Need suggestions for alternatives to bread please

[InnerGeek]

Dad is at the 'constantly wanting to eat' stage, and his go-to is bread. He quite literally has it for breakfast (sometimes more than once each day), lunch (again sometimes more than once each day), afternoon snack, accompaniment to his evening meal and pre bedtime snack. Sometimes he forgoes his evening meal because he's so full from his bread. His agency carers are both enabling and encouraging this, even when told the reasons not to (on doctor's advice).

He's not bread intolerant, but he does have vitamin deficiencies and we're trying our best to make sure he has a balanced diet - hard when he's living on jam sandwiches! He won't touch milk or milky foods/drinks, so breakfast cereal is out. If he has soup, he wants bread with it. He can't suggest any alternatives himself as he's lost his ability to use initiative. I'm really stuck for alternatives to suggest, even for a couple of days a week.

If anyone can suggest anything to try instead, I would really appreciate it! Thanks in advance

 

[Sue J]

I eat rice cakes to try and reduce my bread intake, they're a bit bland but are filling.

 

[fizzie]

Will he go for a compromise like a banana sandwich? might remind him of childhood?
Porridge - another childhood one?
Bacon sandwich?
Even tho they involve bread it might begin the weaning off problem although he clearly feels the need to feel full

 

[Kevinl]

I'd take the pragmatic approach and just give him vitamin tablets, it's so much easier than trying to change the behaviour of someone with AZ. They cost pennies to buy and many have 100% of the vitamins you need. You could buy the smaller sized loaves and hope he goes on the number of slices rather than the size of the slice.
K

 

[InnerGeek]

Thank you Sue J! I think they also do flavoured ones, too - I'll slip a pack into his cupboard and see how they go down.

Fizzie - he does have cold meats in his fridge and his carers are supposed to encourage healthy lunches (I'm not sure that corned beef, cheese and jam all in the same sandwich is that great, but better than jam alone!) but it's the sheer quantity of bread, regardless of the filling. He can go through a half to a whole full sized loaf each day including crusts. Porridge is milky, so he won't touch that.

 

[Lawson58]

I assume you can buy wraps in UK, you know the sort of thing - pitas, mountain bread, that sort of thing.

They are good with salad items in them or you can fill with some grated cheese and a little ham and put them in a sandwich maker and toast them. Avocado with shredded chicken and some cheese works well this way too. You can buy whole grain ones which are just a little healthier than white.

 

[InnerGeek]

Thanks Kevini. The doctor is talking vitamin injections if Dad can't do it by improving his diet. The carers won't give him anything not GP-prescribed and I don't want to mask anything by giving unprescribed tablets while he's under GP supervision. We did try the smaller loaves, he just ate twice as many slices - he has an eagle eye just when you hope he won't!

 

[fizzie]

Thank you Sue J! I think they also do flavoured ones, too - I'll slip a pack into his cupboard and see how they go down.

Fizzie - he does have cold meats in his fridge and his carers are supposed to encourage healthy lunches (I'm not sure that corned beef, cheese and jam all in the same sandwich is that great, but better than jam alone!) but it's the sheer quantity of bread, regardless of the filling. He can go through a half to a whole full sized loaf each day including crusts. Porridge is milky, so he won't touch that.

I am a really unhealthy eater!!! so I understand the struggle. I just don't think you are going to wean him off that!

 

[InnerGeek]

I ought to add that the other problem with so much bread is the bloating makes his acid reflux so much worse, and he's on high doses of meds to keep it under control as it is.

 

[Beate]

He is eating - sometimes in dementia that is all that counts. Some people only eat sweet things then. Not great for nutrients but at least they are eating. I agree with the vitamin pills suggestion but our idea of a balanced diet is often not sustainable in someone with dementia.

 

[fizzie]

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh so you really do have to get it down! I think a number of people will be along soon with some creative ideas

 

[Mango]

You could perhaps try a loaf of gluten-free bread and see if it puts him off. I got some of that stuff in for visitors once and it is not very nice!

If he didn't like it, you could cheerfully say - Opps the bread isn't too good today - lets try something else...

 

[Slugsta]

Does he have something raising the head of his bed to help reduce reflux overnight? Might be helpful, with or without a reduction in bread intake!

 

[betsie]

Would he eat a jacket potatoe with baked beans?

I'm sure they sell ones in M&S (and maybe McCain do them too) that you can just microwave for 3 mins and Heinz do the microwave pots of beans that take 1 minute.

Would he eat the cold salad pastas / couscous they do?

If he likes eggs, omelettes are filling and you can add lots to them.

 

[Suzanna1969]

I am a big fan of the Dukan Diet (low carb low fat), it's the only thing that works for me but OH how I crave bread when I am on it!

But lo! What did I see on This Morning only the other day?

Cloud Bread!

Apparently it's nice to use to make sandwiches etc, it's a good 'carrier' and actually LOOKS like bread. I haven't actually made any yet but have bought the ingredients and intend to do so tomorrow evening.

In the mean time, here is the recipe and item:

http://www.itv.com/thismorning/food/cloud-bread-lisa-faulkner-recipe

Nutritional values per piece (recipe makes about 10-12) are: 31 calories | 0g carbs | 3g fat | 2g protein
Which ain't bad.

You can also experiment with rosemary, garlic, grated cheese for savoury and maybe a little sugar for a sweet version to have with jam and cream like a scone.

My only worry is that it might taste a bit 'eggy' but if you use it to make filled 'baps' with things like ham, tomato, bacon, hummus etc then you probably wouldn't notice.

I will try it out tomorrow and post my findings!

 

[Lawson58]

Looks like a cheesy omelette so quite nutritious.

 

[InnerGeek]

Oh gosh, thanks so much for all these suggestions! I didn't mean to drip-feed the information yesterday, my head was all over the place after a stressful day.

Dad is definitely still a hearty eater, he loves his main meals when he's not too full to have them. I know there will come a stage where this is not the case, but he's not there yet by a long shot. We've managed to get his weight gain down from 2lb/week to 1lb/week by limiting him to two packets of biscuits per week. If we can do some judicious bread-swapping, hopefully we can get his weight to stabilise.

So far (and mostly thanks to you all!) my list is running at:

Rice cakes (sweet and savoury)
Cooked sausages
Cooked fish fingers
Scotch eggs
hard boiled eggs
Tortilla wraps
Salad ingredients
Cold meats
Pasties
Jacket potatoes
Pork pie
Cup-a-soups
Pasta-in-a-mug
Investigate cloud bread!

We can then safely leave out just a few slices of bread each day knowing he won't go hungry.

Thanks again for all the brilliant suggestions!

 

[InnerGeek]

Also, thank you for the suggestion of raising the head of the bed - I will investigate!

 

[CollegeGirl]

You can get vitamins on prescription - my mam is on a prescribed vitamin B tablet which comes along with all her other meds in her medi-pack. Would this help

Another alternative to bread that I don't think has been mentioned - crackers. There are loads of varieties; cream crackers, Hovis, Tuc, etc and might provide that savoury taste he craves?

 

[InnerGeek]

Thanks CollegeGirl, I think packets of crackers might go the same way as the biscuits - once he starts, he can't stop himself, but maybe decanting a few into a container will give him variety. He's already prescribed high doses of thiamine and folic acid which is why the GP says injections are the next step.