Cool solution to nutrition for older people
This month, patients on the trauma and orthopaedic ward and the regional spine unit will be asked to try out a new, protein enhanced and vitamin D fortified “ice cream”. The frozen treat has a serious purpose behind it, to improve the nutritional health of older people admitted with musculoskeletal injuries.
Professor Opinder Sahota, Consultant in ortho-geriatric medicine at NUH, is leading the N-ICE CREAM research study. He said: “Enabling all our patients to consume a nutritious diet during their stay in hospital is a high priority, but older people who have experienced musculoskeletal injuries are a particular concern in terms of encouraging them to take in enough calories.
“Some younger, fitter people that we admit to hospital may feel off their food as a result of being ill and the procedures they undergo, but frail older people including those who have had a hip fractures may be malnourished before they come into hospital.”
N-ICE Cream (which stands for Nottingham Ice Cream) is a locally-developed product, with researchers partnering with family-run dairy farm, Dreamy Cow Farmhouse Ice Cream in Leicestershire, using milk from the farm’s own herd of dairy cows.
Researchers from NUH and the University of Nottingham hope that if the product proves to be successful, it may be on the menu for many more NHS patients across the country.
Professor Sahota added: “Almost half of all patients admitted with a hip fracture suffer from malnutrition. The hormonal and physiological changes that occur during this acute period will lead to further weight loss and muscle wasting in this group who are already malnourished, which is a real concern.
“Our research team found that among older adults in hospital with broken bones, there is a poor dietary intake and low compliance in taking additional nutritional supplement drinks - however, ice cream is a popular choice with our patients.
“Protein is important for muscle and to help the body heal. So we decided to develop our own ‘build up’ ice cream, which is rich in energy, high in protein with added Vitamin D. The protein is a combination of whey protein and leucine, which are commonly used in gym goers (protein shakes and protein supplements) to help build up muscle. Vitamin D has a direct action on muscle and bone.
The study invites patients who have been admitted to hospital with broken bones and who need additional nutritional supplement drinks as part of routine care during their stay to try N-ICE Cream for two days, and standard nutritional supplement drinks for two days, and see which they prefer.
Professor Sahota added: “It will be interesting to see whether patients prefer N-ICE Cream, which they will be sampling on some of the hottest days of the summer so far.
“This research study could lead towards a change in the way this group of patients are treated at NUH and possibly later in other NHS hospitals in the country and within the community. It could also help us reduce waste by finding the ideal way of helping patients get the nutrition they need.”
The initial stage of the research is a simple test to see whether a group of patients like the taste of the N-ICE Cream and monitor how much of it they eat. Future phases of the study will look at the direct effects of N-ICE Cream on muscle with the aim of preventing muscle wasting when patients are admitted to hospital with their injuries.