Mom with dementia started to eat again. I'm so baffled.

My mom is somewhat similar. Personally, I think that when someone gets dementia, the dementia runs the show. So in my "amateur" opinion, when dementia is on the "eat" channel, the person eats. When the dementia is on the "sleep" channel, the person sleeps. It has nothing to do with physiology or what the person chooses or wants to do. The dementia has taken over the brain, translation, the person. Again, totally nonscientific but it helps me understand behaviors that are totally non understandable. Hope this helps.

My Mom had a potassium deficiency which caused her to have no appetite and weight loss. Now she is taking supplements and appetite has returned. She does prefer sweets and would eat just sweets if allowed. As her dementia progresses she sometimes doesn’t recall eating and wants to eat again or doesn’t want to eat sometimes. She is diabetic so I try for consistency with eating for med purposes. She’ll also say that she can’t taste much any more. It’s a constant challenge. Sometimes just no rhyme or reason with dementia. Good luck.

Taipei, please note that as one ages they lose their sense of taste, except for sweets. That could be part of the puzzle.

Another piece to the puzzle could be Mom's teeth were hurting due to something being stuck between the teeth, so she didn't eat but now everything is ok.

Another possibility is the type of toothpaste she is using. Those whitening toothpaste or one that contain mouthwash can mess with ones taste. I found for myself that buying a very mild toothpaste made a world of difference for both my sig other and myself [we are 73]. We changed over to organic toothpaste.

And let's not forget, dementia can be quite complex.