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Nutrition and Lung Cancer

Your body will need a lot of energy to deal with the effects of lung cancer and its treatments. During this time, it is important that you eat well and stay hydrated. This may be hard to do as you may feel that you do not have enough energy, appetite or time to keep up with your nutritional needs. However, it is critical that you maintain your strength and proper nutrition will assist with this. Planning ahead will make it easier to get through the periods when you will not have the energy to grocery shop or cook. You can prepare meals and freeze them or stock up on ready made frozen dinners before your treatment. These meals should be mild in flavour and soft, in case you have side effects like a sore throat, mouth sores or an upset stomach. During treatment, accept or ask for help from your loved ones, together, you can make a list of tasks they can do to assist you.

Minimizing Weight Loss

It is important that you maintain your body weight throughout treatment. Because of the energy demands that cancer and its treatment put on your body, you will need to take in a lot of calories.
Do not wait until you feel hungry to eat, but rather develop a routine with food. You may find it easier to eat several small meals throughout the day rather than a few large meals.

Eating energy-rich foods that are high in carbohydrates and fats will help you maintain your body weight. These include foods like muffins, bread, pasta, granola bards, milkshakes, nuts, nut butter and dairy products such as cheese and yogurt.

You can also incorporate high-calorie ingredients to recipes:

Fry foods in oil or add butter to soups, stews and casseroles
Use gravy and butter with mashed potatoes
Use regular mayonnaise in salad dressing and on sandwiches
Eat jam, honey and syrup with breakfast
Top dishes with cheese
Snack on nuts and dried fruits
Put ice cream and whipped cream on desserts
Use peanut butter, whole milk or cream in your smoothies

Talk to a dietician about nutritional supplements such as Boost or Ensure if you cannot eat throughout the day. They can also advise you about vitamin and mineral supplements. You can find a registered dietician who specializes in cancer on the Dieticians of Canada website www.dieticians.ca.

Eating Enough Protein

Protein is very important for healing your body. It is essential for growing new healthy cells, repairing damaged tissue and maintaining a strong immune system. Make sure to eat plenty of foods rich in protein such as fish, lean red meat, eggs, whole milk, yogurt, cheese, nuts, beans, peas, lentils and soy foods. Incorporate these foods into your recipes when able.

For example:

Add powdered milk to creamy dishes, cream soups, and mashed potatoes
Put cheese in your scrambled eggs and casseroles
Add tofu to smoothies, shakes or soups
Put nuts, seeds, or nut butter on top of yogurt, cereals or mis into salad dressings

Staying Hydrated

Your body will need plenty of fluids to stay healthy to recover from side effects like vomiting or diarrhea and to flush our any harmful by-products of medications. As it is easy to accidentally become de-hydrated, ensure you are drinking plenty of fluids (approximately 8-12 cups per day). You can drink water, milk, and juice, as well as foods that contain water like soups, popsicles and gelatin. Try and avoid drinks that contain caffeine like coffee, tea and sodas. Talk to your treatment team about alcohol, as you may be on medication that can have a poor interaction between the two.

Managing Taste Changes

It is quite common to discover that your tastes and food preferences have changed after you receive treatment. You may be hungry for foods you rarely ate in the past and you may no longer tolerate foods you used to enjoy. Try to eat foods that taste best to you and do not force yourself to eat foods that you no longer enjoy. If you feel sensitive to food odours, try eating foods that are cold or at room temperature. Foods served hot often have a stronger smell. You can also choose foods that do not need to be cooked such as cold sandwiches, yogurt and fruit.

If you find meals have a metallic taste, you can try and mask it by marinating the meat in orange juice, lemon juice, Italian dressing, vinegar, sweet and sour sauce, or soy sauce. Using plastic utensils and glass cooking pots can also help lessen the metallic taste.

Brush your teeth and floss to get rid of bas tastes in your mouth. Rinse your moth with a baking soda solution (1/4 teaspoon in a cup of water) to clear your taste buds before and after you eat.

Fruits and yogurt 2023 11 27 05 07 05 utc