Importance of nutrition for cancer patients
Cancer patients need to take in adequate carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber and water by eating appropriate foods and portions. At different stages of cancer treatment, patients may have different needs:
1) Before treatment - Strengthen the body to increase the tolerance and effectiveness of treatment, including choosing a protein and calorie-rich menu;
2) During treatment - Different treatments can lead to different side effects, so meals should be prepared according to the patient's needs. For example, during chemotherapy, most patients have no appetite, and some even have dry mouth and difficulty chewing food. At this time, the patient should be provided with his favorite liquid or soft food (you can switch between Chinese and Western food from time to time). You can also add nutritious milk to the appropriate diet to prevent the patient from losing weight drastically; and
3) After the treatment is completed - now is the time to take supplementary food so that the patient can recover faster.
Cooking method
Change cooking methods frequently to increase appetite.
Since you are cooking it yourself and buying high-quality food, you don’t need to use too many seasonings to “marinate” it; you can even use no salt or use natural spices instead of salt and artificial seasonings.
But there is no need to be too extreme. If you don't use any seasoning and the taste is extremely light, the dish will become extremely bland. It will be even worse if the patient refuses to eat it at all.
Chinese people often like to use clear chicken soup when cooking. If you have time, you can make clear chicken soup yourself, which is more natural than buying it in the market.
Try to avoid frying as it will harden the food and make it difficult for the patient to eat. Food with too much oil will also be difficult to digest.
As Hong Kong people lead busy lives, sometimes they really cannot spend too much time to prepare several meals a day for cancer patients. Therefore, overall, there is no need to use overly complicated cooking methods. Delicious food can be cooked with simple and practical methods. For example, white sauce chicken rice, tofu seafood hotpot, etc.
In addition, sometimes the patient may suddenly feel "a little hungry" and want to eat, so food should be provided as soon as possible (because he may not want to eat again after a while). Therefore, you can always prepare some ready-made ingredients in the refrigerator so that they can be cooked in a very short time when needed. For example, there are frozen wontons and clear chicken soup ice cubes in the ice tray. Add some shrimp noodles and it will be a delicious bowl of wonton noodles.
Seasoning
Seasoning according to personal taste/need: In general when cooking we should avoid too greasy or too salty. But some cancer patients, for various reasons, may find strong-flavored foods more attractive;
You can also use vanilla, lemon juice, and pepper instead to give the taste a higher enjoyment without inhaling too much salt/sugar.
Since the patient's sense of taste may change, it is recommended to cook and marinate meat with more sugar, vinegar, lemon juice and vanilla to make the food more attractive.
If the patient/recoverer prefers to eat strong-flavored foods but does not want to inhale too much salt (especially many darker Chinese dishes), use low-salt seasonings (such as low-salt sauce/oyster sauce).
Degree of wettability
Food is suitable to choose some softer, while can be cut a little smaller, easy to chew and digest.
Examples: eggs, tofu, fish fillets, minced meat.
Generally, cancer patients are suitable for eating moister foods and can choose juicy dishes. Try to reduce the consumption of dry, hard and rough foods (but can be adjusted to the taste/ability of the patient/recoverer).
If the patient has dry mouth problems, can take juice candy, watermelon grains to help stimulate saliva secretion. Drinks such as lemon honey, chrysanthemum tea, sugarcane juice, and pomegranate juice also help reduce the feeling of dry mouth. However, if you eat too much sweets, you need to pay more attention to the health of your teeth. For example, "rinse your mouth" with clean water after eating.
From the perspective of TCM dietary therapy, you can try to brew some drinks and soups (winter melon and sage water, carrot and sugarcane root water, sand ginseng and jade bamboo lean meat soup) to quench your thirst.
It is important to keep your mouth moist; it is also important to absorb enough water; however, do not over-inhale fluids, otherwise you will not be able to absorb enough nutrients if you are full of water and have no appetite to eat.
Try to reduce (but not completely eliminate) foods that are not beneficial
Try to avoid eating foods that are not beneficial, such as sausage, fermented bean curd, and pickled mustard.
However, if the patient extremely prefers to eat a certain food, that can also be handled at discretion.
For example, a patient/recoverer very much likes to eat steamed meatballs with pickled vegetables, which is the most appetizing food for him, that can also be provided in moderation. Cut the usual portion of plums in half, wash out the saltiness of the plums as much as possible before cooking, and place the plums in the most conspicuous places on the meatloaf while steaming to provide maximum visual appeal. When eating also try to eat meatloaf, but eating a small amount of plum vegetables does not matter.
Because the long-term "no eating this, no eating that" is really frustrating. At the same time the patient/recoverer is likely to have a better appetite because he is happy to see his or her extremely favorite food.
Overall we hope that patients can eat more and absorb more nutrients to strengthen their bodies.
Tastes can vary
Cancer patients can become very strong due to treatment (e.g. chemotherapy) taste: what used to think was the best suddenly does not want to eat, e.g.
- used to like to eat seafood the most, suddenly felt that all seafood smells very fishy;
- I used to like to eat beef the most, but now I feel like a dishwashing cloth or smell of rust.
So caregivers should pay more attention. If the patient does not eat a bite after spending a lot of effort to cook a dish, there is no need to be frustrated. After all, it is delicious food, just eat it yourself.
Sometimes there are unexpected surprises, some foods that the patient did not like to eat before, after the disease he is willing to eat, so try more.
However, no matter how much the patient likes a certain food, do not give it to him every day, otherwise it will not be worthwhile to get tired of eating.
Communicate with the patient often, ask him to tell you frankly what he likes to eat and what he does not like to eat, do not be embarrassed, otherwise cooked out do not want to eat but have to force to eat even worse.
Disclaimer
Copyright Statement: Some information is taken from Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society
Due to limitations, please visit the Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society's website on Diet and Cancer for other recipes.
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