A blenderized diet involves blending foods to a soft or liquid consistency, making them easier to swallow without chewing. This diet is often recommended for individuals who have difficulty swallowing, such as children recovering from surgery or those with certain medical conditions. This article provides a comprehensive guide to blenderized diets, including general instructions, recommended foods, sample recipes, and considerations for special diets.
Introduction to Blenderized Diets
Blenderized diets are a practical solution for individuals who need a high-calorie, high-protein diet but struggle with chewing or swallowing. These diets ensure that the body receives the necessary nutrients for healing and overall health. By blending foods, they become smooth and easy to consume, allowing for adequate nutritional intake.
General Instructions for a Blenderized Diet
Consistency and Preparation
All foods must be in liquid form, thin enough to pass through a syringe or be easily drinkable. It is essential to ensure no chewing is required. Foods should be strained to remove any chunks, seeds, or fibers that could cause choking or lead to poor mouth care and tooth decay.
Hygiene
Maintaining good oral hygiene is crucial. Clean your mouth after each meal to prevent infections.
Preparing Blenderized Food
To prepare blenderized food, you will need:
Read also: The Hoxsey Diet
- A blender, food processor, or food mill
- A fine wire strainer
- A wire whip or fork
- Plastic containers with labels for freezing
Use cooked foods to make blending easier. Avoid fresh fruits and vegetables, and tough or gristly meats, as they are difficult to puree. Also, avoid nuts, seeds, whole grains, bran cereals, starches, and foods with tough skins or hulls.
Recommended Foods
Include a variety of foods from all food groups to ensure a balanced diet. Here are some recommended options:
- Milk Group: Whole or skim milk, low-fat buttermilk, or smooth yogurt. Milk can be used as a beverage or to thin cream soups or ice cream for milkshakes.
- Meat Group: Cooked meats (poultry, fish), eggs, cottage cheese (blenderized), melted pasteurized processed cheese, cream, Parmesan, or cheddar cheeses. Avoid fried meats or eggs, meats or cheeses with casings or whole spices or seeds, and tough meats with a lot of cartilage.
- Fruits and Vegetables: Fruit juices, soft or canned fruits (liquefied in a blender), cooked vegetables (liquefied in a blender). Avoid fruits and vegetables with seeds, such as berries or tomatoes, and tough skins or hulls on vegetables like corn, lima beans, and dried or raw fruits and vegetables.
- Breads and Cereals: Thin refined, enriched cooked cereals such as Farina, Grits, Malt-O-Meal, Cream of Wheat, or Cream of Rice with milk. Mashed cooked white or sweet potatoes thinned with milk. Soups with noodles, rice, or vegetables may be liquefied in a blender.
- Other Recommended Foods: Cream soups (strained), fruit juice, tomato or vegetable juice, ice cream without nuts, smooth yogurt without fruit or nuts, clear soups, broth, half & half, sour cream, cream, milk, strained baby food and baby cereal.
Foods to Avoid
Avoid certain foods that are difficult to blend or may cause discomfort:
- Nuts and seeds
- Whole grains and bran cereals
- Starches
- Foods with tough skins or hulls
- Fried meats or eggs
- Meats or cheeses with casings or whole spices or seeds
- Tough meats with a lot of cartilage
- Fruits and vegetables with seeds (e.g., berries, tomatoes)
- Tough-skinned vegetables (e.g., corn, lima beans)
- Raw fruits and vegetables
Nutritional Considerations
- Balanced Meals: Ensure balanced meals that are adequate in calories, protein, vitamins, minerals, and fluids. This is not the time to lose extra weight, as surgery or illness can increase the body's need for nutrients.
- Calorie and Protein Intake: Increase calorie and protein intake to fight infection and heal wounds. If an adequate variety of foods cannot be eaten daily, consider taking a liquid multivitamin/mineral supplement.
- Additional Calories: Add extra servings from the four food groups and include fats, sweets, desserts, and supplements for additional calories.
- Weight Monitoring: Weigh yourself weekly to monitor weight changes. If you lose 5 pounds or more in one week, consult your doctor or dietitian, as you may not be eating or drinking enough.
- Supplements: Consider using supplements available in most grocery or drug stores if you need high calories. You can also increase calories by adding melted butter, margarine, cream cheese, shortening, vegetable oil, mayonnaise, strained gravy, cream sauces, sugar, honey, or melted smooth peanut butter to blenderized foods.
Seasoning
Season blenderized foods with salt, ground pepper, any ground spice, and seasoned salts. Use condiments that don’t have whole spices in them such as prepared mustard, catsup, steak sauce or Tabasco sauce. Avoid anything that has bacon bits, whole spices, seeds, nuts or coconut in it.
Storage
Foods should be refrigerated or frozen within an hour after preparation to prevent bacterial growth. Extra portions can be frozen in meal-sized amounts in covered ice cube trays. Blended foods should be used or frozen immediately and can be refrigerated for up to 48 hours.
Read also: Walnut Keto Guide
Straw Usage
If straws are allowed, plastic straws with flexible tips are easier to use and are wider in diameter. Cutting 1-2 inches off the straw can make it easier to use, as shorter straws require less suction.
Sample Blenderized Diet Recipes
Here are a couple of sample recipes tailored for a blenderized diet:
High-Protein Milkshake
- ½ cup ice cream without nuts
- ½ cup milk
- 2 Tbsp. skim milk powder
Make a paste of the milk and powder. Mix until smooth. Add ice cream and beat with mixer or blender. Flavor as desired.
Carrot Soup
- Carrots
- Butter or margarine (1 Tbsp)
Nutrition Information: 371 calories, 16g fat, 956 mg.
- Heat and stir soup and milk in saucepan.
Balanced Blenderized Meal
This recipe provides a balanced ratio of carbohydrates, protein, and fat, using simple, healthy ingredients.
Read also: Weight Loss with Low-FODMAP
- Ingredients:
- Cooked vegetables (e.g., carrots, sweet potatoes)
- Cooked protein (e.g., chicken, fish, beans)
- Cooked grains (e.g., white rice, pasta)
- Healthy fats (e.g., avocado, olive oil)
- Liquid (e.g., broth, milk)
- Instructions:
- Place all ingredients in a blender.
- Blend until a smooth liquid texture is achieved. This may take several minutes, particularly if the blender is not very powerful.
- Strain as needed to remove any seeds or particles.
Tailoring the Blenderized Diet
The ‘Best’ Way
There is no single "best" way to make a blended diet; it should be tailored to individual needs and situations. The flexibility of a blenderized diet allows for customization based on one's preferences and requirements.
Combining Real Food with Formula
It is acceptable to mix real food with commercial formulas. However, if switching to a blenderized diet due to intolerance of commercial formulas, adding real food may not resolve the issue. The complex and unnatural mix of ingredients in commercial formulas can strain the digestive system, and adding blended nutrients on top of the formula may overload the system.
Nutrition Goals
When constructing a blenderized diet, it is important to ensure the proper amounts of calories, fats, carbohydrates, protein, dairy, fruits, and vegetables, in consultation with a doctor or nutritionist. Creating a daily menu with portions from each nutrient group is a good technique. Over time, the ingredients within the groups can be varied while maintaining the overarching goal for nutrition.
Using ChooseMyPlate.gov
To plan a blenderized diet, choosemyplate.gov can be used to build a daily menu with estimated amounts from each recommended food group. Aim for 50% or more of the diet as fruits and vegetables, use whole grains as much as possible, and alternate the ingredients over time.
Sample 2,000 Calorie Diet
Here is an example of a 2,000-calorie blenderized diet, with adjustments made as needed based on individual requirements:
- Grains: 6 oz. quinoa (624 cal)
- Vegetables: 4 cups (400 cal)
- Fruits: 3 cups (300 cal)
- Dairy: 2 cups (200 cal)
- Protein: 5 oz. almonds (160 cal)
- Oil: 3 Tbsp. (480 cal)
This totals 2,260 calories, and portions can be adjusted to meet specific needs. The meal can be divided into a 'breakfast' blend with mostly fruit, grains, and dairy; a 'lunch' blend with vegetables, almonds, and some oil; and a 'dinner' mix that includes the rest of the grains, protein, dairy, and oil.
Special Diets and Considerations
Allergies and Food Intolerances
If you have specific food allergies or intolerances, you can adjust your diet accordingly. For example, if you’re on a dairy-free diet, then substitute dairy with other foods, ensuring you get a similar amount of fat, calcium, and protein. If you’re a diabetic, or gluten-intolerant, or have a soy allergy, adjust your meal plan accordingly.
Elimination Diet
If you are especially concerned about allergies or food intolerance, or if you have a compromised digestive system, it may be best for you to introduce your foods singularly, or through an elimination diet. This involves choosing a food, blending it by itself with pure water, and seeing how your body tolerates it.
Foods to Watch Out For
Certain foods have a reputation for thickening up your blend or not blending easily and should be used sparingly with an increased amount of water. It’s best to eat these foods one at a time for four days each. In other words, try blending peanuts with no other potential allergens four days straight. If you have no bad reaction, then peanuts are safe and you can add them to your daily diet.
J-Tube Considerations
For those with a j-tube (a feeding tube that bypasses the stomach and goes directly to your intestine), it is crucial to coordinate with your doctor and nutritionist. Since the food is going into the intestine, it needs to be somewhat digested. Centering your blend around juices, fortifying it with protein powders, and blending it with your Vitamix to be thin enough to run through a pump, then this could mirror what you would get out of an elemental formula.
Lactose Intolerance
For those who are lactose intolerant or have an allergy to dairy, you should be able to easily cut dairy out of your blends. To make up for cutting dairy, there are plenty of options out there (rice milk, almond milk, soy milk, etc.) that are fortified with calcium and vitamins.
Vegetarian and Vegan Diets
If you are vegetarian or vegan, there is no shortage of books, recipes, articles, and online assistance out there to help you plan your daily meals.
Gluten-Free Diets
Gluten-free diets have the same benefits as vegetarian or vegan diets. You can easily get your whole grains from healthy sources like brown rice, cornmeal, quinoa, buckwheat, or amaranth.
BRAT, BRATTY, or CRAM Diets
Finally, you may want to opt for a BRAT, BRATTY, or CRAM diet for a brief period of time if you have stomach upset issues. BRAT stands for bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. It is a bland diet for people with gut issues and can be blended easily, but remember that this diet doesn’t give you all the nutrients you need daily, so you should only try this diet for a short period of time, in coordination with your doctor. In an effort to increase the nutritional value of the BRAT diet, some people have pushed for adding tea and yogurt (BRATTY). Others advocate switching to cereal, rice, applesauce, and milk (CRAM) because it has more fats and proteins.
tags: #blenderized #diet #recipes