Ensure

I have been wanting to gain weight for, well..my whole life. I know the key is extra calories. I am lactose intollerant and I have tried Ensure so many times, but it always gives me stomach cramps. Anyone else have this problem with ensure?

I don't know the product. I drink this atm though: http://www.nutriciamedical.be/product.php?id=1&PHPSESSID=wvliscsibzkrmhrp I don't know if you can have this if you are lactose intollerant but I like it. Oh well, just trying to help, they have a whole range of products, like soups and fruit juices and yoghurts etc.

Hi Lilbit, welcome to the forum. Certain flavors of Ensure give me awful cramps and go right through me. Specifically, vanilla does that. But chocolate Ensure is fine and doesn't have that effect on me. Have you tried other flavors? What about other brands, such as Boost? I've also heard people on the forum say that Carnation instant breakfast is a good alternative, although I haven't tried that one myself. Good luck, I hope you find something that works for you.

Carnation instant breakfast...good idea! I'm so eager to gain I'm scouring any and all things with major calories. If I could tolerate it I'd eat cupcakes and hamburgers all day long.

I know the feeling, I have the hardest time gaining weight too! I could eat an entire bag of potato chips and still lose a pound or two. I know many people would kill to have this problem, but I was thin to begin with and don't need to lose any more weight. Good luck, let me know if the Carnation works for you - like I said, I haven't tried that one yet myself, but I've been meaning to give it a try. And if it works, all the better!

Try a non milk supplement like fortijuice (nutricia), it is lactose free but 300 kcal per 200ml bottle.

Little Miss H, I don't think we have fortijuice here in the US. I've never seen it in stores, my doctors have never mentioned it, and I've only heard of it here on the forum. If it were available here I'd love to try it. I'm lactose intolerant (although Ensure says on the bottle that it contains milk, it also says "suitable for lactose intolerance" so I guess they took the lactose out and only put certain elements of milk in it).

Cat, Why don't you contact nutricia and ask if its available under a different name. The good thing is it is less filling and doesn't contain fat which was good for me when I was at my worst as any fat just gave lots of pain and then made me sick..which didn't help with stopping weight loss and i ended up with ng tube feeding for weeks! blimey, that was off the point!

Little Miss H, thanks for the idea! I did a bit of googling, and it looks like they do have a North American branch. But it looks to me like the only gastrointestinal products are made for infants. I don't see anything like fortijuice or Ensure in their list of products.

Here's the link if you're curious:
http://www.shsna.com/pages/products.htm

I was informed by the dietician that I should just always eat 2 spoons more after point of saturation of any food that doesn't cause any problems. I gained weight, slowly, 1/2 kilo at a time and with a lot of patience I am now 62 kilos (1,76 height). Of course, it can take you 6 months to gain 3 kilos and after one week of heavy cramping, throwing up and running to the bathroom you are back at the start again.

I'm glad someone else can't handle Ensure! I was very disappointed when I got sick after drinking it. I was counting on the calories and vitamins!

Yeah I can't have Ensure, I remember when I had it, my tummy really swelled up and I was in tremendous pain . I was very upset because the flavors were delicious!

If you want to gain weight there's loads you can do to help. You could start adding more delicous oils to your diet, I use a lot of Hemp oil, avocado oil, flaxseed oil, olive oil and cocnut oil.

Also have you tried very very dark chcolate? It is what I would call a superfood, very nourishing and it'll definitely help with weight I think.

Avocados are very rich as well, I love them .

There also a lot of protei drinks which are fantastic and lactose free, such as Hemp proteins, some whey proteins and soya proteins, I think you can even get flaxseed proteins as well!

Good look xxx

Interesting thread! I have not tried Ensure itself, but I have been trying the Walgreens store-brand "equivalent", the vanilla flavor. I don't think it tastes very good and it leaves me feeling a bit sick, not exactly nauseous, but it's not a pleasant feeling. I may try getting the real thing and trying other flavors.

I do much better with Carnation Breakfast Essentials, as the product appears to be called now.