Question
I just had a full mastectomy for breast cancer and started the first round of chemotherapy on September 10th. Lately, I’ve been having severe diarrhea and vomiting, and I can’t eat anything. How should I coordinate my diet during chemotherapy?
Answer
Eat small meals more frequently, allowing the patient to eat when they feel like it. Pay attention to the color, aroma, taste, and shape of the food. Prefer sweet and sour flavors over bitter and spicy ones. Patients undergoing chemotherapy tend to have a weaker sense of sweetness and sourness and are more sensitive to bitterness, so it’s appropriate to enhance sweet and sour foods. Daily meals should be light in flavor. The phrase “more sweet and sour” refers to eating more sweet and sour foods appropriately, not overly sweet or sour ones. Especially avoid giving the patient too much sweet food. Additionally, when cooking, adjust the amount of salt according to the patient’s perception of saltiness.