When you have trouble swallowing, it can seem like your dietary choices are narrow. Your doctor or speech pathologist will likely put you on a diet that modifies the consistency of your diet into a pureed, soft or modified soft state. Picking nutritious fruits and vegetables that meet the criteria of the different diet levels is not difficult if you remember to cook your food and choose soft, moist portions. If you are unsure of you diet or have not had your swallowing problem diagnosed, talk to your doctor before starting any modified eating plan.
Dysphagia
Dysphagia is the medical term for difficulty swallowing. Many symptoms can indicate difficulty swallowing such as choking, coughing, drooling, difficulty breathing when chewing, repeatedly swallowing, weight loss and malnutrition, according to the Cedars-Sinai website. Some common diseases, such as gastroesophageal reflux disease, can cause dysphagia, but other, more serious diseases can bring it on, as well. Conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, dementia, stroke, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, lupus and muscle diseases can cause dysphagia. Depending on the cause of the dysphagia, different treatments are used to manage this condition. The danger inherent to difficulty swallowing is that food can easily travel to and become lodged in the lungs and cause aspiration pneumonia. In elderly or ill patients, this can lead to life-threatening complications. Most of the time, dysphagia is managed with dietary measures.
Pureed
For those who have the most difficulty swallowing, a pureed diet is often recommended, but nutritious foods are still easy to find on this plan. Examples of nutritious proteins include any meat product that is pureed. Avoid whole pieces of dry meat. Try pureed pancakes, French toast or pasta. You can puree fruit without the skins or just eat applesauce, according to the Ohio State University Medical Center. Pureed cooked vegetables, mashed potatoes and refried beans are also allowed at this dietary level. When pureeing in a blender, put small cuts of cooked food in the blender, add 1/4 cup of liquid and blend until smooth.
Mechanically Altered
Foods at this level of a dysphagia diet are not pureed, but are soft and moist. It is easier to incorporate more of your favorite foods into this diet. Healthy proteins at this level include meatloaf, hamburger without the bun, lunch meat, chicken or tuna salad and cottage cheese. You can eat any soft, cooked vegetables; soft, canned fruit; ripe bananas or applesauce. Starch options include hot cereal, flake cereals, macaroni and cheese, canned pasta and eggs. As for liquids, if you are required to stick with a specific thickness of liquid, you can buy thickening agent to make your drinks and soups honey-, nectar- and pudding-thick as your doctor prescribes.
Advanced
This dietary level is the most liberal, but it still focuses on small, moist bites of food to protect your windpipe. Proteins you can eat include solid but tender cuts of meat if your doctor allows it and moist ground meats. You can eat muffins, biscuits and English muffins, as advised by your doctor or speech pathologist. Shredded lettuce and moist fried potatoes are allowed at this dietary level. You can also try cookies and chili. It is still advisable to stay away from whole cuts of meat, raw fruits and vegetables and fried foods.
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