Food tips for someone with no appetite
Discussion
Depends on what is causing the lack of appetite - apathy/boredom with food, or a physical condition prohibiting consumption?
If it's the former, then variety is the spice of life. Regular changes of flavour, texture, etc to keep it interesting. For example I can eat the same thing day after day, week after week, without getting bored of it - whereas my wife has to regularly change meals and recipes to prevent it becoming monotonous.
If it's a physical ailment, then perhaps simple and routine could be beneficial. This is why I eat the same things all the time - various food intolerances cause muscle pains and bloating, so I know what to eat and what to avoid.
If it's the former, then variety is the spice of life. Regular changes of flavour, texture, etc to keep it interesting. For example I can eat the same thing day after day, week after week, without getting bored of it - whereas my wife has to regularly change meals and recipes to prevent it becoming monotonous.
If it's a physical ailment, then perhaps simple and routine could be beneficial. This is why I eat the same things all the time - various food intolerances cause muscle pains and bloating, so I know what to eat and what to avoid.
Roderick Spode said:
Depends on what is causing the lack of appetite - apathy/boredom with food, or a physical condition prohibiting consumption?
If it's the former, then variety is the spice of life. Regular changes of flavour, texture, etc to keep it interesting. For example I can eat the same thing day after day, week after week, without getting bored of it - whereas my wife has to regularly change meals and recipes to prevent it becoming monotonous.
If it's a physical ailment, then perhaps simple and routine could be beneficial. This is why I eat the same things all the time - various food intolerances cause muscle pains and bloating, so I know what to eat and what to avoid.
It’s a depression/anxiety thing. Best they can do is one mouth of food then say it tastes like ‘ash’.If it's the former, then variety is the spice of life. Regular changes of flavour, texture, etc to keep it interesting. For example I can eat the same thing day after day, week after week, without getting bored of it - whereas my wife has to regularly change meals and recipes to prevent it becoming monotonous.
If it's a physical ailment, then perhaps simple and routine could be beneficial. This is why I eat the same things all the time - various food intolerances cause muscle pains and bloating, so I know what to eat and what to avoid.
Have managed to get them to ‘eat’ loads of cup a soup, but if I try ‘proper soup’ they can’t eat it. They will eat some cheese and crackers, but that’s about it.
ChevronB19 said:
It’s a depression/anxiety thing. Best they can do is one mouth of food then say it tastes like ‘ash’.
Have managed to get them to ‘eat’ loads of cup a soup, but if I try ‘proper soup’ they can’t eat it. They will eat some cheese and crackers, but that’s about it.
Sorry to hear this. I had a family member go through quite a serious bout of mental illness and depression some years ago - they controlled their interaction with the world by refusing food. The difficulty from your perspective will be to balance the encouraging to eat, without it becoming hectoring. It's a fine line to tread in my experience. I would also advocate the Huel / Complan line of thought as mentioned above - small quantities in a variety of flavours could be sourced and trialled to see if any are appealing. Have managed to get them to ‘eat’ loads of cup a soup, but if I try ‘proper soup’ they can’t eat it. They will eat some cheese and crackers, but that’s about it.
As an aside, a cup-a-soup may only be circa 100 calories, but 100 is better than 0 if the person is willing to consume them in the short term. Likewise cheese and crackers, they can be quite calorific and high in fat with a decent portion of cheese. Might they be interested in trying different types of cheese, to provide new flavours and textures? By all means encourage them to have other things, but try not to put them off anything they are eating.
I had this with an elderly relative who became unwell. . . . . . play a blindfold guessing game with items from your fridge cupboard, example a teaspoon of ketchup, mayo, salad cream. Then up the anti to recognise different biscuits/chocolates then go for the grand prize of buying a selection of crisps and they will eat the bag that tastes good to them. Make it fun and use extreme flavours to make it easy; good luck
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