Most of the senior residents in the long-term care home where I volunteer are no longer able to eat by themselves. Others have difficulty swallowing while others simply don't have the appetite. I notice that the health care staff give these residents glasses of nutritional drinks such as Boost as 'in lieu of' the regular food. I wonder how much these nutritional drinks help the body meet the necessary nutrients that it needs.

I believe drinks like Boost and Ensure are designed to take the place of meals, so they contain most of the nutritional requirements for a person who is not eating enough.

This is just my personal opinion but I believe that our bodies would be better served by eating real food rather than created drinks that have been fortified with vitamins and minerals. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure these nutritional drinks are better than nothing, but I think we should try to get our food from natural sources. Blended fruit and vegetable smoothies or delicious pureed soups make for good natural alternatives to what you can get from the can and they taste much better too! I'm sure it's a lot more convenient for the Nursing home to just serve the canned shakes though.