What beverage thickening product do you like or hate?

Nestle is good, but Thick It made my mother have a lot of nausea and some vomiting. It continues to thicken the longer it sits. She likes Simply Thick the best.

Thicken up
Worked great :)

We have used Simply Thick for about 2 years. We buy the pump size. They improved their formula about a year ago and it works well for my parent.

We use Thicken Up. I get it on Amazon. Price is currently $9.99 for a 4.4 oz can. Couldn't depend on finding it in stores. I have prime so I don't pay shipping.

I would order ThickenUp through a mail order medical distributor. It's generally about 12 canisters for $90 while one can at Walgreens costs $14.

You'll find that you'll use thickeners a lot. You can use up to 4 spoons to thicken a single 4 oz drink.

Some drinks like Carnation Instant, Boost, Ensure, or Glucerna are better thickened using the SimplyThick gel. I didn't have much luck using powder with those supplement drinks.

so far I like “SimplyThick Easy Mix Gel Thickener- 6g Individual Packets- 200 Ct” mainly because it is a “gel” and it seems to dissolve better than a powder

It really depends on what you're thickening.

I used Thick-it with my DH and it worked great. I tried Thick-it 2 but it wasn't worth the extra $$, IMHO.

For soda, the only thing that worked was Hormel Thick and Easy. DH only needed Nectar but I bought the Honey and one packet was enough for a 16 oz bottle of soda. He preferred the bottles so he didn't have to drink all at once. The soda never lost it's 'fizz' using the Hormel Thick and Easy, Honey consistency. I did feel stupid shaking up his soda though 😏  😂

Do you have a Blender Bottle (shake-it-up bottle)? I had no trouble with using the Thick It - no lumps. Mostly I used it in his hot drinks; coffee and hot chocolate and it dissolved easily enough.

I used ThickIt for my Husband
I never had a problem with it separating As long as I mixed it properly I did not have problems with lumps
But...
If she is eating from a spoon or sipping a glass and saliva gets into the drink or food, and it will the saliva will begin to break down the thickening power of whatever product you use.
AND
You can not add Miralax or other like product to a thickened food. The Mirilax prevents the thickening as it draws moisture.
The best thing you can do is to thicken foods with vegetables or reducing liquid. So soups, stews, casseroles are all easy to do. It is the liquids water, coffee, tea, soda, juice, ice cream that that you can not add Mirialx to.
I suggest that you only mix up what will be used at that sitting. It does not take long to stir in and it dissolves fast so she will not be kept waiting long.

Gross and health hazzard

My Dad uses Thick-it at every meal. I order it thru Amazon. Much cheaper than anywhere else I’ve found. I have it directly shipped to his Memory Care Facility. I’ve found that a 46oz bottle will last for 8 meal times. Good Luck.

I used Thick-It for my husband who had Parkinson's. You can get it at most drug stores. When I ran out one time I used instant pudding in his milk. A lot less ratio then what you would use for making pudding. I used a banana chocolate flavored and it worked beautifully. I asked him how he liked it and he looked me dead in the eye and said I don't like chocolate. We had been married 48 yrs and this was the first I had heard of him not liking chocolate. I had given him chocolate cupcakes and he had gobbled them up. Had to laugh. Made sure I didn't run out of Thick-it again.

I have used all of the thicken products that have been mentioned. I use to buy a whole buggy FULL of Walgreen's brand thickener & ordered more. Problem occurred w constipation. I started making shakes(see my profile) with jello(made up per box instructions) or added a banana to thicken drinks. This is so much better, and no issue with constipation.

Resource Thicken Up clear is the very best, yes it is expensive, but it so much easier to mix in cold or hot liquids. 4.4 oz.Nectar consistency use only 1 scoop per 4oz. 89 servings for nectar consistency. I use 2 scoops per 4oz for honey-like consistency. Tried Thick-it did not like it at all, lumpy and cloudy. I thicken my mothers hot tea, hot chocolate, cold water, juice, oatmeal, and other foods.

I think I’ve used them all . Simply thick comes in a pump and mixed the best out of all of them. I think Thick it was the least expensive. I loved the premixed juices by Hormel, but they can add up fast.

The Resource thickenup seemed to cause loose stools FYI.

My Mom hated all of them. She gave up coffee and tea rather than drink any of it.

I liked the thicken up clear with xanthan gum the best, it seems more expensive than the other formula but the scoops are smaller so you use less. I found the price varied a lot between stores so shop around, in my neighbourhood Walmart had the best price.
Experiment a little to discover the optimal thickness for your grandmother, she may be fine with a slightly looser texture. To cut down on costs rely more on beverages that are already somewhat thick, the V8 is good and commercial or homemade smoothies need less additional thickener. My mom's nursing home routinely thickened soups with thicken up but it is easy to add a little flour or cornstarch or simply puree them to the proper consistency.