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How do you gain weight on a feeding tube? A new approach

Your healthcare team tells you that you or your loved one needs to put on some weight, and it’s not like you’re not trying! 

You’ve tried everything you know to do, and yet, you’re left struggling, wondering: how do you gain weight on a feeding tube?

The good news is that there are multiple strategies to help – some you may already know, and some may be new to you. (Hint: Have you heard of blended food?).

Let’s dive into different ways to gain weight on a feeding tube, including a game-changing approach that could improve your overall tolerance and quality of life.

Traditional strategies for weight gain on a feeding tube

Increase tube feeding volume

One approach to help gain weight is to increase the volume of your tube feeds.

More volume means more calories and nutrients going into your body.

This could look like increasing your feeding pump rate by 5-10 ml/hr increments to see how you tolerate it. 

If you are on gravity or bolus feeds, try increasing by small volumes at each feed.

Use a gradual approach if you have been sensitive to volume, and if you have generally good tolerance, you may increase faster. If this works for you, great!

Increase the volume of your feed, monitor your weight, and talk to your team about how you’re doing. 

This is a good strategy if you have no problem with volume, but for some, increasing volume leads to unwanted side effects such as reflux, nausea, or vomiting.

And let’s be real – if you’re experiencing discomfort or even throwing up after your feeds, that’s not going to help with weight gain … or your quality of life.

If increasing volume doesn’t work for you, there are other things to try. 

Increase the time or frequency of feeds

If you’ve tried increasing volume without success, maybe your team suggested increasing time on your feeds or increasing the number of feeds per day.

This strategy spreads out calorie intake, trying to make digestion easier. 

If you use bolus or gravity meals, it means trying to add another meal or snack to try and get more calories and nutrients. 

If you use a pump, you can try more time on the pump. But if you’re already attached to your pump for continuous feeding, you may not have this option.

This approach can mean more time attached to your feeding pump, constantly flushing and managing your tube, and feeling like your tube feeding has taken over your life. 

What else might your team suggest?

High-calorie tube feeding formulas

You could also try commercial, synthetic formulas designed to pack more calories into a small volume. 

Because they are high-calorie formulas, you won’t need as much volume to reach your calorie goals. 

These are considered formulas with at least 1.5 kcal/ml. You can even try a 2.0 kcal/ml formula for the most “bang for your buck”.

This can be a great option for some, but others may find these formulas difficult to tolerate due to high sugar or fat content.

Are you stuck in this vicious cycle of trying a new formula, a new volume, a new rate, or a new medication over and over again, searching for the perfect combination?

Challenges with typical approaches

It’s frustrating to keep trying to increase volume, frequency, or high-calorie formulas without improvement in your symptoms.

You may have tried so many different formulas and combinations of volume, frequency, feeding times, and medications to control your symptoms that you are at the end of your rope, wondering if you’ll ever find a plan that works.

Sometimes, it’s a problem with the formula and how your body digests its ingredients.

I suggest going deeper to solve the underlying issue – maybe your body just isn’t happy with synthetic formulas, and what your body wants is food!

Here’s where a new approach may help – blended tube feeding.

Better tolerance, more calories, weight gain on a feeding tube

If you’ve been spinning your wheels with different formulas, different feeding schedules, and medications to control your symptoms, this could be the key to better weight gain and overall health.

Blended food for tube feeding uses real, whole foods blended to a smooth, liquid consistency and is given through your feeding tube.

You may find that adding even a little bit of blended food leads to:

• Better digestion – Fewer issues with reflux, nausea, vomiting (1, 2, 3, 4,
• Improved bowel movements – Less diarrhea or constipation (1, 4, 5 ) 
• More energy and overall well-being – Because you’re tolerating your feeds better and getting more energy and nutrients in, but you also feel more connected at mealtime (6)
• More food choices and flexibility – You can even enjoy special meals like birthday cake, your morning coffee, or a holiday meal in a modified form 

Research has shown that children AND adults experience improved tolerance with blended food. 

You spend less time dealing with puking, frequent bathroom trips, diaper changes, and flushing medications to deal with your symptoms.

You may not need all the medications to control your symptoms because the blended food helps you go to the washroom regularly – it’s not a loose or constipated stool.

Your digestion is better, and because your body absorbs the nutrients from your food, you even start to gain weight.

But that’s not to say you need to ditch your formula altogether, either! Many people use a combination of feeding methods with formula and blended food to find a plan that truly works.

Putting it all together: Finding balance

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to gaining weight on a feeding tube. 

You may find success with small adjustments to volume or frequency or adding in a small amount of blended food.

If you’re struggling, work with your healthcare team to find the best solution for your unique health concerns. 

If you find that your healthcare team isn’t quite on board or aren’t feeling confident enough to support you, I’ve got some resources to help.

Check out this article to help talk to your team about some misconceptions they (or you) may have about blending. 

If you’re ready to blend and want real food options that pack in calories without increasing feed volume, I’ve put together a free guide with high-calorie, low-volume foods perfect for blending. Grab your copy here.

Your ultimate goal may be weight gain but the first step may be improved tolerance so you can feel more energy and have a better quality of life. Then weight gain will follow. 

You’ve got this!