HIGH CALORIE FOODS FOR HEALTHY WEIGHT GAIN
Weight-loss can be a common symptom of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and short bowel syndrome (SBS) . The simple solution would just be to eat more to gain more weight; however, for IBD and SBS, this is easier said than done, especially if there's nausea, a poor appetite or malabsorption. It would be easy to eat junk food all day to gain weight, but this approach would also aggravate IBD symptoms and not properly nourish your body with the vitamins and minerals it needs.
Below, we have created a list of healthy high calorie foods that can help you gain weight while still supporting your recovery and nutritional needs.
| Food Group | Examples | Calories per serving |
| Protein/ Dairy Per ½ cup Or 3oz fish/poultry Or 1 cup milk | · Nuts (almonds, peanuts, cashews, etc) · Cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, etc.) · Poultry (chicken and turkey) · Fatty fish (like salmon or mackerel) · Beans (lentils, kidney, black, etc.) · Whole milk · Soy milk · Protein fortified plant milk · Full fat Greek yogurt | 320 kcal ~228 kcal 231 kcal 177 kcal ~150 kcal 150 kcal 131 kcal 130 kcal 110 kcal |
| Grains Per ½ cup Or 2 slice bread | · Granola (watch out for high sugar!) · Bread (white) · Bread (wheat) · Rice (white fortified) · Quinoa (great source of protein too!) · Pasta (white fortified) · Rice (brown) | 226 kcal 158 kcal 138 kcal 121 kcal 114 kcal 110 kcal 108 kcal |
| Fruit Per ½ cup | · Avocado (mashed) · Dried fruit (raisins, dates, prunes, etc.) · Mango · Bananas · Coconut (shredded) · Jackfruit | *per avocado 322 kcal ~250 kcal *per mango 210 kcal *per banana 86 kcal 142 kcal 86 kcal |
| Vegetables Per ½ cup mashed | · Sweet potato · Potato · Taro | 125 kcal 105 kcal 93 kcal |
If you are still having trouble meeting your calories needs, there are other ways to get extra calories in:
- Drink nutritional shakes in the evening or between meals (Boost, Ensure, Kate Farms, etc.)
- 200-400 calories per shake
- Add extra olive oil to salads, vegetables, grains, bread, etc.
- 120 calories per tablespoon
- Add protein powder to smoothies, milk, or making a protein shake
- 110 calories per scoop
- Add nut butters to bread, oatmeal, smoothies, dried fruit, or crackers
- 190 calories per 2 tablespoons
If you are still unable to gain weight or if you still keep losing weight while increasing the amounts of healthy, high calorie foods in your diet, you may need to discuss other nutritional therapies such as IV nutrition and enteral nutrition (tube feeding) with your dietitian or doctor.
This article, as well as all others, was reviewed and edited by a member of our Medical Advisory Board.
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