My mom is home after having a stroke and call on is on a puree and thickened liquids diet. Why are thick juices expensive to buy?

Paying for convenience is expensive! Xanthan gum can be purchased in the baking supply section of health food or natural stores. Some stores may carry it in bulk. I just saw it priced at $7/lb at an online store which also sells powdered and dried fruits. You might get a lot of mileage out of such a resource, making your own thickened juice drinks.

I must admit that I tried the stuff that is put into the water. She would not drink it. After I tasted it I understood why. There are other brands of liquid thickeners on the market. I suppose I will just keep trying them until I find one that has no terrible taste. Even that is less expensive than buying the nice lemon flavored water they had her drinking at the nursing home. (No wonder they have to charge so much). I checked on the price of the crandberry juice they were giving her and it was $4.60 per 6 ounce container. There is money to be made out there if your concience can take it!

After my mother had a major neck resection because of cancer, they took water and put this stuff in it that thickened it. She hated it cause it wasn't 'normal' water anymore, but I imagine that the stuff they put in that water was probably expensive. Can you do some research into alternatives to thicken juices? What about good old gelatin? We used to drink that stuff in the '60's cause they told us it helped fingernails grow stronger. Or how about puree bananas added into juice? There has got to be an alternative other then that powder that thickened water. Or maybe the powder alone isn't as expensive as the already thickened juices are. Do some research for yourself and see.