posted
Hi everyone...I was just wondering if anyone knew of a good/healthy for people with lyme weight gainer drink that might also help me put some pounds on...A very dear friend of mine mentioned this as a possibility to help me put weight on. Any thoughts and/or specific brands to look for? I am looking for stuff with the maximum calories and nutrition for the least volume....thanks so much in advance. Jess.
Posts: 651 | From ct | Registered: Sep 2011
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- HEMP PROTEIN POWDER is the cleanest and most nutritious of them all.
Nuts, too.
But meat, fish and eggs are your heavy hitters for protein, along with LOTS of veggies and good fats - in balance. The protein helps build muscle, the kind of weight gain you need.
IMO, most "weight gainer drinks" can be very damaging to the body. REAL food is the best way to go. Puree it if you have trouble with solid food. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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beths
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Member # 18864
posted
Scandi shake helped me when I was really sick I know it has sugar - but I had lost a lot of weight. It tastes good and has 600 calories
Posts: 1276 | From maryland | Registered: Jan 2009
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- It's always nice to have it taste good. My concern, though, is that it's not just the sugar that can clobber us in most of the offerings.
[some options contain aspartame, and that is toxic to nerve cells]
partially hydrogenated vegetable oils are TRANS FATS and can damage blood vessel walls, the brain, liver & heart.
maltodextrin may contain gluten. That it contains dairy and soy makes it a triple threat for those in ill health. It's also important to know that the "milk powder" is not all that great, either.
GMO foods that destroy the GI Tract; Gluten; Dairy.
------------------
Spirulina has very good nutrients and can be stirred into any pureed or juiced food, too. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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posted
Beths, I just ordered the Scandi shake on Amazon...600 calories a pop is so what I need right now. Thanks for the tip...and thank you keebler as well..I don't plan to drink these drinks indefinitely..I am using them as a tool to put weight on so I am out of immediate danger. When I am not severely underweight, I can go back to a "perfect" diet. I know its hard cuz you don't wanna rob Peter to pay Paul so to speak...and yes, these drinks do have a fair amount of sugar, but I think its my personal best option right now. It is worth a shot , anyway. Jess.
Posts: 651 | From ct | Registered: Sep 2011
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
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posted
- Trans Fats can damage very quickly - within hours, actually. It does not take years. You might want to read this, and also further explore with a full web and medical literature search.
The health dangers of trans fats have been known for decades, yet food companies still poison customers with hydrogenated oils -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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posted
Thank you keebler...I don't doubt the dangers of trans fats and high sugar but I also know the danger of staying where I am at...I have tried the perfect lyme diet for months and I continue to deteriorate. I need to try another path..if I feel sicker or if it harms me in some way, I will change direction. But the "right way" isn't working for me, and-as my dear friend says-we all kind of have to be our own drs with this stuff...I need to try to restore some weight.
You make incredibly salient points, but this is about immediate survival. Once I get out of danger, as I stated previously, I can reconfigure my diet. Right now I need to just stay alive for the forseeable future. Jess.
Posts: 651 | From ct | Registered: Sep 2011
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
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. . . in 1978, Dr Mary Enig proved that cancer rates were directly related to consumption of vegetable oils (including hydrogenated fats) and total fat intake, but NOT related to animal fat consumption. . . .
. . . Hydrogenated fats are literally "plastics", whch do not have the same properties as natural fats. . . .
. . . What is Hydrogenation?
Hydrogenation is the chemical name for the addition of hydrogen to an existing molecule, usually an organic molecule which has a doubl-bond between two carbon atoms. That bond is broken and a hydrogen atom binds to each of the free bonds on adjacent carbon atoms.
H2C=CH2 becomes H3C-CH3
This is achieved by forcing hydrogen, at high temperature (250-400C) and pressure into the liquid oil, usually in the presence of a catalyst such as nickel or platinum, over several hours.
Unfortunately, the process can't control where the hydrogen atoms are added to the molecule, resulting in a mixture of totally unnatural fats, many of which are trans fatty acids. Fatty acids are the "building blocks" of fats, in much the same way as amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.
The resulting fats are totally unnatural hydrogenated fats.
The consequences of of creating hydrogenated fats are:
� The melting point of the oil is raised, turning many previously liquid oils into solids.
� Shelf-life is increased, as the resulting oil is less susceptible to degrading over time (maybe bacteria have a difficult time eating it too!).
� All nutritional value in the original oil is lost.
� The texture of the resultant solid can be made to resemble that of natural, animal fats.
� The previously perfectly natural oil becomes a totally unnatural, dangerous, relatively undigestable "plastic".
� Tissues made with the "false" fat cannot function properly, as thousands of enzymes can't bind to them, giving rise to a host of disease states. . . .
Hydrogenated oils are saturated fats and behave that way in the body. Crackers or cookies made with hydrogenated fats may proclaim themselves to be cholesterol-free, but a closer look at the label will show that the product still contains plenty of artery-clogging saturated fat. There's also a problem with these fats that the label won't tell you about.
Hydrogenated fats contain another kind of fat that falls outside of the saturated and unsaturated categories. . . .
. . . Dr. Udo Erasmus in his book Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill
aptly describes trans fatty acids as a "molecule that has its 'head on backwards'." Trans fats are as bad (or worse) for your arteries as saturated fats. . . .
- the full, and very detailed article, at the link above.
posted
Beths-how many shakes did you drink a day, and how long until you noticed some weight gain? Jess.
Posts: 651 | From ct | Registered: Sep 2011
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beths
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
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posted
I drank 1-2 a day. My doctor had told me they were gonna do tube feeding if I didn't gain weight. So it worked in a couple of months
Posts: 1276 | From maryland | Registered: Jan 2009
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posted
beths, that is exactly what my dr is mentioning, tube feeding and it is my primary goal to avoid that right now..Thanks so very very much for the tip...if this works, I owe ya massively. Jess.
Posts: 651 | From ct | Registered: Sep 2011
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posted
Yesterday I blended avocado, nuts, fruit and rice milk. It wasn't very good but gave me some good fats and calories. I'm trying to gain weight too.
Posts: 415 | From USA | Registered: Jun 2012
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Ellen101
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posted
Is ensure a possibility? Not sure how many calories, or if it would even be enough, but perhaps as a supplement.
Posts: 1748 | From United States | Registered: Dec 2011
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posted
Ellen, I drink a lot of Ensure...it isn't enough though. I ordered the Scandi shake that beths mentioned though...it has a ton of calories, so I am hoping it will help stabilize things. Jess.
Posts: 651 | From ct | Registered: Sep 2011
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beths
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 18864
posted
I was able to put a few pounds on- more importantly I stopped losing weight. They use them in hospitals for severely underweight patients. They are easy digestible- I didn't barf them up. I actually blended them with whey protein powder
I know they may not of been the healthiest option, but I could keep them down and reverse the weight lose. Ensure made me vomit. The vanilla weren't horrible- my GI doc wanted me to blend them with fruit a d the protein powder for the vitamins. I threw in my probiotics too- opened the capsule and dumped it in.
Thank goodness my gastroparesis is long gone except on bad Herx days. Posts: 1276 | From maryland | Registered: Jan 2009
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My sweetie (who has the MS diagnosis w/ lyme) lost a ton of weight earlier this year, and it was really getting scary.
I bought some of the protein powder that bodybuilders use -- one called "Serious Mass" (by Optimum Nutrition) from GNC, and another from VitaCost, called Super Gainer's Fuel (by Twinlab) -- Those things pack some serious calories! The Twinlab one has 1860 calories a serving (a serving is 4 large scoops of powder) - and is absolutely loaded with nutrition.
They do have sugars and a lot of carbohydrates -- but they've worked wonders for putting weight on him when nothing else would.
I add fruit, yogurt or kefir, and heavy cream or full fat coconut milk to them and make smoothies, (sometimes also add almond or sunflower butter, honey or molasses, etc.)
I can easily pack 2500 calories into a glass that way, and he loves them. He says they help a lot with energy, as well as with weight. He drinks one of those daily in addition to eating meals.
We were both surprised that he seems to have regained a lot of muscle, since he's very sedentary -- but he's regained much of the muscle that he had lost. So far, he's gained about 12 lbs, which has made a huge difference. He's got another 20 or so to go.... and although he is maintaining what he has gained, it seems to have leveled off now.
Good luck to everyone who is struggling with this -- I hope you find something that works!
-------------------- "Looks like freedom but it feels like death.. It's something in between, I guess"
Leonard Cohen, from the song "Closing Time" Posts: 822 | From California | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
Minimonkey-thanks so much for the info!! At this point I consider the sugars and carbs to be of secondary importance-I need something to put weight on as quickly as possible and I am so glad that worked for your love. How fascinating about the regaining muscle even with him being sedentary too. I have to gain at least 20 pounds to be out of immediate danger, according to my drs. One glass with 2500 calories? That would be amazingly helpful...I am going to try your suggestion asap...
Also, I love that you quote Leonard Cohen...the best singer songwriter of all time...random, but it had to be noted . Jess.
Posts: 651 | From ct | Registered: Sep 2011
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MannaMe
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 33330
posted
My nephew used coconut milk to help gain weight.
He was an acid reflux baby and was underweight and undersized until his mom started giving him coconut milk.
She found a brand from Vitacost that was a good price.
Posts: 2252 | From USA | Registered: Aug 2011
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posted
For me to stop the weight loss, I had to fix my appetite.
In other words, it didn't matter what I ate or drank, I could barely get it down and rarely kept it down because I
was *not* the least bit hungry or interested in food at all. The thought of eating anything
made me feel like I was going to vomit . . . again. I was always nauseous.
I live in a state where medical cannabis is legal. My LLMD gave me a prescription for it.
It has stopped my weight loss in its tracks. Since I started it, I havent lost any more weight.
Also, I feel hungry again. I haven't gained a lot of weight back, but I am not trying to.
I just feel able to better absorb nutrition now, can eat veggies without barfing.
I don't know if CT is a medical cannabis state but just wanted to share what has helped me stop the pounds from
falling off me. I know I could gain too since I have such an increased appetite from the cannabis; but I am okay with
this weight, so I am back on the Lyme/candida diet and have been maintaining my weight, not losing any more, with the
help of the cannabis. I hope you find what works for you soon, so you feel better and get some strength back.
Posts: 331 | From West Coast | Registered: Jan 2012
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- Remember, too, that it's not just about calories but getting EXCELLENT nutrients into your cells.
That matters more than the calories, actually, for "bad" calories (fake, processed foods, old & rancid oils, additives) can do a lot of damage whereas, calories from superb nutrients (real food, with care from seed to table) will pull double duty for you.
Keeping plastics out of food is also of vital importance. So many packaged foods absorb the petroleum packaging. Search: endocrine disruptors.
A phone consult with this professional might be the best direction to take so you have help sorting out the best choices and methods. See the "connect" link, bottom of page for her email.
Living (Well!) with Gastroparesis: Answers, Advice, Tips & Recipes for a Healthier, Happier Life
December 2011 - About the Author:
. . . currently the only Certified Health Counselor specializing in gastroparesis management and one of very few health professionals with both personal and professional experience with the condition. . . .
posted
Chastain -- that was our logic, too, about the sugars. At a point, it was just a matter of getting major calories into him, and with as many nutrients as possible in the process.
I think the easily digestible protein along with the amino acids and other nutrients really helped with the restoring of muscle.
Good luck to you -- I know how scary this is, and it sounds like you are in some serious danger with your weight.
-------------------- "Looks like freedom but it feels like death.. It's something in between, I guess"
Leonard Cohen, from the song "Closing Time" Posts: 822 | From California | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
Minimonkey-yes definitely..it is the calories and the maximum nutrients that matter most right now, no question. It is TERRIBLY scary-my poor father...I am spending time with him today and he took one look at me and he cried...He's like, "my poor child is a skeletal figure...I just want you healthy" ...it just breaks my heart to worry people, ya know?
and YES..Leonard Cohen is a god to me.."chelsea hotel no 2" is my favorite song of all time . Thanks again so much. Jess.
Posts: 651 | From ct | Registered: Sep 2011
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canefan17
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 22149
posted
Bump
Any "healthy" weight gainers? I am losing for liquid shakes or something I can blend.
I know all the foods to eat etc
Posts: 5394 | From Houston, Tx | Registered: Aug 2009
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. Jess.
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