Liquid Diet

January 4, 2005 2:53 PM

Wired-JawFilter: So I got hit by a car on New Year's Eve while crossing the street, and I'm okay for the most part (9 inches to the right, and chances are I'd be dead), but I'm going to have my jaw wired shut for about a month or so. I'm looking for some food advice, so I don't go nuts just drinking Boost...
posted by SweetJesus to Food & Drink (27 answers total)

Invest in a blender. Make smoothies and shakes. Use any of the following ingredients... Mix and match....

Milk
Yogurt
Whey
Fruits (Blueberries, Banana, Orange, Mango etc)
Flax Seed Oil
Egg Powder Protein
posted by ataraxian at 3:24 PM on January 4, 2005

Sorry to hear about your accident. Try sucking down some delicious gazpacho. I don't vouch for this recipe, because I've never made it, but my wife makes amazing, spicy gazpacho. It's really a summer recipe, but I guess your situation is an exception...
posted by sic at 3:34 PM on January 4, 2005

I just went through this a little over a year ago. 6 weeks of Carnation Instant Breakfast gets really old. The best resource around for me was 8 Weeks Wired. And yeah, I hope you like smoothies. I certainly don't anymore.
posted by makonan at 3:39 PM on January 4, 2005

I'm really sorry that happened to you, SweetJesus. Close call, eh?

As to food, I second the blender, which will also be great for turning anything into soup, or stews can be easily liquidised too.

Hope you get better soon.
posted by dash_slot- at 3:48 PM on January 4, 2005

Almost any soup can be blended if you thin it with broth as necessary - bean soups, tomato-based, potato, carrot, etc. You may also want to strain anything that is not perfectly smooth through cheesecloth placed in a colander, in order to reduce ANY possibility of triggering your gag reflex.

If you get tired of pureed food, I know from experience (mono) that you can live on Gatorade for at least 3 weeks.
posted by peep at 3:51 PM on January 4, 2005

Lobster bisque, from the finest restaurant in town because it's too damned much trouble to make it yourself. Get a glass straw so you can have it warmer than tepid. Sorry about the jaw.

Also, butternut squash soup is really good.
posted by Sidhedevil at 4:12 PM on January 4, 2005

I suggest that you add vodka to the blender at any time, it will surely lessen the pain.
posted by matildaben at 4:21 PM on January 4, 2005

You might not want to add vodka if you're on, say, codeine, or other pain suppressants.

Although I guess it depends on how much you want to "lessen"
posted by softlord at 4:36 PM on January 4, 2005

Went through this a few years ago, and umm... well... be prepared to lose some weight (7 kg in a month in my case).

I second the advice above about getting a blender. Just make sure you puree things really well, as getting food stuck on your teeth is pretty annoying when you can't move them.

Assorted smoothies/broths/yoghurts are probably the way to go. Dietary supplements/protein shakes are probably also a good idea. I'm sad to say I still have something of an aversion to soup as a result of this experience.

Invest in a big bottle of mouth wash. Really. And use it lots. Otherwise things can get kind of nasty back there (not to mention expensive on later visits to the dentist).
posted by blender at 5:02 PM on January 4, 2005

Ouch. Let me give you my iced tea recipe - it's not food, but I drink it almost to the exclusion of food, and I think you'll find it's quite tasty in a world where many things that taste good have been denied to you.

Take 8 Lipton tea bags (orange pekoe), place in one gallon of steaming hot water - let brew for 8 hours (absolute minimum of 6)

Add 250 mL of sugar, 125 mL of Real Lemon lemonjuice. Stir vigorously for thirty seconds. Enjoy.

If you opt for the decaff tea bags, up the sugar to 275ish mL and the lemon to 150 mL.

Halve ingredients and brew time for a half-gallon.

Enjoy.
posted by Ryvar at 5:11 PM on January 4, 2005

You really should put everything through the blender first, and then strain. It'll help to avoid clogs no matter how you'll be eating. I had to use a plastic tipped syringe which I inserted between my gums behind my molars. After some use the suction started to wear so be sure to have a backup.

I second squash soup and would add that potato leak is quite tasty. Oatmeal with lots of milk (thoroughly blended) was all right. I mostly ate milk shakes with yogurt, ice cream, fruit and plain protein powder.
posted by too many notes at 5:12 PM on January 4, 2005

Sorry to hear that, SweetJesus. In case she doesn't run across this question, I recommend you write the very friendly scody, who had jaw surgery (and posted an AskMe query about it.)
posted by stonerose at 5:34 PM on January 4, 2005

a frined of my moms towards the end of her stint with wired jaws got a big mac, fries, and a Frosty Chocolate Milkshake. dumped it all in blender.
so to 3rd, a blender will be yr best friend.
posted by ShawnString at 6:19 PM on January 4, 2005

I had my jaw banded shut May-Mid September last year (miserable corrective jaw surgery.)

Blenders were good for smoothie type things, but running normal types of food through produced some nasty results. The best blender food was homemade chili and cheese. I pretty much lived off of that for those months.

Trader Joe's and probably other stores carry Imagine soups which are are free of solids. They're pretty tasty, and you can bring up the amount of calories by cutting them with a bit of half and half.
posted by Orrorin at 6:59 PM on January 4, 2005

Maybe the I-Can't-Chew Cookbook has some good recipes?
posted by oldtimey at 7:21 PM on January 4, 2005

I hope you don't mind me asking, but how do you brush your teeth with your jaw wired shut? Particularly the back teeth, but also, how do you rinse and spit? Just one of those questions I never knew I was curious about until I read this.

As everyone else said, sorry to hear about the accident, but, well, it could be worse. Your nick is very appropriate.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 8:29 PM on January 4, 2005

A lot of good advice here, but also, invest in a good lipbalm. Try Burt's Bees. You can't lick your lips and you're going to find yourself jonesing to, soon. A good balm should placate you.
posted by Dreama at 8:56 PM on January 4, 2005

Response by poster: I hope you don't mind me asking, but how do you brush your teeth with your jaw wired shut? Particularly the back teeth, but also, how do you rinse and spit? Just one of those questions I never knew I was curious about until I read this.

You don't brush, from what I've been told. I'm using prescription mouthwash actually, three times a day. Seems to work ok, but I can't really see inside my mouth right now, on account of my gigantic swollen lips.
posted by SweetJesus at 9:10 PM on January 4, 2005

I'll just chime in that when I had my wisdom teeth out and couldn't chew for two weeks, gazpacho was a terrible idea, since I couldn't get the garlic taste out of my mouth for ages. After a few days I had no interest in fruit smoothies or milk shakes, I was just hungry and I drank SlimFast shakes to get some sustenance. They're filling, tasty enough, and they contain enough food to keep you from starving.
posted by bonheur at 9:34 PM on January 4, 2005

Perhaps soy milk might be good, for the added protein.
posted by gokart4xmas at 9:52 PM on January 4, 2005

Invest in a waterpik-like teeth cleaning system (the little wand can get to your back teeth).

Don't try to put foods with bread (ie a sandwich or a burrito) in the blender; it just tastes like glue.

They're serious when they tell you to keep the wire-cutters handy at all times.

The "I Can't Chew" recipes can be helpful. Be aware of removing any lumps, even if you think you can mash them against the roof of your mouth before swallowing.

Be ready for aching jaws, over and above the discomfort of the injury. The muscles are used to moving. You're going to miss yawning, too.

The prepared liquid foods are a good idea; good nutrition is a key to healing.
posted by reflecked at 3:07 AM on January 5, 2005

I drink a boost for breakfast, and ensure for dizzert
Somebody ordered pancakes I just sip the sizzurp
That right there could drive a sane man bizzerk

The wisdom of Kanye West.
posted by ejoey at 3:20 AM on January 5, 2005

First let me wish you a speedy recovery, that sounds unfortunate.

Slightly offtopic perhaps, but in response to Ryvar: That halving idea doesn't really make sense to me. Halving the number of teabags and the gallon of water would mean four teabags in half a gallon for four hours, or twice four teabags in twice half a gallon for four hours, which would mean by splitting your teapot in half you could halve brew time.
posted by fvw at 8:26 AM on January 5, 2005

so I don't go nuts just drinking Boost...

Be careful with drinks containing vitamins. Too much vitamin A (for example) can be REALLY bad for you.
posted by callmejay at 10:08 AM on January 5, 2005

Here is a page with some recipes for tuna shakes. They might help prevent some of that muscle loss. Good luck.
posted by hartsell at 10:19 AM on January 5, 2005

That's a good point about Vitamin Overdose.
posted by hartsell at 10:28 AM on January 5, 2005

Wired closed for 3 months. Here was one of my favorite recipes: cottage cheese, milk, cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg all together in a blender. For variety add oatmeal but this provided little pieces which were difficult to get rid of because as well as being wired I had a splint. I also did an Italian version of this with ricotta cheese, oregano, basil, and parmesan cheese. Here's another problem I found while wired closed---people treated you differently--many assuming mental limitations from the librarian to close personal friends for instance writing answers to me when I could hear perfectly just couldn't talk. Good luck!
posted by dsaelf at 9:48 AM on January 23, 2005