Hi, my mom is 89 and has dementia. I need a food supplement for her to drink. After a short stay in the hospital for pancreatis she has been losing weight steadily. She has a few mouthful then says she is full. She is not on any medication and I would like to find a food supplement to add to her meals or drink. She does drink Ensure, but this is not enough to stabilize the weight lost.
My husband likes the Very Vanilla Boost over crushed ice -- a LITTLE like a vanilla milk shake -- and it comes in both High Protein and in Boost Plus which has more calories. It's difficult to be sure of finding either in the grocery store or Walmart when we need it so I order it by the 24 bottle case from Amazon -- you can even set it up for automatic delivery once you establish how much you need. And it's much cheaper by the case!!!
BUT, to pack it with extra calories, add GREEK yogurt (higher in protein and easily available in grocery stores). My husband has cardiovascular disease so I use No Fat yogurt, but that's something you can ask her doctor about too. Then I add whatever fruit I happen to have on hand. I like to use frozen fruit (ripe bananas, cut in chunks and frozen are great, as are peaches, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, mangoes, even black cherries -- buy your store brand to save $ -- because the fruit acts like ice to make the drink thicker and colder (more like a milk shake) without diluting the volume with no-value water. The bananas also add potassium. I almost always make a "mixed fruit" drink but if your mother's tastes and the doctor's approval warrant it, you can get inventive with other flavors: my granddaughter likes Smoothies made with chocolate milk (use chocolate Ensure, Glucerna (lower sugar) or Boost instead) and peanut butter. Or you could use FLAVORED full fat or no fat Greek yogurt instead of plain to make a single fruit flavored Smoothie such as orange "Dreamsicle" or "Black Forest Cherry Chocolate" or "Peach/Raspberry Melba". Add protein powder too if the doctor agrees. If you are using frozen bananas -- which also add body to the drink -- you can use fresh fruit, even things like cantaloupe or apples that you might not normally think of -- it all depends on what your Mom will enjoy. If using the yogurt and protein powder, you can even skip the Ensure and use ice cold apple juice or orange juice (strawberry/orange/banana is delicious). You can also add honey or other approved sweetener and even some spices to your mother's taste: like cinnamon or nutmeg. If the drink seems "flat" to you, try adding even a pinch of salt. Variety may matter a lot to her, or not at all...do whatever works!
You can use a blender for any of these, provided it's strong enough to crush/grind the frozen fruit. However, I have found it is much easier and less mess to use a blender stick, which cost about $20-25. Easier to clean between uses, especially when switching flavors. Oh, and be sure to buy straws that are big enough to suck up thick liquids.
My mother's nursing home gives her a product called "Resource" which has a pudding texture and is PACKED with nutrition; they also give her something called "Mighty Shake" which comes in chocolate, strawberry or vanilla. It comes in little 4 ounce cartons and Mom likes all the flavors. I THINK these have even more nutrition than the Boost type products, BUT they require refrigeration and I don't know how/where a private person could buy them, but ASK. However, I can almost guarantee that you can make your own Smoothies even more nutritious and more appealing, and drinking seems easier and she may feel a little more "in control" just sipping her Smoothie than looking at a plate of food. Especially with dementia it can be difficult for folks to accurately recognize feelings of hunger or fullness and there's a lot more effort (and decision making!) to eating solid food than drinking. So you can make sure all her liquids really COUNT! Good luck and angels watch over you.