Putting on weight

olaola

Just wondering if anyone had any advice!

My Mother needs to put on a bit of weight. She eats three meals a day but never snacks. I was thinking some kind of protein shake? Anyone recommend one that tastes ok?

EileenG

There's one called Lean Dessert which tastes pretty good, chocolate milk shake type thing, You could also mix it with a smaller amount of milk or soy milk to give a protein pudding.

Most of the ON wheys taste ok, and there are a few other brands about that make a big feature of the taste. Mixing with milk or ice water makes them more palatable. Blending with some frozen fruit like banana or strawberry with your liquid REALLY improves it.

rubadub

Maybe just drink milk with each meal? I polished 3 pints more than usual today easily, as work was closing and the fridge had loads left. 1 litre of whole milk is an easy 640kcal. Also natural peanut butter wholemeal sandwiches pack a lot of calories.

seanybiker

I've been trying for the last few years to put on weight. I must agree with Rubadub, milk rules.

cozmik

rubadub wrote: »

Maybe just drink milk with each meal? I polished 3 pints more than usual today easily, as work was closing and the fridge had loads left. 1 litre of whole milk is an easy 640kcal. Also natural peanut butter wholemeal sandwiches pack a lot of calories.

Sigh, What is the point in having stickies in this forum?

Good fats = mono- and poly-unsaturated fats. Found in nuts, seeds, oily fish and nut, plant and seed oils (omega-3, 6 and 9 are types of polyunsaturated fats).

Bad fats = saturated fats, trans-fats. Found in animal fats and processed foods.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055157091

You would think a moderator would have more sense.

El_Dangeroso

That sticky is a little out of date, encouraging the consumption of Omega 6's when most people already consume far too much is unwise.

Omega 6 consumption provokes an inflammatory response and contributes to chronic inflammation which has been implicated in the pathology of cancer, ahzheimer's and heart disease.

Vegetable oils (except olive oil) and spreads are unnatural processed foods that were invented in the last century. How could something that processed be a healthy alternative to a relatively unprocessed product that has been consumed by humans for millennia?

If saturated fats are so unhealthy, why does the body store 90% of it's stored energy as palmatic acid?

Back to OP, you might want to try adding a few tablespoons of virgin coconut oil to her porridge too as it's barely detectable and provides lots of needed calories.

cozmik

neddas wrote: »

Back to OP, you might want to try adding a few tablespoons of virgin coconut oil to her porridge too as it's barely detectable and provides lots of needed calories.

A few (3) tablespoons of coconut oil has almost 36g of saturated fat.

Ask any nutritionist or dietitian if adding that much saturated fat to your porridge is a healthy thing to do and most of them would say no.

g'em

cozmik wrote: »

Sigh, What is the point in having stickies in this forum?

You would think a moderator would have more sense.

There is absolutely no need to speak to someone else in such a derisory and patronising tone.

neddas wrote:

That sticky is a little out of date, encouraging the consumption of Omega 6's when most people already consume far too much is unwise.

If you were to follow the advice in the sticky's your diet would have only a very moderate amount of Omega-6 in it. They also don't recommend vegetable oil or spreads. I agree though that there's definitely some updating needed - it's on my ever growing To Do in 2009 list

I'd also have hoped that the sticky's could be interpreted in view of the 'bigger picture'. For someone looking to clean up a typically bad diet (high in processed foods, junk, take-aways etc) the reduction of sat fats would certainly be a huge starting point, hence the sat fats = bad ideaology.

But in a balanced diet (i.e. one in which dietary fats are derived from a variety of wholefood sources) saturated fats absolutely have an important role to play.

Sticky edited.

cozmik

g'em wrote: »

But in a balanced diet (i.e. one in which dietary fats are derived from a variety of wholefood sources) saturated fats absolutely have an important role to play.

Sticky edited.

I agree they have an important role. That doesn't mean you go drinking pints of whole milk or taking tablespoons of coconut oil which is what some other posters in this thread have suggested.

There is absolutely no need to speak to someone else in such a derisory and patronising tone.

You're right g'em, I apologise for that. It's just frustrating to see the same people time and again giving advice that is patently unhealthy.

El_Dangeroso

Thanks G'em, I think it's an important distinction. Most people think that flora and such is the healthy alternative to a small amount of butter.

I of course completely acknowledge the copious amounts of sat fat in the context of a refined-carb-based diet is a bad idea, as insulin disrupts the metabolism of fat in general.

But if you're trying to get enough calories to gain weight it makes sense to get it from the densest source.

Btw, polynesian peoples have been consuming coconut oil as their primary fat for eons and they have low rates of heart disease until introduced to refined carbohydrate.

billyhead

OP,

I put on one stone in weight within the last 3 months. How I did this was by following a gym weights programme (incorporating big compund lifts) 3 days a week-I am not saying your mother should follow this and upping my calories per day. I eat a lot of meat (steak/chicken/turkey), fish (tuna/salmon/sardines) and wholemeal pasta, rice, bread. I also eat a lot of peanut butter and drink nearly a gallon of milk per day. My diet also contacins lots of veg and fruit, protein shakes/ nuts/ peanut butter staright from the jar/flaxseed oil and whole grain suger free cereal such as weetabix and sugar free alpen. You should browse though the stickys in the fitness forum as that is where I got a lot of advice with reagrds to nutrition which could offer advice for someone requiring weight gain.