My dad recently suffered a brain injury and has lost his ability to swallow and eat. He is learning how to again slowly, but in the meantime he is on a feeding tube and gets "meals" 6 times a day. The only problem is that the only formulas available on the market are through Abbot and Nestle's brands which contain high volumes of dairy and GMO soy products. He has had constant irritation to his stomach and I have been trying to find a natural alternative to feed him to actually promote healing. I feel that if he is actually given the right nutrition, his brain injury would heal faster and he could progress farther with rehabilitation. Since he is at a rehab facility, we are unable to bring in our own foods that we have blended or prepared.
I know that this is an unusual case, but I was wondering if anyone and ANY suggestions to help or can point me in some sort of direction to figuring out a better solution.
Thanks
Permalink Reply by Amelia on So sorry I am unable to offer any help, and sorry about what you are going through. But wow, good of you to be making the effort. You are trailblazing. Bless you.
Permalink Reply by L on I am sorry for what you are going through, but be excited! I am positive there are some people here that will have great recommendations <3 Many blessings!
Permalink Reply by Peter Csere on That sucks. Ask around - naturopaths, docs, etc. there's bound to be some obscure company out of idaho that manufactures an organic whole foods feeding tube product.
Or, take the James T. Kirk approach. If you're playing a rigged game, change the rulez. Bring him home and throw some green smoothie in his feeding tube. That'll heal him up a lot faster - 5,000 calories a day of bananas and lettuce. Much better "nutrition" too.
Permalink Reply by Maggie on So sorry to hear of your dad's condition - sending my prayers for his recovery...
My baby girl had to be fed via tube as well starting when she was 9 months old - she had some very severe food intolerances and this was just about the time we attempted to introduce foods other than breast milk. We used an elemental formula called "Elecare" - I hated it though, lol and got her off as soon as possible, which still meant almost a year:(
but anyway, it is free of dairy and soy and basically everything that has ever been known to cause an allergy or intolerance. The proteins are broken down into their individual amino acids so it is supposed to digest very easily. So if you have absolutely no choice in feeding formula of some sort, something like that would be a better alternative to the Nestle variety. They make a version of it for older children as well, so perhaps they make something for adults? Or maybe there's another company out there that makes something like that - look for "Elemental Formula". It's mostly available by prescription I think.
Can you give very liquid smoothies and things like that through the tube? Is it an ng tube? I would guess that the diameter of the tube for an adult could accommodate a smoothie without getting clogged. You'd just have to be sure to flush it really well afterwards.
At the very least you could try a smoothie as a supplement to the formula at first? Make sure to clear it by the doc though in case there is a reason why you shouldn't give something else through the tube.
Permalink Reply by Maggie on Here are some elemental versions of the Nestle formula for adults: https://www.specialtyfoodshop.ca/sfs/c-5-adult-semi-elemental-eleme... only the last one is completely elemental (and that's reflected in the price! forgot to mention how expensive it is but depending on where you live and your situation, insurance might cover the cost if you stress to the doc how uncomfortable he is with the current formula and get a prescription.
and fyi - here is info about elemental diets: http://www.livestrong.com/article/312054-elemental-diet/
I still think you should look into blending 'real' food though. But if there is no other option other than formula, look into elementals.
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