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NetWellness provides the highest quality health information and education services created and evaluated by faculty of our partner universities.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
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NetWellness provides the highest quality health information and education services created and evaluated by faculty of our partner universities.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
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Diet and Nutrition |
Motor Neuron Disease06/29/2009 |
My father was diagnosed with MND just under 1 year ago. Over the months he has gone from 14 1/2 stone down to 9 stone which is common with this disease. Unfortunately he is in hospital at the moment but has started eating pureed food due to the problems with swallowing. We are hoping he will be out next week and would like any advice on the best foods we can make to help him with his energy levels but maybe gain some weight too. Your help would be much appreciated.
Your father should eat a diet that includes all food groups - grains, lean dairy, lean meat, fruits, vegetables and fats and oils that don't include trans fats and are high in mono- and poly-unsaturated fat. These are the same recommendations that I give to everyone. All food groups can be pureed. The degree of pureeing depends on your father. Go to mypyramid.gov to determine what his calorie intake should be for his age, height, weight and activity level. The site will divide the calories into food groups and tell you how much he should have from each food group. All food groups are important for proper nutrition, maintaining energy levels, and gaining (or losing) weight. It takes an increase of 3500 calories over maintenance to gain one pound. This can be 500 calories per day over a week. Individual meats, fruits, and vegetables can be pureed in the blender or food processor and thinned to a desirable consistency with meat broth or milk. A trans fat-free butterlike spread can be added for flavor and to make the food a little easier to swallow. If a puree is easier to swallow than a liquid or soup you can thicken savory liquids with instant mashed potato flakes, baby rice cereal or baby oatmeal and sweet liquids with instant pudding or the instant baby cereals. Or use a thickener that needs to be cooked to thicken - flour, cornstarch, tapioca, arrowroot, etc. People with MND often tire quickly when eating, so have your father eat small amounts frequently - 6 or 8 times each day. Sometimes a canned nutritional supplement snack food (Sustagen, Boost, etc) could be used. Here are some specific food ideas: Puree cottage cheese with fresh or canned fruit. Puree a casserole that contains pasta, meat, cheese and vegetables (lasagna, tuna casserole, etc) Oatmeal or cream of wheat made with a little more milk. Custards (savory and sweet), puddings, ice cream, fruit smoothies, yogurt, milk shakes (make all these with extra dry milk added and/or dried egg whites for extra protein in the diet) Pureed stews of meat, potatoes and green or yellow/orange vegetables and seasonings Thick cheese sauce with pureed vegetables and/or pureed meat. Cream soups Fruit juices or vegetable juices (tomato, carrot, V8) You can add dried egg whites or powdered milk to almost anything you put in a blender. Good luck to you.
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Sharron Coplin, MS, RD, LD Lecturer, Food & Nutrition Department of Human Nutrition College of Education and Human Ecology The Ohio State University |
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