Healthy Eating During Chemotherapy
This is a book with a mission. It aims to help patients and carers overcome – as best as possible – the various eating problems commonly associated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy: a painful mouth, a dry throat, a sensitive digestive system, difficulty in swallowing, loss of appetite and nausea. During treatment the intensity of these problems will vary with the effect of the chemicals and radiation on the body and on the mind.
The method devised involves structuring each chapter in such a way that it follows the preferences of most cancer patients when it comes to choosing what to eat. By adhering to this structure, patients and carers can easily pick the dishes that are best suited to patients’ likes and needs, thus increasing the chance that they will actually want to eat the food prepared for them. They may even enjoy it!
Texture
During and after treatment a patient’s sense of taste and smell will be unreliable. To increase the likelihood of patients eating food – any food – carers need to focus on the food’s texture and temperature, rather than on ingredients. Therefore the chapters in this book are divided into six textures, each offering healthy, nourishing dishes.
Light
The dishes in this chapter are characterised by their fluffy, soft texture. When eating a Light recipe, it isn’t necessary to chew, so even patients with a sore mouth or throat can eat them.
Smooth
With their creamy texture, the dishes in this chapter slip down easily when chewing and even swallowing are difficult because of an extremely dry, sore mouth and throat.
Soft with a bite
These dishes can be eaten when chewing isn’t the biggest problem and the mouth and throat are not too sore. Even for patients with a fairly dry mouth, most of them are easy to cope with.
Liquid
For patients with a badly affected mouth and throat who find chewing and swallowing painful, liquid 'foods' like the dishes in this chapter are a suitable option.
Crispy
Crispness has a great influence on the appetite – it might just persuade people who have no craving for food whatsoever to take a bite. Crispy food will only work when mouth and throat are not too sore, painful or dry and when chewing and swallowing are not a problem.
Firm
These dishes bring back a semblance of everyday food, but the portions remain small so they don’t overwhelm patients by their sheer bulk. They are suitable when the throat and mouth are not affected and chewing and swallowing are possible.
Temperature
After texture, patients are most likely to prefer a certain temperature – cold or warm. Every chapter therefore moves from a selection of cold dishes (both savoury and sweet) to warm dishes (also savoury and sweet). The sweet dishes aren’t desserts as such but 'meals' in their own right, just like the savoury dishes. Remember, it’s what patients can eat and want to eat that’s important; if that means eating sweet dishes only, so be it. This explains why you’ll find sweet dishes scattered throughout the chapters rather than at the back of each chapter, as you might expect in a traditional cookery book.
Flavour
Finally, every chapter offers a selection of mild dishes and dishes that are stronger-tasting, to cater for a wide range of patients, from those who have become very sensitive to flavours to those whose sense of taste has diminished.
The arrangement of the recipes in each chapter is therefore:
- Cool and savoury with a mild flavour
- Cool and savoury with a mild flavour
- Cool and sweet
- Warm and savoury with a mild flavour
- Warm and savoury with a strong flavour
- Warm and sweet
Portion size
Many cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy feel intimidated when large amounts of food are placed in front of them. Because their sensory system is completely off balance, a loaded plate represents an avalanche of smells, flavours and colours that is often threatening and can cause a complete mental block against food.
It is much easier for patients to eat small meals at various times of the day. You will find that the recipes in this book all make two or three small portions. By eating together, patients and carers will have the opportunity to share an important part of their day and this may bring back some of the enjoyment of food. Although freshly prepared food offers the best nutritional value, it is possible to keep the dishes for a day or two in the fridge or to freeze them.
Hygiene
People undergoing invasive treatments have a compromised immune system. Anyone cooking for them needs to be particularly aware of food hygiene, making sure all fruit and vegetables, tools, cutting boards, cutlery and plates are cleaned thoroughly. Tea towels and dishcloths must be changed after every use and washed on a high temperature.
About the recipes
The recipes in this book have been developed for cancer patients of (almost) all ages: youngsters (but not babies or small children), adolescents, adults and the elderly.
In most cases, if you want to stimulate patients to eat, the trick is to find food with the right texture and temperature, establishing a preference for savoury or sweet.
Recipes have been kept as simple and inspiring as possible, focusing on fresh, healthy ingredients. Other members of the family might easily be tempted to join in. To allow for this, each recipe also gives the ingredients needed to feed a family of four, including the patient.
The ultimate aim is clear: to ensure the intake of as much essential food as possible under the circumstances. Always remember, anything is better than nothing!
Will it work?
The method described in this book will not work for everybody – each patient is different, circumstances vary and not everybody reacts to cancer therapies in a predictable way. That said, it will help in identifying dishes that are as suitable as possible for individual patients. However, in situations when no food can be eaten at all, malnourishment becomes a serious risk. In that case, supplements and even stomach tube feeding must be considered.
Healthy Eating During Chemotherapy, published by Kyle Cathie, RRP £12.99. Buy this book at a discount from Saga Books.