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Changes in taste and smell may not be life threatening, but you shouldn’t ignore these side effects if they happen to you. If food smells and tastes funny or bad to you, eating can become difficult or unpleasant. This can lead to not eating enough, which leads to weight loss.

Weight loss during treatment isn’t a good thing, and it’s important to do your best to keep your weight stable. Losing weight can worsen side effects, decrease immune function, and make it harder for your body to bounce back between treatments.

Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to keep eating well despite changes in taste and smell. With some creative food choices, you can work around taste changes and get the nutrition you need during mesothelioma treatment.

Tips for Coping with Changes in Smell and Taste

Follow the instructions your health care team gives you for mouth care. Use any mouth care medications or solutions exactly as your doctor or nurse has instructed. Use mouth rinses as prescribed too.

• Try to avoid strong food smells. Smells can kill your appetite and make food taste worse when you do eat. If possible, have others help you prepare food, so you can steer clear of the kitchen and the food smells.
• If you experience a metallic taste when going through mesothelioma treatment, try using plastic utensils to eat.
• If you don’t have mouth sores, try flavoring your foods with tart flavors such as lemon, citrus, vinegar, and pickled items. Avoid these foods and flavors if you do have mouth sores, because they will make the pain worse.
• Try different temperatures of food to see what works best. For example, you may find cold foods such as frozen grapes or watermelon, frozen juices and fruit nectars, cottage cheese, and smoothies or shakes work well. Or you may find that you prefer soups, stews, casseroles and other warm foods. Experiment to find what you like best.
• If things taste too sweet, try sour and tart flavors. For example, try a smoothie made with frozen cranberries.
• Some people find that liquid nutritional supplements taste too sweet. You can cut the sweet taste by combining one-to-two teaspoons of finely ground decaffeinated coffee, ice cubes, and a chocolate or vanilla liquid nutritional in a blender.
• Try rinsing your mouth with cool black or green tea, lightly salted water, or baking soda and water. These liquids can “freshen” and cleanse your taste buds before eating.
• Try flavoring items such as chicken, fish, beef, or pork with savory or sweet spices, such as rosemary, thyme, mint, basil, oregano, or cumin.
• Be open to new foods and flavors. Foods you normally don’t like may taste good to you now. Things you normally like may not be appealing. Try different foods and flavors to find what works best.

Finally, be sure you address other symptoms or side effects that may be contributing to difficulty eating. For example, if you have uncontrolled nausea or vomiting, you need to better manage these symptoms before you’ll be able to eat anything. Keep the lines of communication open with your doctor and ask for help if you need it.