I agree with Brian. I'm still getting almost all my calories through the tube (despite all sorts of efforts to regain my swallowing), but it's important to me that I try to get as much nutrition as possible that way. I am doing a prescription, high protein (but not especailly high calorie) form of liquid nutrition (Jevity 1.5), which I will continue with as long as my insurance will continue paying, but I also supplement that with fruit and vegetable juices, some of which I get from the health food store and some of which are as simple as V-8 (which I have two servings of everyday) and the equivalent of a glass of whole milk everyday for the extra animal fat it contains (which I don't get anywhere else and figure just a little might help my healing--my cholesterol, low to begin with--is ridiclously low since I've been on this forced diet so mI think I'm OK there).

If you want your body to heal faster, I don't think it's the distinction betwen eating solids and eating from the tube that's key, I think it's what you eat.

I will say, though, I have yet to find a way to make meat liquid enough to go through the tube or down my throat easily so I have bewcome a forced vegetarian But if you can swallow at all, I would try to swallow some meat, which contains proteins your body needs to heal itself more quickly.

Nelie