatment. Aim to get a minimum of about 64 ounces (2 liters) of fluid a day, unless your doctor has directed you to limit your fluid intake. Try to choose drinks that contain calories.
Consider a multivitamin
If your loss of appetite is keeping you from eating well for more than a few days, you might consider taking a multivitamin to help you get the vitamins and minerals you need. Check the label and look for a multivitamin that doesn't give you more than 100 percent of the Daily Value (DV) of all the vitamins and minerals. Keep in mind, though, that if you're drinking liquid nutritional supplements, those will give you some of the vitamins and minerals you need, so you may not need a multivitamin. A nutritional supplement drink usually contains the equivalent of about one-fourth of a multivitamin.
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