Diets to *gain* weight?

[Anita18]

She's all doctored up, has a bunch of them, done all the tests and procedures, gone to the big specialists in the big hospitals. The issue I think is that many people - of all ages - think that doctors exist to keep them healthy, which is not the case. Doctors are experts in diagnosis and dealing with issues, but they are not usually nutritionists, and spend little time on prevention. I spent some time working with a major hospital CEO and her words stayed with me: you're in charge of your health - we're just here to help when something goes wrong.

After seeing my very-rich college roommate down 20 pills a day of various vitamins since her nutritionist told her to, I'm not sure if I trust nutritionists either. Although I'm sure there are good ones out there, but nutritionists aren't necessarily better than doctors.

There's also a lot of things that simply go wrong and there's nothing we can really do about it. We can only make do. If she's having trouble absorbing nutrients, there has to be a diet change.

Good idea - not sure, but I think they do smoothies for breakfast sometimes. Will ask. They might not follow these recipes, but a list of high cal ingredients might help.

Plus I don't know any old person who isn't interested in cancer prevention

Well, I'm not sure that list of high cal ingredients is necessarily good at preventing cancer - it's just that you don't want chemo patients to suffer from malnutrition instead!

Since my mom can't eat raw vegetables in their natural state, she got herself a Vitamix blender so she can have a bunch of them at once in a breakfast smoothie. Still not very high-calorie and she still doesn't eat enough, but at least they could get their fill of veggies and fruit all at once and then eat other things during the day. And you could always add protein shake mix to that. I sometimes have trouble digesting dairy and fats myself, but protein has never been a problem. When I was recovering from stomach flu, the only things I COULD eat were apples and sushi.

[Karina1974]

Oh gosh. Did you tell her that trans fats will clog up her arteries and cause bad cholesterol faster than just about anything?? Print out documentation! Trans fats are so super scary.

They know that - and I think most margarines eliminated them long ago, so it's possible they've stopped reading the labels.

Margarine and imitation-butter spreads like I Can't Believe It's Not Butter are still made with polyunsaturated fats, and those are most definitely a major health risk; it sounds like your relative believed the lies that saturated fats are the cause of health problems - they are not. Real butter is far healthier than the fake stuff.

And I posted plenty of documentation over in the Paula Deen thread that attests to that fact.

[galaxygirl]

She's all doctored up, has a bunch of them, done all the tests and procedures, gone to the big specialists in the big hospitals. The issue I think is that many people - of all ages - think that doctors exist to keep them healthy, which is not the case. Doctors are experts in diagnosis and dealing with issues, but they are not usually nutritionists, and spend little time on prevention. I spent some time working with a major hospital CEO and her words stayed with me: you're in charge of your health - we're just here to help when something

Has she been tested for celiac disease? That was the first thing I thought when you mentioned that she's not absorbing nutrients. It damages the small intestine making nutrient absorption difficult. It can also remain latent until it's triggered by a health stressor.

[Skittl1321]

Most of the diet shakes I've used to LOSE weight have suggested drinking them along with your normal diet to gain weight. Makes sense, it's an extra 200 calories per meal, and good nutrients.

I really liked Body by Vi (especially blended with fruit) but they were expensive.
I like Slim Fast Chocolate quite a bit, but don't care for their French Vanilla, too sweet. DH likes it though.

[Jenny]

Has she been tested for celiac disease? That was the first thing I thought when you mentioned that she's not absorbing nutrients. It damages the small intestine making nutrient absorption difficult. It can also remain latent until it's triggered by a health stressor.

Good thought. Several other family members have this, so she knows about it, but might not have thought about it for herself.

[KatieC]

We used to give my Mum Boost and Ensure to keep her weight up. But I always threw them in the blender with some milk and ice cream before I gave them to her. Made a nice mid afternoon shake and far better tasting than the supplement alone.

[myhoneyhoney]

How about taking a weight gainer protein shake such as this. A lot of bodybuilders drink these shakes to gain muscle and little fat. The fat and cholesterol % is fairly low considering how much protein is in each serving.

[Prancer]

How is she at taking in fluids?

There are a ton of calories in things like sports drinks; a lot of smoothies are full of calories, too, and there are always milkshakes. You can make all of those both nutritious and full of calories, especially the smoothies. If she could do a lot of sipping all day, she could take in a lot of extra calories without thinking it's an extra meal (maybe).

She might absorb the nutrients better, too.

[Jenny]

More great ideas - thanks everyone! The liquids/sipping idea is good - she has a Boost every day, but otherwise I think it's the usual coffee in the morning/tea rest of the day habit. I definitely have to find out if they have a blender.