Increase Protein To Prevent Elderly Malnutrition

It is not normal for an elderly person to lose weight. In fact, the elderly should be screened regularly to prevent malnutrition. Do not wait till weight drops to begin intervention to boost muscle mass and weight. Below are some simple but clever ideas to increase protein and calorie content of meals to prevent elderly malnutrition.

Essentially, to boost protein and calorie intake, you would add supplements like Sustagen, Ensure, Enprocal, Pro-cal or Two-cal into the following foods:

Mashed Potato Add supplement into warm mashed potato, may replace milk to increase protein and caloric content.
Soups Add supplement into soup and stir till smooth.
Casseroles / Stews / Curries Sprinkle supplement onto the meal and stir until it dissolves.
Pasta sauces Add supplement to sauces in place of milk or even cream
Porridge Add supplement to porridge and stir.
Pureed Foods Puree foods as usual with supplement and thickening agent. Stir till thicken.
Dessert / Custard Make up pudding as per directions and add supplement to the final product.
Hot Chocolate / Malt Drink Add supplement to drink and stir in the hot milk or water.
Coffee Mix coffee with milk and supplement and stir in the hot water.
Cold Milk Create a paste with supplement and hot water and then add milk. Add one scoop or sachet per 100ml. Refrigerate if not used immediately.
Gravy Add supplement to gravy during preparation in place of milk.
Mayonnaise Fillings Stir supplement into mayonnaise for sandwiches or jacket potato fillings like tuna, egg, mayonnaise
Hot Milk Add supplement and stir until dissolved. Add drinking chocolate, malt or Horlicks for a delicious bed time drink.
Milkshake Paste 5 scoops of supplement and 4 teaspoons of Nesquick together with a little warm water. Add 240ml of cold milk. Natural yoghurt, vanilla ice-cream and whisk well. Serve chilled.
Baked beans, Spaghetti Stir supplement onto warm meal and stir gently until dissolved.
Custard or Rice Pudding Add supplement into warm or cold pudding and serve.
Mousse Mix supplement with the powdered dessert and then make up as directed. Alternatively, stir into the ready made dessert.

Using the above combinations should provide straightforward ways to boost the protein and calorie intake of seniors and thereby prevent malnutrition in the elderly.