Experts and doctors have revealed that cancer can cause an aversion to eating some types of food, research has found that many types of cancer cause a strong dislike of four foods, moreover, scientists have found changes in the taste of some foods in up to one in four patients, according to Daily Express website.
The taste of bitter, sweet, or salty foods may vary before and during cancer treatment, and changes in taste can lead to loss of appetite and weight loss that can cause an intense dislike of certain foods, also called food aversion, and these foods are eggs, cheese, tea and sausages, according to the website. Cancer Net“.
In a report published in the journal Clinical Radiologyhighlighted the frequent food aversion observed in one in four cancer patients studied. Scientists have found that food aversion can be a manifestation of several forms of cancer.
For two men with lung cancer, the sausage was loathsome (one said for two years before the diagnosis, the other three years while one had lost its taste, for the other, it had become too flavourful.”
According to the report, two women with cervical cancer had a specific aversion to eggs (one for six years prior to diagnosis, and one for four months before that).
According to the case of a man who said that eating cheese became like eating gum, he also felt relief from his symptoms following undergoing treatment.
There were also frequent reports of the tea’s taste becoming “extremely unpleasant” during the study period. The American Cancer Society explains that changes in taste are generally caused by tumors growing in the head and neck area.
Receiving prompt treatment is of paramount importance because changes in taste perception can eventually lead to malnutrition.
In a report published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology In 2017, researchers highlighted the need to recognize taste changes as a manifestation of cancer.
They wrote: “Changes in taste perception are of particular importance in diseases such as cancer, which is a major cause of disease and death worldwide.
Clinicians often overlook altered taste perception in cancer because this aspect is not a life-threatening event.”
They continued, “The most distressing symptom in patients with advanced cancer are gastrointestinal abnormalities, while change in taste is the fourth most common symptom following dry mouth, weight loss and early satiety.”
