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Adding Calories and Proteins

Boosting your calorie count

 

If you need to eat more calories, here are some easy tips to boost the calorie count of your foods:

 

  • Eat small, frequent meals or snacks. For example, if you are eating half as much as usual at each meal, you should be eating twice as often.

  • Add 2 to 4 tablespoons of canned coconut milk or cream to smoothies, shakes, cereals, or yogurts for extra calories. You can also add it to rice or diced chicken for extra calories and flavor.

  • Choose creamy soups rather than soups with clear broths.

  • Have puddings and custards rather than gelatin desserts.

  • Add sauces, gravies, or extra vegetable oil to your meals.

  • Drink apricot or peach fruit nectars. They are less acidic than others.

  • Drink fruit shakes or fruit smoothies made with yogurt or ice cream.

  • Make ice cubes from milk or fruit nectar. Use these high-calorie ice cubes in smoothies or to keep your shakes cold. As they melt, they will add calories to your beverages.

  • Drink high-calorie drinks, such as milkshakes, soy milkshakes, or eggnog (pasteurized).

  • Drink a liquid nutritional supplement such as Ensure® instead of milk to make a nutritious, high-calorie milkshake.

  • Add honey to smoothies, tea, yogurt, hot cereals, shakes, or ice cream.

  • If you are not on a low-fat diet, add sour cream, half and half, heavy cream, or whole milk to your foods. You can add it to mashed potatoes, sauces, gravies, cereals, soups, and casseroles. Consider adding mayonnaise to your eggs, chicken, tuna, pasta, or potatoes to make a smooth, moist salad.

  • Add avocado to dishes or smoothies.

  • Add nut butters such as peanut butter to shakes and smoothies.

Boosting your protein intake

 

If you need to increase the amount of protein in your diet, here are some easy tips:

 

  • Add tofu to cooked vegetables, soups, smoothies, or in place of chicken or meat if you are having difficulty eating animal proteins.

  • Add cooked eggs to your soups, broths, and cooked vegetables. Purée the cooked eggs if needed.

  • Use plain Greek yogurt in smoothies, cream sauces, or wherever you would use sour cream for added protein.

  • Add cheese (shredded or grated) to your soups, cooked eggs, vegetables, and starches. For example, adding full-fat ricotta cheese can moisten a dish, as well as add calories and protein. Add cottage cheese to smoothies, purées, or canned fruits.

  • Use fortified milk (see recipe in the “Recipes” section) rather than regular milk to double the amount of protein in it. Use this milk in shakes, hot cereals, mashed potatoes, hot chocolate, or with instant puddings to create a high-protein, high-calorie dessert. Also, you can add non-fat dried milk powder alone to purées and smoothies to add more calories and protein.

  • Grind some nuts with a coffee grinder and add to them to your smoothies, hot cereals, puddings, or yogurts

Liquid nutritional supplements

 

High-calorie/high-protein liquid nutritional supplements are often the initial mainstay for the Jaw-Surgery diet. Try some of the products listed below before the jaw surgery so you know what it tastes like. You can buy most of them at any supermarket or pharmacy.  Match up the nutritional value in these and make sure you are getting in a balanced diet. There are many others.  The chart gives only a suggestion

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