blender recipes for tube feeding/ do's & don'ts

benecalorie

I ordered Benecalorie. The difference is amount of calorie in the size. It is 330 per 1.5 oz that's 3 tablespoons. It is neutral taste so you are not limited to 3 flavors. So you can add to blender foods or even canned foods.

I found it at Walgreen's online for $35.99 plus tax if you ordered and paid for it at the store and pick it up there you don't pay shipping or you can have it shipped to you. That's for 24 servings of 1.5 oz containers.
My husband still eats three meals, drinks 2 milkshakes 500 cal ea (which is what we added this to) and desserts and still lost 5 more lbs. It doesn't help he still mows grass. Even if he got a tube we didn't know what else he could eat more than what he was already. We just got it so the amount of weight gain we will see but it is calories without the volume.


RESOURCE® Benecalorie®RESOURCE ® Benecalorie ®

A low-volume, calorie and protein supplement designed to combat significant unintended weight loss. Benecalorie provides 330 calories and 7 grams of high-quality protein per 1.5 oz serving. Benecalorie's neutral flavor allows for flexible serving options and helps reduce taste fatigue. RESOURCE Benecalorie is a Medical Food -- consumers should consult their physician on the use of this product.


# Patients experiencing unintended weight loss
# Patients with increased nutritional needs
# Cancer, HIV/AIDS, COPD, fluid restricted,
anorexia and burns
Not a total feeding


Caloric Distribution:

Protein: 9% (Calcium Caseinate)
Carbohydrate: 0%
Fat: 91% (High Oleic Sunflower Oil, Mono and Diglycerides)
Calorie Density: 7 cal/mL
Lactose-, gluten- and cholesterol-free, low residue, low sodium



Stir single serving cup into foods and beverages. Recommended foods and beverages include milkshakes, nutritional supplements, yogurt, hot cereal and mashed potatoes.




Nutrition Information


Serving Size
1.5 oz.(41.3 g)
Calories 330
Protein

g
7
Carbohydrate

g
0
Fat

g
33
Fiber

g
0
Sodium

mg
15
Potassium

mg
0
Vitamin C

mg
60
Calcium

mg
100
Vitamin E

IU
30
Phosphorus

mg
55
Zinc

mg
3.75

Resource ® Benecalorie® is a calorie-protein supplement and is not for use as a sole source of nutrition.

IngredientsU-D
High oleic sunflower oil, calcium caseinate, mono and diglycerides, sodium ascorbate, polysorbate 80, sorbic acid*, alpha tocopheryl acetate, benzoic acid*, zinc sulfate, methylparaben*, mixed tocopherols, sucralose.

Thanks Georgia, I'm going to ask my dietitian about it. I could add it to my morning smoothie and give me more calories.

I asked the drugstore if it was the same as Ensure as far as insurance and they said yes.

Nutritional supplementation is not covered under Medicare Part B unless he was tube feed. You would think an oz of prevention would be worth it even if they limited the amount to 1 or 2 a day in the long run would save them money.

I love love love all these ideas! Thank you for the insightful ideas! My PALS Andy had a tube put in about 6 months ago, and it's great for meds, but just recently he has decided to stop eating. The swallowing is just getting too hazardous. I was looking for ideas other than formula, which tends to mess up his bowel program! Blessings!

I have a pharmacy that calls to see if I need more formula and it is delivered. My dr and nutritionist set it up and Medicare pays. I buy Ensure to have something sweet to drink since I still can.

Barry, I might have missed it, but could you share your mornings smoothie recipe? We are just now getting into the tube feedings full time. Andy has fought it, and I read to him your other post about not fighting the tube. Just this morning he aspirated the chili he was attempting to eat and is paying a big price. I'm in contact with our nutritionist (awaiting for a return phone call as I am typing). Thank you!

That's a great tip on the Benecalorie. I'm definitely going to try it. I also order Resource 2.0 from Nestle online, and shipping is free. It's expensive, but I get a $40 discount if I repeat order automatically, so I am having them send an order to me regularly every two weeks.

I have had really scary choking episodes recently trying to eat a treat by mouth. Thank heavens for the tube! Also, I aspirate the tube feedings unless I sit quietly upright for 15-20 minutes, and have once or twice started to regurgitate a tube feeding through my mouth when I bent over for something too soon after a feeding! I'm also taking only a half serving at a time ... I add a lot of water to Resource., and it helps not to overload my poor stomach, which doesn't know what the heck is going on.

Despite slugging down the calories, I'm still losing weight too ... 3 more pounds in June. I'm going to try to take in 3,000 calories a day. I understand that ALS messes with your metabolism, and also I was doing a lot of "weight lifting" when my husband was falling a lot a couple weeks ago ... and had intense twitching all over for a few days after that. I am convinced that twitching burns calories!

Hi Pam.

Here is my morning smoothie recipe, I can manage to swallow this at least as it is nice and thick.

1 Banana
1 package of powdered Carnation Instant breakfast (chocolate, strawberry or vanilla)
1/4 to 1/3 cup of whipping cream
2/3 to 3/4 cup of milk (I use 1% but 2% or homogenized works)
2 tablespoons of ground flax
2 tablespoons of wheat germ
1/2 cup of frozen fruit (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cranberries)

Put it all in a blender and puree it until all of the lumps are gone. Put it in a glass and drink it!

The banana is the thickener, the flax and wheat germ are for fibre, the whipping cream and milk are for the calories and the fruit is for taste and vitamins. I sometimes add a couple of tablespoons of creamy peanut butter for added protein (usually with the chocolate flavour instant breakfast). I drink one of these every morning, I don't know exactly how many calories it is but I think that it is probably 1000 so along with my three Resource 2.0 feeds and the small amount of other stuff that I can manage to eat I am getting 2500 to 3000 calories per day.

There are number of web sites that tells you how many calories a certain food has and I have used them to figure out how to get more calories and protein in. I have thought of adding some protein powder that body builders use but the packages are so huge and expensive I haven't bought any yet.

I hope that this helps Andy, I know that it is pretty much the only thing that I can swallow easily. Just make sure that the consistency is right, too thin or too thick and it will be difficult to swallow. It should flow easily but not be runny.

Barry :smile:

Question: do you normally taste what is put in the tube ?

I ask because there are certain foods that I hate because of the taste. Bananas are on top of that list.

Glen, you don't taste anything that goes into the tube so put your bananas in them. Just make sure that you peel them first! But seriously, when I put a banana in my smoothie there is so much other taste that the banana is hardly noticeable and you probably could omit it and use some other thickening agent like a larger proportion of whipping cream. I don't put anything into my tube but formula but others on here are way more adventurous and inventive and do regular food. I don't see the point in putting anything that is purely for pleasure like beer in the tube because there is no taste.

Barry ... same here, with one exception. I love Coke and want the caffeine, so I have a can a day. I take a sip and spit it out while I'm tubing it for the "whole" Coke experience! And I can definitely feel the cold fizz in my stomach ... a different sensation than Ensure et al and very refreshing.

Also ... when tubing a drink of water, I can feel the coolness immediately at the base of my throat. I'm trying to train my brain to recognize that sensation as thirst being quenched.

Otherwise, I keep the process as simple and easy as possible with Resource and Ensure.

Thanks for the recipe, Barry! I didn't realize you were still swallowing. We had to draw a line in the sand, so to speak, with Andy. Have decided at the moment to totally tube feed, and to try the formula that the nutritionist wants him on. Hoping that this won't flair up any poop issues, which can be a whole different topic (when THOSE muscles go, YOU don't)!

Hi Pam, yes I am still swallowing but just barely. I think that my line in the sand is coming very soon though as even my smoothie is starting to cause me problems. I don't want to think about going 100% tube feed though as I do love food even though I can't eat most things anymore. My peg and formula started out as a supplement to what I could eat but now it is becoming my main food. And I think that when the time comes I will just modify my smoothie so that it is more liquid and will go into my tube easily. I worry about not getting any fibre in my digestive system with only formula so my smoothie with flax and wheat germ will give me some and I might make add some bran too. I don't want any poop issues either! .:shock:

If you use a Vita-Mix you can blend up anything, even steak, and not have to worry about clogging your tube.

Homemade Nutrition Website with Recipes

So glad to see you're all sharing your tube feeding recipe knowledge. We my husband and I started making homemade enteral nutrition we couldn't find any information online at all so I put together a website with the information we learned as we learned it. This information might be helpful to you as well. I have tube feeding recipes, basic equipment, basic techniques and some links to other helpful website. Also, we're always open to adding other people's ideas if you would like to contribute (we'll give you credit, of course!). Anyway, this is just a website we do to help (no ads or sponsorship).

Our website is lucysrealfood.com.

Best wishes,
Lucy