Tea & Toast Syndrome is dangerous

welbeck

people, (i won't say guys !), who prepare oats overnight for morning consumption, what exactly is the process ?

Quite easy.

I make meals for crowds, larger family and my husband's workers. This recipe works well, made in jars, when accomplished with non-dairy milk and no yogurt topping - no refrigeration needed.

I do add a bit of salt. Work is hard and sodium levels matter.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/overnight-oats

people, (i won't say guys !), who prepare oats overnight for morning consumption, what exactly is the process ?

My breakfast consists of Bran, blueberries other fruir, cranberries, sunflower/pumpkin seeds and yoghurt.😋

I don't eat breakfast and haven't done so for years. I have my main meal at lunchtime : meat/fish. potatoes/pasta/rice, fresh/frozen veg followed by dessert of some sort. 5.30 meal is something on toast (cheese, tomatoes, sardines etc) or sandwiches followed by fruit, I don't eat much, if anything after 6.30 pm but if I'm hungry I break every rule! My best friend is my mini Airfryer.

As I said, up thread, only 1 in 10 people over 65 are malnourished or indanger of it, so 90% of us are eating properly and the proportion on a 'toast and tea' regime are not that many.

However I think that 10% are over represented among older people going to hospital and that can lead doctors and social workers to think that malnutrition among the elderly is a bigger problem than it really is.

Toast has always been my fall back position if I can't be bothered to cook a proper meal, but only with loads of Lurpak. A few weeks ago, because I had put weight on when I went to my surgery for my monthly weigh- in, I decided to ditch the toast and Lurpak and haven't eaten any since.

As I have problems sleeping mostly due to a bad back, |I can be awake at 4/5am but try not to eat or drink anything other than a drop of water so that i dont get used to eating at that time. so about 7.30 I have weetabix and coffee. Dont like milk much and dont eat cheese so semi skimmed milk makes sure I have had some milk for the day. Then later I quite often have a banana or an apple before I start on jobs or go out.

NannaLynn I hope you are soon in your new accessible home. Your current circumstances sound far from ideal.

I don’t mind an odd slice of toast, but I don’t like Marmite or peanut butter. I’m not that keen on tea either (coffee for me, please!)
My favourite breakfast is very easy to make - 40g of oats, approx. 250ml of milk and a portion of frozen mixed berry fruits, microwaved for 3 to 3.5 mins. Delicious, purple porridge! 😋

If you have little energy or struggle with standing up for longer than a minute or 2, it's not you can't be bothered to cook, you don't have the physical necessaries that are required. Those who have the energy etc, enjoy it while you can, it may not always be there.

I Have à grain of Celtic sea salt before drinking a glass of filtered water. The minerals help with absorption as I tend to get dehydrated.
Most folk are dehydrated these days.

I don't cook (does scrambled eggs count?!!) but I do eat out a lot and I have plenty of fresh fruit, nuts and raw vegetables. Seems to be working so far.

Bijou

I always was told that breakfast was the most important meal of the day although I am now in too much pain and stiffness to do that. I prepare oats with fruit overnight.
Twenty yeas ago I had part of my bowel removed to cure cancer and then five years ago anal cancer cured by radio theraphy at which time I was told to eat something every two hours. Almost impossible.
Even though I cannot walk without support I manage to cook my own food with the aid of the microwave and slow cooker(no ready meals) cannot use saucepans of boiling water or peel veg. Use frozen stewing veg .,mashed potato etc.

My help comes around 8.30 for an hour to was up etc and confesses that all she has is a cup of Green tea and nothing until 10 am. She has IBS.!

My current instructions are to eat every 2 hours, but often takes me 20 mins to manage half a tin of soup, I often feel there is no room to eat again so soon. But getting round this as I now have fresubin supplements to take daily, and if I cant eat I drink.

hubby would live on sandwiches or toast and biscuits. Trying to get him to make himself anything other than that is a fighting battle. He is in better health than me and I make the main meal of the day but expect him to sort himself out the rest of the day.
Tried talking to home about malnutrition and what happens when I am not here etc but head and brick wall spring to mind.

My mum was always concerned that I added too much salt to my meals and asked the family doctor about it. He asked if I sweated a lot and when my mum said 'yes', he told her not to hassle me about it. My family have frequently rebuked me for adding salt to my meals, warning me that it 'would harden my arteries' but here I am at almost 83, giving the lie to all their misgivings, in spite of long-term Omeprazole.

I always was told that breakfast was the most important meal of the day although I am now in too much pain and stiffness to do that. I prepare oats with fruit overnight.
Twenty yeas ago I had part of my bowel removed to cure cancer and then five years ago anal cancer cured by radio theraphy at which time I was told to eat something every two hours. Almost impossible.
Even though I cannot walk without support I manage to cook my own food with the aid of the microwave and slow cooker(no ready meals) cannot use saucepans of boiling water or peel veg. Use frozen stewing veg .,mashed potato etc.

My help comes around 8.30 for an hour to was up etc and confesses that all she has is a cup of Green tea and nothing until 10 am. She has IBS.!

The number of people on here not eating enough salt is surprising. Many years ago (60s) a friend was rushed to hospital with heart attack type pains. They did various tests and no sign of an heart attack. Then someone asked if wife if he had cut salt from has diet and the answer was yes. It was the lack of salt that had caused his diaphragm ( I think - it was a long time ago) to go into spasm. The answer was to star taking salt.

merlotgran

Do these elderly people put nothing on their toast other than butter or spread?

Marmite = sodium
Peanut butter = protein

Not ideal of course but are we talking about very elderly people or those who just can’t be bothered?

Both together - delicious.

Oh dear, NannaLyn what a dreadful thing to have happen. I do hope you are soon back in your new suitable home.

I have often thought how rather boring and unappealing most care home food is. I have spent 12 years of my life as official carer for family members in care homes and have stayed for meals with them and the one thing I dread about ever being in care is the food. It is not that the food has not been well prepared and presented, but just the very limited menus. I feel if I was in care, but not with dementia, I would be ordering up my meals using Just Eat ot Uber Eats.

NanaLyn what a terrible thing to happen💐
I hope you get a flat soon.

I too love food, rarely if ever eat toast. Every day I eat a nourishing breakfast, lunch and dinner, things I really like. You are what you eat, only if I was on my last legs would I resort to tea and toast.

I have always loved food and always cooked from scratch regularly, only occasionally resorting to ready meals. However for the last year I've been on the Ozempic weekly injections for my diabetes. This has taken away my appetite and I've lost about 2 stones in weight since being on it. It has worked in reducing my blood sugar but some days |I really struggle to eat much at all. I had already lost a lot of weight over a few years so I'm now about 6 stones lighter than at my heaviest. I do worry about whether I am getting enough nutrients some days, particularly protein.
I used to live to eat whereas now I simply eat to live and rarely really enjoy a meal. Hopefully I will get off this drug eventually but then I worry I may regain the weight. I try to eat fairly low carb meals with plenty fruit and veg so hopefully my nutritional status is ok. I just wish I could enjoy food again!

I’ll stick to cheese on toast then, and an apple, when I’m 92 and can’t be bothered to cook. Cheese on toast is a favourite anyway, with onion and Worcester Sauce. 😋

Recently I was unable to have an operation due to low sodium. GP changed my BP tablets, advised me to limit fluids to 1.5l per day and I bought some zero sugar electrolyte drinks. Result! Sodium level normal.

I could never live off just tea and toast. How very boring.
My conscience wouldn’t let me anyway.

I think a lot of older and perhaps lonely people just can’t be bothered.

My partner and myself have different diets, but I usually cook something for myself separately.
A piece of salmon and veg. A chop and frozen roast potatoes.
Sausages and mash etc. All with fresh veg.
It doesn’t have to be complicated.