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Ensure Dietary Supplement Alternative

Ensure is the brand name for a liquid dietary supplement that provides all your body's nutritional needs in one convenient drink. According to the National Institutes for Health (NIH), you can follow simple dietary guidelines to get the same nutrition in alternative liquid forms. You can also use other liquid dietary supplements that are higher in protein or have other benefits in addition to those in Ensure.

  1. Liquid Diet Nutrition

    • The dietary requirements for people who are restricted to a full liquid diet can be intimidating at first. The NIH gives sample dietary plans and liquid food equivalents. The NIH also recommends consulting with a registered dietician. You can combine the allowable liquid foods to give you the equivalent in calories and nutrition of Ensure or other prepared liquid diets. You can find sample diet plans on the NIH website (see References below).

      The list of items you can drink on an alternative liquid diet is long. Of course, all beverages are included in a liquid diet, as are all fruit juices. Strained cooked cereals can provide you with your bread, cereal and flour needs. An alternative liquid diet allows cheese soup, butter, cream, oils and margarine, as well as gelatin desserts, smooth ice cream (no candies/cookies) and frozen yogurt. You can drink pasteurized egg nog. To consume meats, use strained baby foods, which you can add to soups to make them more palatable. Of course, a liquid diet includes clear or pureed soups, and honey, jelly or syrups can provide sweets. Consume vegetables in the form of vegetable juices or tomato soups.

      When using a liquid diet after surgery, try chilled foods, such as milkshakes, which your body will more likely tolerate, according to Health24.com. Do not forget to drink enough water when on a liquid diet. Your body still needs water to function well.

    Other Brands of Liquid Diet

    • Other types of liquid diets include Peptamen and Nutren, which are similar to Ensure. Peptamen is specifically formulated for people with weakened gastrointestinal tracts. It is balanced in peptides and 100 percent whey-based, which makes it easy for your body to digest. Nestle makes Peptamen. Nestle also makes Nutren, which is intended for those recovering from illness or surgery . Nutren is high in protein. Both Peptamen and Nutren are intended to provide full nutrition through liquids for healing recovery; they are not intended for weight loss.

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