How Do I Eat Well When I Just Don't Feel Like Eating?

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Information for people with eating/appetite difficulties during palliative care/convalescense to help deal with anxiety, stress and/or conflict around eating.

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Enables clients and their carers understand eating/appetite difficulties during palliative care/convalescense and help deal with anxiety, stress and/or conflict around eating.  

The Target Group will understand how to adapt their diet to cope with a range of side effects associated with their cancer, its treatment and/or to improve the diet generally for people with eating/appetite difficulties during palliative care/convalescense.



  • ESPEN guidelines on nutrition in cancer patients (2016).
  • ESPEN expert group recommendations for action against cancer-related malnutrition (2017).
  • ESPEN practical guidelines: clinical nutrition in cancer (2021).
  • WCRF Diet, Nutrition, Physical Activity and Cancer: a Global Perspective Report (2018).
  • Principles and guidance for prehabilitation within the management and support of people with cancer. National
    Institute for Health Research, Royal College of Anesthetists and MacMillian Cancer Support (2020).
  • Cancer Cachexia in Adult Patients: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines (2021).
  • Diarrhoea in adult cancer patients: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines (2018).
  • Dunne R.F. et al. Cachexia and sarcopenia in older adults with cancer: a comprehensive review. Cancers 2019, 11(12), 1861.
  • Cao A. et al. Effect of exercise on sarcopenia among cancer survivors: a systematic review. Cancers 2022, 14 (3), 786.
  • Supriya R. et al. Effect of exercise on secondary sarcopenia: a comprehensive literature review. Biology (Basel). 2021 Dec 30;11(1):51.
  • Curtis A.R. et al. Associations between dietary patterns and malnutrition, low muscle mass and sarcopenia in adults with cancer: a scoping review. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(3), 1769.
  • Pimentel G.D. et al. High protein diet improves the overall survival in older adults with advanced gastrointestinal cancer. Clin Nutr, 40 (3) (2021), pp. 1376-1380.
  • Arends J. Energy and protein intake may have an impact on survival in patients with advanced cancer. Clinical Nutrition, Volume 41, Issue 1, 2022, Pages 266-267.
  • Exercise for cancer cachexia in adults. Cochrane Review (2021).
  • Joseph P.V. et al. Fatigue, Stress, and Functional Status are Associated With Taste Changes in Oncology Patients Receiving Chemotherapy. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, Volume 62, Issue 2, 2021, Pages 373-382.e2.
  • Milliron B-J. et al. Eating Becomes Torturous: Understanding Nutrition-Related Cancer Treatment Side Effects among Individuals with Cancer and Their Caregivers. Nutrients, 2022, 14, 356.
  • Epstein J.B. et al. Oral examination findings, taste and smell testing during and following head and neck cancer therapy. Support Care Cancer, 2020, 28, 4305–4311.
  • Nolden A. et al. Co-occurring Gastrointestinal Symptoms Are Associated with Taste Changes in Oncology Patients Receiving Chemotherapy. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, Volume 58, Issue 5, 2019, Pages 756-765.
  • Loerzel V.W. Symptom self-management: Strategies used by older adults receiving treatment for cancer. Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, 2018, 22(1), 83-90.
  • Nolden A.A. et al. Chemosensory Changes from Cancer Treatment and Their Effects on Patients’ Food Behavior: A Scoping Review. Nutrients 2019, 11, 2285.
  • Blackwood H.A. et al. A systematic review examining nutrition support interventions in patients with incurable cancer. Support Care Cancer, 2020 28, 1877–1889.
  • Cancer-related fatigue: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis and treatment (2020).
  • Diagnosis, assessment and management of constipation in advanced cancer: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines (2018).
  • Baguley B.J. et al. Nutrition therapy for the management of cancer-related fatigue and quality of life: a systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Nutrition, 2019, 122(5), 527-541.
NDR-UK Ref No: 9466E
Classification: HP
Related Printed Version: 9466
Publication Date: 2019
Last Review: 2023
Last Update: 2023

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