Cancer, or cancer treatments like chemotherapy or radiotherapy, can change your taste. Certain foods may no longer taste how you remember them, things you used to love might suddenly not taste so good anymore.
How you experience the taste of certain foods can differ from day to day. While these changes can affect the enjoyment of food, for many, taste changes are temporary, and for most people, they will eventually return to normal.
Most health care professionals recommend finding flavours you still enjoy and adjusting your food choices accordingly. You can avoid products that you don’t like anymore.
Scientific research on how cancer can affect your taste and how to cope with this is still very limited. However, there are some recommendations that may improve your perception of flavours when your taste has changed.
There are taste buds on your tongue, on the inside of your mouth and in your throat. These buds allow us to taste sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami (a savoury taste) flavours. Taste is partly determined by our sense of smell too.
The texture and temperature of food and drink can also play a role in how we taste and experience foods. For example, some foods can cause your mouth to feel dry while others might cause a greasy feeling. Crispy or spicy foods can stimulate the production of more saliva, which can stimulate taste. The way food is prepared also has an influence on how you perceive taste, as well as the environment where you eat your food.
Below you will find a short description of various taste changes that can be experienced and some tips on how to cope with them.
After treatment you may not taste much for a while. There are ways to add more flavour to your food. For example, adding fresh and sour flavours, such as lemon, or adding fresh herbs, can make food taste better.
If food tastes different, it is important to discover what your new taste preferences are. If you like sweet tastes, then you can add honey or syrup to a dish. If you like sour foods, you could try adding vinegar or lemon. Cinnamon and other spices can help when foods have a metallic taste.
If food feels different in your mouth, adding something fatty such as butter may help. Trying different textures can also make food feel nicer to eat. For example, adding croutons to salad or soup can help to add new textures. Temperature also determines how something feels in your mouth. Eating your food lukewarm or cold can help improve its flavour.
Cold food such as a pasta salad will not smell as strong as a hot meal, try experimenting with the temperature of foods if you are experiencing aversions to smells. If you no longer like a certain food, there’s no need to force yourself to keep eating it. You can even try foods you didn’t like before, as your preferences may have changed.
By following the steps below, you can discover what taste, smells and textures of food you like.
I have little to no taste and/or smell little | To add a strong or fresh taste |
|
Add something crispy | Croutons, (chopped) nuts, pieces of cucumber | |
Add fresh spices and herbs with a strong taste | Basil, cayenne pepper, chilli pepper, dill, tarragon, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, curry, garlic, coriander, cloves, bay leaves, mint, nutmeg, rosemary, celery, star anise, thyme, fresh pepper, white pepper | |
Try something new |
|
Everything tastes different. I prefer sweet | Add sweet flavours to your meals |
|
Use fresh spices and herbs | Basil, dill, cardamom, cumin | |
Try the following foods | Pumpkin, red pepper, onion, carrot, sweet potato, sweet fizzy drinks, dried fruits cooked pear, apple compote |
Everything tastes different. I prefer sour tastes | Add sour flavours to your meals |
|
Use fresh herbs | Lemon, dill, parsley | |
Try the following foods | Endives, purslane, tomato, sauerkraut, berries, raw vegetables, aged cheese, sour drinks, such as buttermilk, lemonade, and bitter lemon |
Everything tastes different. I prefer salty foods. (If you are on a low salt diet due to medical conditions, following these tips is not recommended.) | Add salty flavours to your meals | Salted or smoked fish, chicken, or meat, smoked salmon, Marmite, teriyaki, tamari, (aged) cheese, sauces, samphire, salt, sea salt, soy sauce, mustard, sardines, and other canned fish |
Use fresh herbs and spices | Parsley, chives, cardamom | |
Try the following foods | Soup, stew, salad with smoked chicken or fish |
Everything tastes different. I prefer bitter tastes | Add bitter flavours to your meals | Marmalade, pickles, mustard, capers, spring onions, crème fraiche, yoghurt, dressing with vinegar, tarragon vinegar, lemon, wine vinegar, (aged) cheese, blue cheese |
Use fresh herbs and spices | Coriander, turmeric, curcumin, galangal, basil, celery, dill, green herbs, cumin, bay leaves |
Everything tastes different. I prefer savoury (umami) tastes | Add umami flavours to your meals | Balsamic vinegar, tomato, tomato ketchup, butter, broth, ginger (fresh, or paste), dried onion, aged cheese, parmesan cheese, pine nuts, red onion, fish sauce, anchovies |
Use fresh herbs and spices | Basil, dill, coriander, ginger, cardamom, parsley, shrimp paste | |
Try the following foods | Nasi goreng (Indonesian stir fried rice), bami goreng (Indonesian stir fried noodles) |
Everything tastes too strong | Use neutral or bland flavours |
|
Check the temperature of your meals |
|
The smell of food makes my appetite disappear. I cannot tolerate strong smells from food | The temperature of your food | Cold food has a weaker smell. Do not eat hot food, choose food that is lukewarm or at room temperature. Choose cold dishes and drinks |
Try the following foods | Fruit and vegetable smoothie, frozen yoghurt, cold soup such as gazpacho, cold meals or (pasta) salad |
I don’t like the taste of any food. Everything tastes like metal | Add flavours to your meals | Grated carrot, honey |
Use fresh herbs and spices | Basil, cinnamon, oregano, pepper, thyme | |
Try the following foods |
|
I don’t like the taste of any food. Everything tastes bad (generic bad taste, cardboard box taste, bitter taste) | Add fresh, sour and fruit flavours to your meals |
|
To reduce a bitter taste | Garlic, coriander, cream, watercress | |
Try the following foods |
(A bad taste can also result from a dry mouth. Good oral hygiene and rinsing or drinking before eating to wash away the taste can help to improve the taste) |
If you are dealing with taste changes as a result of cancer and its treatment, you may be interested in our Ryan Riley cookbooks:
Order a free Ryan Riley recipe booklet