The Best (and Worst) Foods for Bell's Palsy

Although diet does not have a direct impact on Bell’s palsy, eating a healthy diet with appropriate textures can encourage quicker healing and prevent choking.

If Bell’s palsy affects one or both sides of your mouth, you may need to change your eating habits for a time. Chewing on the side of the mouth affected by weakness or paralysis will likely be difficult.

Some tips on eating with Bell’s palsy include:

• Avoid hard, chewy, crumbly, or sticky foods, such as thick cuts of meat and crusty breads.
• Choose soft, easy-to-chew foods like pasta, fish, cooked vegetables, mashed potatoes, and ice cream.
• Avoid mixed consistencies — for example, cereal in milk. Mixed consistencies are more difficult to manage and may be more likely to cause coughing. Oatmeal is a better choice.
• Try taking in smaller mouthfuls of food, as these are easier to control and less likely to spill from your mouth.
• Sit upright in a well-supported chair while eating, and allow yourself plenty of time to finish your meal.

If most of your mouth is weak or paralyzed, you may need to follow a soft diet. If your entire mouth has been affected by Bell’s palsy, you may need to follow a full liquid diet as prescribed by your doctor.

Your Bell’s palsy diet should include plenty of:

• Whole grains
• Fresh fruits and vegetables
• Low-fat dairy products
• Lean meats
• Legumes
• Healthy fats

If possible, avoid foods that are high in fat, sugar, refined flours, sodium, and cholesterol. Although these foods may not worsen Bell’s palsy, they can prevent the body from functioning at its optimal level, which could delay healing.

• Chickpeas
• Tuna
• Beef liver
• Bananas
• Chicken breast

• Cheese
• Salmon
• Tuna
• Beef
• Eggs
• Fortified cereals

• Enriched, fortified, and whole-grain products such as bread, cereals, rice, pasta, and flour
• Wheat germ
• Beef
• Trout and bluefin tuna
• Eggs
• Legumes and peas
• Nuts and seeds

• Oysters
• Seafood
• Pork
• Whole grains
• Beans
• Nuts
• Eggs