hospital food

[ickihun]

Food is such a very important part of making sure people recover as quickly as possible in hospital. Poor food and nutrition standards is only going to ensure they are there longer.

Loads get their food brought in. I did as I was starving after just giving birth. My body timing was way out. Both labours through the night! Then breastfed the little mites. Out of experience I couldnt wait to get home. In all in-patient stays. The food element is just a part of it all.
Of course you have more choice in your own home environment. Unlike post war when nhs was born.

 

[JohnEGreen]

I think these days the trick is in surviving the after care rather than the operation it's self, last time in the recovery room I was given a sandwich, a packet of crisps and a sugary pudding to eat followed up with a dose of oramorph The sandwich,crisps and pudding not particularly good for a diabetic and the oramorph potentially fatal for a myasthenic.

 

[Kristin251]

A good question and I should have known the answer. Now I do, maybe it's companies whose guacamole is too runny.

I'm sure that's why but goes to show you can't trust anything. Even as simple as fresh guacamole should be.
Last time we were there I just ordered avo slices and worked out great. No charge either haha.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I think these days the trick is in surviving the after care rather than the operation it's self, last time in the recovery room I was given a sandwich, a packet of crisps and a sugary pudding to eat followed up with a dose of oramorph The sandwich,crisps and pudding not particularly good for a diabetic and the oramorph potentially fatal for a myasthenic.

Last time I had an op under general anaesthetic I was offered toast and tea. The toast arrived - white bread toasted on one side because "the toaster has broken"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

I've just been reminded of some food I had last year in a U.S. hospital. I was wheeled out of my room to have some tests but just as breakfast was coming round and I returned just as lunch was being served.
The meals were all served on a plate inside a thick heavy metal container which kept it warm for a surprising amount of time. I ended up having scrambled egg (toast thrown away) and chicken breast (mash and carrots ditched). An interesting combination which I ate because they hadn't fed me the night before.

 

[Snapsy]

I spent five months as an inpatient in 2001 - I don't remember a great deal of that time but one of the meal highlights I do remember was macaroni cheese served with a potato waffle followed by rice pudding.

I was admitted as, I would estimate, a size 8-10 (with my own 12-14 clothes falling off my 6ft frame).
I was discharged as a size 18-20.

Admittedly that was not just down to the food but due also to my not having been given any replacement thyroxine post-radioiodine treatment, but blimey, the food can't have helped!

 

[Nicksu]

It so reminds me of when I was in hospital years ago - the only meal they didn't serve mince up at was breakfast - and that was a close run thing! Sad.

 

[Snapsy]

It so reminds me of when I was in hospital years ago - the only meal they didn't serve mince up at was breakfast - and that was a close run thing! Sad.

Scrambled mince.
Mince benedict.
Mince over easy......

*shudders*

 

[Deleted Account]

Last time I had an op under general anaesthetic I was offered toast and tea. The toast arrived - white bread toasted on one side because "the toaster has broken"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If it was anything like my recent hospital experience, the toast was cooked by the nurses because the kitchen only caters for meals at meal time. I was grateful for any time they had to make me comfortable regardless how well cooked it was.

 

[Bluetit1802]

If it was anything like my recent hospital experience, the toast was cooked by the nurses because the kitchen only caters for meals at meal time. I was grateful for any time they had to make me comfortable regardless how well cooked it was.

Mine was done by the nurse on their personal toaster!

 

[hooha]

Yes. It is for the same reason that the NHS dietary advice generally for diabetics is as much use as attempts to communicate over distance by two tins and string. Training is out of date, budget restraints dictate policy and many managerial heads are jammed up certain places where there is very little sunshine.

That is very well put . NHS advice , and even one website with a name very similar to this one, give advice to eat lots of starches and carbs and pay no attention to what is going on. Ten minutes research on the web, oh alright maybe an hour or two, would educate them to the value of low carb high healthy fat - for type 2 anyway.

 

[paulins]

The only thing I could eat for one evening meal was broccoli. So I ticked the box for a large portion as I had had no breakfast - white toast, white rolls, sugary cereal, orange juice - no lunch- white bread sandwiches, full sugar yogurt, apple juice - and when it arrived everyone in the ward burst out laughing. After that I had food brought in. Hard to understand how people can recover from surgery when they are basically starving! But I have worked far too hard to have normal readings.

 

[johncom23]

can anyone tell me why a diabetic who has been coping with diet would be offered totally unsuitable meals e.g white pasta whilst in hospital and obviously trying to keep Bg down, tonight's menu was lasagne - while pasta, sandwich (plastic bread) or quiche ( egg allergy)? tia

Why is everyone against carbs? I'm type 1 but have a lot of carbs, my blood sugar is fine.

 

[tom58]

It's just as bad here in France in our local hospital, where the food for poor T2s is absolutely dire. I'm T1 but nothing will persuade them that I have to eat normally. The only way to get an adequate supply of calories is to guzzle red Coca-Cola from the vending machine.

 

[azure]

I feel very lucky as when Imwas last in hospital, the food was very good - much better than I'd had a few years previously. There was a choice of three hot meals and they were all rather tasty They were served up by some lovely staff who went out of their way to make sure we all got what we wanted. I never asked where the food came from so I can't be sure, but it looked like it was cooked on site.

When I left hospital, I actually missed the food and having two hot meals a day : D

 

[Bluetit1802]

Why is everyone against carbs? I'm type 1 but have a lot of carbs, my blood sugar is fine.

Type 2s are different, we are insulin resistant so although most of us have enough natural insulin it doesn't work as it should. Therefore diet is extremely important for us.

 

[noblehead]

Why is everyone against carbs?

Not everyone is , but the OP (myracat) has pre-diabetes and chooses to follow a very low-carb diet.

 

[rogerinfrance]

I had to laugh, 16 years ago I was in the Rennes Teaching Hospital with diabetes. They had a drinks machine in the hall, NONE were suitable for diabetics. The place had a restaurant on site and NONE of the meals were suitable for diabetics, I now asked does one order in as one cannot grink the drinks or eat the foods. Apparently no one had "thought" about it. They banged on about not eating anything with Kellogs, Nestles or Orangina on the packaging but only had Orangina products in the machine, Kellogs or Nestle products for breakfast and so on!

I wrote to the "responsible" and effectively got a "Gulp" as a reply.

 

[Resurgam]

Why is everyone against carbs? I'm type 1 but have a lot of carbs, my blood sugar is fine.

I'm type 2 and my BG is controlled by diet only. I need to keep my carbs low as they would cause my blood glucose to rise and stay high for long periods, and my insulin too, which is not a good scenario. Low carb foods help to reverse the problems with my metabolism and also help me to lose weight which is impossible for me on normal levels of carbs

 

[pleinster]

Why is everyone against carbs? I'm type 1 but have a lot of carbs, my blood sugar is fine.

Hi John. I am glad to hear that you can eat a lot of carbs without your blood sugar increasing in a way that is deemed to be unhealthy for us. Seriously, that is good...but the reason many (if not most) of us (particularly Type 2s) are "against carbs" is that carbs effectively turn to sugar in the blood system and increase levels and often cause major spikes which take time to come down. If this goes unchecked it will take its toll and cause the kinds of complications we all fear. It is ONLY by cutting the carbs from my diet right down that I can have any control of my blood sugar levels. For me, weight is not and never has been an issue; it's all about keeping my levels down. I hope you keep getting away with it but lots of us don't.