Anyone suffering from dysphagia knows only too well how challenging it can be to find anything that can be eaten safely. The list is quite short actually, but there are some tips and tricks that can have you enjoying the flavor of some of your favorite dishes in unexpected ways. If you, or someone you love, has been diagnosed with dysphagia, some of the following foods and ways of preparing them may have you once again enjoying the foods you’ve always loved.
What Exactly Is Dysphagia?
In its most simple definition, dysphagia is the inability to swallow. It can be the result of a number of diseases and conditions, but the end result is the same. A person suffering from dysphagia is unable to safely swallow, which can be life-threatening if they choke on solids or aspirate on liquids. The ‘good news,’ if you can call it that, is that often surgery or correcting the underlying condition can alleviate the symptoms of dysphagia. Sadly, there are times when a person will suffer the inability to swallow for the rest of their lives. This is why companies like SimplyThick LLC began developing thickening agents to make it possible to swallow foods made to a consistency that can be easily, and safely, swallowed.
Foods That Can Be Safely Eaten
Actually, that is the key to finding foods which can be safely eaten with dysphagia. They often cannot be too liquid because they are too easily aspirated, and they cannot be too solid or they can cause a person to choke. Therefore, anything with a pudding-like consistency or loose mashed potatoes can often be safely swallowed. If they can glide down the esophagus easily, then chances are they are safe enough to eat.
Foods like yogurt, pudding, Jell-O, mashed potatoes and soups like split pea soup that has been cooked to a mush can be safely eaten. However, that doesn’t mean that you will never be able to taste your favorites again! It’s all about how you prepare them so that you can get the taste, if not the consistency.
Kitchen Appliances You Will Need
There are actually two small kitchen appliances you will need in order to prepare foods that are safe to eat for anyone suffering from dysphagia. You will need a food processor or strong blender and a juicer for fruits and vegetables. Perhaps a third small kitchen appliance would come in handy and that would be an Instant Pot so that you can pressure cook foods, making them much easier to blend or process.
Some people already have these items on hand so there may not be any additional expense. The key is to be able to blend foods to that pudding-like consistency mentioned above. No, you won’t get the same satisfaction of biting into a fresh apple, but you will get the flavor that you’ve come to love. Simply use a thickenerand you can swallow that apple juice safely without fear of aspiration. As long as there is no flavor added to the thickener the only taste you will experience is the flavor that comes naturally in the food you’ve juiced or blended. In this way, there are few reasons to deny yourself the foods you love, it’s all in how you prepare them that matters.
