Eating healthy meals and maintaining a healthy weight can be a challenge when you’re undergoing cancer treatment. Foods may not taste as appealing as they once did and/or you may feel sick to your stomach.
Squeezing in a few extra calories here and there can help. Here are some tips from Fran Bachmeyer, a registered dietitian with St. Elizabeth Healthcare, and the Mayo Clinic:
- Make it simple. Keep snacks handy so that you can nibble when you feel up to it.
- Try quick and easy high-calorie snacks such as cheese, ice cream, canned fruit in heavy syrup, dried fruit, (or, if you prefer fresh fruit, top it with sugar and cream), nuts, cheese with crackers, muffins, cottage cheese and chocolate milk. Protein bars and hard-boiled eggs are a great, protein-rich, make-ahead snack to have on hand, Bachmeyer says.
- Add butter or oils to foods.
- Peanut butter and other nut butters contain protein and healthy fats and they’re a tasty spread on toast, fruit slices, crackers, celery or pretzels in peanut butter.
- Add powdered creamer or dry milk powder to hot cocoa, milkshakes, hot cereal, gravy, sauces, cream soups, puddings or even meatloaf.
- Add sliced avocado or guacamole to salads and sandwiches.
- Add sunflower or pumpkin seeds to salads, stir-fries and casseroles.
- Add ground flaxseeds to yogurt, smoothies, hot cereals and casseroles.
- Try hot cereal with high-calorie toppings like brown sugar, honey, dried fruit, cream or nut butter.
- Top pie, cake, gelatin or pudding with ice cream or whipped cream.
- Drink beverages that contain calories, such as fruit juice, lemonade, malts, floats, cocoa, milkshakes and smoothies. Nutritional supplement drinks are convenient options.
- Try adding meat, such as chicken, ham, turkey or tuna to a salad, or choose soups and casseroles loaded with meat or beans. Meats, fish, cheese, eggs, beans, lentils, nuts, milk, yogurt and quinoa are all excellent sources of protein and the extra protein can help your body repair itself.
- Make your own high-protein milk by adding 1/4 cup powdered milk to one cup of whole milk and use this when you make shakes or cook. If you choose to use a commercial protein supplement, select a whey-based product rather than a soy mix, Bachmeyer says.
When you are undergoing cancer treatment, your body needs an enormous amount of calories to repair and fuel itself, Bachmeyer says. “if you find a food that appeals to you, go for it,” she says. Eating can be difficult during treatment, “but you have to get past this bend in the road.”
