Two people asked me about tube feeding formulas in the last week. What are the odds? Not a single person has asked me about tube feeds since I left the hospital.
I recommend this product. I have no affiliation with them, haven't tested it personally, and haven't used it clinically, but it is what I would buy if it were myself or a family member who needed it.
However, a patient couldn't get this product in-hand for a whole week. Rather than leave them in limbo, I decided to create a quick and simple tube feeding replacement.
Here it is. This isn't medical advice, this may not be right for you, and you should discuss any and all tube feedings with your doctor or healthcare provider, because you likely have unique nutritional needs that I can't possibly imagine as I write this post. I am also no expert in tube feeding - I am just a general internist.
Combine the following:
Blackstrap molasses, 1 tsp
Essential amino acids, 10-12 grams of protein total (this varies by product)
MCT oil, 1 tsp
Coconut water, unsweetened and unfortified, 1 cup
One dash of salt (0.4 grams)
This should make a little over 8 fluid ounces. It should be free of any debris or particulate. If it isn't, you can always rig a tube feeding system with a filter.
This yields:
135 calories
10-12 grams protein
10 grams carbohydrates
5 grams fat
Approximately one third of calories from protein, fat, and carbohydrates each
Plenty of minerals and vitamins
To reach the nutritional requirements of an inactive adult, you might need ten or more servings of this in a single day.
Here are a few important caveats about nutritional restrictions:
To reach the nutritional requirements of an active adult, you might need fifteen or more servings of this per day
You’ll get plenty of water with this and therefore may not need any additional free water, but you need to check with your doctor or dietician about this
If you are on a 2 liter fluid restriction, this would be 8 servings
If you're on a 2 gram or less sodium restriction, this would be less than 10 servings (you could omit or reduce the salt in that case)
If you're on a potassium restricted diet (less than 3 grams per day), this would be 5 servings or so
I would make this fresh daily and refrigerate between administrations. I am not sure about hang-time. I would give as a bolus, I would warm it to body temperature, and I would flush the tube with warm water afterward to make sure everything has cleared the tube.
Let me know if this is helpful in the comments. This is probably more of a niche problem, but you never know when you're going to need something like this in your back pocket.
Until next time, be well,
Dr. Stillman
I have been thinking about Ensure products and what garbage is put into and fed to the elderly and disabled. Are they just trying to kill them off quicker? About two years ago, against my wishes, my siblings bought this for out elderly Mother. She didn't last long on it. They bought her the kind with extra protein for her dying kidneys. UGH!
I too have issues and warned them when they were done killing her that no one better mention that left over garbage cans to me. So of course after she died they had left over cases of this stuff like I thought they would, and they passed it off to an elderly Aunt who said she used that "product". This elderly aunt passed last month.
Thank you for making this post! The way that we care for the elderly and disabled in this country is shameful. My grandpa was on tube food for the last two years of his life, and it broke my heart reading the ingredients list. We tried getting him on a more holistic, food-based tube food (I forget the brand name, otherwise I'd share here), but unfortunately his digestion was so compromised that it couldn't break down the food and we had to switch back to the Nestle crap.