Food Doesn’t Taste Right While On Chemotherapy

A while ago, I bumped into an old friend from University.  Not that she is old.  Or that I am old.  Well, maybe a little bit older than, say, new grads, but we aren’t up for CPP or anything yet. 

Anyway....

We were chatting about all kinds of stuff, and Cancer came up.  She was looking for advice for her Mom, who had started Chemotherapy, and was having food issues.  Specifically, it was hard to eat as much as she was supposed to because the food just didn’t taste right. 

Being a Cancer Sherpa, I promised I would ask around, and tell her what I found.  I sent her an email long ago, but still had the info on my desktop.  So why not share it?  That’s what this blog thing is for, right?

A summary of what I learned:

1. I know an awful lot of people who either have cancer right now or have battled it at least once in their lives. 
2. There is no one answer.  Unless you count “It depends.”  Everyone I spoke to had a different way of dealing with the food issues. 

The tips themselves:

• Eat tiny portions.  One friend will eat only 2-3 tablespoons at any one time, to combat nausea.  It means he's pretty much constantly "snacking" on foods that are pretty much pureed, alternating with soda crackers.
• Eat with plastic fork, knife and spoon.  One friend-of-a-friend can really taste the metal in foods, and stainless steel utensils make it worse.
• Eat the food only when it is really hot.  One friend says the food doesn't taste right because the taste buds are formed by fast growing cells, so the chemo gets them, too.  She finds the food has a more natural taste if it is hotter.
• Add more spice to the food.  This is another friend who follows the 'taste buds are dying' approach.  She uses a lot of spices (no salt!) in her food to make it more palatable.  Unfortunately, her family can't stand the extra, so she seasons her food separately.
• Eat the food really cold.  Yet another friend (I told you I know a lot of people on chemo) prefers his food to be so cold it has no taste.  He lets his supper portion cool while the family eats, then puts it in the fridge for a bit (30 mins. or so) and eats it as cold as possible.

Other tips I received:

• Eat the comfort food from your childhood; it will make you feel better.
• Don't eat the comfort food from your childhood; it will ruin it forever. Clearly no winner on that one.
• If you feel like eating something, eat it.
• Eat when you feel like it, even if people look at you funny.
• Suck on a mint or chew gum to get rid of dry mouth.
• Never suck on a mint or chew gum to get rid of dry mouth. Again, this seems to be a contested, personal choice thing.
• Magic Mouthwash will eliminate cottonmouth!  This was unanimous among those who'd tried it.  It's a prescription item, and you will have to ask your Oncologist or Oncological Pharmacist person about it.  I tried to get the actual name of the thing, but all anyone would say is "Magic Mouthwash".

And here’s a tip from me:

Contact your local chapter of the Cancer Society, or check it out on line.  There may be a survivor’s or living-with-cancer group in your area.  They may have some good resources available.    

If you have something to add to the list, let me know.