Dysphagia Diet Planner Calculator

This planner estimates whether a texture-modified diet is likely to meet a dysphagia patient's caloric goal, using the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI) framework's food levels 3 through 7 (liquidised, pureed, minced and moist, soft and bite-sized, and regular). The IDDSI level names and numbering are the published standard, but the specific intake-reduction percentages applied here -- 35% at level 3 down to 0% at level 7 -- are this calculator's own estimates, not figures drawn from a cited study; they reflect the general clinical observation that modified textures are less calorically dense and slower to eat, so patients typically consume less even when meals are offered on the same schedule, but treat the specific percentages as illustrative rather than validated. The caloric goal is the single input that drives total predicted intake; a surprising consequence of the arithmetic is that neither the number of meals nor the number of snacks per day changes the predicted total, because the per-meal and per-snack shares are both scaled from the same goal and reduction percentage, and they net out to it exactly. Oral nutrition supplements (ONS, such as Ensure or Boost) are modeled as fixed-calorie additions (about 237 kcal and 10 g protein per serving) that sit outside the texture-driven reduction, since a supplement drink is swallowed at the prescribed IDDSI liquid level rather than chewed -- entering a nonzero number of ONS servings is itself what turns ONS calories on; there is no separate on/off toggle to forget.

The protein estimate assumes a flat 15% of food-derived calories come from protein, a generic dietary-pattern assumption rather than anything measured or entered -- this tool has no protein-intake input at all, so Protein per kg (the figure a dietitian typically acts on) inherits that same assumption. Estimated fluid intake also has a gap: this calculator only has an IDDSI FOOD-texture input, not a separate IDDSI DRINK-thickness level, so the fluid estimate uses the food level as a rough proxy for drink thickness even though food and drink are officially separate IDDSI scales. This tool does not replace a formal swallow evaluation or an individualized care plan from a speech-language pathologist and registered dietitian -- actual intake varies enormously by appetite, fatigue, and how well a specific texture is tolerated, and the caloric-density boosting many patients need (added fats, protein powders) isn't modeled at all.