Modified Diets
- The MODIFIED DIETS do have a lot of changes, so the REGULAR DIET is repeated . . . just as a point of reference to see what the changes are.
For over 30 years, Residential Menus have had a 4 gram no added salt diet and a 2 gram low sodium diet. The new USDA recommendations have necessitated that for the majority of people, a 1,500 mg or 1.5 gram low sodium diet is recommended. A 1 gram low sodium requires Salt Free bread, which is extremely difficult to find . . . generally you can find frozen salt free bread dough and you must bake the bread.
- There are actually seven different formats to the menus to meet different needs.
This manual is the most popular for ICF/IDD, MH, & waiver homes as it treats the sandwich lunch as a modified diet. There are two other manuals which have the sandwich lunch as the regular diet. The problem is that because of the new MyPlate recommendations, the variety of sandwiches is extremely limited because of high sodium in most deli meats and cheeses.
- This is the first manual which by necessity must be product specific. In other words, specify that deli meats should be low sodium. American cheese is gone, replaced with low sodium Swiss cheese, salad dressings are gone replaced by vinegar & oil, and many products that specify No Added Salt. Fortunately, it has been much easier to find these products in most grocery stores.