Lymphoma is a cancer affecting lymphocytes, which are white blood cells that make up part of your body's immune system. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy are commonly used to treat lymphoma. While effective in treating this cancer, both often have side effects that make eating difficult. Despite the potential challenges to eating well when you have lymphoma, nourishing your body is an important part of staying strong and healthy. Good nutrition can give you energy, prevent excessive weight loss, boost your immune system, help your body heal faster, and improve your overall prognosis, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Nausea and Vomiting
Nausea and vomiting can be side effects of both chemotherapy and radiation therapy. To help manage nausea and vomiting, try eating small frequent amounts of easily digested foods such as crackers, dry cereal or toast. Sip small amounts of clear liquids like apple juice, sports drinks, water, broth, or tea. Certain foods may make nausea and vomiting worse. Common offenders include foods with strong odors, spicy foods, greasy foods, or overly-sweet foods.
Taste Changes
Taste changes are a common side-effect of chemotherapy. Foods that don't taste the way they usually do can make eating unappealing. If you experience a metallic taste in your mouth, avoid canned foods and try using plastic utensils rather than silverware. If meats taste metallic, try nuts, beans and eggs as alternate sources of protein. If foods taste too salty, try to counter this by adding a small amount of sugar to your foods. Conversely, if foods taste too sweet, counter this with a small amount of salt. Chemotherapy can also cause a lingering unpleasant taste in your mouth. Keep your mouth clean by brushing your teeth often, and try a homemade mouthwash to clean your mouth before meals. Combine 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. baking soda and 1 quart of water. Swish this solution around in your mouth, then spit it out.
Weight Loss
Both lymphoma and side effects of its treatments can lead to weight loss. Weigh yourself weekly and report any changes to your health care team. If you experience weight loss, try eating 6 to 8 small meals throughout the day. Eating more frequently will give you more opportunities to get extra calories and protein. Focus on high-protein, high-calorie foods such as mashed potatoes with gravy, crackers and cheese, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, yogurt, smoothies and casseroles. To boost calories, add extra gravy, butter, shredded cheese and sauces to your foods. Dry milk powder can be mixed in with smoothies, hot cereal, casseroles, soups, scrambled eggs and milkshakes for additional calories and protein.
Nutrition Tips
Because eating well can be so challenging when faced with the many side effects of cancer treatments, it may be helpful to seek help from a registered dietitian. A registered dietitian can assess your nutritional needs and help you design an eating plan that is right for you. With regular follow-up, a dietitian can monitor your ongoing nutritional status and help you modify your eating plan as needed.
