Hospitals Keeping People Unhealthy

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Shakuhachi

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I don’t get it. The American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, American Cancer Association, American Diabetes Association and American Medical Association, among others, have recommended limiting saturated fat and trans fat, red meat, sodium and added sugars. That means, minimizing intake of processed meats such as bacon, sausage, hot dogs and fried foods. And yet all those products are served to patients, families and staff in hospitals. Yes, I know, it is all part of our culture. Having a get together with hotdogs and hamburgers seem to be the American way to relax and have fun. Meanwhile our rates for adult diabetes, cancer mortality, heart disease mortality, stroke mortality and obesity drive up healthcare costs, not to mention kill people.

I guess I am just frustrated at what I see.
 
The 4-5 hospitals I know offer a variety of foods across the range of more to less healthy. The admitting physician specifies the diet for the patient, which what can be ordered.
 
Shakuhachi said:
And yet all those products are served to patients, families and staff in hospitals.
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Hospitals aren’t places where people go to get healthy. They just fix up your acute trauma and send you on your way. When you think about it, sick people (in hospitals) need to be tempted by food in order to eat. They can get healthy food when they get home. But I understand your frustration.
 
I’ve noticed that there is a lively debate on what the best, optimal diet is for people that want to prevent different diseases. Some write that sugars are bad, others are not as concerned about sugars. Both sides provide studies. The same can be said about saturated fats.

Instead of diet I’ve often thought hospitals should take a lesson from nurse Florence Nightingale and let sunlight into hospitals. Sunlight is a good disinfectant. It’s also been found to increase peoples life span. A little on studies that looked into that can be seen here:

 
It’s up to the dr to decide what his or her patients can eat while in the hospital. My mother has been on clear liquid diets, full liquid diets and low sodium diets during various hospital stays. Each was based on her condition when admitted to the hospital and what her body could tolerate at the time. When she returned home, she resumed eating the low sodium diet she’ll be on the rest of her life.

When I enter the hospital for my long awaited throat surgery to repair my hiatal hernia and other issues, my throat will be swollen for a month afterwards. I will be placed on a clear liquid diet I’ll have to follow until the swelling goes down. I will then slowly reintroduce solid food into my diet.

Other people go into the hospital and get to eat the foods they love after their procedures. But the foods are lower calorie, lower sodium versions of the things they eat at home. Butter isn’t used. Smart Balance or I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter is. They use fresh fruits over canned. Orange juice without pulp. Some patients have Boost or Ensure added to their diets - all at the discretion and approval of the dr who lets the dietician know his wishes.

When a person has special dietary needs, those are taken into account. My mother needed a soft mechanical diet during one hospital stay because she was unable to put her teeth in her mouth.

Patients with diabetes are placed on a diabetic diet.

All of the diets at the hospital are heart healthy. If you aren’t a patient, you have to go to the cafeteria or one of the restaurants they have in the food court. The eateries will differ with the hospital.
 
lilypadrees said:
All of the diets at the hospital are heart healthy
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Strictly speaking, not all the menu items are heart healthy. Those words indicate a specific type of diet in some institutions that limit sodium (salt), caffeine, and fat. But the foods provided are not unhealthy. Other factors are involved in the process. A patient with a new condition may be placed on a appropriate diet, the institution like any business is operating within a budget, competition and patient satisfaction ratings play a part, and food an nutrition play a part in the recovery process. There has to be a balance.
 
LOL you’re barking up the wrong tree.

What ought to really scare you is the typical nurse-to-patient ratio at most hospitals.
 
In Kentucky, you can still smoke in the hospital, and they have spittoons upon request. In the more rural counties, there is usually a still somewhere on the hospital grounds.
 
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They are trying to get free human organs and sell them on the black market. Tongue-in-cheek.

It’s either that, or it’s that the food staff is its own entity. They don’t mix with the doctors.

One or the other…
 
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Mtatum1958 said:
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lilypadrees:
All of the diets at the hospital are heart healthy
Click to expand...
Strictly speaking, not all the menu items are heart healthy. Those words indicate a specific type of diet in some institutions that limit sodium (salt), caffeine, and fat. But the foods provided are not unhealthy. Other factors are involved in the process. A patient with a new condition may be placed on a appropriate diet, the institution like any business is operating within a budget, competition and patient satisfaction ratings play a part, and food an nutrition play a part in the recovery process. There has to be a balance.
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You’ll have to take it up with your area’s hospitals if you think their diets aren’t healthy. We have the menus for ours. And everything on them is heart healthy.

Doesn’t matter what the patient’s assigned diet is. Our hospitals must abide by strict guidelines and they do. No junk food is allowed. No high sodium. No artery clogging items. If you want junk foods or high calorie foods, you go to the food court. The foods served there are not as healthy as the patient’s diets.
 
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No caffeinated products, less than 900 mg sodium, etc. for all patients? Congratulations if that is the case. When I said “heart healthy”, I refer to specific, limited diet plans, not the overall good recommendations you mentioned.
 
Daisy said:
They are trying to get free human organs and sell them on the black market. Tongue-in-cheek.

It’s either that, or it’s that the food staff is its own entity. They don’t mix with the doctors.

One or the other…
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Rather than one or the other, I think it’s both/and. We should really take a closer look at the hospital’s ‘tongue-in-cheek gumbo’.
 
Hospitals are also teeming with viruses and bacteria. Veritable hothouses of germs. If you want to stay healthy avoid them like the plague. And doctors as much as possible. This is what doctors themselves will actually tell you offline. 🙂
 
I am convinced this organ black market is a major push in the Right-to-Die laws.
 
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Mtatum1958 said:
No caffeinated products, less than 900 mg sodium, etc. for all patients? Congratulations if that is the case. When I said “heart healthy”, I refer to specific, limited diet plans, not the overall good recommendations you mentioned.
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1.Yes. No caffeinated products for any of the patients.
  1. Yes. Less than 900 mg sodium, etc for all patients.
  2. And yes, I know that was your meaning of “heart healthy.”
 
I am impressed. And I am trying to influence our local hospital.
 
I also take an active role in my mother’s dietary care when she’s in the hospital as well as at home since I’m her caregiver. She can’t speak very loudly. So I’m the one who relays everything her drs need to know. I’m the one who fought so hard for her to be on the soft mech diet when her injuries were such that she couldn’t put her teeth in. Basically, everything pureed.
 
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