Not for points Homework / test English to Italian Art/Literary Poetry & Literature Short Story

Hi everyone,

I am a third-year translation student. As part of my final project I am working on the translation of the short story 'Marrying Up', part of Diane Cook’s collection, 'Man V. Nature'.

I was wondering if you could help me with the below issue.

The term 'nutrient packs' appears several times in the story, here is an example to give you a bit of context:
"Look at you.” He squeezed my flaccid bicep. I tried to make a muscle, but the arm just trembled.
“I doubt you’re giving him the kind of nutrition he needs.” (referring to their child)
We switched to nutrient packs that he bought from the corner market.
We were a sight. I was all bones; my husband was bruised and bloodied from his nutrient pack outings.

I looked it up online and there are many companies selling these so-called nutrient packs, they are multivitamin & top supplements.
Given the context, I think that translating it as 'multivitaminici' would not make sense, as although this is a story of fiction, writing that they switched to 'multivitaminici' instead of food would sound way too odd. I have thought to translate it as 'barrette proteiche' or 'barrette energetiche', yet I am not 100% sure.

Here is a link to the short story https://www.guernicamag.com/marrying-up/

I would really appreciate it if you could tell me what you think and perhaps giving me a piece of advice.

Many thanks in advance!