If you have lost a lot of weight due to illness, your doctor or dietitian may advise you to increase your intake of energy and protein. They may try to persuade you that your vegetarian diet is unsuitable. Do stick to your principles. This Information Sheet is to enable you to choose vegetarian foods which will help you to gain weight and recover from illness. The energy density of foods is important when trying to gain weight.
Energy density refers to the amount of energy or calories compared to the weight of the food.
When you are poorly, modern healthy eating advice to reduce fat, reduce sugar and increase fibre, is peripheral to your immediate needs. If you know you must increase your energy and protein intake, you can do so by increasing your fat and sugar intake, and also try to avoid large amounts of fibre. If You Are Underweight But Healthy If you are not ill but feel you are underweight and need to gain then not all the advice on this sheet is suitable for you. You should try and increase your food intake without consuming too much fat and sugar although a little with the right type of food is fine. For example, you can use olive oil on baked or boiled potatoes and sugar in a nutritious wholemeal fruit cake.