Breast Cancer: 11 Tips to Help Manage Appetite Loss

Breast cancer is a serious disease that can affect anyone. After being diagnosed with cancer, treatment is the next step on your journey. There are several treatment options to address breast cancer, such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgery. But there are some side effects that may result from treatments and losing your appetite can be one of them. Here's a list of some useful tips to help you regain your appetite, even if you're still under treatment. 1. Experiment with Food. Patients who suffer from breast cancer often experience appetite loss, including starting to dislike foods that previously tasted good. One way to address this is to try new foods, foods which differ from what would normally be eaten. However, it is important to try these while feeling good to avoid developing more food dislikes. 2. Eat Before Treatments. One of the problems is that patients experience nausea or vomiting after treatments such as chemotherapy, targeted therapy, or radiation therapy. To address this, it's recommended patients eat a light meal several hours before the treatment. This can prevent these symptoms and avoid food aversions. Read more about some side effects of breast cancer treatments here. 3. Eat Food Cooked by Others. Asking other people to cook, eating prepared foods from a store, or ordering take-out can help patients who cannot stand the smells of cooking. Patients are also less inclined to eat if they have to cook for themselves when they are feeling unwell or low on energy, having someone else prepare the meal for you or buying food in will hopefully counteract this. 4. Eat Cold Foods. Cold foods have less smell, which can be enjoyable for patients with breast cancer and prevent food aversions. Try to add foods like yogurt, cottage cheese or sandwiches to the daily routines. 5. Eat with Plastic Utensils. After treatments, breast cancer patients can often detect a taste of metal in their mouth, particularly while eating. To avoid this problem patients can use plastic utensils to eat instead of the normal ones. 6. Clean the Palate Before Eating. Rinsing the mouth with tea, ginger ale, salted water or baking soda dissolved in water can help clean the palate and clear the taste buds. When done before a meal, it can help breast cancer patients eat better and easier. Some patients also find sucking ice chips in between bites of food helpful, which numbs the taste buds and helps them to eat better. 7. Don't Force Any Food. If eating food does not feel good, the best thing is not to force it. Instead of forcing and eating food that tastes bad, it might be helpful to seek substitutes that are better tolerated. Forcing food may lead to nausea, vomiting or food aversions. 8. Eat Less and More Frequently. Instead of trying to eat heavily during the main meals, patients may find it helpful to eat smaller amounts but more frequently. That way, breast cancer patients may find it easier to eat more without noticing or feeling too full. 9. Have Snacks at Hand. If eating requires a lot of effort, patients may not be willing to do so and may end up not eating enough. To avoid this, it's important to keep some snacks close at hand that can be eaten whenever the patient feels like it. Cheese and crackers, muffins, peanut butter, and fruit are some suggestions of easy to eat snacks. 10. Don't Wait for Hunger. Loss of appetite may also mean that breast cancer patients do not feel hungry. Therefore, it is important that patients don't wait until they are hungry to eat. Eating is an important part of the fight against breast cancer, and interiorizing this may help. Try to eat, even if it's just small amounts, and schedule times of the day to eat regularly. 11. Add Protein Supplements. Adding a liquid protein supplement to the daily routine can help breast cancer patients who have difficulties in getting enough proteins. These supplements can be mixed into smoothies or juices, yoghurts, or soups. There are commercial products available, but patients should ask their physician or dietitian for a recommendation and other eating tips. Find out if soy eating soy products is safe for breast cancer patients. Breast Cancer News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.

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