Chemotherapy can have a major impact on your appetite. Not only do nausea and appetite loss make it harder to get the nutrients you need, drugs used for chemotherapy can affect your taste buds, making food and drink taste strange and often unpleasant. These factors can make it hard to maintain the hydration your body needs for chemotherapy.
Set a Goal
Unless your doctor recommends otherwise, plan to get at least six 8-ounce servings of liquid every day. That's the minimum amount most people need during chemotherapy treatment, according to the Oral Cancer Foundation. Schedule times for consuming drinks just as you set times for your meals, and plan to get your liquid intake when it won't interfere with your appetite, recommends the National Cancer Institute.
Choose Smart Stand-Ins
If your appetite is compromised by your chemotherapy treatments or if you have trouble eating solid food, your daily hydration can do double duty as a source of nutrients. The key is to opt for high-calorie, nutrient-rich beverages that hydrate your body while providing needed nutrients. The National Cancer Institute recommends whole milk, milkshakes, smoothies and instant breakfast drinks as good solid-food substitutes. Ready-to-drink nutritional beverages can be good meal substitutes during times of extreme fatigue caused by chemotherapy.
Know the Benefits
Healthy hydration levels can help alleviate some of the most common uncomfortable symptoms of chemotherapy, explain dietitians Karen Wagner and Jaimie Bornstein in Today's Dietitian magazine. Consuming liquids with nutritional value can help relieve sore mouth and dry mouth, prevent constipation and diarrhea, and help provide nutrients during post-chemotherapy-treatment nausea.
Soothe Your Stomach
If nausea is an ongoing problem, stay hydrated with beverages that are easy to digest. The National Cancer Institute recommends water, tea, sports drinks, cranberry juice and grape juice as easy-on-the-stomach hydration options. If you prefer soft drinks, choose a clear beverage and let it sit opened until the carbonation is gone and the drink is completely still.
