Increasing Your Food Intake

For most of us, we need to focus our attention on losing weight rather than gaining it.  For some, however, gaining weight can often be the priority.  In some health conditions, such as Lyme disease or cancer, our appetites suffer, and we begin to lose weight.  Keeping pounds on can be one of the biggest challenges for healing.  Problems with nausea, vomiting, constipation, and bloating are just some of the reasons for this problem.  Striving to maintain your weight can be important to rebuild your immune system, lessen fatigue, and help you recover faster. 

Let’s go through some of the most helpful ways we can gain or at least maintain our weight during those difficult times.  First, focus on eating small meals at least 5 times a day rather than 3 large ones.  Aim to eat or drink something every hour or two during the day.  You can also eat your favorite foods any time of the day.  If breakfast foods are most appetizing to you, try eating them for dinner. 

Take advantage of when you feel the hungriest.  For example, if you are hungriest in the morning, make breakfast your biggest meal.  Eat a snack or have a shake for dinner instead of a big meal.

Drinks can often be very nutritious, especially if you add powdered milk or a protein supplement.  Some commercially prepared health drinks can also be helpful in adding calories – if you are not allergic to them.  Cold drinks are usually tolerated well.  Try serving drinks over ice or blending them to enhance their flavor.  Also, drink fluids between meals instead of with them.  Drinking during meals can make you feel too full, too soon.

Focus on quality of food – not quantity.  When you don’t feel hungry to begin with, eating more can be a daunting task.  An easy way to increase the calories and protein in your diet is to fortify the foods you are already eating.  For example, bananas, pineapple, and dried fruit are higher in calories than grapes, melons, or peaches.  Dried fruit is a calorie-dense snack.  You can also make frozen juice with half the water or use it in smoothies. 

Use only full-fat dairy products.  You can also add powdered milk to fresh milk and cheeses to sandwiches or casseroles.  If you eat granola, add nuts and dried fruit to it.  If you like oatmeal or cream of wheat, make it with whole milk instead of water and add real butter or dried fruit.  Nut butters are also calorie dense and should be a part of your diet as well.  Try consuming at least half a cup of nuts per day.

Soup can also be a welcomed addition to helping add calories.  Bean, split pea, or other cream-based soups are beneficial and can be made with heavy cream.  Top it off with grated cheese or a big dollop of butter. 

Cook your meats in olive, avocado, or even coconut oil.  Eat a variety of meats including poultry, fish, and red meat.  Keep hard-boiled eggs in the refrigerator and add them to salads, soups, and vegetables.  Eat protein at every meal to help maintain muscle mass.

Many people are still under the impressions that fats are bad for you.  Some are – such as hydrated vegetable oils found in prepared or packaged foods.  Do not limit the amount of good fat in your diet, however, such as olives and olive oil, avocados and avocado oils, and raw coconut oil.  Mix these fats in your morning coffee for a healthy jumpstart to your day.  Also, mix in heavy cream, coconut milk, and almond milk.  Use olive oil dressing on salads.  Add in fats to every meal – liberally!  The more the better, but please remember that margarine is not a healthy fat.  Use real, organic butter. 

Increasing the amount of beans and lentils in your diet can also be a healthy way to pack on pounds.  Try adding chickpeas or kidney beans to salads, soups, and casseroles.  Hummus can also be used as a vegetable dip.  Also, serve nuts and seeds on vegetables and salads.  Blend nut butters in shakes, too.

Make the most of your potatoes if you like those as well.  Blend in butter and whole milk, heavy cream, or sour cream.

For dessert, try freezing whole fat Greek yogurt.  Blend it before freezing with dried fruit and nuts or even shaved dark chocolate.  Try adding whipped cream to pancakes, fruit, and whole-milk hot chocolate.

Honey is one of the most nutritious sugars you can consume.  Honey should be locally harvested and raw.  Honey can help add calories and enhance the flavors of many foods.  Try spreading it over baked chicken or ham or add to shakes. – or eat it off the spoon! Please keep in mind that all these suggestions may not be appropriate for everyone.  Diabetics, for example, cannot go overboard on honey or dried fruit.  Chips, sodas, fast food, and white bread are not the healthiest choices for any diet – even for someone who needs to gain weight!  These types of foods are inflammatory to the body and can prolong disease processes rather than help regain health.  They offer little nutrition or benefit to your health.

When in doubt, consult your practitioners at Healing Arts Center for more help specific to your needs.