Eating better with lung cancer

Transcription

1 Eating better with lung cancer Nutrition and Dietetics Department Information for patients and carers

2 Introduction There are some very common symptoms which can affect your ability to eat when you have lung cancer. You may have one or all of these, the most common things we see are loss of appetite, a sense of feeling full very quickly and a dry mouth. These symptoms along with the effects of the disease itself can lead to weight loss and lack of energy. If you can increase the nutritious value of your diet and maintain your weight this may help you to: feel you have more energy be able to do more feel better in yourself This booklet will give you advice on those common symptoms and some practical ways to get round them. Try some of the ideas below and see what suits you best. What should I do I do about about my my lack lack of appetite? of appetite? Having little or no appetite is very common; you may feel that you have no interest in food at all. Sometimes it is worth not considering food as meals, this can feel overwhelming, think about snacks or grazing on food. Try to have something small and nourishing every few hours, this could be as simple as a drink or snack, for example have a drink of hot chocolate or a fruit smoothie, a yoghurt, piece of cake or chocolate biscuit. 2

3 Your appetite may change from day to day, even hour to hour. It is useful to have a stock of different tinned or pre-prepared meals available for when you might fancy them. Some good examples may be tinned fruit, soup and milk puddings. Ready made meals you can have on their own or add your own elements to, are also helpful, things like, shepherd s pie, macaroni and cheese or boil in the bag fish with sauce. Food doesn t have to be cooked to be nutritious, cold foods can be just as nourishing and may be easier to eat because they don t give off the same cooking smells which can be off putting. Try a favourite cheese and biscuits, a small sandwich with cold meat and salad with mayonnaise. Why do do I I have have such such a dry a dry mouth? mouth? There may be all sorts of reasons you have a dry mouth, it may be due to some of the medications you are taking, you may be breathing through your mouth more or it can be as a result of having cancer. You might find that some foods seem to draw the saliva out of your mouth; this can make it difficult to chew and swallow. You may feel you are chewing a lot but that the food just won t go; that can be really tiring and take a lot of effort. Keeping food as soft and moist as possible can make eating easier, foods such as porridge, scrambled egg, meat or chicken stews, fishermans pie, stewed fruit and custard, ice-cream and jelly. 3

4 Use foods to keep meals moist, such as extra butter or margarine, sauces, gravy, stock, cream and milk. Fresh pineapple cubes, boiled sweets or mints may help to stimulate saliva production. Sucking ice-lollies, or crushed ice/ice cubes made from fruit juice or squashes or drinking fizzy drinks can also be refreshing. Sandwiches can be particularly difficult because the bread can become quite doughy in your mouth. Try to use fillings that are also moist, adding salad cream or mayonnaise, chopping or grating some moist fruit or vegetable into the filling, such as chopped tomato or cucumber, grated apple or carrot. I I feel full full very very quickly; quickly; I m I m worried worried I don t I don t eat eat enough? enough? When you feel full very quickly it s really important to make sure what you eat gives the most nutritional value even if is a small amount. Here are some tips Avoid low-fat, diet or low calorie products, use full fat milk, add butter or margarine to boiled mashed potatoes and vegetables, and spread generously on bread, teacake or crumpets. Add grated or cream cheese to pasta dishes, soups, scrambled egg, baked beans. Try not to use any low sugar or diet products instead add sugar, jam or honey to cereals, yoghurts and puddings. 4

5 Nibbles When your appetite is poor or you feel tired or slightly nauseous (feeling sick), trying to eat smaller meals with regular snacks between meals will really help. Here are some snack ideas to try. Milky drinks, hot chocolate, milk shakes Full fat yoghurts, fromage frais Individual puddings, rice pots, trifles, crème caramel, crème brulée, mousse, custard Ice cream, choc ices, sorbet, jelly, tinned fruit and evaporated cream Cakes, biscuits, chocolate, sweets Cheese cubes, cheese triangles Cream cheese / dips and bread sticks Crisps, fruit and nuts, roasted nuts, chinese crackers, pretzels Pate, meat, fish or vegetarian, Slice of quiche Humous, tzatziki, taramasalata, guacamole, olives Suggested Menu Plan You may want to try some of the suggestions listed: Breakfast Pure fruit juice Porridge made with full fat milk add syrup or honey Cereal with full fat milk and sugar Scrambled eggs add cream, grated cheese Cooked breakfast Toast add plenty of butter and jam, honey or marmalade Pancake with chopped banana and cream. 5

6 Mid morning Tea/coffee or milk drink with biscuits or cake Cheese with crackers or buttered teacake. Main meal Soup add cream, milk powder or grated cheese Meat/fish/eggs/cheese/beans/vegetarian alternatives Potatoes, rice, pasta, bread (add butter or cream to potatoes, cheese/creamy sauce to pasta) Vegetables with added butter or salad with salad cream or mayonnaise. Grated vegetables or salad may be easier to manage e.g. grated carrot, grated courgette. Snack meal Eggs or cheese on toast Crackers with butter or margarine, cheese and grapes Poached or boiled eggs or omelette Sandwich with meat, fish, egg, salad or cheese add mayonnaise or salad cream Soup add cream, milk powder or grated cheese. Desserts Rice pudding, semolina (add extra cream) Sponge and custard Ice cream, choc ices and sorbets Fruit and cream Full fat yoghurt, fromage frais or Greek yoghurt Trifle Soft, moist tinned fruit like pears in syrup Add cream/evaporated cream if desired. 5

7 Other Other useful useful organisations organisations and and services services Accurate information in all aspects of cancer including diet is available from Macmillan Cancer Support: Questions about living with cancer? Tel: (free phone Monday-Friday 9am 8pm) If you are not up to cooking or want to have readymade meals as a standby, you may want to try a meal delivery service. You can choose main courses or sweets and they often cater for specialist diets including for people with liver/renal disease or those requiring soft or puréed diets. Visit their websites or ring for more information: Wiltshire Farm Foods Tel: Oakhouse Foods Tel:

8 Mhairi Donald Macmillan Consultant Dietitian Sussex Cancer Centre Eastern Road, Brighton BN2 5BE Tel: Ext Penny Kaye Macmillan Dietitian Community Nutrition and Dietetic Department The Conquest Hospital The Ridge, St. Leonards-on-Sea East Sussex TN37 7RD Tel: Ext Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust Disclaimer The information in this leaflet is for guidance purposes only and is in no way intended to replace professional clinical advice by a qualified practitioner. Reference number: 444 Publication Date: March 2012 Review Date: March 2014 C P I G carer and patient information group approved