Ordering nutritional meals
Firstly my apologies if this is the wrong category for posting, I can't find a category for ordering nutritional meals?
I know there is a question on the PIP form that relates to can you prepare a nutritional meal and I remember in the past, being told by one of the assessors that because I can make toast, that counts as a nutritional meal.
Unfortunately that is not realistic and most recently my lack of nutrition is genuinely becoming a problem as I am picking up weight.
I thought that by buying ready meals and heating them up in a microwave I was eating healthily.
But then I realised the information on the packs is not actually that reliable and even when I think I am counting calories or avoiding salt etc. the food is actually high in saturated fat.
Most of the time when it comes round to heating stuff in the microwave that is about all I can do, and then I eat my food lying down in my hospital bed, because I am so exhausted.
So what I am really looking for is something like "meals on wheels" that can cook nutritious meals specific to my condition, for example certain food are prohibited by my medication and conditions.
Recently they changed one of my medications without telling me that the new one is high in potassium, no one considered telling me that I can't eat Potassium anymore because it causes my Potassium level to spike.
Do you know how many foods have potassium in them…Potato, Spinach, Banana, dried fruit…
Does anyone order precooked nutritional meals to specification?
Comments
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There are companies such as Frive that offer precooked meals tailored to medical or dietary needs. It might be worth looking into if you are trying to keep things simple while managing potassium intake.
Potassium is not a niche concern. It appears in many everyday foods including spinach, potatoes, bananas, dried fruit, tomatoes, beans, and dairy. All the usual foods often labelled as healthy. If your levels are sensitive, it is worth knowing what to watch for, especially when no one flags it.
I really appreciate what you are facing. I take a water tablet called Spironolactone, and by design it prevents the kidneys from excreting potassium. So I have to be careful too. It is not easy, potassium is everywhere.
Considering you were not informed about the new medication and had to find out yourself, it is always worth checking with your GP or hospital consultant about how they are planning to manage this. I have regular blood tests to monitor potassium levels, so if they begin to rise, it can be caught early.
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#@MyHappy256,
Hi, Might I suggest that you ask to be put into contact with a dietician (assuming you don't already have one?).
A dietician should be able to suggest ready meals that suit your abilities to cook / reheat, they will be able to advise you of the Potassium level that meets your requirements and as you say there are several that you need to avoid. If your condition and diet requirements are causing you problems a dietician may prescribe foods for you that will 'help' keep within your allowance.
You can ask to be put in touch with a dietician via your GP surgery, which should be able to give you access to an NHS dietician.
Unfortunately, many prescription medications have side effects or can react with other things like Potassium and are best avoided. I cannot have rhubarb or grapefruit because these react with medication I take, so need to be avoided. You are correct often most pre processed meals contain higher levels of elements some people need to avoid. That said, it might be worth looking on the ingredients and try to balance the content with other things. (where a dietician may be able to help with this). There are many ready-made meal companies out there, so it might be worth checking them out to see what they (if possible) can offer you.
Good luck! Hope this is 'helpful'.
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I would recommend Wiltshire Farm Foods or Oak house farm foods
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Thank you figra, my last meeting with the dietician was when I was still on Fortisip, so that's a great idea to refer back to them, perhaps they will have some suggestions as to where I can get precooked meals of those specific ingredients taking int account all the conflicts with medications and conditions.
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Thank you
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A local catering company might be able to help.
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Thank you, I was on Spironolactone and Furosemide pre and post transplant, I don't envy you, thankfully my Oedema and Ascites seems to have settled down post transplant though I am on 20 pills per day excl the pain pills and the worst offenders are the Adoport, Mycophenolate and Ramipril, though hopefully they are changing that to Lercanidipine. The Ramipril recently bumped my Potassium up to 6.2 and they wanted me to go to the A&E during the doctors strike, no thanks :) Unfortunately there are so many conflicts with the different medications and limitations on what I can and cannot eat. Pretty much everything seems to have an impact on the kidneys, so I am stage 3 renal impairment now and this means another seperate diet…I am also veggie, so I have anemia, low iron and low b12, low vitamin D etc. and yes I have to have frequent blood tests monitoring everything from Plateletes, clotting, to Iron, Potassium etc.
Precooked is the word I was looking for, the Frive was a great help too.0 -
your welcome
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#@My Happy256,
Pleased to be of some assistance!
I see you have previously taken Fortisip which is of course designed to have all the nutrients in adequate quantities to meet your body's requirements. It is worth a mention that you will probably find that any of the well known companies foods (some mentioned in previous posts), will probably contain Potassium as it is in many food types as for the other ingredients they seem also to go 'hand in hand' with pre processed foods, however, it is definitely worth asking them first. Your dietician is very likely to be your first port of call since he /she should be able to advise you. I agree it does become something of a balancing act to match foods that will also meet your requirements. It might also be worth asking your GP to prescribe the Vitamins that you are depleted of for you, it might also be worth considering purchasing them yourself if you have to pay for your prescriptions. (Just a thought!)
You mentioned having to eat your meals from your Hospital bed, may I suggest that (probably obvious that you do anyway) you raise the back rest and support yourself with pillows as much as you are able to enable you to eat in a more sitting up position to aid proper swallowing and digestion.
Just another thought, would it be worth seeing if you meet requirements or consider having a Carer to come and prepare / cook a meal for you that is not from a company making meals as I suspect that most have higher preservatives and the elements you are trying to avoid because they are needed to preserve the meal in the first place. Even if a Carer makes a batch of meals that can be frozen at home then re-heated when you are ready to eat rather than have to compromise with ready made meals that contain the elements you are trying to avoid.
Hope this might also be of some benefit to you. Good luck!
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The question is: Can you prepare and cook a simple one course meal from fresh ingredients?
This has nothing to do with living on toast, shoving stuff in the microwave, or having to eat cold food all the time.
I can recommend Wilshire Farm Foods. The meals are heated in the microwave. This is not preparation or cooking.
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I live on Wiltshire Farm Foods meals, they are of an acceptable standard, if a little expensive.
You can even order soft bite or puréed meals.
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You can also cook a nutritional meal for 30p, but you would need to ask Lee Anderson about this.
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Thank you, I have spoken to one of the dietician team…um, so going it alone again, I am cheating a little because I buy fortisips off ebay, have one of those in the morning, I should really speak to my transplant team about getting them on prescription again. Some of my vitamins are prescribed, though recently GP asked me to try taking B12 myself and iron to see what the affects on my blood are before he issues new prescriptions. Hospital are trying to transfer my care to the GP, but as you know GPs are stacked up and it is difficult to get appointments.
Eating from my hospital bed, usually involves me lying on my side and shovelling food into my mouth, zero energy, but yeah raising the back would be a great idea, but too exhausted.I do need to speak to somebody about carer team, but I am under the impression as soon as I change to carers I lose some of my benefits and transitional protection?
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Unfortunately I can't prepare and cook a simple one course meal from fresh ingredients, thanks.
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I know. That's why I suggested Wiltshire Farm Foods.
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#@My Happy 256,
Sorry didn't get to respond yesterday. Am I right from your comments that your dietician was not overly 'helpful' to you? If so that is a shame!
You mentioned propping yourself with pillows in order to eat, is that because you do not have a Hospital style bed with electric backrest that slides up and down from a remote control. If you are able to change your bed for this style (perhaps Social Services or Occupational Therapy can prescribe one for you), that would help support you in a better eating position than with just pillows and should 'help' with swallowing and digesting food.
It is really sad that you are having such difficulty with getting the help you require to meet your dietary needs. I understand that only a certain number of Fortisip or Ensure drinks are available on Prescription. (My brother had to resort to purchasing them online for our mother as she was not able to swallow or eat anything for quite some time before she died but the GP did supply some (within the GP budget) for her).
Short of pursuing your Renal Consultant, Dietician and GP to find a way of getting these essential drinks for you, on prescription I cannot (at the moment) suggest anything else.
There are a number of firms who make ready made meals, again, I understand that for their processing additives are needed to preserve the food. However, Cook, also make 'homemade' style foods and list all their ingredients, so you might find a few meals that are not overly laden with the preservatives, salt and potassium that are not helpful to you. That said, some companies do offer meals more suited for those (like diabetics) and make meals to suit their needs. It might be worth trying to contact them and asking if this also a possibility for you, of course the individual price of meal especially made might then make this a prohibited way for you to purchase ready meals.
Not sure if any of this is useful to you. Good luck!
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