Individuals undergoing cancer treatment may lose their appetite for a variety reasons during treatment. Sitting down to a full meal may feel overwhelming and just not appetizing. In order to stay well nourished during treatment, small, frequent meals are a great option.
Select nutrient dense foods. Items marketed for snacking are often void of any nutrients. Here are some good options:
- Smoothies (So many options! I'll do another post on them soon! Tuck some greens in, add a source of protein - nut butters, soy milk, oats are several good options and don't get too carried away with too much fruit)
- A cup of soup
- A hard boiled egg
- Nut butter and whole grain crackers
- A warm cup of soy milk (Starbuck's calls these 'soy steamers' if you're out and want to grab one!)
- Unsweetened Greek yogurt with berries (frozen work great) and granola
- A Granny Smith apple (the most nutrient dense variety) and a handful of walnuts. I keep a GS apple wrapped in a cloth napkin in my purse and a tin full of nuts.
- Veggies (broccoli, baby peppers, cauliflower, tomatoes) and hummus. Whole grain crackers or pita bread can be nice on the side.
- A granola bar (read the label and pick one with limited added sugar)
- Trail Mix (again, read the label for added sugar, such as M&Ms or loads of dried fruit that has been dried with sugar!)
- Fresh fruit - banana, berries, melon or whatever you enjoy! And while juice isn't awful, you miss a lot of the beneficial fiber.
- Mini sandwiches made with a couple slices of cucumber, mini pepper, hummus, spinach and a couple of cherry tomatoes on pita bread or Dave's Killer Bread thin sliced bread.
- a little bit of canned salmon, tuna or sardines with half a sweet potato
- a few little potatoes topped with a dollop of your Greek yogurt and maybe a few spoons full of chili
- Grilled veggies (think grilling them on a skewer so you can easily store and enjoy small portions later)
*If you've had trouble with chewing or swelling, please adhere to any direction you've gotten from the Speech Language Pathologist or SLP.
** Be mindful of food safety and don't leave unfinished portions unrefrigerated if you plan to polish them off later.
Being successful with this approach means reframing your thoughts/habits about 3 meals a day. You may wish to set a timer on your watch for every 60-90 min. When adopting this strategy, frequency is key. Every bite and sip adds up!
When adopting this strategy, frequency is key.
One last note - since one's community is so important, sitting down to eat with loved ones at meal time is still something I'd advise.