Grandfather (84) loss taste for food and weight. Is protein supplement a good help?
he only eats his favorites not regular food. doesn't like ensure or other shakes.. want to add protein supplement powder to his favorite food to help gain weight......helppp
I'm thinking that the senses dull as we age and that sweet is probably one of the last tastes to go. I have seen this so often. FIL a diabetic sneaks candy at an alarming rate. I found 11 bags and three boxes of crackers in his room last week. He eat three very hearty meals a day and I prepare a special healthful dessert every night...but he still does this to his detriment. My aunt who passed at 93, was bedridden with a live in care giver, did I say bedridden??? Would wait till the lady went to sleep and would get out of the bed and eat a half gallon of ice cream and stella doro cookies...slip into a diabetic coma . Would eat nothing and repeat cycle. Mom only wanted chocolate ice cream, pancakes with syrup and coffee. Frankly at the later stages, I say who cares what they eat, just that they do eat something. Not like they are training for a marathon!
It is very fishy tasting, even the flavored variety. Your mom probably disguised it with molasses/malt/honey/cherry. After the Great Depression, when men signed up for the army, many were rejected for underweight. The doctors told them to skim the cream off the milk and drink it. Back then milk was not homogenized and the cream would float to the top of the bottle.
OMG, cod liver oil... my Mom gave that to me all throughout my childhood. It must have done some good back then as I had perfect attendance in school.
A few years ago my significant other and I tried it just for the heck of it.... EWKKKKK.... no way we could stomach it. It just didn't taste quite the same as what we both remembered.
FreqFlyer, I don't use Reddi-Whip or canned whipped cream; I buy the cream and whip it myself. If I make a mistake and whip it too long, I just end up with my own butter. Add some chopped parsley or chives and I have herb butter.
The chocolate cream pies do come with whipped cream added, so that's enough for Dad. For whatever reason, whipped cream isn't high on his desirable sugars list.
I do have a decadent recipe for chocolate silk pie which will give me headaches if I eat too much of it. Fortunately for me I don't know where that recipe is now.
I think the lack of coordination you experience after chocolate consumption might be from the rapid sugar drops and accompanying rapid onset of fatigue. I've never experienced stuttering - that's a new one.
Pam, do you work with small animals? Large animals? Marine animals/mammals?
I think my father's grandmother fed him cod liver oil when he was a child - it is an old fashioned cure as you write, as was boneset although right now I can't recall what it was used for. These days, most folks go to the pharmacy section for cures instead of looking up remedies in their herbal guidebooks.
I'm a wildlife rehabilitator and when starving animals come in we feed them small amounts of Nutri-Cal, a product for cats and dogs. Basically it is cod liver oil and molasses. It is calorie dense. In the UK a humans' product is Potter's Malt Extract & Cod Liver oil. In Australia the name is Saunder's. If you make your own, I would mix 1 tbsp. malt extract or molasses with a 1/2 tsp cod liver oil. This is an old fashioned cure and he might even like it.
GardenArtist, do you what Reddi Whip crème topping with that?
I know I have to be careful about eating too much chocolate as I feel the spikes and it makes me feel uncoordinated and I would stutter when I talked.... never could figure that one out.
My Mom always had desert after lunch and dinner... it was like a prize.... now with all the sweets she gets, they must have desert after breakfast and mid-day snacks :)
One good snack is "Emerald Breakfast on the Go" emeraldnuts/products/breakfast-on-the-go/ it's a very nice blend of nuts, raisins and sweet granola... doesn't taste like twigs and bark like so many of those natural foods taste :)
FreqFlyer, that's just too funny! I could actually live with everything that's on your other's shopping list, especially the fudge ripple ice cream! I wish I was in a situation where I needed to gain weight - always been the other way around.
I noticed a few years ago my father was eating a lot more sugary foods and didn't understand it because he's always had a military discipline when it comes to foods, carefully maintinaing his 135 pound weight his whole life except once when he went up to 150. He would eat one cookie per day, no more. All that's changed, although he's still thin and losing weight.
Then I noticed others here mentioning their loved ones were eating high sugar foods.
What I think is just my opinion; I've done no research on this. I eat sugary food when I'm depressed, fatigued, or need a pick-me-up on a caregiving or bad day. They don't provide any consistent energy, but they are mood elevators.
So I think that's why elders crave them, to stave off the fear, anxiety, depression they feel but perhaps have not analyzed to know it's bothering them. I think it's just instinctive, not necessarily rational thinking.
What I've done is try to refocus on foods that are uppers but also have good things in them. I'll get fruit pies, with only an occasional cream pie. I've tried to take away the cookies, because the crumbs produce coughing fits.
The other concern I've had about the high sugar foods are the sugar spikes, which I think were responsible for his falls.
This is an ongoing task. I'm open to suggestions if you have some. In the meantime, please pass me a big dish of that fudge ripple ice cream. I mowed the lawn in high humidity trying to beat the onset of more heat and T-storms, and now I'm the one in need of an energy boost!
Many years ago when I needed to gain some weight, one doctor recommended Carnation Instant Breakfast added to a glass of milk.... it really did help. But check with your grandfather's doctor to see if he could do that to make sure there isn't a limitation on sugars.
GardenArtist, I am glad you posted that some elders seem to crave higher sugar foods as I was wondering about my Mom.... on her weekly grocery list I would see apple pie, gallon of fudge ripple ice cream, several boxes of Little Debbie's Fudge Rounds or Zebras, a box of 4 large chocolate chip muffins, Enternmann's chocolate loaf, and Pepperidge Farm Soft brownie cookies.... neither of my parents are overweight.... they must be feeding the squirrels.
If he hasn't been seen recently by an internist, primary care physician or gerontologist, that would be my first choice. You want to ensure there's no medical reason for his loss of taste and weight.
Does he have a cardiac condition and has he ever taken Amiodarone? Our neurologist advised that it can cause loss of taste, smell and peripheral neuropathy.
Our physicians have recommended Boost, but if your GF doesn't like the shakes, I think your idea to try a protein supplement powder might be appropriate. I would ask any of the same type of physicians first mentioned just to be sure, especially if your GF takes Warfarin/Coumadin. Some of the Boost type drinks have Vitamin K, which counters the effect of anticoagulants.
Years ago a rehab facility doctor cautioned us about the use of shakes with K, but the pharmacists at the anti-coagulation clinic we go to said there's not enough K to affect my father's blood values. Best to be sure though.
You might also try herbal flavorings on his food to see if that makes a difference.
Do his "favorites" provide a well rounded diet? I kind of suspect not. Some elders seem to crave higher sugar foods.
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A few years ago my significant other and I tried it just for the heck of it.... EWKKKKK.... no way we could stomach it. It just didn't taste quite the same as what we both remembered.
The chocolate cream pies do come with whipped cream added, so that's enough for Dad. For whatever reason, whipped cream isn't high on his desirable sugars list.
I do have a decadent recipe for chocolate silk pie which will give me headaches if I eat too much of it. Fortunately for me I don't know where that recipe is now.
I think the lack of coordination you experience after chocolate consumption might be from the rapid sugar drops and accompanying rapid onset of fatigue. I've never experienced stuttering - that's a new one.
Pam, do you work with small animals? Large animals? Marine animals/mammals?
I think my father's grandmother fed him cod liver oil when he was a child - it is an old fashioned cure as you write, as was boneset although right now I can't recall what it was used for. These days, most folks go to the pharmacy section for cures instead of looking up remedies in their herbal guidebooks.
I know I have to be careful about eating too much chocolate as I feel the spikes and it makes me feel uncoordinated and I would stutter when I talked.... never could figure that one out.
My Mom always had desert after lunch and dinner... it was like a prize.... now with all the sweets she gets, they must have desert after breakfast and mid-day snacks :)
One good snack is "Emerald Breakfast on the Go" emeraldnuts/products/breakfast-on-the-go/ it's a very nice blend of nuts, raisins and sweet granola... doesn't taste like twigs and bark like so many of those natural foods taste :)
I noticed a few years ago my father was eating a lot more sugary foods and didn't understand it because he's always had a military discipline when it comes to foods, carefully maintinaing his 135 pound weight his whole life except once when he went up to 150. He would eat one cookie per day, no more. All that's changed, although he's still thin and losing weight.
Then I noticed others here mentioning their loved ones were eating high sugar foods.
What I think is just my opinion; I've done no research on this. I eat sugary food when I'm depressed, fatigued, or need a pick-me-up on a caregiving or bad day. They don't provide any consistent energy, but they are mood elevators.
So I think that's why elders crave them, to stave off the fear, anxiety, depression they feel but perhaps have not analyzed to know it's bothering them. I think it's just instinctive, not necessarily rational thinking.
What I've done is try to refocus on foods that are uppers but also have good things in them. I'll get fruit pies, with only an occasional cream pie. I've tried to take away the cookies, because the crumbs produce coughing fits.
The other concern I've had about the high sugar foods are the sugar spikes, which I think were responsible for his falls.
This is an ongoing task. I'm open to suggestions if you have some. In the meantime, please pass me a big dish of that fudge ripple ice cream. I mowed the lawn in high humidity trying to beat the onset of more heat and T-storms, and now I'm the one in need of an energy boost!
GardenArtist, I am glad you posted that some elders seem to crave higher sugar foods as I was wondering about my Mom.... on her weekly grocery list I would see apple pie, gallon of fudge ripple ice cream, several boxes of Little Debbie's Fudge Rounds or Zebras, a box of 4 large chocolate chip muffins, Enternmann's chocolate loaf, and Pepperidge Farm Soft brownie cookies.... neither of my parents are overweight.... they must be feeding the squirrels.
Does he have a cardiac condition and has he ever taken Amiodarone? Our neurologist advised that it can cause loss of taste, smell and peripheral neuropathy.
Our physicians have recommended Boost, but if your GF doesn't like the shakes, I think your idea to try a protein supplement powder might be appropriate. I would ask any of the same type of physicians first mentioned just to be sure, especially if your GF takes Warfarin/Coumadin. Some of the Boost type drinks have Vitamin K, which counters the effect of anticoagulants.
Years ago a rehab facility doctor cautioned us about the use of shakes with K, but the pharmacists at the anti-coagulation clinic we go to said there's not enough K to affect my father's blood values. Best to be sure though.
You might also try herbal flavorings on his food to see if that makes a difference.
Do his "favorites" provide a well rounded diet? I kind of suspect not. Some elders seem to crave higher sugar foods.