David
Co-Founder
- Location
- Naples, Florida
Has anyone here ever done an Ensure Fast? After reading Pen's response in this thread I'm curious. If you've tried it, has it helped?
Yeah, they all have milk & soy products, as does their competitor "Boost", the main reason I haven't tried this. I'm undiagnosed & would like to find some "baseline" nutrition I can try for awhile, see if my symptoms improve, and then add food items one by one. I still might try the elemental approach, but I think it's pretty expensive.Ensure does have milk products in it, although it is lactose-free, and I found that that this still caused me bloating.
Hey no problem my friend from Brampton area, doesnt like Ensure or boost so her bf got her the Isopure, she was pretty sick.Came back to say thanks to Pen on the tip of the Isopure!
I'll have to check that one out!
I was on an ensure/boost only diet for approximately 3 months due to a stricture making it hard for me to eat anything solid. While I was able to tolerate these drinks much better than solid food (less pain/stomach problems) I don't think that this is a good long term solution.
Sugar and high fructose corn syrup make up some of the main ingredients in these types of drinks, which I don't think have been found under any circumstance to be good for people.
For a while I went to a nutritionist who had me making protein drinks instead that used rice or hemp flour. I would mix that with avocado and/or coconut milk (100% pure if you can find it) to get the calorie load and fat content up as well as other vegetables and fruits. I was able to tolerate these types of smoothies/drinks in a similar way to Boost or Ensure and it was likely much healthier.
Enteral nutrition would be a different concept all together than an ensure/boost fast. It is a bit more difficult to set up and to use, but this has actually been found to have much better results. Essentially, what occurs is that you receive all nutrition through a tube you connect through your nose so that vitamins/minerals and such goes straight into your stomach without requiring much digestion.
This has been found to greatly reduce inflammation and active disease, however this usually comes back as soon as normal eating resumes. I know that this has been used to keep people going for a few weeks-months when they are waiting for surgery though.