Bland Diet

Food Strategies for a Sore Mouth

Mouth sores, ulcers, and overall pain in the mouth and throat area are unpleasant side-effects of some radiation and chemo treatments. The discomfort can not only can make getting enough nutrition difficult, it can... also cause foods to taste strange. It’s extremely important to eat to maintain strength for healing, so here are some tips and recipes to help you or a loved one get enough calories during treatment.

-Focus on soft, high calorie, and liquid foods that are easy to eat
-Moisten foods with olive oil, broth, gravy, melted butter, or creamy non-acidic salad dressings
-Mash or puree foods and add in oils or butter to boost the calorie content if you are losing weight
-Dunk foods in milk or broth to soften them
-Eat soups at room temperature
-Add silken tofu, nut butters, flaxseeds, or healthy oils (walnut or avocado) to smoothies to soften the texture
-Add protein powder to smoothies to increase their nutrition value
-Take small bites.
-Try fruits that have are low acid and have a lot of water like grapes and watermelon or soft canned fruits in juice
-Try juicing or blending these fruits and freezing them into popsicles to suck on
-Avoid acidic, spicy, and hot foods.
-Use a straw to drink liquids if it helps, and try using a smaller spoon