Foods we crave during chemo

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JoanQuilts
JoanQuilts Member Posts: 633
edited August 2016 in Chemotherapy - Before, During, and After

Although we are all different, I thought it might be helpful to start a thread where we list the foods we crave or tolerate during chemo.  I am finding that the stretches of time during which I lose my taste buds following chemo are becoming longer and longer following each subsequent chemo.  Life is pretty colorless without an appetite.  That said, here's what I crave:

Hard boiled eggs

Large juicy oranges (to take care of my thirst)

What do you crave?  Perhaps these suggestions will be helpful to others

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited May 2012

    The foods that got me through the bad/no tastebuds time of chemo (which is fortunately becoming a faint memory for me) were:

    1. tomato soup or tomato & roasted pepper soup (Trader Joe's organic, low salt); microwave it and add a big spoon of non-fat, greek-style yogurt

    2. oven roasted carrots with tarragon and ginger

    3. baked sweet potatoes or yams

    These foods are also soft and kind to the irritated mouth.

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  • JoanQuilts
    JoanQuilts Member Posts: 633
    edited May 2012

    Thank you Philly.  Your mention of soup reminded me that homemade chicken soup is also becoming a staple of my treatment plan!  I bought some soup at Trader Joe's yesterday too!

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  • kayfh
    kayfh Member Posts: 790
    edited May 2012
    scrambled eggs and beans (maple-heinz canned-nothing else would do Cool)
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  • IndigoMont11
    IndigoMont11 Member Posts: 1,095
    edited May 2012

    I've had tx#1 with tx#2 a week from this Friday. Not too much trouble with mouth sores (everyone was right, the baking soda rinses do help). I have had a big appetite and eaten just about anything that sounded good, except for spicy foods, which I usually love. Mostly I've craved carbs - tried to avoid simple ones with some limited success. :-)

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  • IndigoMont11
    IndigoMont11 Member Posts: 1,095
    edited May 2012

    I wish they'd hurry up and open Trader Joe's out here - their hummus is so good (what I was craving yesterday). But the one in Boulder isn't opening until next year.

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  • Adey
    Adey Member Posts: 3,610
    edited May 2012

    Cold juicy fruit, watermelon, pineapple, grapes...

    Progresso lentil soup, go figure.

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  • gillyone
    gillyone Member Posts: 1,727
    edited May 2012

    I had soup pretty much every day through chemo. Most food tasted of cardboard and I was surprised that I found it hard to actually eat. However, BBQd steak actually tasted good!

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  • JoanQuilts
    JoanQuilts Member Posts: 633
    edited May 2012

    Indigo - you see - here's how we're all different.  I cannot eat most carbs, including bread, cookies, crackers.  They taste like cardboard to me!

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited May 2012

    I almost forgot, my all time favorite snack:

    A Wasa cracker topped with peanut butter, non-fat greek-style yogurt, and some raisins.

    I went with organic, no sugar/salt added peanut butter (also Trader's, but Whole Foods has it too)

    The cracker can be scratchy, but if eaten in small bites, it works.  This snack gave me the extra protein, calories and good fats needed during chemo.

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  • Elizabeth1889
    Elizabeth1889 Member Posts: 1,036
    edited May 2012

    My favorite food during chemo was grilled cheese sandwiches.

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  • dlb823
    dlb823 Member Posts: 9,430
    edited May 2012

    Ditto to the grilled cheese.  I felt like it was a throw back to a childhood comfort food.

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  • IndigoMont11
    IndigoMont11 Member Posts: 1,095
    edited May 2012

    OK, that got me thinking about grilled cheese since yesterday.  I am going to get some American cheese and make some!!!  Can't remember the last time I ate it at all.

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  • GeorgiaRai
    GeorgiaRai Member Posts: 175
    edited May 2012

    My treatments are on Monday, and it's usually Friday (sometimes Saturday) when I start wanting an actual meal.  And, as crazy as it sounds, more often than not the one thing I want is a Filet-o-fish meal from McDonalds!  I have no idea why, but that always gets me over the nausea hump and back to a somewhat normal eating routine.

    From my first threatment, though, the one thing I could not live without has been organic fat-free chocolate milk.  It's my "go to" on queasy days (especially early mornings) when I feel ravenous but my stomach is not ready for duty.  I should've bought stock in Horizon Dairy 6 months ago!

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  • Kicks
    Kicks Member Posts: 4,131
    edited May 2012

    I never craved anything while on chemo. I didn't want to bother eating either. I never had any nausea so that wasn't it - food didn't taste bad - it just didn't taste at all. We went to Deadwood for Thanksgiving with Son, his girl friend, her Mom and Grandmom. Sitting there eating prime rib, I asked for horseraddish for it thinking that maybe I'd be able to taste at least the horseraddish as what they have is quite 'warm'. Put some on and it didn't help so I thought the waiter had brought the mild HR sauce, not the real stuff, so I piled more on. - everybody started staring at me. Ignored them and told Hubby I had to get the waiter to bring more and this time to be sure to make it the real stuff - he assured me it was the real stuff - him I could believe as he likes the real stuff too.



    I also had no appetite at all - just never thought about eating at all. This scared Hubby as my Mom had been aneorxic and he saw what the ends of lived with it are like. In some ways I thinkk the lossx of appetite scared him more than me fighting the IBC as I've always been a fighter but he had the memories of Mom and didn't know what to do. So he called me several times a day to remind me to get something to eat andc I had to tell him what I had gotten out to eat before he would hang up. He also searched for recipes for thing he thought I might eat to fix. I still managed to loose 45 lbs during chemo.



    Getting enough fluids wasn't a problem though - thanks to habit. I've always had a glass/container of iced water or iced fruit/herb tea within reach so that habit stood by me well.



    We're all so different.

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  • mt4ever
    mt4ever Member Posts: 105
    edited May 2012

    My staple has also been boiled eggs!  LOL  I also have been eating carbs! 

    Today I am having trouble drinking anything!  Everything tastes nasty!  (I am 4 days status-post 2nd TCH).  Any suggestions on what to drink is also appreciated!!! 

    Can I just say THIS SUCKS!!!  

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  • scrap2book
    scrap2book Member Posts: 367
    edited May 2012

    I can't say that I craved anything to eat either. Nothing tasted like I thought it should - water tasted horrible!  I remember having lots of poached eggs and McDonald's Mocha Frappes. Haven't been a big fan of coffee since chemo either and used to drink plenty of it before. Drank ginger ale then too, but I let it sit for a while to get rid of the carbonation.

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  • laura_ingalls
    laura_ingalls Member Posts: 78
    edited May 2016

    hi ladies,

    trying to revive the thread since it's interesting...

    i am craving fruit and more fruit...i have always been a big fruit eater but now i cannot get enough of it. the first few days after chemo, that's all i wanted and mostly all i had: mangoes, cantaloupe, oranges.

    just hope it's not the cancer trying to get sugar!

    i had some juice in the morning and just finished a container of watermelon...already eyeing the banana and orange i brought for snacks for later in the day!

    anyone talk to their onco about fruit cravings? is there such a thing as too much fruit?

    laura*


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  • KarenInCanada
    KarenInCanada Member Posts: 271
    edited May 2016

    Oranges!!! Seedless navel or clementine or both in the same sitting. Don't know why!

    Pasta with a strong garlic sauce or rice and tzatziki sauce. Soft but with a strong taste....I can't taste it all but just having a touch of taste helps!

    Usually I feel like I have knives in my throat so I have to be careful. I use baking soda and water as well as the magic mouthwash but one area of my throat always gets it. Have to avoid anything that can cause scratches or sores like crackers. Love watermelon and cheese strings too!

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  • NancyHB
    NancyHB Member Posts: 1,512
    edited May 2016

    I'm normally a chocoholic and sweet freak, but sweets taste terrible, and coffee makes me gag (*sad face*). I crave rich savory foods like salmon and shrimp and avocados and good cheese. Salty snacks make me super happy too. I'm finding the lemonade and iced tea (mixed together or seperate, don't care) really help keep me hydrated.

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  • Keepongoing
    Keepongoing Member Posts: 62
    edited May 2016


    I craved frozen strawberry fruit bars, cold fruit, and Kraft Mac and cheese in the blue box( which normally I don't eat) also the boiled eggs !!! Very interesting about the amount of us putting this down. I also get odd cravings , last week it was sauerkraut!!! Seems like sour and salty or cold are my cravings .

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  • laura_ingalls
    laura_ingalls Member Posts: 78
    edited May 2016

    the first day after chemo the only protein I had was soft boiled eggs. Never had any cravings during pregnancy but do now. I love Watermelon and tea with cardamom now. Makes me feel better. Not too close together of course.

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  • Jennyannk73
    Jennyannk73 Member Posts: 26
    edited May 2016

    Funny, Kraft Mac and cheese was had by me too. And scrambled eggs. I couldn't really taste sugar / sweet much so I guess I hit the other comfort foods. Oh, and I liked the cracked pepper triscuits, and I ate those ALOT when nothing else sounded good.

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  • aussie12
    aussie12 Member Posts: 462
    edited May 2016

    Hi all

    My first few chemos I was fine with eating everything then my taste started to go. On the day of my chemo I would crave roast chicken and a lot of the time I craved Kentucky Fried Chicken !!!

    I'm just getting my taste back now and am enjoying eating now.

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  • lonestarreader
    lonestarreader Member Posts: 5
    edited August 2016

    I normally love coffee and bread but I didn't want either of those during chemo. I wanted oranges but found the acidity caused and exacerbated mouth sores and irritations. One thing I really loved was McDonald's Filet o' Fish sandwiches and the Happy Meal size hamburger. I don't think I had been in a McDonald's in a decade but at least once a week that is what I wanted. I also liked the chocolate milk that came with the Happy Meal. Now that I'm 4 weeks after my last chemo and my taste for coffee is returning but I don't want it every day! Also baguettes taste good again.

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  • debiann
    debiann Member Posts: 1,200
    edited August 2016

    The first few days after infusion I craved salty foods. One round I ended up in the ER because I was so weak. Turned out my sodium was low, due to pushing all the fluids.

    There were few foods I could tolerate, but baked beans and my mom's homemade ham & bean soup were two I could eat. But be aware, the foods you can eat during chemo often don't appeal to you afterward. I eventually regained my appetite for baked beans, but can't look at mom's soup the same anymore :(

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  • keepthefaith
    keepthefaith Member Posts: 2,156
    edited August 2016

    chemo is long gone for me, but I craved Crunchy Cheetos! Maybe because they have such a strong flavor...idk. Don't care about them anymore:)

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  • JanetCO
    JanetCO Member Posts: 17
    edited August 2016

    I found some fruit and vegetable popsicles and strawberry/banana yogurt popsicles taste really good. Cheeseburgers I make at home. Pretzels, watermelon.

    Now that I'm not as queasy I am craving deserts and ice cream.

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  • ResoluteinAtl
    ResoluteinAtl Member Posts: 10
    edited August 2016

    vanilla milkshakes with Hagen Daz ice cream.

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  • Hopefloatsinyyc
    Hopefloatsinyyc Member Posts: 211
    edited August 2016

    it's not so much craving... But so far, I have only been able to stomach melon, rottiserie chicken and avocado. Everything else is awful.

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