Category: Education
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Dysphagia & IDDSI Glossary (Swallowing and Texture Terms Explained)
Changes to chewing and swallowing already feel like you entered another world, we don’t need to complicate things with a whole new language. This glossary decodes terms you might hear from clinicians, hospitals, or care teams on your journey with dysphagia and will continue to expand with resources and new definitions. On this page: Swallowing…
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Why do I cough even with a dysphagia diet?
If you’re following a dysphagia diet and still coughing during meals, it can feel confusing or even alarming. Many people assume coughing means the diet isn’t working or that something dangerous is happening. In reality, coughing needs some context. Coughing is a protective reflex Coughing exists to protect your airway. When food, liquid, or saliva…
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How Texture Changes When Food Cools (And Why It Matters More Than You Think)
Most people think food texture is fixed, but it changes with temperature, time, moisture loss, and even how the food was cooked in the first place. If you’ve ever reheated leftovers and thought this isn’t the same food, you’ve already experienced this problem (and I wrote a guide to reheating dysphagia meals to help you…
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Why Some ‘Soft Foods’ Still Cause Choking (and What Actually Works)
If you have ever witnessed a bite of food that was supposed to be “safe” feel less than, you may already know the quiet truth that’s not outwardly intuitive. Soft does not always mean easy to swallow. For many people, the first moment does not need some extravagant bite, it can be with one of…
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When Eating Feels Hard: Foods That Take Less Effort
There are times when eating just feels harder than it used to. Chewing takes more work. Meals feel tiring. Foods that once felt easy now feel dry, stubborn, or uncomfortable. For many people, this shift happens gradually, and if that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. And you don’t need a diagnosis or a special “diet”…
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What are Transitional Foods?
Dissolvable & Transitional Solids: A Practical Guide for Home Cooks Transitional solids, sometimes called dissolvable solids, meltables, or “meltable solids”, are foods that break down quickly with moisture, temperature, or light pressure. They sit in the space between minces and regular foods, offering a middle path for people rebuilding confidence, oral control, or safe chewing…
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Understanding Your Swallow Study: How to Read Dysphagia Reports
If you’ve recently had a swallow study or are waiting for one, you may have a report full of unfamiliar words: residue, penetration, peristalsis, dysmotility. It can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re already anxious about eating. By the end of this page, you’ll know how to read the results, what they mean for your daily…
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Keeping Familiar Textures New
When texture modification becomes part of daily life, it’s natural to find comfort in what feels safe. That first food that “works”, the one that doesn’t trigger coughing, panic, or discomfort, often becomes a lifeline. And while that reliability is important, it can quietly narrow someone’s food world over time. Meals begin to blend together.…
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Identifying Thoughts That Block Your Bites
It can feel like a betrayal from mind to body when swallowing, something you used to do automatically, has turned into something you have to think about. Many of the people I work with describe the same paradox: “I know I can swallow… but when I try, it feels like my throat locks up.” That’s…
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How to Make a Fortified Sipping Broth at Home
Walk into any grocery store today and you’ll see entire shelves dedicated to liquids in cartons: chicken broth, beef stock, bone broth, sipping broth. Some promise “collagen for your skin,” others “restaurant-quality flavor.” And yet, for all the branding, most people couldn’t tell you where broth ends and stock begins. That’s not just trivia. For…