My mother (94) has no appetite and can not eat much. She is getting very weak. Ensure makes her nauseated. Any suggestions?

If you don't have a good blender, I highly recommend a Ninja, then you can make her smoothies that are suited to her tastes.

A Ninja will do whole foods, so you are getting fiber and all the other nutrients that juicing leaves out.

My husband had some challenges and I made him smoothies everyday for years, he is actually well now and we both believe it was in part the nutrition and a touch from The Lord. I used almond milk, fruits and nuts, added flaxseed, hemp seeds, chia seeds, you can add beets and spinach to get iron and other important nutrients.

I checked into the premade drinks and I was horrified by the ingredients, all of them should be banned, imo. The prices are ridiculous. Many benefits for doing your own. You can make a large batch and store individual serving sizes in the fridge. I would also recommend a good probiotic with a prebiotic like fos. This will help her tolerate food better

I hope you find something that works. If you want some ideas for high calorie, high protein yummy shakes, just message me and I am happy to share.

Was just reading today about a patient getting too much Vit D.
Supplementing with Vit D is now very popular, even at higher doses 2,000 + mg.

At 94, is she getting this supplement? Maybe the Ensure has it as an ingredient, plus she may have been over prescribed and her Vit D levels have not been followed. Something to get checked out. Especially is she has lost weight, and her need for replacement Vit. D has decreased. It is also in the daily multiple vitamins.

The symptoms of too much are nausea and lack of appetite, weakness, plus others.

I like the answers suggesting other drinks besides Ensure to try.

I checked with medical staff on the amount of protein my aunt 92 could have. 50 g is what I was told. She likes the carnation drink and the high protein drinks. She has the opposite problem. Has a few too many calories. The protein drink with 30 g of protein only has about 160-180 calories so it’s good for my aunt but your mom may need something enriched. You could try adding healthy fat like coconut oil to either.
I just wanted to mention that when my mom was really ill, she would tire from feeding herself. So if you haven’t already tried it, you might spoon feed her soups or soft foods and get her to eat a little more. But be careful of respiration pneumonia. A swallowing test could help you know if her liquids need to be thickened.

Try Boost. It is said it tastes the best.

I find those drinks are better as cold as you can get them. Used to freeze my Slimfast till it got like a milkshake.

I think Mom needs to be evaluated. Is she having a swallowing problem? Is she not eating because she is not hungry or thirsty. You know our body starts to shut down when our time is coming. Our bodies no longer digest food so it just sits there. It no longer absorbs nutrients.

I used the powdered ensure and mixed it at half dose. Made drinks sometimes twice a day. Luz would drink that but not the premixed.

JodieMoon, try Carnation Instant Breakfast [it may be now under a new name but still made by Carnation]. You mix the packet with milk. I would suggest Lactaid brand milk because as we age we do tend to have issues with the lactate in milk. Regular milk can upset the stomach big time.

Also we must realize that at 94 that Mom isn't running around the house doing housework, running up and down the stairs doing laundry, or walking a dog or chasing a grand-child. Thus she needs less calories. I would serve Mom what she wants to eat, such as if she want ice cream for breakfast you ask if she wants one scoop or two [depending if she is diabetic or not].

Ensure makes me nauseated too, It's yucky,

Try those protein shakes that they sell at Costco, much more palatable.

A LOT of protein in one, so check with the dr to make sure that isn't too much. Served very cold, they are really just chocolate milk, or vanilla.