1. Understand Your Limitations
Treatments for tongue cancer can involve surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy. You may experience difficulty or pain associated with swallowing and chewing food following treatment. Once your tongue and mouth heal, the eating process should become routine again.
2. Start a Soft-Food Diet
A soft-food diet is the easiest and most effective way to consume foods rich in nutritional value while you heal. Casseroles, stews and soups are high in flavor and can include a variety of healthy foods, such as lean meats and vegetables. Pasta prepared with tomato-based sauce is also easy to digest, and its nutritional content can be enhanced by adding a variety of fresh herbs during the cooking process. Soft fruits, such as bananas, are a good source of fiber, while canned fruits diced into smaller bites are also easy to swallow.
Hot cereals, puddings, yogurt, cottage cheese and peanut butter are often fortified with many vitamins and minerals, allowing you to maintain a healthy diet during recovery. You may also consider a liquid diet composed of protein shakes and energy drinks that are high in calories. Buying a juicer to liquefy fruits and vegetables is a good idea if swallowing is difficult. Bottled or canned juices, such as tomato juice, can also help to supplement your food intake while delivering the calorie count and vitamins your body will need to stay healthy.
3. Drink Plenty of Water
Sipping water throughout the day will help prevent or combat dry mouth and may help ease the pain of swallowing. When you drink plenty of water, your mouth will stay moist, which may help stave off infection and tooth decay. If your mouth pain persists, you can also ask your doctor to provide artificial moisteners, which will help to stimulate your salivary glands.
4. Make Eating Enjoyable
Be creative in the kitchen to make eating enjoyable again. If you're transitioning from a soft-food diet to solid foods, try mixing cooked vegetables with raw vegetables to introduce different textures to your meal. If you're on a soft-food diet, mix a variety of fruits, yogurt and peanut butter in a blender to create different smoothies each day. Keep a variety of snacks on hand from which to choose, and don't eat the same snacks too often. Appetite loss or change in taste is a common symptom of those recovering from tongue cancer, but the more different healthy foods you introduce to your body, the quicker your sense of taste may return.
