How to prevent unplanned weight loss
- Try eating small meals or snacks every 2–3 hours.
- Keep a variety of snacks handy and eat when you feel hungry or crave a particular food.
- Drink high-energy fluids like milkshakes or nutritional supplement drinks.
- Talk to a dietitian about how to get more energy and increase your protein.
After treatment, you may also find that some foods cause digestive problems. You will need to try
different foods and change your eating habits, such as eating smaller meals more often throughout
the day. Ask your doctor for a referral to a dietitian with experience in cancer care.
For more on this, see Nutrition and Cancer or watch the video below.
→ READ MORE: Swallowing difficulties
Podcast: Appetite Loss and Nausea
Listen to more episodes from our podcast for people affected by cancer
Key resource
Download a PDF booklet on this topic.
Prof David Watson, Matthew Flinders Distinguished Professor of Surgery, Flinders University, and Senior Consultant Surgeon, Oesophago-Gastric Surgery Unit, Flinders Medical Centre, SA; Prof Bryan Burmeister, Senior Radiation Oncologist, GenesisCare Fraser Coast and Hervey Bay Hospital, QLD; Dr Natalie Collier, Radiation Oncologist, Wollongong Hospital, NSW; A/Prof Melissa Eastgate, A/Executive Director, Cancer Care Services, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, QLD; Natalie Lalor, 13 11 20 Consultant, Cancer Council Victoria; Chris Menzies, Upper GI Cancer Nurse Consultant, Flinders Medical Centre and Southern Adelaide Local Health Network, SA; Tammy Milne, Consumer; Stefanie Simnadis, Clinical Dietitian, St John of God Subiaco Hospital, WA; Prof Rajvinder Singh, Professor of Medicine, University of Adelaide, and Director, Gastroenterology Department and Head of Endoscopy, Lyell McEwin Hospital, SA.
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