113: Blenderized Diets for Tubies | The Life-changing Health Benefits and How to Get Started w/ Cassie Krings and Hilarie Dreyer, RD

For years, Cassie and her tube-fed daughter Eloise tried to accept that vomiting, pain, and hospitalization was just part of tubie life. After all, that’s what they kept hearing from many medical professionals when Eloise had difficulty tolerating formula after formula. But as Cassie discovered, highly processed formulas aren’t the only option available for many tube-fed kids. After working with Hilarie Dreyer, a registered dietitian who specializes in blenderized diets, Cassie was able to switch out the formula that made Eloise’s life so difficult to blends that she makes from whole foods at home. This change in food has been life-changing for Eloise’s overall health and her relationship with food by now being able to choose and help mix her own blends. In this episode, I talk with both Hilarie and Cassie as we discuss all things blenderized diets, from what that actually means to what the research says about its health benefits. Cassie shares the story of how working with Hilarie and changing to a blenderized diet for Eloise improved life for her entire family. Hilarie and Cassie also share ways to integrate blends into your child’s feeds that can help the whole process feel less overwhelming. Blenderized diets might not work for everyone, and it doesn’t have to be an all or nothing switch either! There are a ton of options when adding blends into your child’s diet, including shelf-stable blends made from whole foods from Functional Formularies. If you’ve been considering integrating more “real” food into your child’s diet, this episode is for you. Links: Visit Functional Formularies for formula made from whole food that can make switching to a blenderized diet that much easier. Research about benefits of blenderized diets: Visit the Feeding Tube Awareness Week website for more resources. https://www.functionalformularies.com/researches/blenderized-enteral-nutrition-diet-study-feasibility-clinical-and-microbiome-outcomes-of-providing-blenderized-feeds-through-a-gastric-tube/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6660979/ - Health Outcomes and Quality of Life Indices of Children Receiving Blenderized Feeds via Enteral Tube (paid research)https://aspenjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ncp.10493 (paid research)https://aspenjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jpen.1049 Follow Hilarie on Instagram. Follow me on Instagram! Donate to the podcast via Buy Me a Coffee. Contact me about sponsoring the podcast. Follow the Facebook page. Join the Facebook group Parents of Children with Rare Conditions. Transcript on the website. And if you love this podcast, please leave us a rating or review in your favorite podcast app!