Bringing back the love of food to patients and caregivers

Encouraging the consumption of a patient’s comfort food is a key way to improve intake. Fortifying this comfort food can lead to better health outcomes and achievement of dietary goals for better healing.

Recipes can be tailored to an individual’s flavour and texture preferences and cover all meal occasions to allow medical beverage consumption to be spread throughout the day.

Medical beverage supplements are generally creamy and slightly thicker than cream. They can, however, replace milk or cream to fortify the energy, protein and vitamins and minerals in a variety of cold and hot meals, snacks and desserts.  The addition of a supplement can impact the food positively in terms of flavour and texture,  to give a richer, creamier, thicker and tastier food.

Fortified recipes generally must be developed to replace part of or all the milk or cream. This contributes to a richer, creamier product which may be a positive or negative outcome, depending on the patient's individual experience and preferences.

These supplements perform well in cold foods, from fridge-chilled desserts to frozen delights such as ice cream. A variety of cold options also allow for patients with ulcers or sensitive skin and mouths to enjoy fortified foods that they enjoy. Milk can be substituted in instant packet desserts providing an easy at-home or bulk catering, high protein option. Texture and thickness can be modified by adding more or less of the product and managing any sticky, or coagulated textures. The quality and functionality of the protein in these supplements are directly linked to how well the recipe performs, and therefore how delicious the end product is.

An important consideration for patients is flavour. In cancer patients, chemotherapy can cause metallic or bitter tastes when eating, which impacts their ability to enjoy some flavours^[1]. Recipes with extensive flavour options such as savoury gravy, comforting chocolate, rich berry and refreshing citrus, allow for individually tailored desserts to account for these deviations and help find a flavour that suits.

Incorporating functional, heat and acid-stable proteins in a beverage or a powder format can be an effective way to improve intake for patients, however only if the supplement maintains or enriches the flavour and textures. The patient experience needs to come first with producing fortified recipes, as well as considering the patient or caregivers ability to make them without complex equipment. Optimising the patient journey and improving nutrition in an acceptable way can improve quality of life significantly, therefore remains a key focus in developing creative options for patients to meet their nutritional needs.