How to manage appetite changes

Appetite loss

Nausea

• Eat 5–6 small meals each day rather than a few large meals.
• Try to eat extra on days when you have an appetite.
• Ask a dietitian for advice on the best eating plan during treatment and recovery.
• If you don’t feel like eating solid foods, try enriching your drinks with powdered milk, yoghurt, eggs or honey.
• Do not use nutritional supplements or medicines without your doctor’s advice, as some could interfere with treatment.
• Cooking smells may put you off eating. It might help if someone else prepares your food, or you could reheat precooked meals.
• Try to do some light physical activity, such as walking. This may improve your appetite.

• Have a bland snack, such as toast and apple juice, before each session.
• You may find that food and drinks with ginger or peppermint help to reduce nausea.
• Sip on water and other fluids throughout the day to prevent dehydration.
• Eat dry biscuits, crackers or toast.
• Some people find that anti- nausea medicine helps. Ask your doctor for a prescription. Tell them if the prescribed medicine doesn’t help – it may take some time to find one that works for you.
• Contact your treatment team if the symptoms of nausea don’t improve after a few days, or if you have been vomiting for more than 24 hours.
• For more on this, see Nutrition and cancer.