Diet Chart For soft food
Last Updated: Sep 04, 2019
About
Usually recommended to patients recovering from a long term illness, Soft Food Diet encourages you to only eat food with low-fibre and foods that are either refined and processed instead of fresh foods which tend to be high in fibre. One of the objectives of this diet is to rest not only your digestive system but also the entire body, hence it has been designed to serve both these purposes.
The following are the guidelines to be followed if one wishes to follow the soft food diet successfully:
Foods which have low fibre content must be ingested like:
- Canned fishes
- Poultry items like eggs
- Fruits and vegetable soups and juices
- White rice
- Egg noodles
- Bananas
- White bread
- Cottage cheese, etc
Another rule to be followed when on this diet is to drink plenty of water. Doing so not only hydrates your body but also helps avoid constipation. The recommended amount of water to be ingested is 8 ounces, 2 litres or half a gallon.
As the main aim of the diet is to reduce the amount of fibre foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, red meats as well as carbonated drinks should be avoided. If followed strictly this diet does help your body recover and resume your regular diet. Usually recommended to patients recovering from a long-term illness, Soft Food Diet encourages you to only eat food with low-fibre and foods that are either refined and processed instead of fresh foods which tend to be high in fibre. One of the objectives of this diet is to rest not only your digestive system but also the entire body, hence it has been designed to serve both these purposes.
The following are the guidelines to be followed if one wishes to follow the soft food diet successfully:
Foods which have low fibre content must be ingested like:
- anned fishes
- Poultry items like eggs
- Fruits and vegetable soups and juices
- White rice
- Egg noodles
- Bananas
- White bread
- Cottage cheese, etc
Another rule to be followed when on this diet is to drink plenty of water. Doing so not only hydrates your body but also helps avoid constipation. The recommended amount of water to be ingested is 8 ounces, 2 litres or half a gallon. As the main aim of the diet is to reduce the number of fibre foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, red meats as well as carbonated drinks should be avoided. If followed strictly this diet does help your body recover and resume your regular diet.
Diet Chart
Sunday | |
Breakfast (8:00-8:30AM) | Carrot Soup (1 cup) |
Mid-Meal (11:00-11:30AM) | Grapes (1/2 cup) |
Lunch (2:00-2:30PM) | Mashed Khichdi (1/2 cup) |
Evening (4:00-4:30PM) | Custard (1/2 cup) |
Dinner (8:00-8:30PM) | Boiled Vegetable Puree (1/2 cup) |
Monday | |
Breakfast (8:00-8:30AM) | Beetroot n Peas Soup (1 cup) |
Mid-Meal (11:00-11:30AM) | Papaya (1/2 cup) |
Lunch (2:00-2:30PM) | Mashed Khichdi (1/2 cup) |
Evening (4:00-4:30PM) | Custard (1/2 cup) |
Dinner (8:00-8:30PM) | Boiled Vegetable Puree (1/2 cup) |
Tuesday | |
Breakfast (8:00-8:30AM) | Masoor Daal Soup (1 cup) |
Mid-Meal (11:00-11:30AM) | Yoghurt (1/2 cup) |
Lunch (2:00-2:30PM) | Mashed Khichdi (1/2 cup) |
Evening (4:00-4:30PM) | Custard (1/2 cup) |
Dinner (8:00-8:30PM) | Boiled Vegetable Puree (1/2 cup) |
Wednesday | |
Breakfast (8:00-8:30AM) | Carrot Soup (1 cup) |
Mid-Meal (11:00-11:30AM) | Tender Coconut Water (1 glass) |
Lunch (2:00-2:30PM) | Mashed Khichdi (1/2 cup) |
Evening (4:00-4:30PM) | Custard (1/2 cup) |
Dinner (8:00-8:30PM) | Boiled Vegetable Puree (1/2 cup) |
Thursday | |
Breakfast (8:00-8:30AM) | Beetroot n Peas Soup (1 cup) |
Mid-Meal (11:00-11:30AM) | Grapes (1/2 cup) |
Lunch (2:00-2:30PM) | Mashed Khichdi (1/2 cup) |
Evening (4:00-4:30PM) | Custard (1/2 cup) |
Dinner (8:00-8:30PM) | Boiled Vegetable Puree (1/2 cup) |
Friday | |
Breakfast (8:00-8:30AM) | Masoor Daal Soup (1 cup) |
Mid-Meal (11:00-11:30AM) | Papaya (1/2 cup) |
Lunch (2:00-2:30PM) | Mashed Khichdi (1/2 cup) |
Evening (4:00-4:30PM) | Custard (1/2 cup) |
Dinner (8:00-8:30PM) | Boiled Vegetable Puree (1/2 cup) |
Saturday | |
Breakfast (8:00-8:30AM) | Veg Soup (1 cup) |
Mid-Meal (11:00-11:30AM) | Yoghurt (1/2 cup) |
Lunch (2:00-2:30PM) | Mashed Khichdi (1/2 cup) |
Evening (4:00-4:30PM) | Custard (1/2 cup) |
Dinner (8:00-8:30PM) | Boiled Vegetable Puree (1/2 cup) |
Food Items To Limit
- Dry or tough meats : Hot dogs, Bacon, Sausage links, Beef tips, Peanut butter, Cubed cheese, cheese slices, Non-pureed fried, scrambled, or hard-cooked eggs, Nuts, Seeds.
- Starches, Breads & Cereals : Bread or bread products, Bagels, dinner rolls, Pizza, Rice, Granola, Cold cereal, Crispy, fried food, Popcorn, Crackers & Chips.
- Fruits : Raw, whole fruits, Dried fruits, Pineapple, oranges, or other stringy, high pulp fruit.
- Vegetables : Raw, whole vegetables, Salads
- Soups : Soups with chunks of meat or vegetables
- Deserts : Hard cookies, Hard candy, Chewing gum, Chewy candy or desserts
- Olives, Pickles
Do's And Dont's
- Consume a wide variety of foods to ensure your body gets essential nutrients.
- Eat small, frequent meals.
- Chew small bits- large bits may be difficult to swallow.
- Eat both hot and cold foods to provide a variety of temperatures in the diet.
- Sit the Patient in An upright, Erect Position: Sit the patient in a way that he/she is upright in an erect position. If unable to position themselves, you can prop them up with a few pillows.
- Patient Should be Positioned Head Tilted Forward/Chin Down: Assist the patient to tilt their head forward with their chin in a slightly forward position. It helps open the passage down to the oesophagus, unlike the head tilted back position which makes swallowing more difficult.
- Place food in the Stronger Side of the Mouth: If the patient has a facial weakness, be sure to place food onto the stronger side of the mouth. This is especially important as it will not only allow for maximum feeding, but also improve safety during feeding.
- Add more Support to the Impaired Side of the Patient’s Body: If one side of the patient’s body is weaker than the other, be sure to support the weaker side during feeding. This will make it much easier for the force of gravity to bring food bolus downward and pass through the impaired side with great ease.
- Position Yourself at or Below your Patient’s Eye Level: Sitting at or slightly below the patient’s eye level will make it easier for him/her for keep and maintain their head in the best feeding position and also allow them to feed much more comfortably.
Food Items You Can Easily Consume
- Thinned cooked cereals
- Pureed meats, fish, and poultry
- Pureed scrambled eggs and cheese
- Baby cereals
- Pureed ham, tuna, and chicken salad
- Pureed vegetables(avoid peas and corn)
- Mashed potatoes
- Pureed candled sweet potatoes
- Decaffeinated Coffee/Tea
- Ice cream
- Pureed fruits
- Thick milkshakes
- Plain yoghurt
- Cream
References
- National Dysphagia Diet Task Force, American Dietetic Association. National dysphagia diet: Standardization for optimal care. American Dietetic Associati; 2002.
- Garcia JM, Chambers IV E. Managing dysphagia through diet modifications. AJN The American Journal of Nursing. 2010 Nov 1;110(11):26-33.
- Eating Guide for Pureed and Mechanical Soft Diets. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center [Internet]. mskcc.org 2020.
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