Eat better, feel better

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Eating well is important to provide your body with the nutrients it needs to work properly. If you have a poor appetite or have lost weight unintentionally, this leaflet provides you with ideas to increase your energy and protein intake using nourishing drinks, snacks and ‘food boosters’. This can help you to regain strength and prevent further weight loss.

Top tips

• Eat ‘little and often’ throughout the day e.g. 3 to 4 small meals with snacks in between.
• Indulge in the foods you fancy. Opt for the full fat versions.
• Fry or roast foods instead of grilling or boiling them.
• Have a pudding once or twice a day e.g. full fat yogurt, ice cream, cake, custard.
• Have drinks separately from meals as they can fill you up.
• Consider ready meals or a meal delivery service as an alternative to cooking from scratch.
• Stock basic food items in case you are unable to get to the shops e.g. tinned soup, baked beans, puddings and custard.

Drinks

Keeping hydrated is important to help you feel alert, reduce the risk of falls and prevent urine infections. Aim for 6 to 8 cups of fluid every day. In addition to drinking water, other drinks can provide energy and fluid, such as tea and coffee, milk, hot chocolate, smoothies and fruit juice . Nutritional supplement soups and milkshakes e.g. Complan, Meritene Energis, Aymes are available from pharmacies or supermarkets. They come in a range of neutral, sweet and savoury flavours and in both powdered and ready to drink preparations. A vegan and milk free recipe version are available below.

Fortified milk: Have 1 pint every day

Fortified milk: add four tablespoons of dried milk powder into 1 pint of whole milk.

Mix the powder with a small amount of milk to make a paste and then whisk in the rest of the milk. Use this as you would normal milk. This adds 140 calories to a pint of milk without affecting flavour or volume. For a single serving, add two tablespoons of dried milk powder to one glass (250ml) of whole milk.

Snack ideas: Include 2 to 3 snacks per day between meals

Foods high in calories and protein are encouraged to help increase energy and strength.

Sweet options
• 2 to 3 biscuits: chocolate / cream filled / shortbread
• Jam tart
• Chocolate bar
• 2 scoops of ice cream
• Soya dessert
• Full fat custard or rice pudding
• Slice of cake
• Doughnut or cream cake
• Pastry or brioche
• Scone with cream and jam
• Cereal bar
• Bowl of *muesli or cereal with dairy or soya milk
• *Dried fruit: dates / apricots / mango
• *Banana chips
• *Sliced apple and peanut butter
• *Flapjack
• Crumpet with jam/ chocolate spread
• Full fat yoghurt

Savoury options
• *Edamame beans
• Cheese scone
• Cheese and crackers
• Pitta bread and *hummus
• Mini naan bread
• Crumpet with vegetable spread / butter / cheese
• Slice of pizza
• Slice of quiche
• *Nuts and seeds
• 2 mini meat or *vegetable spring rolls
• 5 vegetarian cocktail sausages
• 3 mini sausage rolls or cheese and onion rolls
• Slice of toast with butter / spread / cheese
• ½ a bagel with topping: avocado / smoked salmon and cream cheese
• 2 boiled eggs
• 1 scotch egg or 3 mini vegetarian scotch eggs *2 mini samosas

*High fibre foods are best avoided in the short term if you are recovering from
gastrointestinal surgery.

Food boosters: Fortify your food and drinks

For advice on other nutrients, specific dietary advice for a particular medical conditions e.g. diverticular disease, diabetes etc., or if you are continuing to lose weight, please contact your GP or other healthcare professional who may seek advice from or refer you to a dietitian.

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