Supplements may help to improve the dietary intake of those
who are unable to meet their nutritional requirements with
regular foods alone, despite dietary counseling; oral nutritional
supplements can provide energy, protein, and nutrients deemed
necessary to meet the patient’s needs, and represent a useful
method of support when food intake is a problem. The introduction
of a new supplement should be timed to optimize
acceptance and minimize aversion: Ideally supplements should
be introduced when the patient is symptomatically at his or her
best, for example, 3 or 4 d after a chemotherapy session rather
than immediately after when side effects are at their worst.
However, the success of supplementation depends on the
acceptability of the product by the patient, as well as on patient
compliance.