The scenario plays out in thousands of households each day: delicious, lovingly prepared meals go uneaten by a loved one fighting cancer. Frustration, discouragement and worry abound, often straining relationships despite the best of intentions. The loss of appetite that commonly accompanies cancer is a challenging problem. A few adjustments in your approach to feeding someone fighting cancer, however, can make the situation easier and less stressful for all concerned.
Convert to Grazing
For a person with no appetite, sitting down to a large meal is often tantamount to torture. Imagine staring at a heaping plate of food that you have no desire to eat while the beseeching eyes of your loved ones remain fixed upon you, anxiously awaiting your every move. It's discouraging for all involved.
Give everyone a break and scrap the idea of three square meals a day for a while. Instead, try offering a small amount of food to your loved one, five or six times each day. Smaller portions are easier to manage and less overwhelming for someone with a reduced appetite. A grazing approach also helps alleviate mealtime stress and pressure.
Simple and Available
When trying to tempt someone into eating, you may think that fancy gourmet meals are the way to go. Clinical dietitian Stacey Evert of the Oregon Health & Science University Knight Cancer Institute explains that this approach is well intentioned but generally a mistake. "Appetite comes and goes quickly with cancer patients. If someone is hungry, by the time you prepare a big meal, the feeling has often passed. I recommend keeping it simple so that something is immediately available when hunger occurs," Evert advises. Dried fruit, trail mix, granola bars, nuts, pudding, ice cream, whole-milk yogurt, crackers with cheese or peanut butter, bread and butter, toast and jelly, and bagels and cream cheese are simple, nutritious options to keep on hand.
Maximize Calories
Fighting cancer requires calories; taking in a sufficient number is a daily struggle with a poor appetite. To help overcome this challenge, try boosting the calorie content of the foods you serve. For example, add cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, chopped nuts, sliced hard-boiled eggs and other high-calorie foods to vegetables, sandwiches and other base foods. Serve cream soups instead of broth-based varieties. Buy whole-milk cheese and dairy products. Take advantage of opportunities to include fats in the foods you serve; fats add a large number of calories in a small volume.
Minimize Food Odors
People undergoing cancer treatment often experience episodic nausea in addition to a reduced appetite. Food odors can provoke nausea. If this is a problem for your loved one, avoid cooking odors in your home by purchasing prepared foods from the grocery store or asking a friend to cook for you. Try serving cold or room temperature foods, which emit less odor than warm foods.
Making Eating Pleasant
When a loved one has cancer, you may inadvertently focus all of your worry about her well-being on her food consumption. This intense focus on food can make eating contentious and an even greater burden for your loved one than it already is. Evert advises, "Make eating a pleasure, not a chore. You want to keep the enjoyment there." She adds, "Don't let eating become a battle. Make whatever they want as beneficial as possible." An attractive table, pleasant music, light conversation and an understanding demeanor help foster the social enjoyment of eating for your loved one.
Tip
If your loved one is struggling to maintain her weight due to loss of appetite, ask if you may accompany her on a visit to a dietitian to discuss the issue. These members of the cancer care team work closely with patients and their loved ones to devise creative solutions to nutritional challenges associated with cancer.
References
- National Cancer Institute; Managing Chemotherapy Side Effects, Appetite Changes; May 2011
- American Cancer Society; Nutrition for the Person With Cancer During Treatment: A Guide for Patients and Families; August 2010
- MayoClinic.com; No Appetite? How to Get Nutrition During Cancer Treatment; June 2010
- National Cancer Institute; Eating Hints: Before, During, and After Cancer Treatment; September 2009
