This sunday we went to visit my friend's Grandma in the care section of the local hospital. She recently had surgery to remove a blockage and re-straighten her bowels, and while she is doing extremely well, she did just have major surgery in old age, and they want to take good care of her before she goes home. But they are not taking good care of her. Sure, the nurses are helpful, friendly and cheerful and the place is clean and bright, but she just had surgery due to digestive issues, and they are feeding her junk.

Let's take a look at her meal, shall we?

• grilled cheese sandwich - white bread with "American" pasteurized processed cheese product
• canned peaches - by the way the liquid they were in behaved, they were either full of high fructose corn syrup or some artificial sweetener like aspartame
• "fruit" salad - Jello and Cool Whip with a few grapes and peeled apples thrown in pancake - refined white flour
• 2% milk - pasteurized and homogenized jelly beans

Why is this a problem? 

Aside from the fact that these pseudo foods are not good for anybody, she is supposed to be healing from major surgery. This foodstuff will not only not help her do that, they will hinder it. First, a lot of these foods are high in fat, which can be difficult to digest. Normally I'm a pretty big advocate for including more fat in our diets, as I think most people eating industrial food don't get enough of it, but her intestines just got sliced open, they have enough to deal with already. Second, it is full of refined white flour and sugar which cause inflammation and suppress the immune system, as well as a host of any number of chemicals that seriously tax major organs. Does her body really need to be dealing with this right now? Don't her doctors know better?

Apparently not. The dietary guidelines they gave her? Eat soft food, but no fruit with small seeds. (like strawberries, raspberries etc.) That was basically it. Nothing about quality protein for essential amino acids needed for healing. Nothing about what to eat for easy bowel movements and proper bowel function! At first I thought they might have omitted this very basic piece of information thinking everyone knows it already, but having seen the meal she was served, I cannot believe that.

My friend and I didn't know what to say, or how to get her the food she needs without upsetting her, so we didn't say anything. How do you take care of someone physically and emotionally in today's world? 

My friend's Grandma should not have to be worrying that she is not being treated well by the very people that are supposed to be helping her.

If I could do this experience over again, I would consult with her and her doctors ahead of time, and bring over one or several of the following;

• Juices and/or Smoothies
• Chicken Broth
• Soups and Stews
• Applesauce
• Appropriate fermented foods, such as sourdough bread, yogurt or ketchup.

All homemade of course! (Why? Because the commercial equivalents either have extra ingredients or a lack of nutrition that the homemade version doesn't have a problem with.)

What about you? Have you or a loved one struggled with hospital food?