Managing taste changes

Your sense of taste or smell may change during your illness or treatment. Foods, especially meat or other high-protein foods, can begin to have a bitter or metallic taste and many foods will have less taste. For most people, changes in taste and smell go away when their treatment is finished but it may be a year after treatment ends before the sense of taste is normal again and eating can become a problem.

 

There is no foolproof way to prevent changes to your sense of taste or smell because each person is affected differently by illness and treatments. Drinking plenty of fluids, changing the types of foods eaten and adding spices or flavourings to food may help. You can treat food like medication, know that even if it doesn't taste good, your body needs food in order to heal.

However, the tips below should help you manage changes in taste.

General tips - Foods and cooking hints reducing changes in taste

General tips

  • Rinse your mouth and brush your teeth and tongue regularly before eating. Rinse with water or with one teaspoon baking soda dissolved in a cupful of water, but don't swallow.
  • Use plastic utensils if foods taste metallic.
  • Eat with family and friends. If possible, ask friends and family to help you prepare the meal and consume the food away from the area where it was cooked to minimise the exposure to food odours.
  • Eat small meals and healthy snacks several times a day.
  • Eat meals when hungry rather than at set mealtimes.
  • Try new foods when feeling best.
  • Foods may taste better if served cold or at room temperature.
  • Choose and prepare foods that look and smell good to you

Foods and cooking hints reducing changes in taste:

  • If red meat, such as beef, tastes or smells strange, substitute them with chicken, turkey, eggs, dairy products such as cheese or mild-tasting fish instead.
  • Improve the flavour of meat, chicken, or fish by marinating it in sweet fruit juices*, sweet wine, Italian dressing, or sweet-and sour* sauce. *If you have a sore mouth or throat, tart or citrus foods might cause pain or discomfort.
  • Flavour foods with basil, oregano, rosemary, tarragon, mustard or mint.
  • Try foods that have minimal odours and short cooking time, such as scrambled eggs and pancakes.
  • Try tart* foods, such as oranges or lemonade, which may have more taste. A tart lemon custard might taste good and will also provide needed protein and calories. *If you have a sore mouth or throat, tart or citrus foods might cause pain or discomfort.
  • Try eating cold foods that do not have as much odour. Try ice lollies, yoghurt, frozen yoghurt, cold hard boiled eggs, juices, cottage cheese, smoothies and shakes.
  • Adding sugar to some foods can help decrease salty, bitter or unpleasant tastes.
  • If smells bother you, try serving foods at room temperature, turning on a kitchen fan, covering foods when cooking, and cooking outdoors in good weather. You can reduce food smells by covering foods when cooking, turning on the kitchen fan and serving foods at room temperature.
  • Try using bacon, ham, or onion to add flavour to vegetables.
  • Try citrus fruits (oranges, tangerines, lemons, and grapefruit) unless mouth sores are present.
  • Try favourite foods.
  • Find non meat, high-protein recipes in a vegetarian or chinese cookbook.
  • Suck lemon drops, mints or chew gum if there is a metallic or bitter taste in the mouth.
  • Add spices and sauces to foods.
  • Eat meat with something sweet, such as cranberry sauce or apple sauce.
  • Frozen fruits, that are moist and slightly sweet, may be appealing, such as melon balls, grapes or orange wedges.
  • If you use nutritional supplements, try drinking them through a straw piercing the foil rather than removing it.

Source: National Cancer Institute