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In November I spent eleven days inpatient at SF General for depression. While I never expected to find tasty institutional food, I did at least expect a hospital to have relatively healthy food. Much to my dismay, I found there was little I could eat within my restrictions of an all natural diet. More disconcerting that this was the total lack of awareness of the dieticians. Juice was offered regularly, and often it was 100% orange or apple. Sometimes, however, the option was cranberry juice COCKTAIL, which is filled with high fructose corn syrup, and I had noticed that several of my fellow patients had DIABETIC written in large letters on their charts along the wall, and were still freely allowed to drink the stuff. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is TERRIBLE for diabetics. I choose not to ingest HFCS because I have found it triggers my headaches and stomachaches.
They also had a dietician come speak with me when I was admitted as I have a number of allergies and have my natural food preferences. I told them that I do not eat trans-fats, which they took to mean no fats at all (a ridiculous proposition since I was quite underweight at the time). I also told them that I was truly ALLERGIC to kiwi and banana, and somehow strawberry banana and strawberry kiwi yogurt kept making its way onto my tray…with HFCS. In the meantime, they provided all sorts of fats and trans-fats to the other patients, many of whom they were trying to have LOSE weight. They allowed my visitors to bring me food from Rainbow Grocery and Whole Foods, and many of my meals while inpatient were all natural peanut better and whole grain bread. Most of the population there is not so lucky. I was an anomalous case of a working, functioning person between insurance coverage. Many of the people there had no support system and low functioning, and they would simply eat whatever the staff gave them.
My solution? First, streamline the information flow. Make it very clear that: this patient cannot have that much sugar and this patient will go anaphylactic from kiwis (I often wonder how things might have gone if I hadn’t had all of my faculties and they gave me that). Second, hire dieticians and nutritionists who are aware of these problems and are keen to correct them. Third, look into the programs that many hospitals are participating in, in which they buy local food from farmer’s markets rather than gross quantities of salty institutional food. Fourth, remove all trans-fats and HFCS foods from the hospital. From yogurt to salad dressing to peanut butter to cookies. This may sound expensive, but looking at the larger picture, it’s less expensive than paying for the care of Type II diabetes and heart disease patients later on.
Name Withheld
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