Dysphagia

coffee drinker · ‎03-21-2010

My husband is currently suffering (temporary, I hope) from swallowing difficulties. He'll soon be discharged from nursing home care and will have to eat a pureed food diet. If any of you or family member have experienced this, what meal prep or foods did you prepare that were good(?). He is eating this food while hospitalized and does not complain, but I just don't know what or how to cook this stuff. I'm going to get a cookbook recommendation from his speach thereapist so that may help. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

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D Kay · ‎04-20-2010

If you google pureed foods for adults, there are a number of websites that address this. Just about any food can be pureed using a blender or food processer and adding appropriate amount of liquid to make food a pudding like consistancy that doesn't require chewing. The info I saw online gave examples of what to add to thicken it if desired. There are even companies that sell prepackaged pureed foods. That might be more convenient but certainly not necessary.

On It · ‎03-15-2021

My mother lived with swallowing difficulties for at least 10 years. She ordered soft foods in restaurants like baked or mashed potatoes, soups, etc. At home she drank Ensure once a day midafternoon. We bought a blender and tried to get her to purée her foods, but she would not let us do that. When planning meals, prepare what you both enjoy. Purée his and hopefully he will enjoy the home cooked taste. Keep soups and jars of puréed food on hand in case you need them.

It seems a blender or Vitamix would be a wonderful tool in your kitchen. Some tips my mother learned was a Coca Cola drink in the restaurant made her food go down more easily. She avoided "sticky" foods like pasta that can harden on the way down the esophagus. Try to think of foods he enjoys like yogurt, ice cream, sherbet, milkshakes, etc. Good luck to both of you.

manny2 · ‎05-24-2010

The speech therapist is the person to guide you. They will show you and tell you exactly what he should do. Good luck.

Mindy D · ‎05-23-2010

@coffee drinker wrote:
My husband is currently suffering (temporary, I hope) from swallowing difficulties. He'll soon be discharged from nursing home care and will have to eat a pureed food diet. If any of you or family member have experienced this, what meal prep or foods did you prepare that were good(?). He is eating this food while hospitalized and does not complain, but I just don't know what or how to cook this stuff. I'm going to get a cookbook recommendation from his speach thereapist so that may help. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

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@coffee drinker @Go to Sherri Smith No Chew Foods on YouTube for great recipes. People with dysphagia have difficulty swallowing different things. For example, my mom could not swallow liquids. She could swallow very, very thick liquids...She also needed puréed foods. My dad could swallow liquids without a problem but needed puréed or mechanical soft foods with a sauce on them. Some need to eat puréed foods. Be sure and check with the hospital and speech therapist to know exactly what foods your husband can eat. Make sure you have a food processor and other equipment that can puree. Puréed chicken salad is good. Cook chicken the way you always do, add Mayo and whatever else you like and purée. You can buy deli prepared chicken salad and purée. Make macaroni and cheese or buy it and purée. Stouffers Spinach Souffle is already puréed consistency. Make mashed potatoes and butter or gravy or buy prepared, ready to heat Signature Mashed Potatoes by Main Street. To purée things you need to add something creamy or liquid to get it to consistency. You can purée meatloaf or meatballs and add a gravy to the purée. Sometimes people do not need a fully puréed food..they can swallow almost fully puréed. Anything you cook or make can be puréed. Check the YouTube channel I mentioned to get started. Mashed cauliflour is good. Puddings are good. Yogurt is ready to use. You can purée blueberries or strawberries and add to the yogurt. Oatmeal is ready to go, but you might need to thin it and add butter, milk or water. Mashed bananas are good. scrambled eggs can be puréed with ketchup. Hard boiled eggs can be made into an egg salad with mayo or Greek yogurt. Spaghetti noodles can be puréed and then tomato sauce added on top of the puréed noodles. Hummus is ready to eat. Black bean soup or black beans can be puréed. Sweet potatoes can be easily microwaved and mashed or puréed. Avocado can also be mashed or puréed and keeps longer and can have some vitamin C in it with fresh squeezed lemon juice. Meats that are cooked in moist heat with gravies are easily puréed or almost puréed. Hormel makes a few that are ready to heat if you don't have time to do them from scratch. Carrots are easily puréed or cooked until soft an mashed. Apple sauce is ready to use. Cream of Wheat is good to go. Ricotta and cottage cheese might need light pureeing but are good with puréed veggies or fruits. You can even get fancy and make shrimp mousse, lobster bisque with purred lobster in it. Cream soups work well. Besides your Vtamis an immersion blender and a pull chopper can be useful. Amy's Organic Lentil Soup is delicious puréed or not.

Also see Hormel Health Labs on YouTube. Hormel has ready to prepare foods for different levels of dysphasia. Try their website too.

You can also get the puréed foods from Hormel on Amazon and they have a second brand of foods called Thick and Easy. They even have French toast.

The Vitamix website has some good recipes.

You should also know that many can eat soft foods..but you have to check with the hospital dietician and speech therapist that looked at the swallowing test your husband took.

Remember that there are different levels of dysphagia and the right foods help avoid any food getting to the lungs.

SilleeMee · ‎05-22-2016

I have mild to moderate dysphasia. Most everything I eat has to be chewed very well or the food has to be chopped up into very small pieces which I prefer b/c chewing doesn't always get my food into small enough bits to swallow.

I have this Ninja Prep Master and I use it every single day at least twice a day. I really don't know what I would do w/o it.

chrystaltree · ‎05-10-2010

You should be working with your speech therapist and the nursing staff. You need professional advice. There are challenges with dysphagia, it does not mean he eat just any soft food. My mom had dysphagia when she was 80ish but not for long. A few months until she saw a specialist. They were able to dilate her esophagus which had narrowed due to her age. She could swallow normally after that procedure.

SilleeMee · ‎05-22-2016

@chrystaltree wrote:
You should be working with your speech therapist and the nursing staff. You need professional advice. There are challenges with dysphagia, it does not mean he eat just any soft food. My mom had dysphagia when she was 80ish but not for long. A few months until she saw a specialist. They were able to dilate her esophagus which had narrowed due to her age. She could swallow normally after that procedure.

I have narrowing of my esophagus caused from scleroderma. Esophageal dilation doesn't work for people with scleroderma b/c the cartilage structure is hardened and has lost elasticity. For severely narrowed esophagus the only option is to replace the esophagus by transplantation. I hope I never get that far.