I’ve had an interesting couple of weeks, I’ve been asked to help in the nutrition of a young man who cannot eat food but is fed with a peg (a tube fed directly into the stomach from outside the body).  It is a small tube so no food is fed through it, but rather a liquid diet.  For convenience the food for the tube comes in tins in measured amounts and can be easily administered.  Yes is it is convenient but so is a Mc Donalds hamburger but that doesn’t mean that it is good for you.  The first thing I always do is read the ingredients and I was absolutely shocked  at the first 4 ingredients.  Water was the first and it was 205ml to the 250ml container, so basically it was mostly water, then corn syrup (probably high fructose corn syrup - read my chapter in Changing Habits Changing Lives on sugar and read all about this abhorrent sweetener), soy protein isolate ( read my report on soy to see what I really think of this non contributing food to our diet) and canola oil (a refined oil with not much goodness).  

I could only find 16 minerals on the label and yet our body requires a lot more for health.  There were 13 vitamins in the can which is a sad situation when you think that we now know that phytonutrients, antioxidants and so many more nutrients add up to the thousands of vitamins our body requires for wonderful vibrant health and energy.  

Consuming 5 cans of this stuff makes sure that you get the recommended daily intake RDI for the 13 vitamins and 16 minerals.  RDI is merely the amount that the body needs so that it doesn’t express a disease like scurvy, anemia, beri beri or pellagra.  The RDI doesn’t necessarily mean that this is what you need to thrive but rather just to survive.  And I don’t know about you but I’d like to thrive and I’d like to see other people thrive like this young man.

As well as the macro and micro nutrients in the can there was also BHA, BHT, sodium benzoate, microbial inhibitor, maltodextrin and carrageenan.  

BHA and BHT.  Current research  shows concerns about these two man made antioxidants with regards to carcinogenic and estrogenic effects, asthmatics and aspirin sensitive people should avoid them, they may cause  metabolic changes  and they accumulate in body fat.  They have been banned in Japan since 1958 and are not permitted in foods for infants and young children.

Maltodextrin - is man made and manufactured by a process that breaks down the starches of corn or rice the process creates a sweet or flavorless powder. Maltodextrin, because of its sweet properties, is used as an artificial sweetener. The popular sweetener Splenda contains maltodextrin. It also is used in many canned foods and dessert mixes. Maltodextrin also functions as a filler and thickener, meaning it can be used in place of cornstarch or flour to thicken sauces, gravies and syrups.

Sodium Benzoate is a preservative - There have been some health concerns about the combination of sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid or vitamin C. When the two are mixed, they can form the chemical benzene, which is carcinogenic.  Benzene also causes damage to DNA, the genetic material, it appears to play a role in a variety of diseases due to it's DNA damaging capabilities.  Vitamin C is in the can of medical food.

Ferrous Sulphate, was one of the minerals I decided to research and this is what I found out about it.  It is used to fortify food, constipation can be a side affect.  Ferrous sulphate is also used in the manufacture of inks, wool dyeing, concrete staining and some limestones creating a yellowish rust colour.  Wood workers use ferrous sulfate to colour maple wood.  It can also be used to purify water and sewerage as well as a fertiliser for agriculture.

At this point I decided to stop looking I could see that if this is the only food you ate then the result would not be a fully functioning healthy, energetic body.  A body is a body is body no matter what the problem is.  A body needs real food and proper nutrition.  

PEGs are used in people of all ages, including babies and children, who are unable to swallow or unable to eat enough and need long term artificial feeding. Common causes include stroke (CVA), head injuries, neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis or motor neurone disease, or surgery to the head or neck. In some cases PEGs are used to give extra nutrition (or supplements) to people who can still eat, such as patients with cystic fibrosis.
Every single person who is fed with a peg is in a state of sickness and to feed these medical feeds to them would merely make them sicker rather then helping them create some health in their life.
So what is the alternative, the aim is to get as much real food into the patient but in a liquid form.  With technology this is not hard to do and the best technology of all is the Thermomix.  It enables us to make real food into liquid form so that it can get through the peg.  
This is my alternative to the medical feed.  In order to replace the second, third and fourth ingredient I would put into the Thermomix  1 egg, cold pressed walnut oil, maple syrup, then I would add 1 cucumber, 1 zucchini, some chia milk, colloidal minerals, spirilina, and a pinch of seaweed salt.  Blend for a minute and administer through the peg.
I’ve had my Thermomix for 4 years but the day I made this mixture up to feed to this beautiful young man I knew the full benefits of this machine.  The ramifications are that if you are prepared to not have a convenient medical feed for peg patients then the making up of these feeds is a breeze with Thermomix.
While I used an egg, walnut oil and maple syrup for the macro nutrients it would not be the only ones I would use, variety is the best thing, so all proteins, fats and carbohydrates would be changed to make sure maximum nutrition was obtained.  
Chicken soup can also be blended fine enough to put through the peg.  Thanks Grace for bringing the Thermomix into Australia it may just change the health of this nation and people who are peg fed.

Happy Changing Habits
Cyndi