How to Make a Pureed Diet for a Stroke Patient

A stroke is a medical condition in which the blood supply to a patient's brain is temporarily interrupted. Stroke patients may suffer numerous disabilities, including difficulty swallowing. In that case doctors and rehabilitation therapists often recommend a pureed diet. Pureed foods have the consistency of baby food and patients can swallow them with less difficulty and less risk of choking.

Things You'll Need

• blender

Show More

Instructions

• 1

  Select foods the patient likes. Foods with few ingredients work best. For example, pureed carrots will still taste like carrots and pureed tuna salad will still taste like tuna salad. Pureed mixed vegetables, in contrast, would not taste the same as regular mixed veggies and pureed pizza would certainly not taste much like a normal slice of pizza.

• 2

  Select moist foods. You can add additional moisture to foods if necessary, but foods that are normally dry or crisp may taste odd if pureed. For instance, tuna salad is usually served moist, but moist toast would seem soggy and unappetizing to most.

• 3

  Use a good blender or food processor with a setting for puree.

• 4

  Cut large pieces of food into smaller pieces, about the size of dice or checkers. Puree until the food reaches the consistency of baby food, with no big lumps.

• 5

  Add small amounts of liquid to the food if necessary to get the right consistency. You can add water, milk, juice or broth. Choose a liquid that compliments the food. For instance, add vegetable broth to veggies or fruit juice to fruit. You can also add condiments to moisten foods, like mayonnaise for tuna or chicken salad and butter or margarine for potatoes or vegetables.

• 6

  Add seasonings to make the pureed food tasty. Unless the patient requires a bland diet for medical reasons, you can use whatever seasonings you would normally use in foods.