My dad is in NH, and is starting to choke pretty badly. He is still on a regular diet. For those who have dealt with the choking effects, what is the best kind of diet? Blended, soft? Thank you.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/2012 10:15PM by rj.

We use to have a recipe section but it didn't seem to have a lot of activity so I dropped it during one of the transitions to a new internet provider. Thicker liquids seem to make swallowing a little easier.

Please check out the HD nutrition pages provided at Renette Davis's site.

[www.renettedavis.com]

Steve

Pureed foods help as do liquids with thickeners. Also, some HD patients have less choking when the beverages are very cold.

Pureed food and honey thickened liquids seem to be the easiest to swallow and cause the least choking. That helped reduce the choking for my mom for quite awhile. She went from regular food to mechanical soft ( more texture than pureed) and finally pureed as her swallowing ability decreased. Also, alternating food with liquids (bite, sip), limiting bite size to a teaspoon, and if necessary double swallow after bites.