FTD - Idea to help with lack of impulse control with eating for your loved one

blue1976F

Hello all.

My friend I've been giving care to I believe has FTD. He has a short term memory issue and a lack of control with eating, especially sweets. I found out that he likes my cooking and will eat nearly anything I cook. Instead of buying him his usual sweets he wants, I make it something that has some kind of health benefits to it. Such as oatmeal raisin cookies, a strawberry fruit bar, etc. I include healthy vegetables with my cooking such as spinach, which you can add to just about anything, including scrambled eggs and it doesn't really have a taste. He'll eat whatever I make or give him.

It's great I've discovered this. He never complains and will eat whatever I buy or make for him to eat. I've even tried getting him a sandwich or fruit instead of just his usual junk food he likes to buy to eat, and what I get him is a much more healthy alternative he likes and accepts!

Take care,
Kimberly of AL

selinda

Wonderful!!!! Caring for my mom with stage 5 Dementia and she is eating good but to much at a time???

Iris L.

PWDs love sweets. I don't know why. Perhaps sweet is their last functioning taste bud.

Iris

jfkoc

Seems like that is a generic behavior.

ImMaggieMae

blue, my husband will eat whatever I cook him as well, although I’m hand feeding him now as he’s become less adept at handling eating utensils. He chews slowly, so a meal with salad and dessert can take up to 2 hours. He seems to enjoy what he’s eating and like your LO, he will eat things that he didn’t like before, like salmon or other fish. Sweets are always a hit. I cut any large pieces of food into smaller pieces. For example, last night we had Ceasar salad and eggplant parmesan. I cut the romaine lettuce into bite size pieces, and cut the eggplant into cubes. It was easier for my sister and I to eat too, especially for me when I’m busy feeding him.

I often do stir fry’s with ground turkey and lots of vegetables. There are lots of bottled Asian sauces that have sweetness to them and sometimes a little heat. They’re easy and quick. Joe’s Special, a mix of ground turkey, eggs and spinach is another quick meal to put together. Adding fruit to salads gives that sweetness they all seem to enjoy. A salad of spinach or mixed greens with cut up fresh pear, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and a little cardimon is also popular here.

ButterflyWings

There also is an overeating condition that some PWDs have, called Leptin resistance.

My DH falls in that category. It is not impulse control with leptin resistance, it is the brain telling them they are hungry even when they are stuffed. No sense of satiation or being full, almost like our puppies when I was growing up, that would eat themselves sick if allowed.

The added challenge now is that DH will try to eat ANYthing- not just food, which can be really dangerous obviously. Watch out for when that hyperoral behavior starts.

blue1976F

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/213121#Comment_213121

selinda, your Mom is in the 5th stage of dementia and is eating well? That's wonderful though, right? Normally from what I have learned in a late stage the client no longer wants to eat or eats a lot. There was one that only wanted to eat popsicles and had Parkinson's. Is she gaining too much weight or is her weight fine?

blue1976F

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/213169#Comment_213169

Iris L., a lot of clients I once gave care to including my own Grandparents that did not have dementia or any other kind of condition, did love eating sweets. Perhaps it also makes them more happy. Maybe there's also something in sweets that even further contributes to helping them become more happy. A lot of the clients seemed to love eating them at night, such as ice-cream. My Grandparents use to love doing that too. It also made me happy as well. However, too many sweets isn't good. I have a person that's also my friend I've been helping and he really loves sweets. I try offering him a healthy home cooked meal, or offer buying him something such as a fruit bar or oatmeal raisin cookies, that has less sugar and some kind of health benefit to it, and he accepts this which is great. Too many sweets can cause diabetes, weight gain, cavities, etc. and other health conditions appear. It's wonderful he'll eat just about anything I make or he let's me buy for him that's something to eat, including something that's not a sweet.

blue1976F

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/213230#Comment_213230

Hello ImMaggieMae,

It sounds as though your husband is eating really well and good and beneficial foods. I once had to give mashed potatoes to a client that had trouble swallowing that had Parkinson's. It would be good to include a kind of protein in the mashed potatoes or with it too so the person can further get a protein source, and include a green vegetable as well. There's a can of spinach and asparagus at Dollar General that's extremely soft and is easy to chew that could be great to offer a client to have something good to eat that's having difficulty chewing and swallowing. Just a few suggestions I had, take care. It sounds as though you've been doing very well feeding your husband.

blue1976F

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/213233#Comment_213233

Hi ButterflyWings,

It's frightening that someone doesn't know when to stop eating. And it's even more disturbing that the person could put anything into their mouth and try eating it. I think I once seen a family member do this, but I'm not sure. I hope more than anything the person isn't starting to do this!

Sozokero

Hi, I recently started caring for my mother who has alz, she's in early stage 5. She has eaten a 1.5qt tub of ice cream in 3 days, save for 2 servings other people had. I've been monitoring her because it just goes so fast. Just today she had 4 small servings. Then she went looking for her oatmeal raisin cookies. She had a good breakfast and a good lunch. I try to get her to eat some veggies and some fruit, but other than that, I don't know what to do. She laments that there is no ice cream. If she could subsist on OJ, oatmeal cookies, sandwiches, and ice cream, she would and often does. I worry that she's going to get diabetes. Any suggestions?

M1

Hi Sozokero. Frankly I'd let her eat what she wants. She is in the late stages of a terminal disease-i think this is a matter of picking your battles. If you're doing the shopping then you have general control over what's available, but beyond that i wouldn't sweat it too much.

Sozokero

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/216512#Comment_216512

M1,

Totally not the answer I was expecting, but you're absolutely right. I just needed that mind shift. My dad recently passed away, and it makes so much sense now that he had the freezer stocked with the large tubs of ice cream. Along with packets of ham, and loaves of bread in the freezer. Just stock up and let her eat cake, or in this case, ice cream. He picked his battles. Thank you!

Dutiful One

When I was caring for my mother, I was so careful about what she ate, but she still found a way to eat sweets. When she visited my home, I bent over backwards making healthy food from scratch. When she lived independently, I took her grocery shopping and helped prepare her meals. In Assisted Living, I asked that she be guided toward healthy meal choices. She was diabetic and was supposed to be given specific meal items, but their policy was that if a person with dietary restrictions asked for an off-limit food, it was given to them anyway.

In retrospect, if I had to do it over again, I would have eased up on it. Trying to monitor her eating was extremely stressful, and she was finding ways to eat sweets any way she could. When she lived alone and again in AL, she was going through 36 oz bottles of creamer in less than a week. I found the healthy snacks I'd purchased, still in her cupboard weeks later. Later in her disease, Mom developed Pica, and was eating toothpaste and other non-foods. We had to clear her surroundings of everything that might be consumed. I believe she was seeking foods and tastes to satisfy a sensory need. When she moved to an adult foster care and then to memory care, the food was prepared specifically for her individual dietary restrictions and her health improved, but her dementia still progressed. In the end, it didn't matter. I was happy if she ate anything!

Now, with my husband, I do cook healthy meals for him and am careful about what snacks I keep in the house. However, I have stopped saying anything to him if he eats something that is contrary to his dietary needs.

LaneyG

DH has been gaining weight due to constant grazing. Sometimes he forgets he already had a meal and gets peeved when I remind him. I’m told meds will cause appetite increases. I too believe in picking battles. Within reason, I let this one go. He gets away with a lot but I feel like he has such little control in his life and what is happening to him so I let him call the shots again within reason.

howhale

I believe that sweet is one of the last taste sensations they have which contributes to their diet issues. Have tried to provide so many good food choices but it is a losing battle. A friends doctor told her that if her mother with AD will only eat ice cream in the later stages, feed her ice cream. They have so few pleasures left, let her enjoy that. I try to use sweet with other foods to help and sometimes it works. Grilled cheese sandwich with a slice of has but with fig preserves will work many days. Without the preserves, no luck.