What Is a Soft Diet Used For?
If your health-care provider recommended you follow a soft diet, it's likely due to problems chewing or swallowing. A soft diet consists of soft foods in small pieces that require little chewing. This reduces your risk of choking and decreases pain when chewing or swallowing. Often a soft diet is a temporary diet or a transition back to normal eating, but in some cases it may be a permanent lifestyle change.
A soft diet consists of foods that are soft in texture, easy to chew and easy to swallow. You should avoid eating tough meats, raw fruits and vegetables, chewy bread products, nuts, seeds and crunchy foods such as popcorn and potato chips. You may also need to avoid foods that are very high in fiber, gas-causing, greasy and spicy while following a soft diet. Try blending, pureeing, steaming or boiling foods such as vegetables, soups and fruits until they are a consistency that's easier for you to swallow.
Problems with Chewing
One of the most common reasons to use a soft diet is inability to chew properly. An aging person with declining oral health may have a hard time chewing hard foods. If you've had oral surgery, are missing teeth or wear dentures, a soft diet may also be recommended. A reduction in saliva production may cause problems with proper chewing and swallowing as well, and a soft diet can be helpful, according to Los Angeles Mission College.
You'll likely be recommended a soft diet if you have difficulty swallowing for any reason. After a stroke, some people temporarily or permanently lose their ability to swallow correctly. Eating easy-to-swallow food reduces the risk of choking or aspirating. If you've had surgery to your neck, you may also have a hard time swallowing or pain when swallowing. Radiation therapy to the neck, throat or chest, as well as any form of cancer in these regions, may prevent you from chewing or swallowing properly.
After being sedated and on intravenous nutrition or tube feeding following surgery or an emergency, a soft diet may be recommenced as a transitional diet back to normal eating. You'll likely start with a clear liquid diet first, then progress to a full liquid or pureed diet. Once you've shown that you are able to swallow and digest these foods with no side effects, you'll be allowed to start a soft diet. However, if chewing and swallowing is still too difficult when starting to eat soft foods, you may need to regress to a pureed or liquid diet temporarily.
- Creatas Images/Creatas/Getty Images