If they are relying on boost & smoothies because they have difficulty chewing putting them at risk for aspiration, then a liquid diet would be the safest alternative. There are many healthy ingredients or supplements that can be blended into smoothies. There are many different types of boost/ensure to provide a diet best suited to meet their individual dietary needs or restrictions. I would ask their MD to refer to a Registered Dietician who can help assess how to best meet their dietary requirements or restrictions while on a liquid diet.
My mother hasn't eaten since December 17, 2020 and survives on one or two Ensures a day, and her caregivers push fluids as well.
Apparently it can be done. I thought she'd have warted away by now (and she has indeed lost at least 40 pounds), but she doesn't burn much in the way of calories in a day so I guess it's enough to keep her going. She's on hospice, though, and her nurse has said it won't work forever.
It's her choice not to eat, though, so we aren't pushing her beyond keeping her hydrated and offering food.
My MIL is pretty much living on BOOST or ENSURE shakes. (I believe they are pretty close to the same thing). Oh, and a couple Diet Cokes per day.
She's 90 and completely shut in--getting her to leave the house for her COVID shots tooks an act of Congress. Other than those, she has not left her house for 14 months.
SIL is the only person allowed in her house, and she goes up most days of the week. She does grocery shop, but MIL is too frail to cook a meal, even microwaving something is beyond her.
The wheels on meals is who supplies the shakes--IDK, all I know is that they put them on the front porch and she cannot pick up the box, so somebody has to go over to her place to move them from the front porch to the back. (Not INTO the house, just on the porch. So weird.) I guess they also open the box and she just walks out the 2 steps to get a shake. Now the weather is getting warmer, she'll be drinking warm ones, I guess. There's no way she can lift the box and even getting one shake is fraught with drama. (She needs a walker but won't use it as it makes her look old).
So basically, she is living on shakes. She hasn't lost weight. She's nutty as a fruitcake, but her kids would NEVER put her in a NH. NEVER.
It's not complete nutrition, but it's better than nothing.
Please check Boost ingredients. The first thing is water. second is Glucose syrup and then sugar. These are the main ingredients. Not good for a diabetic. Its for supplementing their diet. I would make sure those smoothies are healthy. More of them then Boost. And the word Carrageenan is a thickener that my daughter cannot tolerate. She has IBS. Side effects are.
WATER, GLUCOSE SYRUP, SUGAR, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, AND LESS THAN 2% OF CANOLA OIL, COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI, VITAMINS AND MINERALS‡, SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, CELLULOSE GEL AND GUM, SALT, SOY LECITHIN, CARRAGEENAN, STEVIA LEAF EXTRACT, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR
My mother has Alzheimer's. At one time, she lost her taste for food and refused to eat. She survived on 6-8 bottles of Glucerna nutritional shakes a day for more than a year, maybe almost 2 years. She didn't eat anything else. She actually got stronger physically due to the shake diet. Didn't need to use her walker anymore, and could even climb one flight of stairs. I was shocked.
How old is the person having this diet? If they are very old, like mid 80's or older, my opinion is to let them eat whatever they want. There are so many things that can go off the rails for them health-wise, diet is usually the least of their problems. If it prevents a battle to get them to eat other things, let them have what they want. At least they are eating.
There are many healthy ingredients or supplements that can be blended into smoothies. There are many different types of boost/ensure to provide a diet best suited to meet their individual dietary needs or restrictions.
I would ask their MD to refer to a Registered Dietician who can help assess how to best meet their dietary requirements or restrictions while on a liquid diet.
Apparently it can be done. I thought she'd have warted away by now (and she has indeed lost at least 40 pounds), but she doesn't burn much in the way of calories in a day so I guess it's enough to keep her going. She's on hospice, though, and her nurse has said it won't work forever.
It's her choice not to eat, though, so we aren't pushing her beyond keeping her hydrated and offering food.
She's 90 and completely shut in--getting her to leave the house for her COVID shots tooks an act of Congress. Other than those, she has not left her house for 14 months.
SIL is the only person allowed in her house, and she goes up most days of the week. She does grocery shop, but MIL is too frail to cook a meal, even microwaving something is beyond her.
The wheels on meals is who supplies the shakes--IDK, all I know is that they put them on the front porch and she cannot pick up the box, so somebody has to go over to her place to move them from the front porch to the back. (Not INTO the house, just on the porch. So weird.) I guess they also open the box and she just walks out the 2 steps to get a shake. Now the weather is getting warmer, she'll be drinking warm ones, I guess. There's no way she can lift the box and even getting one shake is fraught with drama. (She needs a walker but won't use it as it makes her look old).
So basically, she is living on shakes. She hasn't lost weight. She's nutty as a fruitcake, but her kids would NEVER put her in a NH. NEVER.
It's not complete nutrition, but it's better than nothing.
inflammation.
bloating.
irritable bowel syndrome and IBD.
glucose intolerance.
colon cancer.
food allergies.
Ingredients in Boost
WATER, GLUCOSE SYRUP, SUGAR, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, AND LESS THAN 2% OF CANOLA OIL, COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI, VITAMINS AND MINERALS‡, SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, CELLULOSE GEL AND GUM, SALT, SOY LECITHIN, CARRAGEENAN, STEVIA LEAF EXTRACT, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR