Gaining Weight with COPD

jodilynn04

I'm posting on behlf of my mom. She's severely underweight due to her COPD and I thought I'd sign her up for so we can keep track of what she's eating in hopes of getting her to atleast 90 lbs. The nutritionist we saw wants her to eat six small meals a day but it's hard to get her to snack between meals.She does eats the main three and she drinks boost plus and carnation instant breakfast atleast once a day each. She doesn't exercise beyond walks to the bathroom and she doesn't leave the house much. Just wanted to see if anyone had any advice on helping her gain weight. She burns so many calories just to breathe thanks for the COPD and has trouble keeping weight on.

kimny72

Rather than a nutritionist, can she get a referral to a registered dietitian? One of the things they are specifically trained for is designing meal plans for patients with medical conditions.

When I'm trying to lose weight, I avoid calorie dense, low volume foods like peanut butter, cheese, guacamole, grapes, dried fruit. Maybe theres some ideas there. Does she eat anything you can put an oil based dressing or marinade on to add a couple of hundred extra calories to something she already eats? Even some ice cream or French fries if adding weight is the primary health concern.

I'm sorry she's struggling, good luck :flowerforyou:

Maxxitt

My mother struggled with the same issue, which struck her as ironic as she had always been slightly overweight through most of her adult life. But she decided to choose calorie-dense versions of what she had always eaten - so full fat dairy, snacking on the nuts she liked, adding avocado and other higher fat items to her sandwiches and salads, etc. Good luck to your mom. Edited to add - I made smoothies for my mother, too - more calories than instant breakfast and she liked them better.

AnvilHead

Both of the previous posters have offered good suggestions. Fat is the most calorie dense macronutrient (over twice as many calories per gram as carbs & protein), so look for ways to incorporate more fats into her diet. Cooking with oil, oil-based salad dressings, mayonnaise, full-fat dairy, butter/nut butter, avocados, nuts, cheese, fattier cuts of meat (for example, 85% lean ground beef instead of 97% lean), ice cream (who can resist ice cream?), etc.

If she likes shakes, it might be worth looking at some of the "mass gainer" shakes designed for bodybuilders trying to put on muscle. They're generally much more calorie dense than the average meal replacement shake. As an example, Optimum Nutrition's "Serious Mass" shake is 1250 calories per serving(!).

Another useful strategy may be to figure out which foods are highly palatable and less satiating for her (i.e., that she really likes and can eat more of without getting full) and incorporate larger portions of those into her meals. This varies from person to person and might take a little experimentation if you don't already have a handle on it.

@kimny72 also makes a good point about a registered dietitian. They're generally more educated than a nutritionist (the standards for certification as an RD are significantly higher) and, as Kim said, they have formal education and training in how to design properly balanced meal plans around medical conditions.

Silkysausage

Visceral fat can be a complication with COPD so eating saturates could be a problem, even if a person is not outwardly showing signs of obesity. I agree, nutritionists are not the person to see, can the hospital not refer her?

CSARdiver

Seek out a dietitian with specific experience with low appetite/low desire patients. We find this common among the cancer patients and they have a list of high calorie foods that are easy on the stomach.

KFC mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, granola, peanut butter, smoothies, are popular items on the list.

mbaker566

shakes, malts, nut butter, butter, juice, full fat dairy, smoothies

but you want to be aware of fat too. visceral fat is something you want to avoid. i would check with someone the dr recommends, not necessarily a nutritionist. i would also bet there are copd forums with threads regarding this as well. they might have tried and tested methods

koutureempress

Try apetamin syrup helps to gain weight

jseams1234

koutureempress wrote: »

Try apetamin syrup helps to gain weight

Get out of here with this *kitten*. Why the *kitten* are you recommending this drug, an antihistamine, when it’s contraindicated for elderly or debilitated patients? The exact kind of person the OP is asking for advice about?

fitoverfortymom

Just popping in here to send the OP some good thoughts. My momhad COPD and the weight loss was remarkable and not something I expected. Best of luck helping her. I wish my mom would have tried cannabis for more of an appetite. We are in CO so it is legal, but the edibles market wasn't as developed at the time and obviously she shouldn't have been smoking it.