Question:
What exactly is considered a soft food?

I am a little confused as to what is considered soft food. Is egg salad,deviled egg, mashed potatoes, fried egg,tuna salad,cottage cheese, cream cheese,BREAD, considered soft? HELP Please I need to know desperately!    — [Anonymous] (posted on January 21, 2001)

January 21, 2001
My surgeon considered all the foods you listed as "soft diet" items...with some modifications: no pickles in the egg or tuna salad (or celery), and don't fry the egg :-) Basically, a soft diet eliminates fried foods, hard or crunchy fruits and vegetables, rice, and harder-to-digest meats like steak, chops, ham, etc... I would suggest that you be cautious about bread because it has a tendency to "gum up" and could obstruct your pouch (if you are an RNY patient) in the early weeks...bread will be fine later on. I was allowed ground beef, thinly-sliced deli meats, scrambled or poached eggs, baked or stewed chicken, baked fish and canned tuna, lettuce and tomato salads, most canned fruits and vegetables (except pineapple and whole-kernel corn), casserole-style dishes, pastas, etc... For RNYs the rules are pretty simple: chew, chew chew...small bites...eat slowly...stop as soon as you feel full...the same "rules for normal eating" that we all should have been following all our lives :-) Good luck!
   — Diana T.

January 21, 2001
My surgeon's response to "What is soft food?" was that it should be the consistancey of applesauce. Some foods we discussed that were okay were egg drop soup, any soup without meat chunks, yogurt, cottage cheese.
   — smummert