---

Sometimes a particular illness or its treatment can affect your appetite. Though you might not feel like eating, it's important to do what you can to keep your calorie, protein and fluid intake up while you're sick or undergoing treatment. Use these tips to help plan meals and snacks that will be more appealing to you and give you the nutrition you need to get better.

Keep in mind that in some cases, such as advanced cancer or very advanced heart disease, eating may not affect the outcome of your illness or treatment. In these settings, trying to follow specific dietary guidelines, such as eating a variety of fruits and vegetables or adhering to a low-sodium or low-fat diet, may not be practical. Sometimes caregivers or family members can unintentionally add stress to the situation by pushing or trying to force you to eat certain foods. Ask your doctor how carefully you need to follow specific dietary guidelines.


Mealtime
If you feel full after eating only a small amount, try eating small amounts more frequently when you do get the urge to eat. If you never seem to feel hungry, it's often helpful to eat according to a schedule rather than to rely on appetite.
Take advantage of the times when you feel your best. Eat more when you're hungry. Many people have their best appetite in the morning, when they're rested.
Limit fluids during meals, as liquids can fill you up and limit your intake of higher calorie foods. It may help to drink most of your liquids 30 to 60 minutes before or after meals.
Create a pleasant mealtime atmosphere. For example, use soft music, candles or nice place settings.
Vary the color and texture of foods to make the meal more appealing.
For adults, a small amount of wine or beer before meals — if allowed by your doctor — may stimulate your appetite.
Pay attention to smells, as certain scents may decrease your appetite or bring on nausea. Avoid smells that have this effect on you.

Snack time
Keep snacks readily available so that you can eat when you're up to it. Cheese, ice cream, canned fruit in heavy syrup, nuts, peanut butter with crackers, cottage cheese and chocolate milk are examples of high-calorie snacks requiring little or no preparation.
Bedtime may be a good time to snack because your appetite for the next meal won't be affected.

Anytime
Cold or room temperature foods may be more appealing, particularly if strong smells bother you. Cold sandwiches or main-dish salads, such as tuna, chicken, egg and ham salads, are good choices.
Experiment with foods. Once-favorite foods may no longer appeal to you, while foods you were never fond of may become more appealing.
Regular moderate exercise may help stimulate your appetite. Check with your doctor for exercise limits.
Nutritional supplement drinks — such as Boost or Boost Plus, Carnation Instant Breakfast, Ensure or Ensure Plus, and Scandishakes, among others — can provide a significant amount of calories and require little or no preparation. It may be easier for you to drink rather than to eat something.

Increasing calories
During illness, treatment or recovery, your need for calories may be greater than usual. The following suggestions can help increase the number of calories you consume:

Use butter or margarine generously on potatoes, bread, toast, hot cereal, rice, noodles, vegetables and in soups.
Spread peanut butter — which is also high in protein — on toast, bread, apple or banana slices, crackers or celery.
Add powdered creamer or dry milk powder to hot cocoa, milkshakes, hot cereal, gravy, sauces, meatloaf, cream soups or puddings.
Add breading to meat, chicken and fish rather than broiling or roasting them or baking them without breading.
Top hot cereal with brown sugar, honey, dried fruit or cream.
Top pie, cake, gelatin or pudding with ice cream, whipped cream or cream.
Use fruit canned in heavy syrup. It has more calories than does fresh or juice-packed fruit. If you prefer fresh fruit, add sugar and cream.
Drink beverages that contain calories. Good choices include fruit juice, lemonade, fruit-flavored drinks, malts, floats, soda pop, cocoa, milkshakes and eggnog. Nutritional supplement drinks are convenient options. Water, black coffee and tea have no calories, and bouillon and broth contain very few calories.
Though some of these suggestions add more fat and sugar to your diet, this shouldn't be a concern since you're only adding the extra calories until you can get your appetite back on track. Check with your doctor or a dietitian if you have concerns about changing the way you eat.


Increasing protein
Protein is important for growth, health and repair of your body. If you've been ill, you may need extra protein. Some suggestions include:

Add extra meat, poultry, fish or beans (pinto, navy, black, kidney) to casseroles, soups or stews.
Make your own high-protein milk: Add 1/4 cup powdered milk to 1 cup whole milk, or 1 cup powdered milk to 1 quart whole milk. Use it as a beverage, add it to malts or shakes, or use it in cooking.
Try a commercially prepared protein supplement, such as Beneprotein or ProMod.
If illness has made red meat — beef, pork or lamb — less appealing to you, try the following foods, which also are good sources of protein:

Cheese
Cottage cheese
Beans
Lentils
Eggs
Fish
Poultry
Nuts
Peanut butter
Milk
Milkshakes
Custard
Pudding
Yogurt

Fluids

Drinking adequate amounts of fluids is as important as getting enough calories and protein. Aim to get a minimum of 2 liters (about 64 ounces) of fluid a day, unless your doctor has directed you to limit your fluid intake. Try to choose drinks that contain calories.


Consider a multivitamin
If your loss of appetite is keeping you from eating well for more than a few days, you might consider taking a multivitamin to help you get the vitamins and minerals you need. Check the label and look for a multivitamin that doesn't give you more than 100 percent of the daily value (DV) of all the vitamins and minerals. Keep in mind, though, that if you're drinking liquid nutritional supplements, those will give you some of the vitamins and minerals you need, so you may not need an additional multivitamin. A nutritional supplement drink usually contains the equivalent of about one-fourth of a multivitamin.

Related Articles on Cancer

1. Adjuvant Therapy (keep cancer from returning)
   
2. Cancer and Diet
   
3. Late effects of cancer treatment
   
4. Bone density test
   
5. Gastric Cancer
   
6. 10 Options in Treating Mesothelioma
   
7. Akt Family: Antibodies from Imgenex
   
8. Apoptosis Programmed Cell Death
   
9. Are we "Livin" or just "Survivin"?
   
10. ATM (Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated) Antibodies from Imgenex
    
11. QuikChIP Chromatin Immunoprecipitation Kits
    
12. Epigenetic and Signal Transduction Reagents
    
13. Faces of DARPP-32: Master Signaling Mediator in the Brain?
    
14. GPR83: A Novel Treg Expressed Cell Surface Marker
    
15. New FOXP3Δ2 (Exon 2 Deleted) Specific Antibody
    
16. GPR83: A Novel Treg Expressed Cell Surface Marker
    
17. Colorectal Cancer Screening
    
18. Anti-cancer drug fights cardiovascular disease
    
19. Common Std Diseases And Cure
    
20. Diagnose Breast Cancer
    

Latest Articles on Cancer

1. Cancer - Causes Of Cancer And Therapies
   Prostate Cancer Kills. According to the American Cancer Association over 192,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer each year. Over 27,000 men will die from this form of cancer each year. Cancer of the prostate is the second most deadly cancer for men, second only to lung cancer....
2. Pancreatic Cancer Treatment
   Pancreatic cancer is typically diagnosed after the above symptoms are either detected by the patient or the supervising doctor. After the indicators are evaluated, liver function tests and tests for CA19-9 - a marker for pancreatic cancer - are often performed. The first step in beating pancreatic cancer is empowering yourself with knowledge of how cancer works, pondering the critical thinking...
3. Liver Cancer Treatment, Causes And Symptoms
   Liver cancer also known as primary or metastasis hepatic carcinoma is a fairly rare form of cancer in the western world (1% of all cancers) but much more common in Africa and parts of Asia (10% to 50% of all cancers). It is much more prevalent in men and incidence increases with age....
4. How To Beat Cigarettes With Psychology
   Many experts believe smoking is only about 10% physical addiction and 90% psychological. Your body will recover fairly quickly from nicotine withdrawals with the worst symptoms usually subsiding in about three days or less. But your psychological dependency on cigarettes can be much more difficult to overcome....
5. Diagnose Breast Cancer
   Breast Cancer - Prevention And Cure Breast cancer, the growth of malignant cells in the breast, is the most common cancer among women. It is rare but does occur in men breast cancer usually originates in the milk carrying ducts, although it may arise in the milk producing lobules or, more rarely, in the dense connective...
6. Common Std Diseases And Cure
   We all know the importance of becoming aware of extensive ranges of sexually transmitted diseases. I have prepared a guideline of such diseases that will help everyone in getting the right cure and prevention.Sexually transmitted diseases or STD is infectious disease; it can ....
7. Anti-cancer drug fights cardiovascular disease
   An experimental anti-cancer drug can prevent -- and even reverse -- potentially fatal cardiovascular damage in a mouse model of progeria, a rare genetic disorder that causes the most dramatic form of human premature ageing, National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers reported today. In a study published in the Oct. 6 early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...
8. Colorectal Cancer Screening
   Colorectal Cancer Screening Methods Comparison - There are five main screening methods for colorectal cancer. Digital Rectal Exam,Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT), Colonoscopy, Sigmoidoscopy, Double-contrast Barium Enema (DCBE). It serves as an excellent initial screening due to its safe, simple and inexpensive nature. ...
9. GPR83: A Novel Treg Expressed Cell Surface Marker
   GPR83 is a member of the Orphan-A G-Protein coupled receptor family, and has anunknown ligand. It has been previously reported in various regions of the brain, within a subset of T-lymphocytes, and by RT-PCR at low levels in heart, kidney, liver, and otherorgans. For more details read out the article:...
10. New FOXP3Δ2 (Exon 2 Deleted) Specific Antibody
    FOXP3 is a master regulator of immune homeostasis expressed specifically in CD4+ CD25+ T regulatory cells controlling their growth, development and function and generally accepted to be expressed in both mouse and human CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells. For more details read out the article:...

Related topics in Health & Fitness

Submit Articles © 2009 KeepArticles.com, All Rights Reserved.