Smaller, More Frequent Meals May Mitigate Nausea in Cancer Care

According to Denise B. Reynolds, RD, registered dietitian at Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute, smaller and more frequent meals may help mitigate the occurrence of nausea among patients undergoing treatment for cancer.

In an interview with CancerNetwork®, she spoke about strategies she employs to mitigate nausea and vomiting in patients being treated for cancer. Likening treatment-emergent nausea to pregnancy nausea, Reynolds suggested that having food in one’s stomach may help quell nausea symptoms, contrary to influenza-like or food poisoning symptoms.

Furthermore, she suggested the ingestion of bland foods, such as crackers, dry toast, and chicken noodle soup, to avoid smells that may trigger nausea in patients. She concluded by explaining that plain water may be nauseating for patients, recommending ginger ale as an alternative for these patients. Furthermore, drinks with electrolytes may help to stave off nausea as well.

Transcript:

As a dietitian, you will probably often hear me say small, frequent meals…quite a bit. [Many] times, you cannot eat a [food in volume or] sit down and eat a regular-sized meal. Eating a little bit throughout the day will help keep your nutrition level up, and it may actually help with the nausea. Unlike certain nausea that you get when you have influenza or food poisoning, you do not feel like eating and you do not want to put anything in your stomach, but having something in your stomach during the nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy can help quell some of that nausea.

I think of it a lot like pregnancy nausea. I tell [patients] to keep crackers by their bed, to eat first thing in the morning to help quell that nausea. It is similar. Crackers, dry toast, and chicken noodle soup are things that are bland and comforting, things without [many] smells, because that smell can also trigger nausea for [patients], and [we are] trying to keep things as simple as possible. [When] replacing fluids, ginger ale can be helpful. Sometimes plain water can be a bit nauseating. Having something with electrolytes in it, like Gatorade or Pedialyte, [may help].