CHEW-FREE RAW LIVING FOODS: Raw foods for the toothless

POST #859
There is one area of raw live foods that nobody ever looks at.

A number of my nutrition clients, and, also my speech therapy clients, have complained to me that raw food is often difficult for them to eat, the reason being that they either have no teeth or use dentures.  Some people just simply say that raw food is difficult to eat because they have problems with their teeth.

An interesting thing about “Mrs. Richter’s Cook-Less Book” which I wrote about a couple of posts ago, is that a section of the book is devoted to “Soups for the Toothless”.  I found that quaint,  odd, at first, and then I realized that Vera Richter was the first raw living foods author to address such an issue, and that no one has mentioned the situation since.

I do champion the “chewing challenged”, particularly since I am a lazy chewer (I simply don’t like to have to chew much). Many of my clients have dentures  or are toothless.  Most raw recipe books have recipes which are mostly inaccessible to people who do not or cannot chew well (too hard, too chewy).

Most raw vegan recipe writers/chefs assume that the chewing challenged can get by with blended foods, without considering that a liquid diet can get boring.

If you are looking for more substantial food, i.e foods that fill your stomach while, at the same time, addressing your taste buds, as well as your subconscious food ideas), which can be eaten with no teeth, or plastic teeth, consider pates,  kale chips, A while back, I wrote a mainstream recipe book for chewing-challenged people.

Since the beginning of my new interest in cultured vegetables, some people have written complaining that their teeth come loose when they eat cultured foods.  Now, that is interesting.   Something in the probiotic is dissolving whatever adhesive people use to secure their dentures.

As a result, I have decided that, when I make up a recipe, I will note ways that it can be converted to “chew-free”  (actually, most of my recipes are, in fact,  chew-free, simply because I am a lazy chewer).

Meanwhile, in the case of the fermented/cultured vegetables,  100% of my denture-wearing clients have complained of the denture-loosening effect.   I plan to eat my fermented vegetables either before I insert my dentures, or after I am at home and don’t need them anymore.  (Of course, you can always just carry adhesive with you and use it if your food loosens your dentures) . If you have removed your dentures and you want to eat a cultured vegetable, please consider blending or food processing it into a paste – you will have the taste, and, at the same time, be able to manage the food in your  mouth.