How to Eat When You Can’t Chew

There are many reasons why chewing food becomes a problem. This could be because of dental surgery (such as a root canal or tooth extraction), a fracture of the jaw or facial bones that required a brace, and pain after braces. In addition, cancer treatment or other surgical procedures on the head and neck also affect the ability to chew. While chewing is not an important factor in maintaining a healthy or balanced diet, it will make the process more difficult and make you less likely to want to stick to it. However, with food planning and preparation, you can still have a nutritious diet.

Table of Contents

Prepare for a restrictive diet

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Talk to your doctor. Your doctor will be able to give you specific information regarding food restrictions, and about the texture of foods you should consume (soft and mushy or puree and thin). Your doctor will also tell you how long you need to stick to your modified diet.

Have your doctor state what foods you can and cannot eat. It’s better to gather more information and understand it than to eat something that could cause more pain or harm.
In addition, you should also consider whether you are at risk of nutrient deficiencies, or whether you should consume a specific food group each day or avoid it altogether.
Visiting a registered dietitian or registered dietitian can also be helpful. They have the ability to set up a special diet that’s specific to your problem, and give you food suggestions or develop an eating plan that’s right for you. You should ask your doctor for a referral.

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Write down an eating plan. Having an eating plan will be of great help when you are on a restricted or modified diet. It will help you stop thinking about your eating plan every day and give you structure for a proper nutrition plan.

Write down meals and snacks for a week that work for your situation. You can get creative with a variety of recipes – especially if you’ve been following a modified diet for a long time.
Examples of meals with soft foods include: oats for breakfast, beef stew for lunch, bread with sauce and some steamed broccoli for dinner.
Examples of meals with thin or pureed foods include: yogurt with peach puree for breakfast, green smoothies (with fresh milk, frozen fruit, lettuce, and protein powder) for lunch, soups black beans for dinner.
Perhaps your doctor will have a sample menu available. You should ask if you can take a copy of the menu home to mimic or to start with for a few days.

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Go to market. After writing down your eating plan and talking to your doctor, you should go to the market or supermarket to buy foods that are right for your diet. This action will make it easier for you to follow a modified diet.

Keep in mind that a few different cooking techniques can be used to turn hard or mushy foods into textures that are safe for you to consume. For example, you can cook apples into apple sauce or into apple purees that are easy to chew and swallow.
In addition, you should also consider buying food that is already in the shape you need and does not require a lot of cooking time. If you are only allowed to eat foods that have been cooked or thin, you can buy: low-sodium soups such as tomato soup, pumpkin soup, or completely black bean soup that has been made into a smooth, creamy consistency. . ^{[1] X Trusted Source EDIS Go to source} If you can consume whole foods, but they need to be soft or mushy, you can buy: frozen fruit or vegetables (once cooked and reheated thoroughly, they will become very soft and easy to chew), or soups and stews from the supermarket’s cooked counter.

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Find the right cooking utensils. Finding the right cookware will make it easy to stick to a restricted or modified diet. In addition, they will give you flexibility in product selection so that you can prepare more dishes at home.

A food processor is a great tool that can help you shred food products or turn them into a paste like sauce. You can also use it to puree vegetables or to chop protein-rich foods (like seafood, chicken, or red meat). This is a pretty good tool if you can use already finely chopped food and don’t necessarily need to puree everything.
Using a blender is also a good idea if you must eat foods that are completely pureed or diluted. You can put many different things in the blender to make thin dishes. It’s also a pretty cool tool because you can turn a variety of hard or raw foods into smoothies or drinks. For example, you can blend raw lettuce into a smoothie and it will still be completely pureed.
A casserole or slow cooker is a great tool for someone looking for a way to make food soft, mushy, or creamy. These types of machines usually cook slowly with low heat throughout the day and you can easily swallow food without much chewing, or just chew with your gums.

Plan and cook the right food

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Include soft foods that provide protein into the diet. Protein is an essential nutrient for your diet. Not consuming protein for more than a day or two is not a smart choice and can lead to unwanted weight loss or loss of muscle mass. ^{[2] X Source of Research} Consuming adequate protein while on a thin or soft diet can be quite challenging and less palatable, depending on the limitations or modifications required in the diet your.

If you need to use thin or completely pureed foods, you can incorporate more protein such as: puree beans into soups (such as black bean soup), puree tofu into soups, make hummus (cooked beans). cooked and pureed with a few seasonings), soups or canned stews cooked to a liquid consistency. ^{[3] X EDIS Trusted Source Go to Source}
You can also make meat (ground meat, chicken, or seafood) smooth. Adding a little broth or sauce will also make them thinner. ^{[4] X EDIS Trusted Source Go to Source}
If you can consume foods that are soft or easy to chew and do not need to follow a thin or pureed diet, you should try foods such as: bread or mashed meatballs with sauce or meat, tender grilled fish ( such as tilapia or salmon), tuna/egg salad, mashed tofu, scrambled eggs, mashed beans, stews or soups, and braised or roasted meats such as brisket or braised until tender and separate . ^{[5] X Research Sources}

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Use dairy products as an alternative protein source. Many dairy foods will fit into a restricted or modified diet. They are rich in protein, calcium, and Vitamin D, and can help you maintain a balanced diet more easily.

Eat more regular yogurt or Greek yogurt. Yogurt is a great consistency food and is suitable for diets with purees or soft/mushy dishes. Regular yogurts are easier to chew and swallow because they have less consistency than Greek yogurt. You should choose the one that is right for you.
Cotton cheese is another dairy-based protein-rich product suitable for thin or soft diets. If your food must be completely pureed, you should add fresh cheese to a blender or food processor to create a puree.
Drinking raw milk or adding it to a variety of dishes (soups, stews or smoothies) will provide you with an easy-to-swallow protein source.
If you are lactose intolerant or allergic to raw milk, you should replace it with other dairy products such as soy milk, almond milk, yogurt, and cheese.

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Cook and prepare fruits and vegetables until tender. Many vegetables, especially those fresh or only lightly steamed, are often too hard to chew or swallow. Usually, they need to be cooked to the right consistency.

Try frozen vegetables. Normally, when defrosted or cooked/reheated, they will be very soft and mushy. Examples include: broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, or frozen berries.
You should steam the vegetables until you can mash them with the back of a fork or when they are easily pureed to the right consistency. Usually, steaming vegetables for too long (like broccoli) will cause them to become soft. Examples: mashed potatoes or squash, steamed carrots or beans, or other thoroughly steamed vegetables.

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Choose grains carefully. Grain-based foods such as bread, rice, or pasta probably wouldn’t fit into a soft or pureed food diet. They can be quite sticky or spongy and require you to chew more than others. You should choose wisely when incorporating cereal products into your diet.

Oats, cream of wheat, or hot cereal are great choices for soft or thin diets. You may need to puree some ingredients to make them thinner and smoother.
You can also grind certain grains (like oats) into smoothies.

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Make soups or make smoothies. Making your own soups and smoothies is a great idea for someone who needs pureed or soft foods. You can customize them to include a variety of foods and nutrients.

When making soups or smoothies, try to add a few different fruits or vegetables. Blending them together will help you add a few small servings of this nutrient-rich paste to your diet.
Soups are a great way to provide lean protein and veggies. Cook everything until they are tender and puree if needed.
You can make smoothies from a variety of foods including dairy products, vegetables, fruits, and even nut butters. Blend them together to create a smooth consistency.
You can also blend unflavored protein powder into soups and smoothies for an extra boost of protein.

Advice

Talk to your doctor before starting any diet. In addition, you should also gather as much information regarding dietary restrictions from your doctor as possible.
If not carefully planned, an all-liquid diet will be difficult to form a nutritionally balanced diet. You should spend time focusing on your eating plan to make sure you have a nutritious diet.
Try out different recipes or search for new recipes and tips online for going on a thin or soft food diet.
Several online sources offer dietary recipes for puree and soft or mushy foods.

Warning

An all-liquid diet is not suitable, safe, or healthy for you to maintain over a long period of time. Be sure to talk to your doctor or dentist about when you can start eating solid foods, and see if this liquid diet is safe for you in the long run.

Steps

Prepare for a restrictive diet

Plan and cook the right food

Advice

Warning

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