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Raw on a stomach tube

jakkrabbitjakkrabbit Raw Newbie

Due to a face injury which prevents me from taking anything by mouth, I get all my nutrition through a stomach tube. I'm currently on a hospital complete meal replacement formula, which, among other things, has chicken and milk in it! My dietician is very understanding of the fact that I am a vegan and that I cannot ethically stay on the hospital formula. Many stomach-tubers live on homemade blended diets. It's more work, but worth it, and healthier.

So, since living off a blender provides me the perfect opportunity, I'd like to go raw! I'll be getting a Vitamix soon.

I'll be eating 3 meals and 3 snacks per day. As I continue to gain weight, and strength, I will be working out more and more, and my eventual goal is to do the p90X program.

I'd like to know what you guys generally eat in a day for each meal, or just any general tips or recipe ideas you want to give me. Note that absolutely everything will be going through the blender, and has to be able to be liquified so it can go easily through my tube without clogging it. I want to make sure I'm getting balanced nutrition as well as enough calories, and I'd like to be able to write up meal plans in advance to save time and make for economical grocery shopping and accurate budget planning.

Thanks everyone!

Comments

  • eechoeecho Raw Newbie

    This is perhaps the most hardcore dietary statement I have ever read. Just... wow.

    So, you can't eat anything through your mouth? Is this for life or temporary?

    I recommend reading Green For Life by Victoria Boutenko, and 80/10/10 by Doug Graham. They both offer a lot of insight into your question. However, the short answer I would give is eat a lot of whatever fruits and greens look appealing to you. Whatever those are, blend them together and... do whatever you do. Start out with about a quart and adjust from there depending on whatever you learn your needs are. Limit the fats.

  • jakkrabbitjakkrabbit Raw Newbie

    No, I can't eat anything by mouth, can't even drink water. I believe the technical/medical term for this is NPO, or nil per os, which is Latin for nothing by mouth. At this point it's for life, unless some sort of medical miracle happens to reverse the nerve damage.

    Question: about how many vegetables, fruits, etc do you go through per day/week? I really want to plan out my budget for this ahead of time, and there's a local organic food co-op, but I need to know ballpark figure how much produce I'll be consuming in order to budget properly.

    Also, will a food processor be necessary at all given the fact that I'm not going to be making rawnola or cookies or anything like that? Will it be good for making things like nuts into flour so it can be blended with other things and then put through my tube, or would I be better sticking to nut milk?

    Finally, is there a way to make a homemade nutmilk bag? I'm on a bit of a tight budget, so anything I can make myself is optimal so I can devote my money towards the Vitamix and the food.

  • No food processor needed as the Vitamix is capable of pulverizing whatever you feed it. You can use a paint strainer for nut milks but you can also just not strain the milk in order to take advantage of a whole food. Plus throwing away food (the leftover pulp) is throwing away monies that paid for the stuff in the first place.

  • jakkrabbitjakkrabbit Raw Newbie

    I must emphasize the fact that this is going through a STOMACH TUBE which is about the same diameter as a laptop cord, and I cannot have any chunks, debris, pieces, or anything excessively thick go through the tube or it will CLOG it. This includes particles that may stick to the sides and build up. This is why the food has to be liquified to an absolutely smooth consistency. So no, I cannot put nut pulp through my tube.

  • I think a juicer would probably be of great value, especially for veggies. I would question how well they would mix up in any type of blender. Just remember, there are certain fruits you can not juice- avocadoes or bananas. To liquify them you would want to put plenty of water in a blender with the fruit. That is a very small tube you will have to be contending with. (Definately throw out the pulp in your case, I doubt it would make it down the tube.)

    I Don't have a vitamix, but I know they work much better then your average blender.

    I would try a slow transition to make sure you are getting enough nutrients. The hospital formulas probably have a very high calorie content (chicken and milk), and are balanced to make sure you are getting proper vitamins and minerals. Please be careful that your required nutrients are all getting covered.

    As far as the fats- you may want to check with your dietician. I don't know why you are on a feeding tube (not any of my business really), but some medical problems cause people to "need" more fat than your average person. I would check with your dietician first before you go 80/10/10. Though, except avocados, I can't think of any vegan/raw food that is high in fat that you would be able to eat (nuts and seeds don't seem possible).

    Though, you could use a little oil to get benefits from certain foods- olive oil, sesame oil....

  • jakkrabbitjakkrabbit Raw Newbie

    Do juiced veggies have a lower calorie content than blended? I have to plan this to make sure I get enough calories.

    I've been told that when I blend, I should never use water to thin the mixture, because this will dilute it and could also cause it to pass through my body too quickly. I've been told that whatever liquid I use to thin it must have nutritional value of its own, whether broth, veggie juice, or milk substitutes. So the veggie juice I could use as a very high nutrient 'thinner'.

    I'm definitely going to transition slow, to give my digestive system time to adjust and also to prevent any drastic detox symptoms. My dietician knows I am transitioning to a vegan blenderized diet, and has offered to take a look at the different recipes I want to put in the blender, and analyze them for me to check how balanced they are. I also will be blancing them on my own end using a site called Nutrient Data. I am absolutely doing a ton of research before I jump into this to make sure I'm knowleadgeable and informed on all aspects. I'm studying up on food combining as well.

    BTW, it says right in the first line of my original post why I need a stomach tube:) - 'due to a face injury which prevents me from taking anything by mouth' and in my first reply 'I believe the technical/medical term is NPO or Nil Per Os, which is Latin for Nothing By Mouth'.

    Don't worry, there are many, many people of all ages with stomach tubes on blended diets, some on tubes smaller than mine. Many people have found that the Vitamix blends so well that they don't even have to strain anything. I just want to be careful, and it'll take some trial and error.

    So, I don't need a higher fat content. Even before I heard of 80/10/10, I was planning to keep my fat level at 10% which is about average for bodybuilding. I used to bodybuild recreationally, and although now I am interested in functional fitness and endurance rather than muscle bulk, I would still like to reattain a sculpted physique.

  • i think its wonderful that you are using a tradgey to work towards something positive. I used to work in a group home where I fed people through tubes, and I always wondered what on earth I would eat if that were to happen to me, (cause i certainly wouldnt be putting that hospital crap they give you inside me either!)

    I second the recommendation for the book Green for Life. Green smoothies would be awesome. But defiinitely get that vitamix. I often find the odd chunk in mine using just a normal blender.

    Best of luck to you!

  • jakkrabbit: I was on an interesting site about diets for feeding tubes. They do recommend the Vitamix. Instead of a nut milk bag, you can use a knee high stocking. You can call Vitamix and they will set you up with a blender on 3 payments on a debit card or credit card. That is how I got mine. They ship the blender right away. They have nut milk bags and will more than likely work with you on them. I hope when you get your blender that you will get a good juicer also. Applause for not just pouring a can of crap down your tube!!! To get things perfectly smooth in the Vitamix it may become overheated--the food, not the blender.

    I cut and pasted this from another site for you: "To do this you need a juicer and a blender. Through the juicer goes kale, broccoli, cauliflower, parsley, celery, carrot, spinach, beet, apple, grapes. In the blender goes tofu, almond butter, avocado, banana, pure fruit juice, prune juice, milk, protein powder, olive oil, herring fish oil, chicken broth, multi vitamins and what's called Green Formula. This is well mixed and sieved to make enough to supply three feeds a day for three days. This provides 2000 calories a day of well balanced nutrition with lots of energy and protein. It takes an hour or so to prepare which I suppose is a lot less time than preparing nine separate meals." I realize in your case that you do not want chicken broth and perhaps not the fish oil - some vegans are adding the fish oil now. I don't know why you would need vitamin supplements, either. There are vegan protein powders.

    Best regards.

  • Jakkrabbit,

    "BTW, it says right in the first line of my original post why I need a stomach tube:) - 'due to a face injury which prevents me from taking anything by mouth' and in my first reply 'I believe the technical/medical term is NPO or Nil Per Os, which is Latin for Nothing By Mouth'."

    My mistake, sorry. (Evidently I skim read a bit.)

    Good luck, it sounds like you have researched it quite a bit and are pretty well prepared.

  • jakkrabbitjakkrabbit Raw Newbie

    Thanks everyone for your replies. I've talked to a Vitamix representative and it looks like I'll be able to get a (discounted as a medical necessity) demo model Vitamix. I'm so excited!

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