Chemo patients are all too familiar with feelings of nausea. Battling cancer and persistent sickness can result in extreme weight loss and malnutrition. Knowing which foods help with nausea from chemo can help cancer patients get the nutrients they need.

After chemo, you may feel nauseous for hours or a few days. To combat those feelings, try eating small amounts of bland foods frequently. Toast, crackers, and bananas are a few examples of foods that help with nausea from chemo. Taking nutritional supplements can also give your body the nutrients it needs without triggering nausea. Avoid fatty or super sugary foods when nauseous. Preparing for feelings of nausea before you receive chemo can help you reduce discomfort.

At ENU, we care about providing nutrition to chemo patients. Our Pro3+ is easily added to post-chemo meals and snacks to help with feelings of nausea. To learn more about Pro3+ Nutritional Powder for chemo patients, visit ENU online today.

Why Does Chemo Cause Nausea?

Chemotherapy is an intensive cancer treatment that has some negative side effects. One of the main ones is nausea. Chemo patients can feel nauseous for several reasons while undergoing treatment. It’s helpful to understand why nausea occurs after chemo so you can learn how to minimize it.

When the medicines from chemo enter your body, they are treated as foreign substances. Chemo is a rigorous treatment that targets cancer cells and can negatively impact other bodily processes and cells. As you receive chemo, your body triggers feelings of nausea intentionally. Because chemo can be seen as harmful by your body, it will try to rid itself of toxins through vomiting. That’s what causes that queasy feeling.

That being said, everyone’s body responds to chemo differently. You may feel nauseous before receiving treatment, as your body anticipates it. You could feel very nauseous immediately after treatment or feel sick for several days after. Chemo patients can expect to feel nauseous because of the nature of the treatment.

Which Foods Can Help with Nausea from Chemo?

It’s normal to feel nauseous from chemo. Cancer patients can minimize queasiness with certain foods. Learning about these solutions can make receiving chemo an easier and less nausea-inducing experience. Some of the best foods to eat to minimize nausea from chemo include:

• Dry toast
• Crackers
• Nutritional supplements
• Carbonated beverages
• Bananas
• Ginger
• Hard candies

When you feel nauseous from chemo, reach for bland foods. While that may not sound appetizing, tasteless foods can be the only things that won’t trigger nausea or induce vomiting after chemo. Remember, your body wants to rid itself of the chemicals from chemo through vomiting. Although vomiting is common after chemo, it isn’t safe to induce it by eating the wrong foods. That can lead to dehydration. Bland foods include things like dry toast and crackers. Unfortunately, these foods don’t give you the necessary nutrients to stay strong while undergoing chemotherapy.

To add nutrition to your post-chemo snack, try using a healthy nutritional supplement for chemo patients. A super-soluble option, like Pro3+ Nutritional Powder, is dissolvable in moist foods and beverages. Pro3+ for chemo patients is tasteless, so adding it into bland foods won’t increase nausea. A powder nutritional supplement can add much-needed calories and nutrients into your diet immediately after receiving chemo.

Sugar-free carbonated beverages can help reduce feelings of nausea after chemo as well. The bubbles, or carbonation, can minimize discomfort in cancer patients. Your carbonated beverages should be low in sugar, as large amounts can increase feelings of nausea.

Nausea from chemo can result in excessive vomiting, which reduces the potassium in your body. Eating bananas can boost your potassium and relieve feelings of nausea. Ginger can also help with nausea from chemo since it promotes gut health and can quicken digestion.

Hard candies can reduce nausea in chemo patients, as well. The small amount of sugar in these candies can keep nausea at bay. Cancer patients often suffer from displeasing tastes in their mouths caused by chemo. This can worsen queasiness. Patients can suck on hard candies during treatment to combat that and help with nausea from chemo.

What Foods Don’t Help with Nausea from Chemo?

When you’re feeling nauseous from the chemotherapy, there are certain foods you should avoid. Cancer patients require added nutrition. That’s because chemo itself can cause severe weight loss and result in malnutrition. While undergoing treatment, your body needs support, and some foods won’t provide that.

Fatty and sugary foods can worsen nausea from chemo. Stay away from caffeine, too. Chemo patients can experience taste fatigue and mouth sores, making it difficult to eat solid foods.

Fast foods, like fries and pizza, are also not recommended. Not eating altogether is not good either. You need food in your stomach to reduce nausea from chemo, just the right kind.

How Can I Prevent Nausea from Chemo?

Thinking ahead can help reduce feelings of nausea from chemo. Taking nutritional supplements for chemo patients can be beneficial. Maintaining a healthy diet and eating beforehand can also prevent extreme nausea after chemo.

Try to eat a good breakfast in the mornings before you receive chemotherapy. A large breakfast may be out of the question because anticipatory nausea can happen before treatment. However, eating a balanced breakfast of proteins, fats, and carbs is wise. Have a small snack about an hour before, just so that you have something in your stomach as you receive chemo. It’s good to include a nutritional supplement designed for chemo patients, like Pro3+ Nutritional Powder, into that snack. Pro3+ can provide the extra nutrition that your body needs during chemo.

Again, avoid nausea-inducing foods. Drinking liquids is very important while prepping for chemo. Because Pro3+ is super soluble and formulated for chemo patients, you can add it to your drinks before, during, and after treatment. Eating bland foods frequently in the hours and days after chemo can help prevent extreme nausea. Getting plenty of rest and preparing your body for treatment beforehand can reduce the effects of nausea from chemo.

Use Pro3+ Nutritional Powder to Help with Nausea from Chemo

Even when you’re nauseous after chemo, you still need the proper nutrients to maintain your health. Visit ENU’s website to purchase tasteless Pro3+ Nutritional Powder for chemo patients today.