They do bland on purpose so they don't get shocked by something rich. Carbs from pasta, tofu is protein, and whatever is in the sauce. The basics you need to stay alive for another day.

[-]

ImpossibleCandy794@reddit

The longer you are there, the more they get paid, welcome to capitalism

[-]

I would argue that tofu is a perfect food for a malnourished person. When you go without food for too long, it can be very bad to dump a complex meal into the system. Tofu is very light and easy to digest.

[-]

mojomcm@reddit

Someone who is malnourished needs to slowly reacclimate themself to eating normally. Otherwise, they'll just vomit it back up, which won't help the situation at all. This may be an attempt to slowly ease them into a normal diet, starting with something bland that is unlikely to upset the stomach?

[-]

Latter_Case_4551@reddit

Honestly I'm not surprised. If you are malnourished and eat TOO much you'll die. I'm sure OP would be fine, but there is a reason you don't want someone to gorge themselves so you give them something bland but filling.

Hope you're doing ok, OP.

[-]

miqqqq@reddit

Just had to check the nutrition of tofu, what exactly makes it bad? Fairly low calorie, good protein and healthy fat ratio with vitamins/minerals? Other than looking (and most likely tasting) awful what is the problem here?

[-]

SalvationSycamore@reddit

I would assume that having appetizing healthy food would be the aim for anyone who medically needs to eat ASAP

[-]

miqqqq@reddit

I would think the blandness and not being appetising for patients is probably in some way deliberate so that starving malnourished people don’t eat too much too quickly and hurt themselves. Likely why it doesn’t have any meat or much fibre so it’s easier for a stomach to digest food when it’s not used to it

[-]

joew@reddit

nothing. it's fine to eat "raw" (that's like calling cheese "raw"). plenty of people and cultures do so.

it's a nutritious, healthy food. some folks cry over it because it's soy (and therefore... feminine?) or associated with vegans.

[-]

timelost-rowlet@reddit

I LOVE tofu but I also heavily dislike raw firm tofu.

In soups, mapo tofu sauce and boiled in salted water to for a while? Sure.

Silken tofu raw with some yuzu? Cool.

diabolical

Shut up.

[-]

Yato_XIV@reddit

Lmao whats wrong with diabolical?

[-]

nastygamerz@reddit

🤦‍♂️ as an SEAian that is one sad tofu

[-]

Scholar_of_Lewds@reddit

As SEAian I want to defend that tofu then I remember that I hate plain tofu.

MrsZebra11@reddit

I love tofu when prepared well. This is an abomination 😭

[-]

Mezatino@reddit

So glad to hear it’s just Tofu. Because it looks like your bread was wrapped in medical gauze to me

[-]

SpeakableOmen@reddit

I thought hard cheeses are virtually lactose free? Especially if they're aged.

[-]

SunriseFan99@reddit

As someone who often eats tofu (I'm from Southeast Asia), I must say I never saw a tofu with such a... rough texture, for the lack of a better word for the description.

[-]

dmk_aus@reddit

The old every dietary restriction covered in 1 meal trick is great as it simplifies the menu and costs only crushed souls.

5 menu items that are a mix of whatever tastes good. And then the vegan, halal, kosher, dairy/lactose free, nut free, gluten free, low salt, low sugar meal. And if someone ticks any dietary restriction, like piscetarian or vegetarian or no shellfish. Boom - the magic meal of sadness.

I've seen it be a variety of things, from a cup of fruit to much, much worse.

[-]

ghettoccult_nerd@reddit

if you are malnourished, they gots to e a s e the nutrients into ya. tofu is bland, simple, mild, and chock full of protein.

SO EAT IT!

[-]

13thmurder@reddit

Raw tofu with some soy sauce is one of like two vegan foods I like. The other is whiskey.

[-]

Windsdochange@reddit

I thought it was cream cheese 😭

[-]

Remarkable_Run_5801@reddit

It's RAW?!

Report them for unethical medical practices ASAP

[-]

Lyca0n@reddit

So you were given gravy soaked tofu and pasta.... were there budget cuts recently

[-]

Sociolinguisticians@reddit

That’s not tofu, that’s “tofu.”

[-]

luxafelicity@reddit

The tofu just thrown on the plate raw is so foul ☠️

[-]

yukonwanderer@reddit

How much they billing you for this?

What is the sauce - is that gravy? I'm so confused.

[-]

K_Linkmaster@reddit

Sorry this happened to you.

gif

[-]

aelizabeth27@reddit

I'm a tofu-loving vegan and even I am horrified by this.

[-]

TacTurtle@reddit

food-o-matic excretes jello-like 'curry' block

[-]

Ike9687@reddit

Sponge. Someone made an oopsie back in the kitchen when walking out past the dishwashers

[-]

AnotherUnknownNobody@reddit

"It's PEOPLLLLLLEEEEEE"

So that’s is something you are supposed to WANT to eat?

[-]

ThereIsNoSatan@reddit

gif

Pathologist here. a healthy person would need to consume somewhere in the range of 500 bananas in one sitting. sounds to me this person likely had underlying health concerns, unless they did in fact eat 500 bananas. so while unlikely, its plausible. id guess an underlying kidney issue was likely at play

[-]

ForeverReptiles@reddit

500 bananas in 36 hour period that's roughly 13ish bananas an hour every hour for 36 hours. We're they a gorilla? Also bananas are pretty high in sugar when ripe. Roughly 15 grams of sugar in a ripe banana. That's around 7,500 grams of sugar. Sounds like a sweet deal.

[-]

ClamClone@reddit

A 500 Banana Equivalent Dose (BED) is about 50 microsieverts. This would be similar to 10 dental or half of a chest x-ray.

[-]

ForeverReptiles@reddit

Damn delicious radioactive fruit with its Bananadine psychoactive effects in its peel...

[-]

Wraxyth@reddit

Aw, man, got my hopes up for a moment there...

He likely did have underlying organ conditions that led to his demise, made acute via.. death by banana. She didn’t go into too much medical detail and believe me, I had to apologize so much because when she brought it up, it was over voice chat.

There was a long moment of silent processing and then I just started busted out laughing because it sounded so ridiculous. But she wasn’t the type to lie or add frivolous details so I fully believe it was the truth. Still, I felt awful and had to keep saying sorry between choking back my laughter. She wasn’t offended and knew it was ridiculous, but still sad. Glad she didn’t take my reaction the wrong way.

[-]

birdsrkewl01@reddit

What happens if I smoke 500 cigarettes?

[-]

Hunters because of this, sometimes do occasionally contract it from improperly handling.

This is also why in the Bible, pork is prohibited.

Just like shellfish is prohibited because it goes bad within about 2 hours and mixed fabrics because wool and linen together is a useless fabric

[-]

Kamelasa@reddit

Uh, watermelon? In the summer I can eat a whole watermelon in 3 days if it's a good-tasting one. Potassium, eh?

[-]

nimeye@reddit

And bananas without the b is pineapple

[-]

Electronic-Still-349@reddit

gif

[-]

Quiet_Panda_2377@reddit

Can't get too much potassium from diet though. So no problem there.

[-]

iimuffinsaur@reddit

My dad had to go to the hospital for too much potassium too! He didnt have a heart attack but I forget the details tbh I remember playing pokemon x more.

[-]

Impressive-Force-912@reddit

I was diagnosed with blood clots in the hospital and placed on Coumadin.

ChinaSpyBot@reddit

Pardon my nosiness, but how did you become severely malnourished? Are you okay now?

[-]

thatgirlisback@reddit (OP)

I am not okay. I still have a BMI of around 10, but I am home now. I became malnourished due to autoimmunes, these caused me to develop arfid.

[-]

bibliophile222@reddit

10?! Holy shit. I'm glad you're still alive!

from most adult inpatient hospitals in the US, it simply is not possible or practical to keep someone until they are able to gain enough weight to meet those parameters.For the poster to reach a BMI of 15 they would have to gain ~36lbs based on the height they posted, in other words gain over half of what they currently weigh. That does not happen overnight, but ideally in the matter of months or even years of consistent effort.

Gluten doesn’t cause Crohn’s, Ulcerative Colitis etc.

Autoimmune disease isn’t IBS. It’s an entirely different level of illness that will just kill you if untreated - and treatment is far from perfect, although it’s improved significantly.

You are probably entirely unaware of this, but sufferers often get very angry at suggestions like yours, which are unaware of the scale and severity of autoimmune digestive disorders.

When I first got Crohns, I didn’t eat for almost a year. I ended up in hospital on with IVs as my only nutrition, and then got peritonitis. It’s only because of excellent surgeons that I survived at all.

[-]

Carpenoctemx3@reddit

As a fellow Crohn’s sufferer I agree. I understand people are trying to help but it’s really NOT helpful.

[-]

FoggyGoodwin@reddit

My sister had severe digestive issues which she finally attributed to commercially grown produce and the chemicals used on them. (At least that's what my take away was.)

[-]

Fancy_Art_6383@reddit

What country are you in?

[-]

BoozeAmuze@reddit

Omg.... I'm so sorry.

I also have hashimotos. I've never noticed certain foods affecting how i feel though. That's so interesting. For me, I just have autoimmune antibodies constantly attacking my thyroid, killing it bit by bit. Have never had any doctor say anything to me about foods to eat or avoid or anythign though. They just test my thyroid numbers and say that it's still hanging in there and if I talk too much about being tired or not being able to lose the 25 pounds I've put on in the past five years, they tend to ask if I want to see someone for an antidepressant. Which, no I do not. Finally found a NP who would test my free T3 and my T4 and started me on levothyroxine, but nothing improves. It's been like 15 years of samesamesame. Hope you found a better care team to help you through yours than I have mine.

[-]

lovelikeghosts-@reddit

Mine isn't really being managed as I can't afford healthcare unfortunately. It would be misleading to say that there's a diet that will reverse the effects of hashimotos or improve your condition.

Making dietary changes is more about inflammation. With an autoimmune condition, our bodies are constantly experiencing inflammation. That can compound the effects of fatigue and all that comes with it. An anti inflammatory diet can help you feel better. That basically means cutting down refined sugars/carbs and processed foods. Choose whole and healthy foods.

It's pretty hard to do. Eating "clean" requires a lot of discipline and cravings. You don't have to be perfect, but the more you can lean on whole ingredients and healthy stuff the better your body will feel. This honestly applies to everyone, but for auto immune conditions it can be that difference between utter exhaustion for the whole day and feeling a little tired by the afternoon.

I also suggest exercise, specifically strength building exercises like yoga or weight resistance training. It feels horrible to start, but the investment is worth it after just two weeks or so. Even just doing it twice a week, 30 min each session. Total mood and energy boost, which I never would have believed because before when I only tried once I felt drained and weak. But your body craves it and will reward you for it relatively quickly if you give it a chance.

[-]

Great_Geologist1494@reddit

❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

[-]

Poo_Poo_La_Foo@reddit

Oh my gosh, I wasn't aware a BMI could even be 10. I'm so sorry that this happened to you. Can you drink Ensure? Or similar?

[-]

Striking-Ad-6815@reddit

BMI of around 10

FlyingDragoon@reddit

I hate door dash and food delivery apps but this is the time and place for this kind of stuff. Hell, even Walmart delivery would be useful here. Snag yourself some fresh fruits, veggies and whatever you don't need a kitchen to prepare and have it show up bedside.

[-]

JasonHofmann@reddit

Where I went to High School, the huge county prison and the very large county teaching hospital were across and down the street - they formed a triangle.

My uncle joked "I could have spent my whole life on that street"

[-]

yy98755@reddit

Is that a block of cream cheese?

[-]

Razorfiend@reddit

They were probably trying to avoid refeeding syndrome.

[-]

WingDingusTheGreat@reddit

Remarkable_Run_5801@reddit

Hulled/refined grains (low fiber) is one of the top foods which is harmful for refeeding. And that is 100% a bleached flour based pasta. lol.

[-]

xombae@reddit

The food doesn't need to be disgusting.

And if heavy is an issue I'm not sure why they chose pasta.

There are plenty of healthy, not disgusting options. I've been in the hospital for malnourishment before and I've never been served naked noodles, red water and what appears to be an eraser.

[-]

taliesin-ds@reddit

Just chicken broth with noodles would be so much better already...

[-]

AppleKief@reddit

I thought the eraser looking thing was a piece of surgical gauze …

[-]

ak47oz@reddit

It’s tofu lol

[-]

Stormfly@reddit

I definitely eat too much tofu because I looked at this and thought "That looks pretty good".

xombae@reddit

I've had solid food in the hospital before. And the pasta doesn't explain the liquid "sauce" and slice of uncooked, unseasoned tofu. Isn't that a choking hazard? Why bother with making most of the meal miserable for the sake of choking, just to put a choking hazard on top.

There's no reason for this. It's simply bad.

[-]

BaconHammerTime@reddit

Yep. Have to ease into food slowly or you can get refeeding syndrome

[-]

miss_mme@reddit

The risk for that is around total calories though, not necessarily “heaviness”.

No specific foods increase the risk so you could definitely eat something less shitty while doing slow re feeding.

Ah okay,

Norman_Scum@reddit

I honestly think where they went wrong is the amount. I've been malnourished due to lack of access and because of physical illness.

When you hit that point of no appetite, looking at a mound of singular food is too much.

faifai1337@reddit

I think what's wrong is the "sauce" that's watered-down tomato juice, and 'raw' untouched tofu that still has the depressions from the packaging. I mean, daaaaamn. At least saute that shit up. If you're trying to get people to eat, you have to at least make it look appealing!

[-]

Norman_Scum@reddit

Nah, I'm trying to tell you all that you don't understand. Like real starvation. It's not like being really hungry. It's like knowing that you are going to die if you don't eat. It's not a rumbling pain in the stomach.

The mind does wild stuff when you're in a desperate situation like that. That is way too much food to present to someone who knows they can die if they don't eat it and they aren't hungry. It's an entirely different feeling that I'm 100% only 1% of you have ever experienced.

Best case scenario prep-wise its from a hospital cafeteria and its unlikely op is the only patient requiring a wide range of specific diets for their condition.

This isn't Chef Gordon Ramsay cooking everything with a stick of butter. This is closer to a medical prescription put together by a seriously underpaid doesn't give a fuck pharmacist.

[-]

Kerblaaahhh@reddit

Bland food is pretty good for when you have no appetite. Easier to keep down.

[-]

PowerfulWallaby7964@reddit

That would be a struggle that requires mental health professionals, not a personal chef making food extra tasty looking for you.

If you don't have a mental health issue that makes you completely unable to eat food, then surely you have the capability to put this shit in your mouth to avoid dying. If the main issue is "eww no this is not appetizing enough" then fuck it man just let natural selection do its thing.

[-]

BillyYumYumTwo-byTwo@reddit

“Let natural selection do its thing” what a truly vile sentiment. Please think about what you wrote. Firstly, humans evolved and survived on being social creatures. This means we protect the weak, not individually trying to survive alone. Why even bothering having any health care at all if you think “natural selection” is a good response to someone suffering from a physical or mental health issue.

[-]

PowerfulWallaby7964@reddit

Touch grass Karen.

[-]

Sorry buddy, the hospital isn't a 5 star Michelin restaurant. As long as slop is edible, it's good. Tbh it looks like a meal i made while i was in college and didn't really know how to cook gif

I’ve worked in one of the busiest hospitals in the US and uhh… none of the food looked like this. Gourmet? No of course not. But meals with some semblance of quality is part of preserving a patients dignity. This would’ve been unacceptable at my old job tbh.

[-]

forworse2020@reddit

You can actually do things with pasta, tomatoes and tofu though. Why didn’t they?

It's called Refeeding Syndrome and it's incredible to understand that Americans volunteered to starve to help people from the Siege of Leningrad to feel better.

uwunuzzlesch@reddit

Arfid stands for Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder.

Usually this consists of having a couple "safe foods" foods you can eat all the time (hopefully) and many unsafe foods. Sometimes it's texture, taste, sometimes it's just how it looks. They have a physical negative response to eating foods they do not like.

[-]

Lone-flamingo@reddit

Sometimes it can also involve a fear of eating in general but I think that's less common. Like if you fear choking on food or if you regularly feel ill after eating, a part of ARFID can be to try to avoid that at any cost.

[-]

JadedOccultist@reddit

Yeah I am afraid of eating my Unsafest Food. Once someone put some on a fork and put it right in my face and I cried and ran away and had nightmares. That was like 20 years ago and it still makes me upset to think about lol

Other stuff is mostly ok now though thankfully

[-]

oh-anne@reddit

I feel like people shoving our Unsafest foods in our faces is a universal arfid experience 💀

[-]

bblulz@reddit

as someone also with arfid, i couldn’t eat this

[-]

DumbestBlondie@reddit

Solidarity! I have not needed intervention exactly buuuuut my partner is a physician and he is pretty great at helping me navigate the whole thing with heaps of empathy, so I really lucked out there.

Too many people don’t understand how hard it is to be terrified to eat when you’re always battling how your body reacts.

Is that a Cracker? It looks like some pressed wood fiber

gif

I'd have worse malnutrition if they served me that

(Solidarity though, I do have malnutrition from a disorder as well but not enough for intervention yet)

[-]

thatgirlisback@reddit (OP)

Lmao, same...good luck! Fingers crossed! Please try and get out if you can (ensure etc, if you're not allergic - but maybe you have an absorption problem, no clue, so I'm very sorry for recommending anything if that's the case). I ended up dying less than an hour upon entering the hospital, it's no fun :(.

[-]

HsvDE86@reddit

Are you still dead? 😮

[-]

thatgirlisback@reddit (OP)

Alive! Today is my one month rebirthversary!

[-]

DeliciousLiving8563@reddit

I was going to say elsewhere most people die at your BMI, but I guess you did.

Hopefully that's the last time for a while though.

Oh my that’s so so scary! I hope you’re doing so much better now!

[-]

HostileFriendly@reddit

Wow that's rough. Sad to hear you got turned away twice but at least your professor was nice (unintentional rhyme, sorry lol), and glad to hear you made a full recovery from that ordeal.

I've had the dizzy feeling occasionally, but it typically goes away after having a bite to eat and a rest, and hasn't gotten any worse the past week. The worst part currently is consistent twitching in various muscles, nothing painful, just not particularly comfortable either. Whether or not it's related to malnutrition I don't know, but I haven't found anything about it online and was wondering if you had anything similar?

Unfortunately the doctor/hospital is a good few hours from where I live and it's usually busy and hard to book, but I'll definitely make the effort if things get any worse.

[-]

Sillypenguin2@reddit

Don’t wait for it to get worse

[-]

Yeah! I have vitamins that I've been taking, and OP suggested magnesium which I wasn't aware of, so I'll be getting some supplements for that.

Not sure the doctor would like you saying that last part! But I agree, I do need to fatten myself up a bit and I could sure go for some cookies right now.

Cheers brother!

[-]

Holy shit, that's insane. Glad you are doing a bit better now!

[-]

SmartQuokka@reddit

That is what i would have expected, Boost or Ensure, as they have metered nutrients and is not too high in calories.

Dare i ask what they billed you for this crappy meal?

Glad your alive 🫂

[-]

Doppelthedh@reddit

gif

Yeah, that could work! Or frozen bananas or peaches, or apple sauce maybe? I made a "pumpkin pie smoothie" from a recipe a couple times, pretty good, think that would work. I try to keep a can of pumpkin on hand for my dogs, so there's usually one open in the fridge.

I'm wondering if using hot water and then chilling will improve the flavor, as well, kinda like how spaghetti sauce or chili get better the next day, flavors blending and calming down.

Plus- pre-mixing the base on days/times when you have the energy and feel okay, and then you've got it ready to go when you don't. Not that it takes a long time, but it's one less step, you know? I have times where getting bread out of the fridge and then toasting and buttering it feels like too much. Never occurred to me, but that's a great solution! I loooove having leftovers in the fridge.

Thanks for your reply, very helpful!:)

[-]

DustyMan818@reddit

i second soylent!! i remember reading about it when popular science ran an article about it in 2014 or so. the guy who developed it was a broke college student trying to survive as cheaply as possible. it's still pretty cheap today, $40 for 12 bottles, which comes out to less than $4/meal.

[-]

Colster9631@reddit

Powder is $35 for 20 servings, even more economical

[-]

TheEmploymentLawyer@reddit

Can't seem to find it. Sold out everywhere online apperanrly.

[-]

alienblue89@reddit

iirc, it was a redditor that started it.

To no one’s surprise, I suppose.

[-]

At first glance I thought you'd dropped your bandage into it.

[-]

TheRealRigormortal@reddit

gif

Playful-Raccoon-9662@reddit

Is it bland to avoid a shock to the system? That still sucks.

[-]

BasilUnderworld@reddit

what the actual fuck.

[-]

thomasgp360@reddit

“That’ll be $3000. Cash or card?”

[-]

demongenetics@reddit

ive eaten worse things, youl survive.

[-]

joined_under_duress@reddit

An absolue JSON meal.

well starving people often run into the problem that their stomachs are FUCKED. liek if you feed a starving african child a full meal, they could very well just die.

Body has to be eased into larger amounts.

Refeederism, yes, this is the reason they couldn't even give me a normal amount via Ng tube.

This though, this was just sad.

[-]

cacheormirage@reddit

maybe they feed you this to ensure you don't ask for seconds!
/s

[-]

splithoofiewoofies@reddit

You came here malnourished and by gawds, they'll make sure with all their power - that you stay that way.

[-]

Eliasberge@reddit

I can't tell if that block is cheese, bread or some sort of chicken

[-]

Prudent-Success-9425@reddit

I mulched a bunch of old letters in a big basin of water and then separated the solids and liquids and that weird white lump looks exactly like paper that's been strained through a cloth.

My grandfather worked in East Texas hospitals from the fifties to the eighties and he would tell stories of so many malnourished children whom he said made insane recoveries because he prescribed they eat a whole block of cream cheese a day lol

Enjoy your block of whatever

[-]

Tofu would be a lot healthier and more nutritious than a chunk of bread. But yeah, I definitely won't argue your point on the looks lol...

Own-Ad-9098@reddit

Not very appealing to me.

[-]

Jinn71@reddit

They’re trying to finish the job for you

[-]

LLUDCHI@reddit

Where do you live, Belarus?

[-]

FreeRangeLumbago@reddit

Guess you’re British?

[-]

PoetPsychological620@reddit

looks like a block of soap someone’s getting ready to use for one of those cutting videos 😭

gif

So for those who don’t know, they can’t just feed them crazy food choices. The only options are IV and gradually increasing nutrition or the body will go into shock.

[-]

steamy666@reddit

I am expecting the influx of downvotes for the comment I am about to publish below but alas;

Somehow I’m not too surprised with what you’re being fed due to severe malnourishment. Likely they are preventing ‘re-feeding syndrome’ where a malnourished person can get very sick/enter shock due to metabolic and electrolyte disturbances caused by normal everyday food (from the very little electrolytes these people have and their body has acclimated to it). Electrolyte disturbances can cause cardiac failure and arrhythmias.

liquifiedtubaplayer@reddit

Hardtack pomodoro, like what Marco Polo used to eat

[-]

Toppdeck@reddit

They're supposed to wrap you with gauze, not feed it to you

They know what they're doing.

[-]

conflictedideology@reddit

Not sure why you're upset with your Swollen Gauze with Rotini in Neighbor's sauce.

It's very popular.

Wem I had to go, what did they give me? 2 ensure 3x a day! On rare instances I got apple sauce.

Did they just serve you hardtack?

It can't be too nutritious or heavy because that can kill someone in a state of malnutrition.

Well yeah, the meal probably only costs like $100 on the bill, it's not like they can afford appetizing food.

Bright side? tofu is a nutrient dense, easily digestible, soft protein.

redditadminsRweird@reddit

It's catered to getting food into someone that needs a very very gradual food intake.

It is a hospital after all. They don't have that many options

Pro tip for anyone reading this though. They can't stop family from bringing in food.

[-]

thatgirlisback@reddit (OP)

My lactose intolerance was more of a problem. I'm free to eat whatever I want pretty much. They actually gave me things that had milk 3x...and fruit I'm allergic to twice - so they definitely don't really tailor it.

[-]

bettertitsthanu@reddit

This actually really upsets me. If they are this incompetent they shouldn’t be treating you or any other patients. I work in something similar and we are “overly” cautious about allergies and even makes sure that we don’t serve things the patients don’t like. It’s like the bare minimum to do because it’s THAT important. Hun, if you were in my unit I’d make sure you’d feel safe eating without risking any allergic reactions. This is so dangerous, you should file a complaint if you have the energy to do so.

And that block of tofu… they just cut open a package and threw it on there?! It looks like a block of clay.. I can’t see anyone eating that.

[-]