There’s been a lot of talk about preparing modified recipes to make home based dinners, events and socialising more accessible. What we haven’t yet touched on is how we can build skills to identify foods that fall into a modified category without changing a thing about them, especially when they are on a menu or in our favourite cook book.
We’ve all been to a restaurant and ordered gnocchi, a slow cooked curry or zucchini fritters. Did you realise that you had just ordered modified foods? You see, when we don’t need to consider the kinds of consistencies we eat, it’s understandably not something that we take note of. Adversely, if we’re aware of diet modifications through our own needs or the needs of others, you might be surprised how often you identify them on the menu- or as I like to think of them, naturally occurring modified foods.
Sure, there might be one or two things that need to be changed such as removing nuts, skins, garnishes or crunchy bits but really, who hasn’t asked for a small modification based on their taste or texture preferences?? I like my greek salad without olives and my pizza without ham. There is absolutely no method to my madness. It is purely my preference and my choice, and nine times out of ten the kitchen is happy to comply. Admittedly, I am gracious enough to remove the olives myself but I prefer to avoid the ham all together when it comes to my pizza 🍕🍕
Recently I’ve been working with a gorgeous woman who, due to her lifelong dysphagia, often feels self conscious about going out to eat in public, especially since her swallow has begun to change and dysphagia progress over the last few years. This is not uncommon for people with dysphagia due to the risk of having noticable difficulties such as taking a really long time to eat, having to pick apart meals, or coughing and choking in front of others. So what we’ve been working on is building confidence around choosing meals off the menu that will be easy to eat and reduce the risk of coughing or choking in public. I won’t lie, it’s been one of the most fun therapy tasks I’ve done in a long time and so exciting to see all the places that she can try in her local community that she had no idea about!!
In the age of technology, you’d be hard pressed to find a food establishment that doesn’t have their menu on the internet. This means you can assess whether or not there are appropriate menu items available or easily modified options before you get to the restaurant or even before you make that booking. For those who know me personally, I’ve long argued that if a food establishment can make allowances for allergies, an acknowledged medical condition, then they can make reasonable modifications for someone with dysphagia, also a medical condition. Emphasis on reasonable, just to be clear.
From a confidence perspective, checking out the menu at home also takes the pressure off making a decision in an unfamiliar setting, making a decision when you are stressed about whether or not anything is appropriate for you or which option you are going to choose from an already limited list. Heck, I have friends who have to look at a menu before we go to dinner without any dietary requirements. The world we live in 🙃
Once you’ve done this exercise a few times, at a few different places and your confidence increases, imagine the list of options you can build for dining out. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy but all of a sudden, a nice night out or a catch up with a friend is in the realm of achievable. There is a whole dynamic about dysphagia that impacts a person’s options for socialisation, effects self confidence and increases isolation, not to mention how it can impact personal relationships. This is just one way to limit those effects and help a person to feel a part of the community and continue to live a life of autonomy and independence.
So jump on the internet, look up that restaurant you’ve been eyeing off and start planning your next morning tea, late lunch or night out with someone special. You’ll be surprised at what wonders you find out there in the wild 🦁🐯
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