Dietary deficiencies and supplementation

[Streetwise]

LOL! Seriously, though,...you are on a social media site. Two, decades of working within the medical field, it is very common to not have the answers,...but that does not stop anyone. Rather than shrugging our shoulders and being content with not knowing,...we spend a lot of time finding out those answers. The typical mindset of people in healthcare is, "Someone knows." The information may not be at your finger tips at the moment, but someone, somewhere has the information. Looking up scientific journals is actually the easy part,...the harder part is communicating with the researchers, themselves,...but many of us do. I have gotten calls in the middle of my shift from physicians thousands of miles away,...on research I did from years ago. Literally, the physician called me from the bedside,...put me right on the spot,...and I had to remember things from years ago because a life mattered right then and there. So, when I say contact one of the top researchers in the field,...because he is in your own "backyard",...that is not an unordinary thing I would do myself. Many people who are at the tops of their fields are often neuro-divergent themselves,...often on the spectrum,...and when they are speaking with someone also interested in their "special interest",...they will talk your ear off.

I wasn't talking about a clinic I was asking for members of this forums experience in being clear when communicating I don't understand the intention of your first abbreviation LOL ?was it base sarcasm?

 

[grommet]

I actually ordered some Huel powder today, it should be here next week or the week after. I will let you know!

Thank you!

 

[SDRSpark]

Thank you!

The Huel arrived yesterday, and I'm having some now. It serves the purpose - it doesn't seem to be bothering my stomach (so it's already an improvement over the Soylent, which was just hard to get down). The texture and taste is weird, but not unexpected. This is about what I would expect from a "complete meal in a shaker bottle" and I figured it would be a little gritty and taste weird. It's not all that enjoyable, but it's not difficult to get down.

It's fit for purpose. Quick, easy, almost no cleanup, inexpensive (less than $2 per meal) and a lot better nutritionally than some other options (such as ramen noodles). The thing that remains to be seen is if I get hungry again in an hour, or if it causes digestive issues later. If not, I could definitely be happy with it.

 

[grommet]

The Huel arrived yesterday, and I'm having some now. It serves the purpose - it doesn't seem to be bothering my stomach (so it's already an improvement over the Soylent, which was just hard to get down). The texture and taste is weird, but not unexpected. This is about what I would expect from a "complete meal in a shaker bottle" and I figured it would be a little gritty and taste weird. It's not all that enjoyable, but it's not difficult to get down.

It's fit for purpose. Quick, easy, almost no cleanup, inexpensive (less than $2 per meal) and a lot better nutritionally than some other options (such as ramen noodles). The thing that remains to be seen is if I get hungry again in an hour, or if it causes digestive issues later. If not, I could definitely be happy with it.

Thank you so much for the report. If you find out anything more in the next fews days I would like to hear about it if you would share. I am going online now to try and find the drink. I don't want to get my hopes up too much but I guess they have gone up a bit. If I really could one day just drink my food instead of eating proper, that would be so good.

Right now I am eating oatmeal, canned spinach, fresh peas, raw walnuts, dry popped popcorn and protein powder. All of it is for function, not taste. It's the silliest fantasy but I imagine being able to hook a tube up to me in bed and get my nutrients while I sleep then not have to deal with food at all during the day.

I know a lot of people love food very much. I don't understand that but I do believe them when they say how happy it makes them. I wish they did not make fun of me for no being that way at all. If it's not too sharp a turn in the subject I would like to make the point of some people being asexual. They do not miss out on sex, they do not have a desire. I am not sadder for not having eaters pleasure in food, I am quite happy not eating. I have plenty of other pleasures.

I may have digressed, sorry. Excited to hear about this new possibility.

 

[SDRSpark]

Thank you so much for the report. If you find out anything more in the next fews days I would like to hear about it if you would share. I am going online now to try and find the drink. I don't want to get my hopes up too much but I guess they have gone up a bit. If I really could one day just drink my food instead of eating proper, that would be so good.

Right now I am eating oatmeal, canned spinach, fresh peas, raw walnuts, dry popped popcorn and protein powder. All of it is for function, not taste. It's the silliest fantasy but I imagine being able to hook a tube up to me in bed and get my nutrients while I sleep then not have to deal with food at all during the day.

I know a lot of people love food very much. I don't understand that but I do believe them when they say how happy it makes them. I wish they did not make fun of me for no being that way at all. If it's not too sharp a turn in the subject I would like to make the point of some people being asexual. They do not miss out on sex, they do not have a desire. I am not sadder for not having eaters pleasure in food, I am quite happy not eating. I have plenty of other pleasures.

I may have digressed, sorry. Excited to hear about this new possibility.

It was weird not having that "full" feeling, but I wasn't unusually hungry by my break/snack time. I WAS hungry, but not so much that it's out of the ordinary.

I suspect that there's going to be a learning/adjustment curve to this.

 

[SDRSpark]

Update two:

Yesterday I tried the vanilla and berry flavors mixed together. Today I tried them separately. They're a lot better separately. (Not that they're bad mixed together, either). I also figured out that if you add the water to the shaker first, THEN the powder, it's easier to measure and mixes better. (I screwed that up yesterday.)

I can recommend both the vanilla and berry flavors.

A partial liquid diet is kind of a mind bender. I keep thinking that I'm still hungry, even though I'm probably not really - and if I were eating liquid soup, I probably wouldn't think I was still hungry. I'm guessing this is a psychological thing. Drinking my complete calories out of a shaker doesn't seem right lol.

I'm still eating "real food" for dinner (my intent was never to give up solid food, just to give up having to cook and clean up lunch and improve my nutrition at the same time). I'm now looking at Huel's "hot and savory" meals - they're the same idea as the shakes, but made with hot water. They're about the same price as the TV dinners that I ate every day for lunch pre-pandemic, but I'm sure a lot better from a nutritional standpoint. Reviews on them are mixed - the Thai Green Curry is supposed to be REALLY good, and the Tomato Herb is supposedly barely edible lol.

An added bonus to this is that my fluid intake is also better/easier. I'm getting two glasses of water for a full "meal" and one glass for a "snack". I use my Samsung watch to track my fluid intake, and I found yesterday that I'd hit my goal sooner/easier than I had on previous days. (This is something I have difficulty with when I'm not working - I schedule my snacks/drinks around work, but when I'm not working, I lose my routine entirely, so we'll see how this goes on the weekends.)

 

[grommet]

Update two:

Yesterday I tried the vanilla and berry flavors mixed together. Today I tried them separately. They're a lot better separately. (Not that they're bad mixed together, either). I also figured out that if you add the water to the shaker first, THEN the powder, it's easier to measure and mixes better. (I screwed that up yesterday.)

I can recommend both the vanilla and berry flavors.

A partial liquid diet is kind of a mind bender. I keep thinking that I'm still hungry, even though I'm probably not really - and if I were eating liquid soup, I probably wouldn't think I was still hungry. I'm guessing this is a psychological thing. Drinking my complete calories out of a shaker doesn't seem right lol.

I'm still eating "real food" for dinner (my intent was never to give up solid food, just to give up having to cook and clean up lunch and improve my nutrition at the same time). I'm now looking at Huel's "hot and savory" meals - they're the same idea as the shakes, but made with hot water. They're about the same price as the TV dinners that I ate every day for lunch pre-pandemic, but I'm sure a lot better from a nutritional standpoint. Reviews on them are mixed - the Thai Green Curry is supposed to be REALLY good, and the Tomato Herb is supposedly barely edible lol.

An added bonus to this is that my fluid intake is also better/easier. I'm getting two glasses of water for a full "meal" and one glass for a "snack". I use my Samsung watch to track my fluid intake, and I found yesterday that I'd hit my goal sooner/easier than I had on previous days. (This is something I have difficulty with when I'm not working - I schedule my snacks/drinks around work, but when I'm not working, I lose my routine entirely, so we'll see how this goes on the weekends.)

This is wonderful information, thank you so much.

You did not mention indigestion so I am guessing that means it hasn't given you those kinds of problems.

Do you know if there is a way to buy a week's supply to try Huel first?

 

[SDRSpark]

This is wonderful information, thank you so much.

You did not mention indigestion so I am guessing that means it hasn't given you those kinds of problems.

Do you know if there is a way to buy a week's supply to try Huel first?

There's no sample size unfortunately!

I haven't had any digestive issues. My main issue is that it doesn't feel very filling- I'm not sure if I'll get used to that or not. I feel like I haven't eaten much if anything. But I have a huge appetite generally, and I'm likely to adjust with time.

 

[grommet]

There's no sample size unfortunately!

I haven't had any digestive issues. My main issue is that it doesn't feel very filling- I'm not sure if I'll get used to that or not. I feel like I haven't eaten much if anything. But I have a huge appetite generally, and I'm likely to adjust with time.

I almost never feel hungry. Thank you for telling me about them not having a sample option. It means I will have to think hard before I try them. I don't want to try it once, think it won't be right for me and have all that money wasted but sometimes that is the only way to find things that do really work well for us.

 

[SDRSpark]

I almost never feel hungry. Thank you for telling me about them not having a sample option. It means I will have to think hard before I try them. I don't want to try it once, think it won't be right for me and have all that money wasted but sometimes that is the only way to find things that do really work well for us.

Do you have local friends or family members that you can split an order with? That way if you don't like it, it won't go to waste.

 

[grommet]

Do you have local friends or family members that you can split an order with? That way if you don't like it, it won't go to waste.

No, I pretty much live my life alone. I have two best friends but they would not be interested. It's okay. I will keep thinking about it and I may decide to try it. I have tried all sorts of things that cost money and sometimes helped a lot and others did not. The wins are worth it

 

[SDRSpark]

No, I pretty much live my life alone. I have two best friends but they would not be interested. It's okay. I will keep thinking about it and I may decide to try it. I have tried all sorts of things that cost money and sometimes helped a lot and others did not. The wins are worth it

I've done the same, I've spent so much money on stuff that didn't work. But without doing that, I wouldn't have found the stuff that did.

 

[grommet]

I've done the same, I've spent so much money on stuff that didn't work. But without doing that, I wouldn't have found the stuff that did.

Exactly. Being aspie is expensive but we need things to be a certain way so we can tolerate. People have often seen what I do and say, "You really like ..." No, I don't, it's that I found something I could stand.

Yesterday I ordered some wooden eating utensils because the sound of metal on my dishes is making me crazy. I cringe every time. I am just trying to manage. Not easy being autistic be we find lots of solutions.

 

[SDRSpark]

Exactly. Being aspie is expensive but we need things to be a certain way so we can tolerate. People have often seen what I do and say, "You really like ..." No, I don't, it's that I found something I could stand.

Yesterday I ordered some wooden eating utensils because the sound of metal on my dishes is making me crazy. I cringe every time. I am just trying to manage. Not easy being autistic be we find lots of solutions.

I have some melamine soup bowls that I really love. They're not microwave safe of course, but I find myself reaching for them far more often than my ceramic ones. They were also really inexpensive. If the wooden utensils don't work (I can feel the texture of the wood on my lips just thinking about it *shudder*) maybe give melamine a try.

Now that I'm thinking again about it, I suspect the reason why the Huel doesn't make me feel full is I'm not consuming enough. I normally (on a work day when I don't have the ability to "graze" as much) consume two meals (lunch and dinner) and two snacks (my breaks). I know I generally eat too many calories (especially with Covid when I haven't been able to exercise as much) but the Huel "meals" are only around 400 calories.

400 calories could be a snack for me (like I said, I eat too much) but if I try to aim for around 200 calories, that's 400 calories a day snacks, leaving 1600 calories a day that I need to get from other sources (meals, drinks). This is assuming a 2000 calorie diet. So that divides out to 800 calories a meal, and the Huel shake is only 400.

The obvious solution here is that I either need to increase my intake on days that I'm using Huel as a meal replacement, or supplement it with something else (like some fruit or nuts) because a 400 calorie meal isn't enough for someone whos regular eating schedule only consists of two meals and two snacks a day.

Of course my ramen noodles, or cereal, or whatever is still only around 400 calories, and this could well be why I have a tendency to pig out at dinner.

Not that counting calories in a strict sense appeals to me in any way (it's pretty impossible, anyway, because you usually don't know the calorie count on anything you didn't prepare or that isn't pre-packaged and labeled) but being more thoughtful about my calorie distribution throughout the day would probably be a very good thing for me to do.

Today I had a high calorie lunch - about 20 ounces of milk and some leftover pasta from last night's dinner.

 

[grommet]

I have some melamine soup bowls that I really love. They're not microwave safe of course, but I find myself reaching for them far more often than my ceramic ones. They were also really inexpensive. If the wooden utensils don't work (I can feel the texture of the wood on my lips just thinking about it *shudder*) maybe give melamine a try.

Now that I'm thinking again about it, I suspect the reason why the Huel doesn't make me feel full is I'm not consuming enough. I normally (on a work day when I don't have the ability to "graze" as much) consume two meals (lunch and dinner) and two snacks (my breaks). I know I generally eat too many calories (especially with Covid when I haven't been able to exercise as much) but the Huel "meals" are only around 400 calories.

400 calories could be a snack for me (like I said, I eat too much) but if I try to aim for around 200 calories, that's 400 calories a day snacks, leaving 1600 calories a day that I need to get from other sources (meals, drinks). This is assuming a 2000 calorie diet. So that divides out to 800 calories a meal, and the Huel shake is only 400.

The obvious solution here is that I either need to increase my intake on days that I'm using Huel as a meal replacement, or supplement it with something else (like some fruit or nuts) because a 400 calorie meal isn't enough for someone whos regular eating schedule only consists of two meals and two snacks a day.

Of course my ramen noodles, or cereal, or whatever is still only around 400 calories, and this could well be why I have a tendency to pig out at dinner.

Not that counting calories in a strict sense appeals to me in any way (it's pretty impossible, anyway, because you usually don't know the calorie count on anything you didn't prepare or that isn't pre-packaged and labeled) but being more thoughtful about my calorie distribution throughout the day would probably be a very good thing for me to do.

Today I had a high calorie lunch - about 20 ounces of milk and some leftover pasta from last night's dinner.

I love what you had for dinner. I like milk because it is simple, all white. I like how it fills things up or covers them. It feels like a friendly food. Maybe that sounds weird. I see the world as friendly or bad or okay etcetera.

I wish so much I had talked to you before I bought the bamboo eating utensils. They just arrived. I do not like them and they do still make lots of noise. I love Melamine. For years my favorite plate was made from it and it was the only thing I would eat off of. Then I heard it is not safe in the microwave so I did research and found wheat straw plates which were said to be safe. They are wonderful. Great sound, no ringing at all and they are light. The colors are pale though and I do not like pale but I settled.

Because of what you said I am wondering now about wheat straw eating utensils.

There are so many things autism gives me that I love, like the intense wonderful feelings I can have about things that other people do not seem to be able to have. But the sensitivity is exhausting.

People say you can get used to anything. They are wrong if they are talking about autistic people. If something bothers me, it always will. I will hate those sheets or whatever it is for the 20 years I use them. One day I will find a replacement that works and feel so much better.

I like the way you eat. Oh by the way, dietitians say that calories are not equal. You do not absorb them the same way. They explain that 100 calories from marshmallows will be absorbed as 100 calories but 100 calories of chicken may only be 60 absorbed and the even individuals are different in how they absorb different foods. I thought you might find it interesting.

 

[SDRSpark]

Wheat straw? I'm going to have to look that up. I've never heard of it, but I'm intrigued. I'm contemplating new dishes and I want melamine but I don't like that it's not microwavable.

By the way melamine dish sets are really cheap on Amazon and there are some really neat ones!

 

[grommet]

Wheat straw? I'm going to have to look that up. I've never heard of it, but I'm intrigued. I'm contemplating new dishes and I want melamine but I don't like that it's not microwavable.

By the way melamine dish sets are really cheap on Amazon and there are some really neat ones!

I didn't know what wheat straw dishes were either. I had never heard of them. I found them when I learned Melamine wasn't supposed to go in the microwave. The wheat straw plates have been great. I really like them.

I thought about my problem with noise while I am eating and realized that a plastic bowl could solve the problem. I looked on Amazon at so many. It was frustrating. I didn't find anything that was just right. Melamine would be fine, but I haven't found something yet.

By the way, the wheat straw have been holding up really well. Very light too.

 

[SDRSpark]

I didn't know what wheat straw dishes were either. I had never heard of them. I found them when I learned Melamine wasn't supposed to go in the microwave. The wheat straw plates have been great. I really like them.

I thought about my problem with noise while I am eating and realized that a plastic bowl could solve the problem. I looked on Amazon at so many. It was frustrating. I didn't find anything that was just right. Melamine would be fine, but I haven't found something yet.

By the way, the wheat straw have been holding up really well. Very light too.

This discussion inspired me and a new set of melamine dishes arrived today. I'd been using the same second hand ceramic ones for years, and they screech when a fork goes across them because the glaze is worn off, etc. Also they're heavy.

I want a smaller set of microwave safe plates though, I'm looking at polypropylene (wheat straw is just polypropylene with straw added - why they added the straw to it I don't know, I guess because it sounds "green"?) The polypropylene comes in brighter colors.

I got some Huel Hot and Savory and it arrived yesterday. I'll try it for lunch today. I'll let you know - I'm apprehensive but hopeful.

 

[grommet]

This discussion inspired me and a new set of melamine dishes arrived today. I'd been using the same second hand ceramic ones for years, and they screech when a fork goes across them because the glaze is worn off, etc. Also they're heavy.

I want a smaller set of microwave safe plates though, I'm looking at polypropylene (wheat straw is just polypropylene with straw added - why they added the straw to it I don't know, I guess because it sounds "green"?) The polypropylene comes in brighter colors.

I got some Huel Hot and Savory and it arrived yesterday. I'll try it for lunch today. I'll let you know - I'm apprehensive but hopeful.

Thanks. If you find some plates you can tell me about I would appreciate it. I need a big plastic bowl. Most of what I eat is in a bowl not on a plate. Stopping all the noise an clank would be great.

I have two tubs of protein powder left and I want to use them up before I try Huel, if I do. I am thinking if I tried it and it worked I wouldn't want to use the powder I have and I don't want it to go to waste.

 

[SDRSpark]

Thanks. If you find some plates you can tell me about I would appreciate it. I need a big plastic bowl. Most of what I eat is in a bowl not on a plate. Stopping all the noise an clank would be great.

I have two tubs of protein powder left and I want to use them up before I try Huel, if I do. I am thinking if I tried it and it worked I wouldn't want to use the powder I have and I don't want it to go to waste.

My melamine soup bowls came from Dollar Tree! They're plain white and not fancy at all but they're deep enough to be hard to spill and I love them.

For microwave plates I finally went with corelle (glass). They're really thin, light and strong. (The only microwave safe plastic ones I could find had time limits on microwaving that are shorter than what I use for reheating food.)