How to Gain Weight If You are a Cancer Patient

Cancer is a disease that invariably makes you lose weight; but on the other hand, the treatment of this disease requires you to have proper body weight and the strength to endure the harsh chemicals and therapies. The main difficulty lies here that the cancer treatment essentially reduces the appetite, and makes it really difficult to gain weight by bringing up symptoms like nausea, dry mouth, sensitive about touch and smell, fatigue, vomiting and even depression. However, if you can follow these nutritional tips while the cancer treatment is on – hopefully you will get beneficial results and gain body weight –

Protein Foods

Include as much as High-Protein Foods

Cheese, peanut butter, tuna, salmon, chicken breast are just few examples of foods that contain high calorie and should be essentially included in your diet. At least 2 servings of such high protein dish will alleviate the chances of muscle degeneration, which is a common side effect of cancer. Fruit or milk shake on regular basis is a must.

Bunch on Calorie dense foods

A handful of nuts if taken now and then throughout the day, shows significant calorie increase. Any high calorie food will be beneficial to the cancer patient as the person will get the strength to cope up with the treatment. Add sour cream to potatoes, casseroles, and baked foods. Butter and margarine to sandwiches, cooked cereal and pasta is good. Sweetened condensed milk, rice, noodles, and meats everything can be in the diet that tantalizes the bland taste buds at the moment.

Eat your meals at shorter intervals

The nausea trouble might not let you complete the full meal at a time, thus divide your meal times throughout the day. You can eat every 2 hours, little by little and include as much as nutrition possible in the meal packs. Also, while eating avoid having water or fluids as they make you full easily.

Cook the food with high calorie oils

Cooking food for cancer patients should be done in coconut milk, olive oil, and other forms of oil that have high levels of omega-3 and monounsaturated fat. This not only enhances the chances of calorie intake but also is a healthy way to your heart. Doctors say that these oils help to reduce the chances of metastases and also boost the immune system.

Add tempting flavor to food

The aggravated condition of nausea can be effectively toned down by adding the spices and flavors healthily to dishes.  Almost 80 % patients find it difficult to eat while cancer, thus the main motive should be to make the food healthy as well as appealing in taste and texture. Make the curries and beverages with spices like ginger, oregano, cinnamon, etc. Adding butter will also make it taste appetizing.

Apart from the above mentioned diet tips for cancer patients, you can also look for options that will help the patient to fight the nausea trouble. Ask your doctor if any medication can be given prior food intake to increase the yearning for food. If the patient can do few free hand exercises or brisk walking before eating; the chances are more that he might feel hungrier.

Having sweets and desserts is fine, but avoid them in empty stomach. These tips should be useful for a cancer patient to gain body weight, withstanding the cumbersome treatment procedure.