Sugar craving?

I have a theory on this. I loved savoury things before my treatment but now I would swap a pudding for a main course any day

Sweet is opposite to sour on the taste spectrum.

My oral flora ( and I suspect that of many other patients) has dramatically changed probably due to the reduction of saliva and the use of high fluoride toothpaste. Add to that the  destruction of some of my taste buds and I have a permanent sour background taste.( It isn’t troubling except on the odd day when it reaches some sort of crescendo)  Hence the sweet craving. My husband tells me some of the sweet food I happily eats is completely off the scale for him. 

Hi Stevey N

T2N1M0 tonsil cancer HPV+ finished Chemoradio June 2023

I have about 70 % of my taste back....Tea and Choccy biscuits were/are my go to for Cals...I have now developed a liking for marshmallows.

Still maintaining a healthy BMI....

Used to love a Madras curry... or hotter...out of the question for now....Butter chicken is tolerable...and tasty.

Peter

Hi SteveyN I also like Dani much preferred savoury to sweet pre cancer give me a sausage roll pack of crisps etc now I reach for the sugary stuff given a choice. I would  happily have a dessert instead of a starter so you’re  nit alone. 
all I will,say is remember to be extra vigilant re oral care.  Touch wood 5.5 years down the line I see dentist every 3 months and haven’t needed a filling or anything so much be doing something right. 
Hazel 

Hi Dani

That is a good theory. It is amazing how much my liking for some food has increased and others decreased since radiotherapy. Before I did not like icecream or yoghurt but loved chocolate. Now it is the opposite and I love icecream on top of my stewed fruit and eat lots of yoghurt but have gone off chocolate and sweets in general.. I make sure I get zero sugar yoghurt to try and keep the sugar levels down but can't get enough of icecream mainly vanilla and boysenberry. I clean my teeth and have a good swig of mouthwash after I eat as I don't want to lose the few remaining teeth I have. I figure as long as my weight is stable and not going up that my diet must be fairly O.K. I also find the taste of vanilla Fortisip quite acceptable  so that is a good thing as I can no longer tolerate the taste of tea or coffee. I used to love a cuppa in the morning, rather a sad loss that one.

All in all I have replaced so many foods with different ones now because of taste changes and dry mouth issues, but they are working out well.

Lyn

Hi Lyn

Yes isn’t it strange how things change? . 
My taste for cheese and a good craft ale remains intact … which is a small blessing. 

I feel your loss of tea, Lyn. I was a serious tea person. I had been drinking it every day since the age of four. Now, I can't stand it :( 

Thanks, everyone!

Yes this is me too.  I was a starter and main course person, could happily go without dessert.  If I wanted a snack it would be cheese and crackers my go to rather than cake or chocolate.  Now it’s all about the sweet.  I’m not long out of treatment (10 months) so still finding my feet for my new normal. I now have sweeteners in tea and coffee which I didn’t before. I’m still on slimy food so cakes and biscuits are still a no go.  I crave something sweet in the evening. So I have a milky decaf coffee with two sugars. Does me well. Dani, your explanation makes so much sense.  

Oh my, sorry to hear you have gone off tea and coffee! I can't even imagine it.

 xx

Hi Cazzita

Drinking tea and coffee is such a social thing so it is a bit hard. I now sit on a milkshake when I go out as can't drink it all Not quite the same but still O.K.

Lyn

xx