If you were following my Tweets or Facebook updates yesterday, you know that I lifted something from the hospital cafeteria that had me in utter shock. (Don't worry, I'll put it back tomorrow.)
But first, have you seen this post about hospital food: Corn Pops for Diabetics??? You won’t believe it.
It's a little triangular stand-up flyer that had a blurb titled, “We're now trans fat free” on one side; a disgusting looking recipe for “reduced fat cut-out cookies” on another side (it called for “soft-tub margarine”, nonfat yogurt, and egg substitute or egg whites, among other things); and on the third side was this…
“Smart Recipe Substitutions”:
- Instead of a whole egg…use 2 egg whites or 1/4 c. egg substitute. (FAKE eggs or eggs without the most nutritious part?! Gee, which one to pick?! Remember, eggs are a superfood!)
- Instead of solid shortening, butter, stick margarine…use fat-free yogurt, applesauce, pureed prunes, or soft-tub margarine with no trans fat. (Stick with butter for the healthy nutrients in this traditional fat!)
- Instead of whole milk or cream…use lowfat: 1%, 1/2%, or skim milk. (Why would you replace a REAL food the way God gave it to us in nature with an imitation that is harmful?! Read about healthy milk choices.)
- Instead of sour cream…use lowfat/nonfat sour cream or nonfat plain yogurt. (Gag me.)
- Instead of a buttered pan…use non-stick spray. (They're killing me! No, actually, they're killing all the people who are reading this stuff and believing it because they saw it at a hospital. Those aerosol cans have preservatives and/or fake chemicals! Have you ever seen real fats in a spray form? I use my real butter to butter ALL my pans.)
- Instead of buttermilk…use skim milk + 1 T. lemon juice or vinegar per cup. (I think you're getting the picture, I'll shut up now.)
- Instead of Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip…use light or non-fat varieties.
- Instead of Cream Cheese…use lowfat/nonfat cream cheese, yogurt cheese, or Neufchatel cheese. (Does anyone know what that last one is?)
- Instead of sugar…use Splenda or 1/3 less sugar. (Go with the 1/3 less sugar instead of the chemical laden fake sugars that can cause weight gain.) Read more on sugars and the best choices!
- Instead of salt…reduce by 1/2 in most recipes. (Just use sea salt, and get beneficial minerals, too!)
- Instead of gravy…chill drippings and skim fat off before making gravy. (And lose all that yummy flavor? No thanks. Besides, healthy traditional fats with your protein and carbs help your whole meal to digest easier, God gave them all to us for a reason.)
- Instead of nuts…reduce the quantity in recipes. (Last one, after this I really will zip it. For this one, try making crispy nuts, they're so good for you!)
OK guys, I can't wait to hear what you have to say about this one. Be sure to share your gross hospital food stories. (Don't we all have them?) It's a blast when you all get such great discussions going – you never know which posts will spark that, but it's fun when it happens. Sorry if I can't respond to all the comments (I'm still up with Mom at the hospital, and she's doing great, by the way), but I'm reading them all, and love hearing from you.
UPDATE: If these guys can do it, any hospital can!!!
photo by the truth about, Welcome Works-for-me-Wednesday readers
Jennifer Cote says
Hi, Kelly! I was just doing research for my upcoming cookbook– wanted to include a section on ingredients to avoid. Reading your scary hospital article, I realize I’ll be up against a lot of well-intended but horribly WRONG ideas about healthy ingredients. We can only hope that this info will reach some folks, hey?! Money. So much about who’s lobbying/supporting who…
DavetteB says
People are so programmed for processed food they don’t even recognize real food. One time my mother’s friend’s daughter was at our house, and we had toast and tea for a snack. She was literally enraptured over the toast! ‘Our toast never tastes like this!’ The difference – Real Butter :o)
Another friend told me that she had never had homemade macaroni-and-cheese! Never – not even a special occasion.
I makeover recipes too, but the good way – real butter, pastured eggs, sea salt, some white bean flour for added protein and fiber, etc. If I add some pureed fruit or vegetables, it is for the added nutrients, not to remove the oil.
They never seem to understand that if you eat real food with real nutrients you don’t over eat because you get the nutrients your body needs so you don’t get cravings; then you can stay a healthy weight. They also don’t get that most cholesterol problems are caused by high sugar and white carbs, not good fats.
Merry Lynn Shepherd says
My mom (82 yr old) had a bad bout with the flu recently. We were quite concerned for her. (understatement!!!!) Yes the food in the hospital was horrible, despicable. But it didn’t stop there. After she recovered and was back home, she had follow up visits to the doctor and the nurses were ADAMANT that after all she had gone thru she needed GATORADE (seriously!!!!!) to replace the electrolytes she had lost. They were SOOOOOOOO insistent about it that even my “real food” mother succumbed a bought a bottle of Gatorade and was drinking it. You would have thought there was almost something magical about it they way they went on!! Unfortunately we live a number of states away from each other (My brother was doing his best to take care of her.) When I discovered what was going on, I was incredulous! THANK YOU Kelly that I was able to give her YOUR recipe for healthy electrolye replacement. THANK YOU!!!!!!!
KitchenKop says
I’m so glad she’s home and doing better now!
Gatorade, full of fake colors, HFCS, and loads of other junk…how sad!
KitchenKop says
Lindsey, of course I don’t mind, I’m glad you found it!
I’m praying you’re on the road to recovery as we speak. 🙂
Kelly
Lindsey says
I know I’m a late-comer to this post, but I found it via your comment on the Cheeseslave’s blog 🙂 … hope you don’t mind.
I have to add my two cents: I have spent more than four months over the last two years in and out of hospitals (weeks upon weeks at a time) in “recovery” from an EATING DISORDER.
The food they served us was no better. I remember thinking, over and over again, If I’m supposed to gain weight, can I at least gain it by eating food I ENJOY?
SIGH. Someone – anyone – should really address the food-hospital issue. It’s deplorable…
Emma says
If it was a spray can, you might have been tasting the propellant. If you can find it, the best option for spray oils is a refillable pump pack. You choose what oil you put in, and the only propellant is the air you push in – see https://www.amazon.com/Misto-Gourmet-Brushed-Aluminum-Sprayer/dp/B00004SPZV/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1239197683&sr=1-4
Emma
Kelly says
Lauren, I’ll bet it was rancid………ick. Makes me gag just reading your story!
My Boys' Teacher says
Lauren,
I tried that EVOO spray…SOMETHING is in it, there has to be. There wasn’t anything listed on the bottle other than EVOO, so instead of stirring a big batch of cut red potatoes in EVOO and roasting them in the oven I sprayed them with that stuff. I think when you just spray a pan with them you don’t notice, we didn’t, but the potatoes (which looked and smelled amazing) were completely ruined. They tasted like hairspray or worse. My husband tasted one too (we had company, we didn’t have them taste them) because he didn’t want me to throw away a quarter of our dinner in front of company and just gagged and gagged. Both of us felt like our tongues had been chemically burned in some way. Something is in there.
My Boys’ Teacher
Kelly says
Sarah, I’ll say a prayer that all goes well with your delivery! 🙂 Post your letter-to-the-editor here if you decide to do it and let us know what you wrote.
Carolyn, your so sweet, and I’m glad you found your way here, too – I look forward to hearing more from you here in the future!
Becca, sorry you felt I sounded critical in the post, but I get pretty riled up when a hospital, of all places, gives advice that I find so wrong. The better substitutions you were looking for are (in my opinion) the very things the hospital wanted to replace with fake versions. You asked what I thought about substituting fruit for the oil in recipes, and I think it would be fine, but using a healthy fat like butter or coconut oil would be great, too. My point is that healthy fats are not harmful.
Eileen, I agree, that is very sad…
Lauren, that sounds great! There are no chemicals in the olive oil spray at all? If the only ingredient is olive oil, I might be getting me some!
Thanks everyone!
Kelly
Lauren B says
Just fyi Kelly, you can get Extra Virgin Olive Oil cooking spray. It’s just pure olive oil, and it’s so useful for pretty pancakes and greasing muffin tins. It’s not all that great for the environment, but it’s so much less messy than butter. Natural chefs gotta take shortcuts too! 😉
Great post, as always!
Lauren B
Eileen says
I had a rude awakening at the hospital I used to work for, taking care of diabetic pregnant women. They would come in to get their blood sugars stabilized – some of them on insulin. The food they were served really surprised me! Instant mashed potatoes and ice cream for lunch, huge bagel for breakfast, etc. I finally asked the RD why these women weren’t being served healthier choices, and I’ll never forget what she said. “These people are dumber than a box of rocks. This is the kind of stuff they eat at home, so we serve it to them here so we can adjust their insulin properly. They will never change the way they eat at home, just because we tell them to.” Oh, my. That’s sad.
Kristin says
I have always shunned the margarine and fat free, sugar free, chemical laden stuff. I always assumed that if it wasn’t real I shouldn’t try to eat it! I’ve been eating real food for quite some time and it’s amazing to me what some people think is real food. I asked at a pot luck what was in something and she said – a can of, a can of, a box of… I ate my salad and turkey breast that I brought 🙂
Kristin
'Becca says
Evidently what “works for you” is criticizing others. I followed your link thinking you were going to suggest actual smart substitutions.
I agree, hospitals are hardly on the cutting edge of nutritional advice. I work (as a social science data analyst) for a conglomerate “health system” which recently started offering employees free nutrition counseling. I thought, Great! I’ll find out if my headaches might be caused by a dietary imbalance! But talking to their so-called nutritionist was like talking to one of those automated phone systems; she was just comparing my diet to the “food pyramid” and giving no consideration to vitamins, amino acids, even fiber or protein or calcium–nothing but “food groups”, fat (it’s bad!!), and calories (bad!!). It was like 8th grade home ec 20 years ago.
The only one of those hospital substitutions I’d make is fruit for shortening/oil in some baked goods, because it adds vitamins and fiber and we’ll get enough fat from the butter we’ll spread on it. Are you saying that’s a bad substitution?
‘Becca
tami lewis says
unbelievable!!! if only we would turn to GOD for nutritional advice.
tami lewis
Carolyn says
Wow! I have finally found you. 35 years ago a doctor came to the college where I studied and started talking about how unhealthy our bread was. Since then I have been looking for you. Most people have just thought me a little on the crazy side…
I work at a pediatric hospital and cringe not only at what is served in the cafeteria, but at what the patients are offerred. It is so artificial and unhealthy. How can they heal without the wonderful food God made?
I do believe our nation has been brainwashed, from our kids all the way through the medical and nutrional “experts”. It is up to us to teach others a better and healthier way to eat. We have to start in our own households and work on the rest, including our MDs. Thanks for being here. I’ll be back.
Sarah says
When my mom was in the hospital (for a MONTH) after being admitted with stroke-like symptoms and then being diagnosed with MS (she had to relearn how to walk, talk, write . . . ) we were SHOCKED at the food options they gave. Much has already been written about it here – jello full of artificial colors, high fructose corn syrup, MSG – no real food to be found. We began bringing in all we could – including a huge quart jar everyday of homemade smoothies with real yogurt, bee pollen and a whole bunch of other stuff.
Since then, she has refused using the MS pharmaceutical “treatment” that they recommend (she had a seizure after the first dose and swore off of it) and now focuses on nutrition as her sole medicine (lots of smoothies, leafy greens, real food in general), along with weekly Vitamin B shots. She is doing great.
When I gave birth to my first in the hospital, I made sure to pack at least a few items, like granola bars and fruit (this was pre-NT for me, I ate quite healthfully though. I wanted to be able to eat at will during labor and my particular hospital frowned on this, so we had to “sneak” food – ridiculous) but still had to really work hard to find good food on the menus. I’d order yogurt and get Yoplait, full of artificial colors, flavors and HFCS. I’d order a sandwich and get packets of Dijonaise and fake cheese to go with it on a white flour roll. After labor they wanted me to drink juice, but when I requested cranberry (thinking it would be good for my bladder and kidneys) they brought cranberry juice cocktail, the kind that is 10% juice, bright red in color from dyes and super sweet. It was crazy.
I’m pregnant for the second time and due in a few weeks and am already planning my hospital bag. Cheese, bottled kombucha, some green smoothies . . . even just a good chicken salad sandwich on quality bread would be better than what they serve! Wish me luck!
Best,
Sarah
PS – As I was writing this comment I was perusing the morning paper and came across an article in the food section on “Nutrition on a Budget.” Excellent, I thought! I get to the third paragraph and there it is. I quote:
“One of the healthiest cooking oils in the world is canola oil. It has the lowest amount of saturated fat of any common culinary oil (half that of olive oil) and is free of trans fat and cholesterol. The FDA authorized a qualified health claim for canola oil on its potential to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. Just 1.5 tablespoons a day, which costs pennies, may help protect your heart.”
I then went on to read that ALL of the recipes with this particular article included canola oil, canola oil plus “canola oil margarine or canola oil butter blend” or canola oil plus “canola cooking spray.”
If ever there was a time to write an angry letter to the editor, this might be it! 🙂
Sarah
Kathy says
I can speak first hand on this issue, I have been an RN working in a hospital for 35 years. First I will advise anyone who knows they are going to be in the hospital, have someone fix your foods and bring them in. The people who have to serve the fake broth in styrofoam cups are only serving what is available and I don’t serve it to keep you sick so I have a job.
Second I chose to quit eating anything from the hospital about 9 years ago. It was fattening, disgusting and expensive. Since I hadn’t even heard of WAPF then those were my reasons. I made the choice to take real food to work for all of my meals, snacks and drinks for my 12 hour shifts. It takes preparation and planning but it is very worth it. My co workers are always very curious about my meals and I have even inspired a few to cook a little more. Many of the young nurses are amazed to find that you can make your own yogurt, cheese, sour cream etc. (they seem to think making anything from scratch is amazing and magical and prepared by food fairies somewhere) meanwhile I will be sittng in the lunch room with my organic veges, fermented veges, raw cheese, grass fed meat and fresh fruits on a real plate and they will be eating gravy smothered mystery meals in styrofoam containers, again their choice. The hospital cafeteria does offer healthier options but even so those who buy the food have to make the healthy choices and many do not. Also I must qualify healthier, I am sure it would be difficult/impossible to eat in the NT style while in the hospital. We should all understand that since it is a bit overwhelming to those who are changing from current trends to the NT style in their own homes. It will take a huge grass roots movement and shifting of mainstream ideas on what a healthy diet is before institutions will comply. Eating habits just like any other( smoking, drinking, etc) are deeply ingrained and difficult to change. The majority haven’t seen the light yet. If you have a loved one in the hospital you will recieve a survey. Fill it out and be specific about what you would like to see changed.
Kelly says
LN, that’s soooo sad that your doc felt he had to whisper all that he knew to be right, he must have been miserable. I’m trying to figure out who exactly must have put that pressure on him, obviously the same thing and probably much worse goes on today. Was it likely the practice he worked for, who were getting pressure from the drug companies to push their stuff? I wonder if there is some type of “quota” for how many Rx’s of each drug they’re expected to push each day? Or if a certain diagnosis comes through on a patient’s chart, if another certain drug is “expected” to be prescribed, or else there are ramifications??? Maybe I’m over-thinking it all now and sounding more like a conspiracy theorist after all.
My doc is a little more open than some, I’d almost like to fake something so I can go in and pick his brain about some of this…trying to think of any other docs I could ask…I want the REAL story on this.
Nancy, I loved this line (and good verses, too!): “But what I believe to be the real problem, is the blindness with which most follow an
Local Nourishment says
Kelly, I didn’t mean that I consider all health care corrupt. I do believe most doctors really do buy into the low fat PC agenda they preach. It is what they are taught at medical schools. The professors there believe it too. Why? Textbooks. A famous quote goes, “History is written by the victors.” In our society, the victors would be the corporations that donate money to textbook authors, that pay for flawed studies, that manipulate results to their own ends. I really hate to sound jaded, but follow the money.
Some doctors know better. Our family was in the care of one once, a long time ago. He’d speak in very hushed tones about getting all the preservatives out of our food when I brought my son in with breathing problems. He’d say loudly, “So, I can prescribe this albuterol inhaler for him,” then continued very shushed, “but you really need to think carefully before exposing his tiny body to that strong a drug.” He always made me think carefully about our healthcare choices, and provided photocopied articles from the Lancet, JAMA and New England Journal of Medicine for me to study up on. But he always acted like he was breaking the law somehow. He walked away from medicine two years after being forced into an HMO system.
I don’t believe we can just blindly accept any information we are handed anymore. There is too much information available for us to sit back and take the pills we are given. The system is corrupt from its roots and doctors who advise against the PC don’t last long in the system.
And I’m with Nancy. What hubris to assume that man can create “better” than God. That haughty pride comes before a fall, and I don’t want any part of THAT!
Local Nourishment
Annette says
Drew – pee your pants funny
Cheeseslave – thanks for the thoughts on what to do with my spray oil, I’m looking for ants now.
Kelly – thanks for another great post and so glad your mom is doing better!
And I’m totally down with the conspiracy theories. I see it in the breastfeeding community all the time. Real food and boobs don’t lobby. Large corporations do. And they will do anything to reap those profits.
Annette
Kelly says
I just got home and there’s so much to do, so I only have a sec. Jen, I want to encourage you to keep up the fight! Someone like YOU (because you’ll have that degree behind you) has one of the biggest and best chances to get the truth out there. Don’t stop! You’re doing great! Thank you for being bold enough to bring things up a little at a time as you can with your profs. But you must often feel beaten down as you swim up stream. Let’s all pray for her and other nutritionists like her! As long as we’re at it, let’s pray we’re ALL wise in knowing when to speak and when to zip it.
By the way, Jen, feel free to rant here anytime, it’s good for us to hear from someone like you who is “in the trenches” even more than most of us are.
Last thing – regarding the conspiracy theories a few of you mentioned – and yes, I know you were mostly joking, sort of. I just want to say that maybe I’m being really naive, but I honestly think that most docs, nutritionists, etc., REALLY think they’re teaching the right stuff and helping us, but they’ve just be THAT misled when it comes to nutrition. (I’m not sure if I can say the same thing about drug companies…but they can’t ALL be bad either. Some amazing life-saving drugs have come down the pike through the years, but wow, a lot of crap in the name of making money has also come down…)
OK, I’m done now. Looking forward to reading more interesting comments on all this! 🙂
Christine says
Rhonda – unbelievable that is what they would offer a sick man! : P
I’m not at ALL surprised.
We have, as a culture, traded an obsession for taste and volume for REAL food that satisfies. Our idea of what is good to eat is completely perverted, as a society. Self control, especially regarding food or beverage, no longer seems a virtue. We are trying to LIVE off ‘the king’s dainties’ (sweets) and rejecting real, wholesome foods. I do believe our culture has almost entirely LOST the godly wisdom that must have been pure instinct, back in the Garden!
I recently received a Better Parenting coupon booklet from Nestle, I believe. One coupon was for a ‘real juice but BETTER’, because it was ‘lighter than 100% juice’.
Meaning, it must be BETTER to feed our little ones watered down juice with artificial coloring, flavoring and sweetener in it instead of just plain juice! (Ick.)
Is it even a savings to use that $1 off 2 8-packs anyway? For the same $2, we can buy a 5# bag of grapefruits…and eat the fruit AND the juice at the same time!
IssacsWife says
I am going to the hospital in Sept to have a baby and to think i am going to be fed some slop afterwards! I am already preparing a list of foods I am going to take with me.
Rhonda says
Oh yeah! I have had some experience with hospital “food.” My husband was in the hospital for cellulitis (blood poinsoning) and was SO SICK he couldn’t eat for days. And he’d had to be bombarded with antibiotics to save his life. So one day he’s starting to feel better and the nurse asks him if he’d like some broth. Now I’m thinking to myself how good “real broth” is for you and how healing that would be for him. I mean, I knew that it would’t be healthy NT bone broth you understand, but when she came back with a cup of boiling water in a styrofoam cup and a little packet of “broth” mix (you know, salt, MSG, food coloring and artificial flavorings) I was HORRIFIED! I mean, I almost couldn’t contain myself from jumping at that woman before she got any closer to my husband! I won’t even START on the other “food” that he was served. Suffice it to say that from that point forward he only ate what I brought him from home, and we got out of there as fast as his body would allow! It is a DISGRACE the way they feed people in the hospital! Sheesh. Oh, and you know, they had me written up in his chart as “conservative” with regards to food and drugs. You know, I was one of THOSE wives – the kind who wanted to know every drug they wanted to give him and why. And imagine! I didn’t want them to pile him up with 3 different kinds of pain killers at once, on top of the 4 different antiboitics, etc. Imagine being concerned about what kind of side effects the drugs they just routinely give might have? They used the word “conservative” when they spoke to me about it, but you know it probably said “fanatic” in the chart! 😉 Unbelievable!
Kristin says
Not surprised. I remember when my mom was in the hospital. She had me make homemade foods for her to eat as she couldn’t stomach what they were serving. I didn’t know anything about NT or real healthy, whole foods but I did use butter!
Oh, and according to my old “Cheesemaking Made Easy” book by Ricki Carroll, Neufchatel originated in Normandy. It should be made with whole milk and some additional cream.
Real cream cheese is made with 100% cream. Not sure what exactly is in store-bought cream cheese but I wouldn’t call it real cheese….there are lots of thickeners, etc. in it. And the storebought Neufchatel is likely not real either. Check labels.
Nancy says
I have to say, Kelly, I was thinking “gag me” long before the sour cream! When I saw your gag comment I had a good out-loud laugh! I know it’s not a laughing matter, but you have to see the humor in a group of people charged with providing nutritional foods to recovering patients and serving what they do.
Yes, it does seem to be a huge contradiction, and the “conspiracy” dots wouldn’t be hard to follow, if you are so inclined (and sometimes I am!). But what I believe to be the real problem, is the blindness with which most follow an “official” path without asking questions. WHY is real butter worse than a plastic invention? WHY are egg substitutes better than real eggs? WHY would God give us something and then expect us to make huge modifications to it in order for it to be nourishing? I don’t mean to turn this into a Bible study, but in Genesis 9, God tells Noah (vs. 3) that “everything that moves, everything that is alive, is yours for food.” In vs 4, he even mentions meat. Then he says in vs. 7, “I want you and your family to have many children, to grow in number on the earth, and to become many.” Why would he say what he did in about what’s good for food without meaning that those things would be good for what he charges them to do in vs 7? Making and raising healthy children is nutritionally challenging unless you have the right foods! He must have had their good health in mind! Since my (free-range) eggs are in His basket, I think I’ll eat what he intended for good health!
Many blessings on your mother, and you as well!
Karen says
Hi Kelly,
Well, I had to click on to see what it was you “thieved” away from the hospital. eheh…Thank you for exposing this organization that is NOT about health but patchwork, most often. Symptom free, but not health. Big difference.
You know I was entrenched in the low fat dogma for years. It took the conference in BC 5 years ago and a willingness to try something different. Heaven knows, what I was doing was NOT working. I was fat, depressed and barely functioning. 47 pounds lighter and losing still more, feeling satiated and happy…well, what’s NOT to like?
I will be eternally grateful to Sally Fallon and Cowan and YOU and your site for holding me strong.
It took all the gumption I had to cancel my last workship w/ McDougall when I returned from Fallons’ conference in BC. But I did and I’m not lookin’ back. Oh…I keep my eyes and ears open because those professionals are always packaging their information differently and coming up w/ new ways to scare us all to death, so I am AWARE of that marketing. I just don’t fall for it anymore.
We are bombarded w/ it all from the environmental standpoint of NOT using animal products to animal cruelty that pulls on us all. But we are conscious and are doing it right in making right choices who we shop with…bravo!
Thank you for this…now I’m going to read the details. The great thing about NOT “doing this food” is that I don’t have to know much about it.
*Kewl*.
I love you and your work..I’m your #1 FAN. 🙂
Hugs.
Karen in Merida, Yucatan
Nourished Kitchen says
Wow! That is a scary list. No wonder our country is so ill when the medical powers that be suggest nonsensical approaches to nutrition like the tips above. My son was at children’s hospital for an MRI a few years back due to a terrible vaccine reaction (we no longer vax) and we decided to try out the cafeteria. I was ASTONISHED by the lack of healthy options. Bacon (not the good kind), powdered eggs, chocolate milk, sodas, HFCS yogurts, danishes and donuts were on the menu. I opted for a mealy red delicious apple as that was the best choice – can you imagine? Yuck!
Nourished Kitchen
Kara says
The hospital I work at (a children’s hospital) actually has some decent choices in the cafeteria – fried whole chicken, made to order omelets, sandwiches, real oils for salad dressing, etc. Kids can order up junky meals, like chicken strips and fries, but they can also order up healthier foods like hard boiled eggs, oatmeal, organic milk, lots of fruits and veggies, etc. It’s the snacks that kill me – all processed foods with artifical dyes, HFCS, and the like. Lots of sugar. I’m not really sure how kids are supposed to get better with all that sugar lowering their immune system, but most of the kids are just eating the way they normally do. Fortunately, there is a mini-fridge in each of the rooms so you can bring your own food in too.
Jill says
Hate to sound like a conspiracy nut, but really – why would a hospital give real, truthful and healthy nutrition advice? They’d shortly be out of business if they did! They need to keep people coming back for more treatment for new diseases. Doctors, phram companies, hospitals, etc. They are NOT all bad, and they serve an excellent and often life-saving purpose. But remember, they are in the business of helping sick people, not helping healthy people.
Motherhen68 says
Glad to hear your mother is feeling better.
You know, I”m living proof that you can lose weight while eating full fat things like butter, heavy cream, eggs, olive oil, etc!!
I have to say though, when my oldest was born, he was born in the hospital. After 24 hours with no food (stupid rules) I was starving. The hospital brought me smothered chicken with brown gravy (homemade w/a roux like we do here in Louisiana), coleslaw, etc. It was the best darn smothered chicken I had ever eaten LOL. Today, I would still eat the chicken w/the gravy, but ditch the rice.
Motherhen68
Dinneen @ Eat Without Guilt says
Just found your blog (thanks to Drew) and love this article! Thanks for pointing out what so many other people and cultures already know.
For the past few decades (especially this last one) we keep looking to “improve” on food and to find “perfect” foods. Hello? Nature already makes food perfect! Us playing around with it and adding fake stuff to food is not right.
Also, in my business daily, I talk with people (mostly women) who are afraid of food and the word “butter” puts them into a complete panic. And a big reason for this is because they have been consistently been told it is “bad.” So wrong.
So part of what I do is help them have a better relationship with food, and lose weight in the process. And part of that is teaching them how to appreciate food, learn to take pleasure in it, and start eating REAL foods – not the fake stuff we’re constantly told is ‘good for us’ when in reality it’s not.?
I also lived in France for 5 years and let me tell you, the hosptials there do not serve “fake stuff” (unfortunately I spent a few days in a hosptial there due to an accident with my foot). They eat butter, real eggs, real cheese (no Velveeta stuff there!), and they don’t freak out by the word “fat.” Yet they have much lower rates of obesity, diabetes, and one of the LOWEST rates of heart disease in the world.
Yes, the get out and walk & there are other lifestyle factors that come into play — but having a healthy relationship food is also a big part of it.
Thanks for sharing this info!
Dinneen @ Eat Without Guilt
cheeseslave says
Haha! Wow that is truly absurd.
I just feel sorry for all those folks who are depriving themselves of butter and cream and bacon. And for what? They’re getting sicker and sicker.
How can anyone really think that non-stick spray is healthy?
The good news is, the word is getting out there. When you type in “non-stick spray” on Google, this is the second result:
https://www.printnpost.com/articles/4717/1/5-Interesting-Facts-About-Nonstick-Cooking-Spray/Page1.html
Did you know non-stick spray is highly explosive and can be used as a drug, as ant poison, or as a household cleaner?
Jen – Thanks for sharing your experience in school. Very interesting!
cheeseslave
Drew @ How To Cook Like Your Grandmother says
“We’re trans fat free! Now go home and cook with margarine.” Hey, we didn’t say you were trans fat free.
“Instead of nuts use … less nuts.” Really? That’s a substitution? How about I use a substitute payment method? Instead of paying $4,000 by credit card, I’ll pay $5 by credit card.
Drew @ How To Cook Like Your Grandmother
Nicole B says
Holy smokes that makes for a difficult to read recipe with all the exchanges. So much more work too.
Neufchatel cheese is a lower fat cream cheese. Next time you go to the grocery you can find it next to the creme cheese packages.
Leslie says
I’m not at all surprised by this blogpost, although seeing it all in one place just confirms my recent dealings with the hospital. My 8 year old son was in for severe abdominal pain. After several hours on IV fluids, they determined it was not appendicitis, just a bad gastrointestinal bug. After 14 hours, he was hungry (what healthy 8 year old wouldn’t be?). We needed to wait for the surgeon to okay clear fluids. 8 hours later the surgeon came in. One hour after that a tray showed up with fake broth packets and hot water, blue colored ice pop, jello and sherbert. I was sick to my stomach watching him eat this stuff. I couldn’t bring myself to read the ingredients; I knew I would start to cry. His mouth was blue for days from the ice pop. How can they do this to people?!
I got him home and warmed up my “real” chicken stock and bought him some organic pops made with real 100% fruit juice. I felt much better after that, but still amazed at the junk they are pumping patients with in hospitals.
Jen says
We have table tents like this in our hospital cafeteria. It is National Nutrition Month so things like that are popping up in hospitals all over the country. Ours have some of that information, but mainly focus on portion control. I had to help design them. I am within a month of graduating with a degree in dietetics. When I started my degree, I bought into all that low-fat hype. I have since become acquainted with Nourishing Traditions principles. I have since gotten into quite a few interesting discussions with my classmates. It amazes me that the research of Mary Enig and those like her is largely ignored by those in my field. You will never see her research in any of my clinical nutrition journals. I got into a discussion about her with one of my professors. My nutrient metabolism professor has replicated some of Enig’s results in her lab and she did concede that raw milk could be healthier if you got it fresh from the farm. I also got her to agree on the benefits of coconut oil. None of my dietetics texts even address Mary Enig’s research. When are we as a nation going to wake up and realize that it is our processing methods and factory farms that are causing the problems? We as a nation eat “healthier” than ever before and yet we are having more health problems. Obesity is turning into an epidemic. You would be amazed at all the 300 plus pound patients I see on a daily basis who supposedly have “healthy diets.” Sorry for the little rant. I am having a hard time lately reconciling the way I really eat with the way I am supposed to be telling people to eat.
Pampered Mom says
Can’t say as I’m the least bit surprised by what you found. Ugh!
As for what Neufchatel cheese is…traditionally it’s a soft, unripened cheese from France. Of course, here in America it’s pretty much the same thing as low-fat cream cheese with all of the same gunk and fillers.
Come to think of it, isn’t that what America has done with most traditional foods? Replace the real stuff with gunk and fillers and then try and pass it off as the same thing?
Pampered Mom
Lisa Sargese says
We’ve all been exposed to the brainwashing mechanisms that have reasonable people convinced that fats make us fat. I still get nervous when I put my real, raw butter on my vegetables. I’ve been so conditioned to believe I’m doing the wrong thing. And forget about the looks I get from friends who think I’m going to die of high cholesterol. If I eat red meat (grass fed and finished of course) I have to hear lectures on how John Wayne died with 25 pounds of undigested meat in his colon. It’s propaganda at its worst because people in “authority” are preaching this malarkey to their patients who eat their Dunkin Donuts egg white sandwiches and really believe they’re doing the right thing.
It’s hard to watch the public get bamboozled like this from folks we’re supposed to be able to trust with our health.
sigh
Thoughts and prayers to you and yours!
Send Mom our best wishes!
Mara @ What's for Dinner? says
Unbelievable that this garbage was posted in a hospital!
Local Nourishment says
You can’t really blame the hospital. They are a business, after all. Who would blame, say, Johnson and Johnson for advertising their baby shampoo? The babies look so cute and smell so sweet! The hospital is just advertising, making sure that their customer base knows how to obtain their product.
Local Nourishment
Jessie says
Lord have mercy! Maybe I should be *glad* my mother-in-law’s oncologist didn’t give her any nutritional advice or send her to a nutritionist. Geez…