Getting desperate - can you recommend a good protein shake?

[Verbena17]

Hi,
I’m getting desperate for my son to eat and his ED nurse suggested this week that we buy some chocolate Ensure drink.

Our DS is 17 and has ARFID.
It’s currently worse than it’s ever been in his 17 years and today he’s literally only had 3/4 of a cheeseburger.

I don’t mind paying for anything but I know that he will most likely smell the Ensure and refuse it and it’s pretty pricey and I can’t buy only one bottle.

So I thought it would make more sense to ask on here if someone can suggest a high protein/calorific drink he might accept. Basically, it would have to be as much like drinking normal chocolate milk as possible - not like a fortified product that doesn’t quite taste right 😬.
I bought a bottle of Paediasure a few months back and even I thought it smelt rank!

I’ve got some Friji but he says no to that as well.

Put in liquidiser;

plain yoghurt, a sliced banana, a dash of orange juice, a dessert spoon of raw dry porridge oats, a squirt of honey

Pulse till its a smoothie.

Thank you - great idea.

We haven’t no. I’ll have a look but thinking it’s not smooth liquid? Is it oat based and porridge consistency?

I can try it - but apart from oats, he doesn’t eat any of those things so might refuse it. But worth a shot.

When my dad was poorly we used the "natural" Ensure powder and added what he could tolerate.... Chocolate ice-cream, milk, sugar, vanilla blitzed in a smoothie blender was the recipe he tolerated the most. The coldness masked the chemically taste of the ensure.

I hope you find a resolution soon - I cannot imagine how hard it is for you all.

The problem with a lot of these protein shakes/powders is that they all have artifical sweetners in them and therefore are low in calories which for OPs son is not what he needs

Huel do one that doesnt have artificial sweenters in them but you cant get it in the UK

I just offered him some plain roasted chicken with cheesy mash (something he ate a long time ago) but he said no. In fact, after walking round the kitchen, he refused everything and then I showed him a big bag of maltesers so he took those. If he eats them all, that’s 505 cals. Plus the 3/4 burger about 331 and a coke 212.

Oh that’s a good idea. Also good to know that censure tastes chemically - would defo have to hide the taste then!

I guess it may be less risky to just buy vanilla protein powder and add it to milk and hot choc powder.

Yes that’s true. His go to cereal was Weetos which are fortified too which was great. They also do a protege in version I think. But now he’s refused those too!

It's really tricky as depending on how low his weight is he can tip into anorexia which will make him resist more food, increase anxiety and make him feel sick etc.

I'd make the milkshakes, use chocolate ice cream and double cream, you can add milkshake powder.

My dd is suspected ASC and is recovering from anorexia so I know how hard it is balancing the two issues.

Would he drink through a straw? Or a sports bottle? Just thinking his nose will be further away from the smell as it were.

He was 8st 1lb last night and a few months ago, was 8st 7lbs. He’s 5ft 10”.

That’s a great idea about using double cream too!

My teens like For Goodness Shakes from Amazon. They are half price at the moment

I know people with ARFID can also have anorexia but he has no issues about his looks and no psychological reason wanting to lose weight.

He really wants to eat normally, loves the thought of Japanese foods (he loves all stuff to do with Japan) and really wants to be a normal weight again and have energy to do things like climbing.

Would be eat yogurt pouches?
Skyr yogurt pouches have about 15g protein and roughly 130 calories for 150g pouch. They're smooth - although the raspberry one has tiny pip/grain texture. They're cheapest in Aldi at about 75p a pouch. Also, Suckies are good, they're slightly less on calories protein but completely smooth. They have them in most supermarkets.
If he will eat them then you can buy reusable pouches from Amazon and you could make your own.

Thanks I’ll take a look.

Coming in second after mayo, yoghurt is one of his worst foods 😬 but thanks for the suggestion.

Does he enjoy Japanese food? Katsu curry is high in calories.

I like the amazing grass protein shakes, no artificial sweeteners which I can’t take the taste of!

DH likes them just with milk, I like them with half a frozen banana and a dessert spoon of PB - it gives it a McDonald’s milkshake taste and consistency

Would he consider drinking a really rich hot chocolate, topped with cream and marshmallows?

You could make it worth jersey milk or add single cream to replace the milk.

Mum of recovered anorexic here.
I think I have gleaned that he tolerates ff milk and oats?
I'd do as @Girliefriendlikespuppies suggests. We used smoothies (but could call them milkshakes) ours was berry based but you could leave them out and replace with choc icecream..
My recipe was
100ml ff milk
100ml ff greek yog (plain flavour)
40g oats
1 banana
2 tsp honey
Berries (replace with 1 scoop of smooth high fat chocolate icecream?)

That comes to 400 kcal. If you replace 50ml of ff milk with 50ml double cream it's 700 kcal.
BUT don't blitz the cream it turns the mixture v gloopy, add after it's blitzed.

If you replace berries with 1 scoop of choc icecream that's more cals and you could leave out the banana or the yog if either are deal breakers. Banana more easy to taste than yog.

It's a better way to get protein than powders. No artifical stuff at all.

The Team RH chocolate protein powder is really nice, the best one I’ve tried. If you blend it up with milk/ice cream it’s just like a machines milkeshake. They’ve usually got a discount code so it’s not too much of an expensive disaster if he doesn’t like it. It sounds very hard and you must be so worried

I used to have Solgar protein shakes. The strawberry one was really nice and they also do a chocolate one. However, for a UK company they are quite hard to get hold of in the UK. Amazon used to have them but we touch and go. You may find a health food store that had them though.

Unfortunately we’ve (he’s) only managed to try making a few Japanese meals - the last a few months back being karaage chicken. He insists on making it and won’t let me do it and so it’s very hit and miss. He likes the idea of it though so we try to build on it.

I will look - thank you 😊