Which one do you think I chose?
Well, if the title is any indication, I chose the most difficult one: the dysphagia diet. For those of you who haven’t learned this yet, people with dysphagia have difficulty swallowing and this diet is often used to feed patients in a hospital post-stroke (among other issues). The diet consists of pureed, homogenous, and cohesive foods. Food is “pudding-like.” No coarse textures, raw fruits or veggies, nuts, etc.
The reason why I went with this, as opposed to trying a weight loss diet, besides wanting a challenge is because this way of eating is so far removed from anything I’ve experienced. The purpose of this project and following a modified diet is so I can understand what my patients will experience, making me more sensitive to client/patient needs. If a patient tells me he or she cannot stomach eating pureed chicken, I will be able to empathize because I’ve BEEN there, too.
So far I’m only in day 1, and it’s taken a lot of preparation. Thank goodness for my incredible Vita-Mix blender that could puree rocks if I wanted (Never tried, but I suppose it could!) Breakfast was cream of wheat, pureed scrambled eggs, and a mashed banana. Lunch was pureed lentils, pureed broccoli, and pureed cottage cheese with apple sauce on top. And you know what? I’m strangely---satisfied.
We’ll see how the rest of the experiment goes. I’m a girl who likes a little bit of a “crunch,” so three days on soft foods might get tiring.
Has anyone ever tried the dysphagia diet? What about other modified diets?
Make sure that you add some thickener to the foods as that is what many hospitals do to their pureed foods to get it to the proper consistency.
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting if you tried the to do three days on thickened liquids...
We did a similar project in my course last year. In order to meet calories (our "patient" was underweight and her husband had limited skills) we mad shepard's e pie using ground beef, gravy, mashed potatoes and pureed carrots on the side, shaped to make her food look better. We also included a thickened milkshake (pureed fruit I believe).
ReplyDeleteI loved doing this one because I too think it is important to understand exactly what patients with restrictions are going through! Keep it up, you'll do great
We did a pureed foods lab also. There are some amazing products out there that help make the food interesting. Hormel actually has pureed foods in the shape of what their natural state is (eg. green beans). Much more appetizing than a blob.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments! I finished my project (not using any thickeners). I went straight for crunchy cereal the next morning. I got very tired of nothing but mush for 3 days, and my nutrient levels were a bit off...but I learned SO much from this diet. I can definitely sympathize and empathize with my clients.
ReplyDeleteOh, and pureed chicken is one of the nastiest things I've ever tasted. Period.