SOFT DIET Flashcards
INDICATION FOR A SOFT DIET
– Dysphagia
PURPOSE OF A SOFT DIET
– The purpose of this diet is to provide foods that can be successfully and safely swallowed.
NOTES FOR IMPLEMENTING A SOFT DIET
– This diet consists of foods that are easy to swallow because they are minced, soft, and moist and can be scooped and shaped (eg, a ball shape).
– Foods pieces should be no larger than 4 mm length by 4 mm width for adults.
– Foods should be minced, soft, tender, and moist to make foods easier to chew and swallow. Minced pieces of food should fit between the prongs of a fork.
– Ask your health care team to show you how to test the consistency of the foods you eat to confirm they are safe for you to chew and swallow. There are convenient ways to confirm the texture of your foods using a fork or and spoon.
– Avoid separate thin liquids. This includes foods that are often served with liquids such as milk with breakfast cereal or canned fruit served with juice or syrup. These liquids should be strained and discarded before eating.
– To keep foods moist, add small amounts of gravy, sauce, vegetable juice or cooking water, fruit juice, milk, or half and half to foods. Moist minced foods are easier to swallow.
– Large chunks of food or hard foods that need to be chewed thoroughly should be avoided.
– Avoid very hard, sticky, or crunchy foods. See Foods Not Recommended list for examples.
– Prepare quantities of favourite food items and freeze them in portion sizes for use later.
– Reheat foods carefully so that a tough outer crust does not form on them.
GRAINS ALLOWED AND TO AVOID IN A SOFT DIET
ALLOWED
All well-moistened, soft cooked hot cereals with lumps no larger than 4 mm. Serve without excess liquid.
Pregelled, soaked bread that are consistently moist throughout.
Soft cooked pasta dishes with pieces no larger than 4 mm; sauce does not separate from pasta.
Non-glutinous short or long grain rice that do not separate into individual grains when cooked or served, or short-grain or long-grain rice served in a thick sauce.
TO AVOID:
No crumbly dry cakes and biscuits nor crumbly bits.
Dry bread, toast, crackers, biscuits, muffins, pancakes, waffles, bread dressing etc.
Pasta dishes with pieces large than 4 mm with loose, thin sauces.
Grainy, sticky, or glutinous rice. Rice that separates into individual grains when cooked or served.
PROTEINS ALLOWED AND TO AVOID IN A SOFT DIET
ALLOWED:
Prepared, moistened, tender fresh or frozen red meat, including beef, pork, or lamb finely mashed into pieces no larger than 4 mm lump size.
Prepared, moistened fresh or frozen tender poultry, including skinless chicken or turkey finely mashed into pieces no larger than 4 mm lump size.
Prepared, moistened fresh, frozen, or canned tender skinless seafood, including fish (salmon, herring, and sardines), shrimp, lobster, clams, and scallops finely mashed into pieces no larger than 4 mm lump size.
TO AVOID:
Protein foods in sizes larger than 4 mm lump size.
Protein foods served with undrained thin liquids
Chicken, turkey and fish with skin on or with bones.
Fish with skin on or with bones; or that is not soft enough to be broken in small pieces (4 mm or smaller).
Chunky and smooth nut seed butters, unless used in a tolerated recipe.
Whole nuts and seeds, such as peanuts and almonds; pistachios and sunflower seeds.
DAIRY ALLOWED AND TO AVOID IN A SOFT DIET
ALLOWED:
Yogurt (without nuts or coconut), mashed cottage cheese with lumps no larger than no larger than 4 mm pieces.
Cream cheese, sour cream, and whipped topping.
Frozen desserts such as pudding, custard, ice cream, sherbet, malts, and frozen yogurt if transitional foods allowed by a speech therapist.
Milk, fortified soymilk, fortified nut milk in the liquid consistency recommended by your speech therapist.
TO AVOID:
Yogurt with nuts or coconut.
Cheeses greater than no larger than 4 mm pieces.
Frozen desserts such as pudding, custard, ice cream, sherbet, malts, and frozen yogurt if transitional foods not allowed by your speech therapist.
VEGETABLES ALLOWED AND TO AVOID IN A SOFT DIET
ALLOWED:
Canned or frozen, tender vegetables including dark-green, red and orange vegetables, legumes (beans and peas), and starchy vegetables that are served steamed boiled into pieces no larger than finely minced, mashed, or chopped 4 mm pieces.
Vegetable juices in the liquid consistency recommended by your speech therapist.
TO AVOID:
All raw vegetables including lettuce.
Cooked vegetables larger than 4 mm pieces.
Stir-fried or fried vegetables.
Undercooked vegetables that are fibrous, tough, firm, or stringy.
FRUITS ALLOWED AND TO AVOID IN A SOFT DIET
ALLOWED:
Canned and cooked fruits, drained of excess juices, served mashed in pieces no larger than 4 mm
Soft, peeled fresh fruits such as peaches, nectarines, kiwi, cantaloupe, and honeydew, soft berries with small seeds (ie, strawberries), mashed in pieces no larger than 4 mm.
100% fruit juice in the liquid consistency recommended by your speech therapist.
TO AVOID:
Fruit pieces larger than 4mm in size, or fruit served with excess juice.
Difficult-to-chew or hard/crunchy fresh fruits such as apples or pears.
Stringy, high-pulp fibrous fruits such as papaya, pineapple, rhubarb or mango.
Fruits with high water content, that juice separates from solid in the mouth such as watermelon; unless assessed safe.
Fresh fruits with difficult-to-chew peels or pits/seeds such as grapes and apples.
Uncooked dried fruits such as raisins, prunes or apricots.
Fruit leather, fruit roll-ups, fruit snacks, dried fruits.
BEVERAGES ALLOWED AND TO AVOID IN A SOFT DIET
ALLOWED:
Extremely thick, smooth, non-pouring sauce or gravy.
Coffee, tea, water, 100% fruit juice, and nutritional supplements in the liquid consistency recommended by your speech therapist.
TO AVOID:
Liquid consistencies are other than those recommended by your speech therapist.
COOKING METHODS ALLOWED AND TO AVOID IN A SOFT DIET
ALLOWED: • Steaming • Boiling • Poaching • Baking • Sautéing TO AVOID: • Grilling • Deep-fat frying • Stir-frying
