7 Liquid Diet Recipes for Jaw Surgery Recovery

Surviving the Dreaded Post-Op Liquid Diet

Don’t be one of those crazy people trying to put steak in a blender.

If you have upper jaw surgery, say goodbye to straws for at least several weeks. If you’re going to be wired or banded shut, spoons are out as well. Meet your new friends: the catheter syringe and the condiment bottle. “Oh, but they’re gonna remove my bands after the first week, and I’ll just subsist on a spoon-fed soft food diet,” you say.

Hahaha. Don’t count on being that lucky.

Jaw surgery is like whiplash. Even when the surgical bands holding your jaws together are removed, your masseter muscles will be traumatized for several months. It wasn’t until Week 3 that I was able to open my jaws wide enough to fit a sample spoon through my front teeth. You know, those little ones they give you in ice cream shops? That was a struggle.

Embrace the liquid diet and make it taste good.

I had double jaw surgery as an adult. When I created my liquid diet, these were the things I cared about the most:
- anti-inflammatory properties
- nutritional value
- ability to be highly satiating and savory
- flavor profile in liquid form (not everything tastes good in a blender)
- fiber content that could pass through a…