ReviewCritical care explorations2026
What Are We Actually Feeding ICU Patients? The Case for Studying Formula Composition.
Review in Critical care explorations, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- From Formula Composition to Precision Nutrition: Who Benefits, From What, and When?Critical care explorations · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Large randomized controlled trials testing the quantity and timing of enteral nutrition (EN) in critically ill patients have consistently failed to demonstrate benefit. We propose that these negative results may partly reflect an unexamined variable: the composition of EN formulas themselves. Most widely used formulas rely on corn-derived simple carbohydrates, isolated functional fibers, dairy-based proteins, and omega-6-rich vegetable oils, ingredients selected largely for manufacturing efficiency and shelf stability rather than clinical evidence. These components bear little resemblance to whole foods, and their distinct effects on metabolism, inflammation, and gut function have received little study in critical illness. Commercially available whole-food and plant-based EN formulas now offer compositionally distinct alternatives, yet no rigorous trials have compared them to conventional formulas in critically ill patients. We argue for a paradigm shift from volume-based to composition-focused nutrition research, pairing patient-centered clinical outcomes with mechanistic endpoints, including effects on the gut microbiome.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.