Post-op MRE's

[Realitycheck]

I am about to embark on another surgery. This one is going to leave me even more immobilized for a while till the fusion sets in my neck. Rather than having to deal with cooking much, at least for a little while, I was thinking about coming up with some really easy to make shakes that have everything in them that I need, or as close to it as possible. A staple of my breakfast for quite some time has been a simple whey protein-oatmeal-flax oil-guava pulp shake, but after a trip to whole foods, it looks like this is more of a fantasy than doable, since all of the different grains and stuff that I could throw in there for variety all seem to have the same 2 or 3 vitamins and minerals. Whole Foods doesn't do much justice in completing their nutr. information quota for their staples by the pound. So I am off to doing my homework on nutritiondata.com to see if I can come up with some well-rounded, wholesome concoctions. It would seem that there is not much substitute for fresh fruits and vegetables, though, so it is probably a moot point. I did however get myself an improved version of my multivitamin capsule that comes in 6 installments per day, so I should be pretty well off in that department. I am kind of a utilitarian when it comes to food for myself, so I can drown anything in a shake and be happy with it as long as it covers the bases. Any helpful insight?

[Psycho]

Can't you make a smoothie for the fruit part.

[Realitycheck]

What I have set up is wheat bran, flax seed, guava pulp, and whey protein, but like I was saying, there is just no substitute for fresh vegetables and fruits. One of the most important things post-op is keeping inflammation down, many natural foods out there contribute to inflammation. I can confirm that firsthand. Recently, I have been discovering the major anti-inflammatory properties of some spices - garlic, turmeric, and curry are all very anti-inflammatory. I'm just not real keen on eating them by themself a tablespoon at a time. So much for easy meals. I did find, however, that lots of spices acts as a thickening agent much easier than making a roux, or adding flour. Just dump a lot of anti-inflammatory spice in and let it simmer.

[madscimidwest]

sounds like a good idea you have started here. a couple pointers though, medical research has shown that keeping blood sugar extremely stable after surgery decreases healing time. this is why post op open heart patients go on insulin iv drips even if they are not diabetic. so stay away from anything that contains large amounts of easily processed sugar. you dont want to cause sugar / insulin spikes. when working as a trainer i used to have a shake in the morning made of yogurt, celery, spinach leaves, blueberries, strawberries, and a bannana. you get most of your daily vitamins that way. you might also look into some protein shakes. or just mix pasturized liquid egg into you shake, you wont even taste it. good luck with your surgery, hope something i said was useful.

 

p.s. im sure you already know, but stay away from real mre's those things are not healthy for prolonged consumption.