As you provide care to sick women and their families you may have the opportunity to teach them about nutrition. Everyone can benefit from this information, whether they are sick or healthy. Good nutrition can help caregivers and family members remain healthy, even when things are difficult for them. Eating right helps the body fight sickness. Good nutrition can help sick people feel better and healthy people stay healthy.

People who are very sick should eat small meals many times a day to help them get the nutrition they need. For people who are very sick, grinding or mashing their food may make it easier for them to swallow and digest. But the main food alone is not enough to keep a person healthy. Certain helper foods are needed. These foods add nutrition to a meal and provide protein, energy, and vitamins. Growing children, people who are sick, women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, and older people especially need these helper foods to stay healthy.

Cancer can be treated by surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, monoclonal antibody therapy or other methods. The choice of therapy depends upon the location and grade of the tumor and the stage of the disease, as well as the general state of the patient (performance status).The effectiveness of chemotherapy is often limited by toxicity to other tissues in the body. Radiation can also cause damage to normal tissue.

You may find that an illness, medical treatment or medication has affected your sense of taste. Food may seem to lack flavor or taste too sweet or salty. Usually these changes are temporary and will improve with time. In the meantime, do what you can to keep your calorie intake up and meet your body's protein, vitamin and mineral needs.

A bad taste in the mouth (dysgeusia) is a fairly common complaint in people with cancer. Sometimes the cancer itself is the source of the problem. After certain forms of chemotherapy, people often complain that food tastes bad — often describing it as "like eating cardboard" or having a metallic taste.

Normal taste usually returns after treatment is over, although it may persist for a few weeks. Some people report that zinc lozenges — available over-the-counter at drugstores — help. But studies haven't been able to confirm this. Still, because zinc lozenges are inexpensive and have minimal potential side effects, they might be worth trying.

For people with cancer, eating well is critical. Doctors and researchers have found that patients who eat well during their treatments, especially those who eat diets high in protein and calories, are better able to withstand the side effects of the treatments, be they chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery, or immunotherapy. Those who eat well may even be able to withstand higher doses of certain treatments.

Eat Anyway! Cancer itself and treatment can take away your appetite. Know that you must eat despite not feeling like it. A balanced diet can help maintain your strength, prevent body tissues from breaking down and rebuild the normal tissues that have been affected by treatment. Here are some suggestions for selecting and preparing foods. Experiment with these ideas until you find combinations that appeal to you.

• Have small, frequent mini meals every two to three hours. Walk before eating. Get fresh air.
• Keep foods laying around in plain view. Use pre-portioned, ready-to-eat foods. Chop up large portions.
• Rest or nap between eating. One bite or sip is better than none. Start small and gradually build up your portions. Do not go more than 4 hours without eating!

High-energy helper foods can be added to main foods to supply extra energy. This group includes:

• Fats such as vegetable oils, butter, ghee, and lard.
• Foods rich in fats, such as coconut, olives, and fatty meat.
• Nuts such as groundnuts (peanuts), almonds, walnuts, and cashews.
• Oil seeds such as pumpkin, melon, sesame, or sunflower seeds.
• Sugars such as sugar, honey, molasses, sugar cane, and jaggery.

Protective foods supply important vitamins and minerals that help to protect the body. This group includes:

• Vegetables such as dark green leafy plants, tomatoes, carrots, pumpkin, sweet potato, and peppers.
• Fruits such as mangoes, oranges, papayas, and bananas

A family that cannot afford the more expensive helper foods from animals can be better nourished if it grows or buys foods such as beans, peas, lentils, and groundnuts, together with a main food such as maize or rice. But where family finances and local customs permit, it is wise to eat some food that comes from animals, when possible. This is because even plants high in protein (body-building helpers) often do not have all of the different proteins the body needs.

It is important for a terminally ill woman to try to eat a variety of foods. Different plants supply the body with different proteins, vitamins, and minerals. For example, beans and maize together meet the body’s needs much better than beans or maize alone. If other vegetables or fruits are added, this is even better.

Do not force yourself to eat foods that taste bad. Instead, find substitutes for those foods. For example, if red meat doesn’t taste right, select chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, cottage cheese, cheese, yogurt, or tofu.

Many foods, including meat and poultry, taste better if they are served cold or at room temperature instead of hot.

Eggs often taste good when the taste for meat is lost.

Fresh fruits and vegetables, pasta dishes, and milk products are often well tolerated.

Fruit sorbet, sherbet, and fruit smoothies usually taste good.

Tart foods with more distinctive tastes may be added to foods to help cover the metallic taste. Try adding orange, lime, or lemon juice or orange marmalade to fruit salad, salsa, sauces for pork or chicken, stir-fried or cooked vegetables, and oil-based salad dressing. Add vinegar, lemon juice, or pickles to creamy dressings for potato, macaroni, tuna, egg, or cole slaw salads. Lemon juice added to chicken broth, broth-based soup, gazpacho, or guacamole enhances the flavor.

Peel carrots before eating or cooking. This eliminates the bitterness that is quite noticeable to some people and makes them avoid eating carrots altogether. Try the "baby" carrots available in the produce section that are already peeled and cut.

If you do not have sores in your mouth, try using horseradish or any of the flavored mustards, such as Dijon, honey, sweet and sour, etc., to add flavor to your sandwiches and other foods.

Fruit juice popsicles often taste good. Make your own popsicles with your favorite juice flavors.

Rinse your mouth with fruit juice, wine, tea, ginger ale, club soda, or salted water before eating. This will help clear your taste buds.

You can sometime get rid of the strange taste in your mouth by eating foods that leave their own taste in your mouth, such as fresh fruit or hard candy.
Suck on lemon drops or mints or chew gum after eating to get rid of the undesirable tastes that linger.

Try marinating meat or poultry in fruit juice, wine, vinegar-based salad dressing, or other sauces for more taste.

Experiment with spices and herbs. Some people find they like spicier foods at this time.

Experiment with new foods. Try foods or cuisines you may not have tried before.

Eat out in restaurants that feature buffets. You can try small amounts of a variety of food without having to prepare it yourself.

Check with your dentist to rule out dental problems causing bad taste. Care for your mouth and teeth to prevent dental caries.

Folate is a B-complex vitamin, which may protect the genetic material in cells, such as DNA. Folate is found in green, leafy vegetables, wheat germ and fortified whole grain cereals to name a few.

Lutein is a carotenoid and antioxidant found in green, leafy vegetables, bell peppers, asparagus, tomatoes and corn. Along with other antioxidants (vitamins A, C and E, and selenium), lutein has been shown to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.

Calcium may bind to bile and fatty acids that can harm the colon and rectum. Calcium may prevent polyps from developing and recurring. Calcium is well-known for being available in dairy products, such as yogurt, milk and cheese, but it can also be found in small quantities in certain vegetables and legumes, such as broccoli and chickpeas (garbanzo beans)