| abstract |
THICKENERS AND NUTRITIONAL PRODUCTS TO PROMOTE SAFE SWALLOWING IN INDIVIDUALS WITH DYSPHAGAS AND METHODS OF PRODUCTION AND USE THEREOF. The present invention relates to a thickener, as well as a nutritional product that includes the thickener, uses thereof, methods of manufacturing the same, methods of improving the cohesiveness of a nutritional product, and related systems. Nutritional products have improved cohesiveness to promote safer swallowing of boluses for individuals who have swallowing difficulties such as dysphagia. In a preferred embodiment, the nutritional product includes a thickener comprising a beta-glucan and an additive. Preferably, the nutritional product has a relaxation time, determined by a capillary split extensional rheometry (CaBER) experiment, of 10 ms to 2000 ms at a temperature of 20°C. |