OT recommendations for puree diet

You can buy protein powders that you add to smoothies. There is always something like Ensure, but it sounds like you want something more like "real food". When my dad broke his jaw and had his mouth wired shut, Mom put just about everything in the blender for him, including wieners (which were a little weird in the blender). I assume she had to add some kind of liquid to stuff like wieners, but wasn't around enough at that time to really remember.

Julia > Mom has been put on a puree diet because of esophagus problems. If

When the boys were at the food from a jar/can stage when travelling I used to find the organic foods tasted more like real foods. Heinz chocolate pudding was also always a winner with all ages!

Lizzy

DH had to live with a 'drinking straw' diet for 2 weeks and survived quite happily. I just blendered everything I cooked. Turkey did very well, so did lemon icebox pie. Peas and beans are protein. Incomplete I seem to remember but protein nonetheless. If you prepare a bean dish that tastes good, it still will from the blender. George and Yogi think the Gerber meats are wonderful - they're Yorkies, of course - but quite fussy about what is fit to eat. You might give them a try. All of this looks disgusting so you'll want to make an effort at 'presentation'. Got any pretty little crystal sherbets? Polly

"Lizzy Taylor" Susan Laity Price wrote:

I buy a protein powder called Spirutein and make shakes with my own little recipe. I use a 6 oz. carton of black cherry yogurt (that's just my fave flavor- you could use Activia brand yogurt with the digestive enzymes, too), a heaping scoop of the Spirutein (which comes in many flavors but the chocolate and double fudge crunch are my faves- the blender grinds up the crunch part so it's no longer there), about 8-12 oz. of 2% milk and about

10-15 ice cubes. All goes in the blender and it comes out thick and smooth and yummy. The Spirutein is available from health food stores and online. It contains just about all the vitamins and minerals you need in the one shake plus the calcium and good stuff from the milk and yogurt. I have one of these shakes for breakfast nearly every day- a chocolate shake first thing in the morning gets the day off to a great start! My son lived on these for 2 months after extensive dental work and he survived well- if bored with the diet. VBG

I wish you and your mother all the best.

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

Lot of good suggestions here. Just keep in mind that it would be easy in a situation like this to provide her with too much protein. How long do they expect she will be on this diet? Prayers for you guys.

Karen, Queen of Squishies

Susan Laity Price wrote:

Hey Susan

As a survivor of thyroid cancer I had many throat problems and the radiation made swallowing a real problem. The one thing you don't want her to try to eat is bread or cornbread especially. My doctors recommended that I drink Boost with high protein. I didn't like the taste so I added milk to it. You can make all kinds of dishes with it. Pudding in particular.

One crazy sounding thing the doctors recommended was pepper jelly. I can't stand hot peppers so I ate horseradish sauce. Sounds extremely crazy but it really helps with a swollen throat. Makes food go down with less pain. Baby food is your best bet for variety for now. Once her throat starts healing she can graduate to the toddlers foods.

Believe me if you want to make your own pureed foods the blender is you friend. BUT no cornbread, breads, cakes or pies of any kind even if you soak them in liquid, they just can't be swallowed.

Boost will keep weight on my mother. If she has to take medication be sure and crush the pills up finely and mix them with pudding or apple sauce, etc.

One other thing, lemonaide or lemon drop candies. The lemon makes the saliva glands work overtime. Throat and mouth will not dry out and food will go down easily.

Check out the Boost website as they might have a cookbook on it. i have one around here somewhere. Its not big but has a lot of fabulous recipes.

Hope this helps

Kate T. South Mississippi

I'm going to save those tips, as they would have helped a few times when I had dental problems. I looked up recipes on the Boost web site and found:

If that URL does not work, then try: Bev in TX

Kate: Your comments about the pepper jelly (horseradish sauce) really surprised me. I'll keep that in mind if I have any throat issues.

Now, I have to comment on taking medications. If there is a problem with swallowing, do not assume you can just crush or mix medication into food. Not all medication can be taken that way. It might be necessary to have a different form prescribed instead. It is *important* to seek advice of Pharmacist before changing the dispensing route or the time of dosage and so on. As the saying goes: 'Know your medicine. Know your Pharmacist.'

Pat in Virginia

...cut...

Thanks for the pharmacist reminder. I wrote down what I planned to do and went over it with the pharmacist when I took her home from the hospital. Medicines that can be have been changed to liquid. Others must be crushed and mixed with applesauce. She doesn't like all the liquid meds as it takes longer and tastes bad. They are either bitter or too sweet. I must remember to buy a liquid multi-vitamin as her tablet doesn't crush easily. I just wasn't thinking about simple stuff like vitamins when I was at the store.

Susan

Thanks for all the suggestions. We don't know how long she will remain on this diet. It will probably move to soft eventually but I think the steak and cornbread days are over.

Susan

Bean soup, scrambled egg and egg custards will have plenty of protein.

I would really NOT advise baby food for an elderly adult. I once spent a couple of weeks with my lips partly sewn together, taking everything through a straw. Because I couldn't get into my mouth with a toothbrush, everything furred up, bland foods got to taste even more bland, and hospital food is nearly all bland. Chicken broth got just plain disgusting quite quickly, the tastes I wanted were very strong ones. You don't want to bore your mother into starvation.

That scrambled egg might need tabasco. Ask your mother what flavours she fancies added to her food. The answers you get might sound weird but she's the expert.

It's quite difficult for a healthy person to develop real protein deficiency on an averagely sane diet; most people in the developed world eat about ten times as much meat as their nutritional optimum. Somebody with a condition like advanced cancer might be in a different situation.

==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === ==== Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557 CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts

Lemon icebox pie? Sounds like something DH might like.... how do you make it?

Lemon Icebox Pie

( I think it's called icebox because you don't really cook anything until you put a pretty golden hue on the meringue peaks)

1 crumb crust ( 9" would be best) some vanilla wafers ½ cup lemon juice 1 teaspoon lemon zest 1 can condensed milk (this is 14 oz and is not evaporated) 2 eggs separated ( no jokes here, please) ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar (optional) 4 tablespoons sugar (plain old sugar, not confectioner's and not brown)

Stand the vanilla wafers around inside the rim of the cookie crumb crust. Stir together the lemon juice, zest and condensed milk, then add the egg yolks* and stir until blended. Pour mixture into prepared cookie crust.

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until almost stiff enough to hold peaks. Very gradually add sugar and beat until stiff but not dry. Be sure you beat until sugar is dissolved. Rub a bit between your fingers to assure that the sugar is not still gritty. Gently pile on pie being vigilant about sealing the meringue to the edges of the crust. Swirl and pull up meringue in points.

Bake at 325° until peaks of meringue are golden (about 10 minutes). Allow pie to cool slowly in an area that is not drafty. Refrigerate.

• If you are concerned about raw egg yolks - you can heat the lemon juice and yolks in pan on stove until the temp reaches 160° and then add condensed milk. ALSO: if you make this pie on a rainy day, the meringue will probably have little beads of syrup form on the top. It happens. Still wonderful. Polly

"Kate in MI" Lemon icebox pie? Sounds like something DH might like.... how do you make

I have 2 recommendations. Avoid soy protein powder and opt for whey. Contrary to popular belief - soy is NOT a health food and WILL affect hormone levels, which is a health disaster. Also, the very best fat to ADD to a puree diet (puree in the winter can and should often be warm, not cold) is coconut oil, which is 2nd only to mother's milk in lauric acid levels. It's a metabolism raiser, and a medium chain fat which means it burns easily rather than stores on the hips - I've had a lot fewer nights with cold feet!

Here's a fairly brief synopsis I found with a lot of big words:

Much research on the nutritional and medicinal benefits on coconut oil has surfaced in recent years. Much of that research has been done by Dr. Mary Enig. Dr. Enig has classified coconuts as a "functional food," which provides health benefits over and beyond the basic nutrients. She has specifically identified lauric acid as a key ingredient in coconut products:

"Approximately 50% of the fatty acids in coconut fat are lauric acid. Lauric acid is a medium chain fatty acid, which has the additional beneficial function of being formed into monolaurin in the human or animal body. Monolaurin is the antiviral, antibacterial, and antiprotozoal monoglyceride used by the human or animal to destroy lipid coated viruses such as HIV, herpes, cytomegalovirus, influenza, various pathogenic bacteria including listeria monocytogenes and heliobacter pylori, and protozoa such as giardia lamblia. Some studies have also shown some antimicrobial effects of the free lauric acid."

As a "functional food," coconut oil is now being recognized by the medical community as a powerful tool against immune diseases. Several studies have been done on its effectiveness, and much research is currently being done on the incredible nutritional value of pure coconut oil. The references for the research can be found in The Healing Miracles of Coconut Oil by Dr. Bruce Fife, ND

Musicmaker

It has been well over a year since I looked into info on coconut oil. At that time all I could find for the most part was info from one source and that guy was selling/promoting the stuff. I found many links to studies but they all were dead. Sounds like there is more info out now than there was then. I tend to be skeptical but maybe the data is there now. Sounds like more studies in the works which is a good thing.

Taria

Musicmaker wrote:

You're talking about an old and seriously ill person. Hormones are not likely to be an issue at all, still less a "disaster", and losing weight is FAR more often a problem than gaining it. There are many other nutrients to think about than fatty acids.

Soy is not that useful a food in itself because it tastes of nothing, but adding blended tofu to other foods can helpfully up the protein and mineral content. Tofu has much lower levels of hormone-like chemicals than whole soybeans anyway.

I can find nothing on the web about the supposed benefits of lauric acid other than blatant marketing hype.

==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === ==== Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557 CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts

Hi Susan,

I don't have any recipes, but I know people who make fruit smoothies and add protein powder to them. My other thought is that beans are a good source of protein too. Can she tolerate something like refried beans? They're pretty smooth.

Hope your mom is feeling better soon.

:

I apologize, in part. I am constantly forgetting that my perspectives on health care, food, music education, and politics in particular are not common, and are actually rather uncommon - but in forgetting, I go off and post from my perspective and cause more confusion than help. For that, I apologize. In my post, I was talking about food ingredients from a holistic, chinese medicine approach, rather than a contemporary medicine approach. Foods that warm rather than dampen, and foods that balance rather than unbalance. And Jack is right about tofu - the fermentation process removes the hormones from tofu - I eat it almost daily. I was talking about soy based protein powders.

Musicmaker

Silken tofu can also be blended into smoothies for protein.