One of the most difficult aspects of Jade’s ketogenic diet has been her vitamins. The food she eats is not varied enough to supply her with all the nutrients she needs, so having the right supplements is essential for her long-term health.
Michael and the dietician decided to try out a specially-made supplement called “Phlexy-Vits”; they figured it would be the easiest option because it’s all-in-one. The trouble is, it tastes absolutely awful. The first time she was to take it, I mixed the powder into the cream for her evening meal. I gave it a taste. It tasted like the cream had gone sour. I dumped out the cream.
We’ve tried all sorts of ways to mask the taste. Sweetening it with stevia. Adding mint. Adding extra water to dilute it. The best way was to make it into a paste (as compact as possible) and sweetening it, but even still it was a struggle every day, with lots of tears from Jade, and heartache for us.
The alternative is to use vitamins available from the drug store, but it means giving her three different pills and an effervescent tablet. Three more pills!
One of them, though, are Bugs Bunny “Complete” vitamins. Since Jade was eating (and enjoying) chewable vitamins before she started the diet, I figured she just might go for these. We tried it for the first time today.
When I told her it was time for her vitamins, Jade said, “No!” Emphatically. I showed her the Bugs Bunny vitamin. She stared at it, then quickly plucked it from my fingers and popped it into her mouth. Then she asked for more.
I gave her the calcium-magnesium tablet next. These are not chewables, so I tried one. It didn’t have much of a flavour, but was sort of sour in the middle. I gave Jade hers. She chewed it up with no complaints. Then she got the Caltrate tablet and she did the same thing. I’d have thought that she’d spit out the non-chewable vitamins because they don’t taste very good, but I guess after the awfulness of the Phlexy-Vits, she doesn’t mind.
Why didn’t we try this sooner?
