Posted on 08/03/2025 4:27:57 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
In the world's first comprehensive study to evaluate both the nutritional quality and environmental footprint of food served in health care institutions using detailed, food-level data, researchers assessed menus and food procurement data from two hospitals and three nursing homes of average size in Germany. These institutions' foodservice likely reflects that of many health care institutions in high-income countries.
"We found that meals contained too few healthy plant-based foods such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes, and too many refined grains, added sugars, salt and saturated fats," says Lisa Pörtner. "This leads to an inadequate provision of nutrients and low dietary quality."
At all the institutions analyzed, meals fell critically short of the recommended daily intake of key nutrients such as folate, potassium and vitamin B6, with nursing homes also falling short in protein provision.
"Calories from wholesome plant-based foods made up less than one-fifth of energy provision in all institutions," Pörtner adds.
At the same time, refined grains made up over 20% of calories, and red meat accounted for 10 to 17%—resulting in poor overall dietary quality.
"Our results indicate that food served in health care settings poses a health risk if consumed over the long term, as unhealthy diets are a major cause of chronic illness," explains Nathalie Lambrecht.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Pay attention to the nutritional adequacy of assisted living and nursing home meals. You may need to send protein powders and supplements to help your loved ones.
Many patients just donxt eat them altogether because they don’t taste good to begin with. Sub-par taste doesn’t help the patients eat and absorb what little nutrition they may contain.
I can’t eat at my mother’s retirement center the chicken tastes like it was rinsed and recycled into something else.
If anyone has ever spent any time at all in hospitals or nursing homes, they know how horrific most of the food is and generally the smell is even worse.
I’ll bet more than 70% of it ends up in the trash.
“Pay attention to the nutritional adequacy of assisted living and nursing home meals. You may need to send protein powders and supplements to help your loved ones.”
Along with beef and pork, and then take away crap they’re fed, particularly the carb-heavy stuff. The hospitals and nursing homes are FORCED to follow what the federal government tells them, even if its proven wrong, are they are at risk of being sued.
It ALL comes out of DC, which is horribly compromised by revolving doors, even hospitals in Germany, per this article. Hopefully RFK can turn this tanker around, but it’s a massive job, and those special interests will fight to the teeth to stop him.
The elderly lose their sense of taste from medications and just plain old age. One little lady at age 93 would only eat sweets because that was all she could taste. Thankfully, she wasn’t diabetic.
Trying to get them to eat some plant based diet when a sense of taste is gone, textures of food can be nauseating and dentures don’t fit anymore along with the sheer fatigue many feel is hard.
Yes, we let her have the cookies and cake. And Ensure.
Wow. Sad thing is that’s the stuff the residents there get, all the time.
Fix hospital food, it must be far eorse!!!
I will say our hospital has pretty good food. The breakfast especially.
My wife took over filling the NJ tube pump. I was still having problems holding food down. The MRSA pneumonia and abscess between my stomach and liver was limiting my stomach capacity. It took 5 weeks of vancomycin and cephalosporin IV to clear the infections. Once cleared, I was able to eat real food and I pulled the NJ tube a month later.
Bottom line, the rehab place was oriented to fleecing the insurance benefits for 20 days and bringing inedible "food" in 3 times a day. The protein shakes from Costco prevented more weight loss than necessary.
Sweet sensory on the tongue is the last to go in the elderly.
The great majority of people who write these articles have never worked in a dietary of either a nursing home or a hospital. Some patients never eat solid food, they eat puree as their condition might dictate or they require a bland diet.
Hospitals are not known for their food but for the medicine they practice.
“This leads to an inadequate provision of nutrients and low dietary quality.”
I can understand this in Germany. Maybe they should eat at the US public schools when savory beans and fish sticks were the preferred, by the schools, cuisine across the nation of Fridays featured staple. I can witness they were not exactly the highlight of the menu.
wy69
That’s why I Door Dash or Instacart every time I’m hospitalized. The staff hate it, but at least I’m getting real food.
I once worked in a nursing home where Sunday night dinner was scrambled eggs and a side of beets. Staff was served bologna sandwiches on stale bread. The big dinner consisted of hard boiled beef chuck that was so tough that even young staff with good teeth couldn’t eat it.
Different places have different dietary practices, hospitals too.
I’ve had meals at 3 different hospitals in Oregon since 2016. I was a patient at two of them. Each meal was very tasty, restaurant quality.
My mother was a cook at the nursing home in the 60’s. She was the favorite cook for staff and residents. The reason, she used some salt.........................
At the same time, refined grains made up over 20% of calories, and red meat accounted for 10 to 17%—resulting in poor overall dietary quality.
I say let them enjoy what little time they have left.
I’ve had some relatives in rehab and assisted living and have been very impressed by the food.
The food for them in the hospital had been very tasty and appropriate for their medical conditions. The days of lime jello and canned pears have been over for years.
The food in assisted living has been excellent and appropriate. Old folks tend not to eat a lot so it’s important to get calories into them. If they want Boston Cream pie but don’t want brocolli, so what.
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