Patient/caregiver was educated on how to puree foods as follows:
- Always select the right foods to be pureed. Foods that are naturally soft and tender in consistency are the right choice foods to be pureed. Make sure there are no chunks during eating, to avoid any risk for choking.
- Prepare all the foods before pureeing, by peeling the skin off, removing any hard and inedible portions. Exercise caution with removing all the seeds, tougher skin, and other inedible parts, before pureeing the food. This can include tougher skin of foods, such as, squash, pumpkin, jackfruit, and walnuts, & seeds from foods, such as, avocado, peach, mango, and plum. Also, exercise caution to remove all the bones from the meat and fish, as they cannot be pureed and increase risk for choking.
- Cut the food into small pieces and cook the food fork tender before pureeing it. This can help with preventing any lump formation in the food, further soften the food, eliminate the effort for chewing, and promote the ease for swallowing.
- Always use a good blender to puree the food. Add needed fluid during the pureeing process, to adjust the thickness of food to your choice.
- Pureed foods can be low in calorie count and so, pick a wide variety of foods to help needed nutrient and calorie intake. Choosing protein and calorie rich liquids, such as, condensed milk, ensure, boost, milkshake, and chicken broth to puree the foods against plain water can also help increase the nutrient and calorie intake.
