Tips & Recipes For People With Dysphagia

It’s that time of the year, and there are gatherings from Thanksgiving through the New Year! Typically, parties in the United States center around food and drink (even though some of us think they should center around music and dancing). Finally getting together in-person with family and friends is wonderful, but – let’s face it – it may be stressful at times. If you, your loved ones, or friends have difficulty swallowing (dysphagia), these gatherings can be extra challenging. Last year, SwallowStudy.com and Hormel Health Labs teamed up to provide help and support for those who struggle with dysphagia. Click here for our article: Tips for Managing Dysphagia at Home During the Holidays. Not everyone with dysphagia will require a texture modification in what they eat and drink; therefore, those tips covered a wide variety of topics to make for a successful gathering. For those who benefit from pureed/blended foods or foods that are soft, moist, and easy to chew, I have compiled this list of recipes for people with dysphagia, along with cooking tips:

SwallowStudy.com Articles

In these blogs, I advised: don’t forget the flavor when modifying textures, and don’t ignore our desires to snack all day long!

Recipes for People with Dysphagia: Don’t Forget Flavor

Snacks for People with Dysphagia (IDDSI Style)

Other helpful blogs:

• Learn more tips if you are a survivor of head/neck cancer, including how to make foods slippery and how to make a high-calorie smoothie: https://swallowstudy.com/tips-survivors-head-neck-cancer/
• Learn more on how to make and test the ideal puree: https://swallowstudy.com/why-puree/

International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI) Recipe Ideas:

IDDSI’s Special Features:

1. The sticky and not so sticky issues with hot cereals, per our Asian IDDSI Reference Groups: https://iddsi.org/News/Special-Features/Rice-Porridge
2. Lots of tips on puree: https://iddsi.org/News/Special-Features/Focus-on-Puree

From the country-specific charts on IDDSI.org: United Kingdom

1. Tips from the UK’s IDDSI Festival 2022. I especially recommend the chart of foods at the end of this linked document that can be a high choking risks:

https://iddsi.org/getattachment/Framework/Around-the-World/United-Kingdom/9_IDDSI_UK_Festival_Janne_Schack_Audit_Tool.pdf.aspx

2. Dorset HealthCare University states: “This booklet contains a small selection of recipes from the new IDDSI recipe book called: Modify your style – tips for dysphagia cooks at home, written by the DART team at Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust.” https://iddsi.org/IDDSI/media/images/CountrySpecific/UnitedKingdom/Dorset-HealthCare-IDDSI-recipe-book-18-page-excerpt-for-IDDSI-Festival-2022.pdf

3. IDDSI.org and the National Foundation of Swallowing Disorders also teamed up and presented a webinar on December 2, 2021 called: Celebrating the Holidays with Dysphagia. See the full webinar on IDDSI’s YouTube Chanel here. That talk by the dietitian Laura Michaels provided these two terrific handouts:

• The Purees of Fall: The Holiday Meal, by Diane Wolff (Author of Essential Puree – The A to Z Guidebook and EssentialPuree.com
• Making Holiday Meal Safer for those with Swallowing Difficulties (dysphagia), by Laura Michael of Dysphagia Solutions.

4. Special thanks to NFOSD and IDDSI for all the free and open access:

• Resources, such as handouts for people with dysphagia: https://iddsi.org/Resources/Patient-Handouts
• Support groups: https://swallowingdisorderfoundation.com/nfosd-support-groups/

Oak House Kitchen

Main recipe tab: https://www.oakhouse-kitchen.com/recipes-for-dysphagia/

Thank you Oak House Kitchen (chefs Preston Walker and James Ball) for all of your recipe examples and cooking tips:

Dysphagia Cakes and Biscuits

IDDSI Level 4 Recipe – Grilled Cheese and Pickle Sandwich

IDDSI Level 4 Recipe – Spring Lamb and Carrot Casserole – 5/5

IDDSI Level 4 Recipe – Lyonnaise Potatoes

Pea and Ham Soup – IDDSI Level 3

Spiced Chicken Salad with Mango – IDDSI Level 5

Chicken Masala with Butternut Squash Dal and Saag Aloo – IDDSI Level 6

IDDSI Level 4 Recipe – Horseradish Smoked Salmon with Pickled Beetroot and Watercress Salad

Great tips on rice, pasta and other starches:

https://www.oakhouse-kitchen.com/blog/iddsi-cooking-webinar/ (link to old webinar not working, but text is very helpful).

Pasta Mousse – A Lighter Way of Thinking

Spaghetti Bolognaise – IDDSI Level 4

 

Terrific IDDSI Webinar by Oak House Kitchen:

https://www.oakhouse-kitchen.com/blog/iddsi-webinar-myths-and-truths-about-modifying-foods-for-iddsi-levels/ (See link at end to their YouTube webinar with cooking techniques, but the webinar is also summarized in the text of this linked article).

Recipes from Companies Who Provide Thickened Liquids & Modified Foods:

1. https://www.simplythick.com/Online-Recipes
2. https://www.hormelhealthlabs.com/resources/category/recipes/
3. https://www.hormelhealthlabs.com/resources/6-dysphagia-diet-recipes-for-the-holidays/

 

In summary, I want to let you know that any food or drink recipe that you make can be tested for its softness, moistness, and overall ease of swallowing by using simple IDDSI Testing Methods. See my prior blogs and resources for more information on IDDSI and IDDSI Testing:

• Time for IDDSI Updates
• IDDSI Resources
• United States IDDSI Reference Group (USIRG) Powerpoints:

IDDSI Introduction for Food Service Workers & Caregivers: 101

IDDSI Testing Methods for Food Service Workers & Caregivers: 201

Thanks for reading, experimenting, testing, and sharing!

Please share your party tips and recipes for people with dysphagia too!

Thank you!