Finding tips on how to decrease your appetite so you can lose weight is easy. Many tips in Magazines, newspapers and television programs are full of advice on the subject. But what about people who need to increase their appetites? There are several illnesses and/or conditions that can cause undesirable weight loss, and necessitate an understanding of how to healthfully gain weight. According to noted author/ABC News medical contributor Dr. David Katz, “with all the attention to the obesity epidemic, we may at times overlook those situations where, in essence, starvation is still a very real and present danger.”

According to Keith I. Block, MD, Medical/ Scientific Director of the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Care in Evanston, Illinois “diet plays a significant role in the prevention and treatment of disease. And keeping the body fueled with nutritious food is imperative when someone is fighting an illness.”

To help those challenged by a loss of appetite, whether it be due to illness, or the medications used to treat it, Drs. Katz and Block put together the following six tips on how to increase your appetite and stave off malnutrition.

1. If you can eat with family members and friends, do so. Let them know that you are having difficulty with your appetite and ask for their support.

2. Serve food attractively prepared and in a pleasant atmosphere

3. Eat high nutrient food and avoid junk foods and sugar

4. Eat small meals or snacks frequently

5. Add seasoning to help flavor foods

6. Shift eating pattern to coincide with appetite. For example, eat the biggest meal of the day in the morning, if that’s what you are most inclined to do. Read the rest of this entry »