My pop's having chemo for lung cancer and he says everything has this HORRIBLE salty taste to it. What are some foods do you think he could eat that would have that taste so bad. He needs to eat more.
My pop's having chemo for lung cancer and he says everything has this HORRIBLE salty taste to it. What are some foods do you think he could eat that would have that taste so bad. He needs to eat more.
Hi Mew
My sister had the same issue not too long ago. She lived on scrambled eggs (NOT TOO WELL DONE), white american cheese and buttered toast (NOT TOO WELL DONE) for about four months. Polly O string cheese was a favorite as well. She also loved drinking the berry flavored "rain" version of gatorade. ....Hang in there. It gets better. My sister, now 2 months removed from her last chemo and radiation treatment is eating just about everything under the sun.
James
Ask him to only eat stuff he hasn't eaten prior to chemo or didn't like. The Chemo taste will not be as obvious.
Sounds strange but it worked for me.
Jim
hey, Mew,
my dad loved anything with lemon or cinnamon in it. plus he got a weird craving for virtually anything from McDonalds.
Hope he feels better soon!
Pat
To this day I can taste more salt in everything than I did before. I can't eat processed food of any kind now so everything I fix at home is fresh from scratch, even soup, canned soup is one of the worst salt offenders.
One thing I could get down were milkshakes in which my husband and kids hid a tasteless very high calorie, high protein powder from the health food store. They told me about it later. Actually they hid it in everything they could, I guess it worked because I didn't lose much weight.
My doctor told the family if she thinks she can eat it, even if you think it's strange try it. So ask him if there's something he thinks he could eat, if he can't eat it and although it's a pain give something else a try.
Good luck
My mom had the same problems during chemo, food was just too salty, and prior to her diagnosis she would put salt on everything. She developed such a craving for chocolate during her illness that somedays that was all she would eat. Occassionally I was able to get her to eat twice baked potatoes. Very simple, bake potatoes like you normally would then let them cool for about 20 minutes. Scoop out the inside of the potatoes and add milk and butter (I used butter with no salt) Put back into the shell of the potatoes and sprinkle with cheddar cheese and cook again for another 20 minutes. Hope this helps.
Carol
Thanks everyone! I'll try it. I want to add to my question:
What are some drinks that he can have that won't have that salty taste to them?
Hi Mew,
For me it was orange flavored Gatorade, strange I know but it worked for me. Ice tea, water with lemon slice.
Toddy
Hi Mew:
This is probably not the healthiest advice, but when I had that problem, things with sugar in them were the only thing that tasted good to me. I ate lots of pancakes with syrup, lots of ice cream, etc. If sugar tastes good to him, you might want to get him some Boost drinks or Ensure drinks to keep up his nutrition. Berry Rain Gatorade was also my drink of choice for hydration (with crushed ice).
Tastebuds should come back a few weeks after chemo is completed (mine did).
Good luck.
Susan
My mom had a similar problem and she used to be a heavy salt user. Now she doesn't use salt at all. After reading up on it, we found that foods with certain marinades and spices tasted better for her. Try using citrus marinades (even italian salad dressing with lemon) with poultry and use more herbs and spices like oregano, basil, garlic, rosemary and cinnamon. She also stayed away from beef and ate more poultry. As for drinks, she drinks iced green tea and also uses the whey protein powder from the health food store in shakes and fruit smoothies and even in oatmeal or cereal. When she had a metallic taste, she'd use plastic silverware.
Good luck and I hope some of this helps.
Liz
i have to agree with evryone else on this my mom had a metalic taste so she ate pretzels for it ,she now craves a lot of greasy ,fried foods,and things she she normally dont eat on a regular basis is really weird ,well god luck and will be praying for your dad and your family . lorie
Morning Mew...
I found apple juice and hot tea were the 2 things I could drink. Everything else tasted horrible, even the spring fed water we have in our neighborhood.
Since my chemo is over, I have been able to add my morning coffee.
Some of my favorite foods/drinks still taste terrible, slowly but surely my tastebuds will get back to normal.
I'm into my 9th week. :))
I lived on Baked Potatoes and peanut butter.
I think its just awesome that at such a young age that you found this wonderful place and that you have questions to help your pops! I think you are a remarkable young person and I know your pops' very proud of you. Keep the questions coming - you will find plenty of answers.
Peace, Love & HOPE to you & your family.
I ate alot of cottage cheese, grilled cheese, scrambled eggs. I did not get a salty taste from chemo, it wasn't really metallic either. Things just tasted bad. Unlike Susan I could not eat sweet things. They tasted the worst whether they had sugar or artifical sweetening.
Pam
Hi, Mew,
First, let me join Tina in complimenting what you are doing for your Pops in your young life.
When I had chemo, (several years ago) I don't remember any serious changes in my taste or appetite, but they recently found that some new tumors had grown in my brain, so I had Whole Brain Radiation, and it's been a whole different story. I find that almost everything tastes wierd. I've always been a salt lover - but now things more than lightly salted seem to burn my tongue. I'm practically paranoid about trying anything with a sauce, too. Even mac and cheese.
So I decided to try the "comfort foods". Mashed potatoes (without garlic) work, as do grilled cheese sandwiches and egg salad sandwiches as others have mentioned. Oatmeal, cold cereal, bananas. I never really had a sweet tooth before, but we tried some of those little pudding cups you put in kids lunch boxes, and also the small fruit cups, and I eat them all the time. Unfortunately, the flavor of chocolate is too intense for me.
For my taste, it's been the blander the better - though I have to admit that I have enjoyed some simply grilled beef too - and plain burgers.
I hope that the suggestions you've gotten here will help you deal with this problem until the treatments are over and your Dad can resume his enjoyment of eating. (It's what I miss the most!)
Susan
My husband also complained about most foods tasting "wierd". He liked bacon, greasy burgers, Dairy Queen moolatas. Drank mostly juices, water, and Pepsi. He is now in hospice and eating basically nothing. Still drinking a little - water and apple juice.
Hi, Mew,
I hope your Dad is doing well. During my chemo I could only eat peaches, plain jello, and spaghetti with parmesan cheese with a small amount of butter. I drank water mostly.
I am finally out of chemo and food is tasting much better. Hang in there!
LissaLeigh
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