From the large to the small, cancer affects many areas of your wellbeing, and even its treatments can have a nasty impact. One way cancer or cancer treatment can affect you is through your sense of taste, whether food starts to seems too sweet, salty metallic or altogether flavourless. The good thing about these changes is that they won’t affect your wellness forever. However, in the meantime you need to what you can to maintain your calorie intake and meet your body’s protein, vitamin and mineral needs through your diet.
If you’re on a specific diet for other health concerns – such as a low-sodium diet or an eating plan designed for diabetes sufferers – you might need to set aside those restrictions for the time being. In order to increase your chances of getting adequate nutrition, you need to allow for more variety, so ask your doctor if it might be advisable to relax the restraints temporarily. When it comes to selecting and preparing foods, different things work for different people. We’ve assembled a few ideas with which you can experiment until you find combinations that appeal to you.
Not enough flavour: If food is falling a little flat, try to perk things up with new sauces, marinades, seasonings and other ingredients. (Before you get going with the spices, be aware that these can irritate a sore mouth or throat. If your mouth or throat is sore, you should also avoid acidic foods and hot foods or beverages.) While cooking, try barbecue sauce, extracts or other flavourings, ketchup, meat marinades, mustards, soy sauce, spices and herbs, teriyaki sauce, vinegar and wine. You can also sprinkle on some bacon bits, chopped green or red bell peppers, chopped onion or garlic, ham strips, nuts and cheese. If your morning cereal lacks pizzazz, experiment with brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, cinnamon, dates or raisins.
Too sweet: Everyone has a bit of a sweet tooth, but no one has a whole mouthful. To tone down your overly sweet foods, try adding a little salt or lemon juice to foods, and plain yoghurt, buttermilk, instant coffee powder or extra milk to milkshakes, instant beverage mixes or commercially prepared nutritional drinks. On the beverage front, go for diluted fruit juice, milk, buttermilk, lemonade, ginger ale or sports drinks. There are also less sweet dessert options, like yoghurt, custard, fruit, baked fruit, fruit with cottage cheese, fruit crumble, plain doughnuts, or graham crackers. In addition, try replacing sweet snacks with cheese, crisps, pretzels, cottage cheese, crackers, nuts and peanut butter.
Too salty: Just like a little salt can help when foods are too sweet; a little sugar may tone down the saltiness of some foods. Don’t add salt when you’re cooking and check that the seasonings and sauces you’re cooking with aren’t too salty either. Processed foods contain a lot of sodium, so these are best avoided. Instead, read labels carefully to ensure the products you buy are either “reduced sodium” or “low sodium” or go for bland foods with mild flavours.
Meat doesn’t taste right: The first thing to ensure is that the meat is fresh and cooked properly. If it still doesn’t taste right, replace meat with other foods that contain protein, such as cheese, cottage cheese, beans, peas, custard, egg dishes, lentils, malts, milkshakes, nuts, peanut butter, poultry, quinoa, yoghurt, tofu, and fish. On this latter suggestion, make sure your fish is either fresh, frozen or packed in a vacuum-sealed pouch, as canned fish can have a metallic taste. You can also try meat in combination with other foods and sauces, as you’d find in chilli, lasagne, spaghetti, casseroles, stews or hearty soups.
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