Emily Angus, Registered Dietitian
The Vegan Society’s in-house dietitian, Emily Angus, provides an update on how the company AYMES, along with our Trademark Team, have expanded their range of vegan-suitable medical nutrition products.
A recap on malnutrition
Undernutrition is an important issue that affects an estimated 3 million people in the UK.1 There are several reasons why someone may be at risk of malnutrition including loss of appetite or difficulty eating as a result of a health condition, increased nutritional requirements secondary to illness, age-related frailty or external factors such as living on a low income.
It is estimated that malnutrition affects approximately 30% of adults admitted to hospital or attending a hospital outpatient appointment, and 35% of adults entering care homes.1
Treating malnutrition
In the hospital and community setting, registered dietitians support people referred for malnutrition to improve their nutritional status. Initially, advice will likely focus on making the most of their food. For vegans this might look like:
Eating little and often, focussing on regular small meals and snacks
Including more energy-dense foods such as nuts, seeds, avocados, olives, dried fruit, soya alternatives to milk and yogurt and vegan chocolate
Boosting the calorie and protein content of meals (also called ‘food fortification’) by adding nutrient-rich ingredients such as houmous, margarine, vegetable oil, silken tofu, nut butter, soya cream or vegan cheese
Making nourishing drinks such as smoothies or plant-based milkshakes using soya or pea milk blended with ingredients like banana, berries, nut butter, avocados or dates
The role of medical nutrition
In some situations, it may be necessary for a dietitian or other healthcare professional to prescribe a nutritional supplement alongside the provision of dietary advice. Historically this was challenging for vegans and the clinicians supporting them, as nutritional supplements designed to increase calorie, protein and micronutrient intake were all based on animal products.
In 2018, AYMES introduced ActaSolve Smoothie, the first vegan-suitable nutritional supplement available on prescription. This fruit-flavoured powdered supplement is based on soya protein and is designed to be mixed with water, fruit juice or a plant-based dairy alternative. This product carries the Vegan Trademark and was an important step forward for vegans and their healthcare teams, giving vegans experiencing undernutrition more options when it came to nutrition support plans that didn’t compromise their ethics.
AYMES have continued to innovate in the medical nutrition space, and in 2024 added a new, ready-to-drink, nutritionally balanced supplement to their range called Actagain 1.5 Plant Powered. This supplement carries the Vegan Trademark and is based on faba bean protein, meaning it is also suitable for people with soya allergies or intolerances. It comes in three ‘milky-style’ flavours – Salted Caramel, Café Latte and Madagascan Vanilla.
In a recent survey by The Vegan Society exploring registered dietitians’ barriers to supporting vegan patients in clinical practice,2 a lack of choice when it came to nutritional supplements was identified as a key issue. The increase in vegan-suitable medical nutrition options we are now seeing from companies such as AYMES is an essential step to ensuring that vegans are adequately supported to balance their clinical and ethical needs in a healthcare setting.
For more information on vegan nutrition, including how to make the most of your food on a small appetite, head to vegansociety.com/nutrition
