The Diet Doth Confuseth Me! (Renal Diet Thread)

[DiYMama540]

Not snoopy at all!! I'm not dealing with kidney disease but have had some relatives deal with varying levels of the disease, although I was too young to really pay enough attention to the dietary restrictions...they used to use the holidays as the once or twice a year cheat!!

Just here with a friendly smile, soft shoulder, and occasional inappropriate humor

 

[Blooie]

I don't really know anything about kidney disease or what diet should be followed. I do know about cooking food though.

It's there a specific named diet? I know you mentioned a couple in your post @Blooie but I'm not sure what was yours and what was your sister's.

Myself I've had a bad digestive issues that have required a special diet. I've also had to do weight gaining diets after surgeries. My least favorite thing about diets is they get repetitive and boring. I'd be happy to experiment with some recipes with and/or for you.

I'm glad you're taking this head on. I've had some severe health risks myself. I can't directly relate to your condition, but I understand how difficult it can be.

Oh, it's so good to meet you! "Is there a specific named diet?" Gee, I dunno. See how amazingly helpful I'm going to be? It's usually called the "renal diet" but there are stages to kidney disease, based on the GFR, or Glomerular Filtration Rate. That's the rate at which the kidneys are able to filter out wastes from the blood. The lower the number, the more serious the disease. It does tend to drop with age anyway, but at my age - I'm 69 - the "normal" is greater than 60. I was at 90 in 2017. I've dropped to 27 as of January 31, and that's a drop from 34 in October to 29 in December. So my GFR keeps going down. That's not good.

From what the nephrologist (kidney specialist) told me, what I remember from my sister's diet, and what I've been studying on-line (which is probably never a good idea!) the things a kidney patient needs to minimize, or even avoid, in a kidney-protecting diet are: Proteins, Sodium, Potassium, and Phosphorous. We are supposed to limit dairy. There are fresh fruits and vegetables that most folks are supposed to eat in abundance that we have to avoid like the plague. Tomatoes, oranges, avocados, potatoes (regular and sweet) bananas.....are you starting to see what we're up against? I can do without canned veggies...I prefer fresh or frozen anyway. But the vegetable list is almost as bad...no spinach, cucumbers, winter squash, etc. We also have to limit dairy.

I can eat blueberries. <sigh> Yayyy, me!! My diet is a diet intended to preserve what function I have left. My sister's situation was different. She suffered a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. She was rushed into surgery and the repair was successful but she threw an embolism shower into her kidneys, which basically killed them. On December 26th she had full kidney function. On December 27th she had none. So she was on a full dialysis diet, much more rigid than what I have to follow. She had to take what was called a binder before any food went into her mouth....snack or meal. If she was going to eat it, that pill had to go down first, to trap any phosphorous that might be in whatever she was eating. Phosphorus content does not have to be on the labels of food. Very few foods even say, "added phosphorous". So we have to guess. Linda's diet forced her to measure any liquids she took in. Because she had no kidney function, what went in could not get out until it was her dialysis day and accumulated fluids were removed from her body. They weighed her before dialysis started (her "wet" weight") and they weighed her again afterwards. (her "dry" weight). Those weights are how they determined how the dialysis would proceed. She used to love those little Del Monte or Dole fruit snack cups, with peaches or pears in them. The juice in those even counted against her fluid intake. With kidney disease, we don't have to do that. We still have function, it's just limited. We want fluids, but we have to watch what kinds of fluids we take in. No dark colas, that's for sure. Boy, I got my hiney chewed for my Pepsi intake!!

Well, I guess I've about confused the heck out of you and anyone else who might be reading. Goodness knows I've been confused for the last two months! Sooo, Sir Chef...what can you whip up for me that doesn't have dairy, limited protein, a few select fruits and veggies, no salt, and NO BLUEBERRIES??

 

[Conan]

Blooie! What a pickle you're in.

What does your doc think about the Mediterranean diet, as opposed to the far more restrictive renal diet? I mean, we know he's is in bed with blueberry growers lining his pockets with that sweet blueberry cash, but the mum (nurse and health nutter) mentioned that the Med diet is now often recommended instead.

I don't have firsthand experience, but I love researching, and learning. Following along.

 

[Blooie]

While not experiencing kidney issues (yet) I can certainly identify with the empty plate and hungry aspects. I have diabetes (diagnosed last spring) and struggle every day to find foods that are ok. Potatoes....oh how I miss my potatoes.
Kidney issues are a possible consequence of uncontrolled diabetes. It is not a place anyone wants to end up for any reason.

Blooie, I understand food struggles. No one can say "Hey this is the diet for diabetics". My doctors cannot, the dietician cannot, the magazines for diabetics cannot. My theory is that being individuals things hit each of us differently.

I can have eggs....but no toast. No yolk dunking here either.

I find I skip entire sections of grocery stores now.

So.... Now my questions.....
Are there certain things other than salt you are to avoid?
Are there things that are helpful to eat? (I know food burnout can happen just eating the "right" stuff)

Having cardiac AND kidney troubles has to be very limiting.
I am hopeful we (the BYC family) can brainstorm and help find tasty recipes that are ok for you and others that may be having similar restrictions in their diets.

Howdy, my friend!! Potatoes and Pepsi are the two things that might be my undoing!! I don't have diabetes, although years and years ago I was told I was pre-diabetic. But then I never had a bad glucose test or A1C after that. Still, it's in the charts so I have to say it. Stinks. My renal issues aren't caused by high blood pressure - I don't have nor have I ever had high blood pressure! Funny, considering that I have 4 stents in each leg artery and one in my heart, and that's usually the first thing the cardiologists and vascular surgeon remark on...no hypertension. So there goes the two leading causes of kidney disease, right out the window.

That individuality is exactly what's making this diet search so difficult. "They" say I can eat oatmeal..recommend it in fact. I hate oatmeal, it makes me gag. I love blueberries - I'm just sick of them. The best renal diet in the world does me no good if it consists of foods I don't like. And I'm not likely to stick to a diet if I can't have the foods I do like. So dietary generalities applying rigidly to anyone are ridiculous!

I think I hit on some of the things I can't eat in the post to the kind Chef who chimed in....limit dairy and meats, avoid oranges, grapefruit, avocadoes, tomatoes, many greens, bananas, potatoes (regular and sweet), winter squash, one site says watermelon, another says limit watermelon, egg yolks, bacon (Oh, Lord, take me now!) and other processed meats.....my fingers get tired just typing it! Grocery shopping is a joke. But I can put cauliflower, red bell peppers, cabbage and blueberries in my cart!

I don't know if I'm counting more on my friends here to kick me in the backside and get me moving or help with the diet or both. But I do know that anytime there's support, it makes the blueberries go down easier!! Thanks!

Hi, Blooie, I'm Stephanie. No kidney disease here, but my doctor tells me I'm diabetic and I've been diagnosed with gastroparesis. That means my food digests very slowly or sometimes, it seems, not at all. There's lots of food I can't eat and basically, food hurts. I'm hungry a lot but can't eat. I don't know what I can eat either. So I'll follow this thread and support you any way I can. It's no fun when our bodies don't work the way they're supposed to, is it? But you have a lot of friends here and hopefully folks will jump in with answers for you so you can reach for something besides blueberries!

Hello, Stephanie! It's great to meet you! You summed it up perfectly when you said "It's no fun when our bodies don't work the way they're supposed to!" Nope, it ain't! The parts that work hurt while they're working. If you wake up in the morning and something ain't hurting, you'd best call the doctor because whatever is is just quit!" Thanks for being here!!

Not snoopy at all!! I'm not dealing with kidney disease but have had some relatives deal with varying levels of the disease, although I was too young to really pay enough attention to the dietary restrictions...they used to use the holidays as the once or twice a year cheat!!

Just here with a friendly smile, soft shoulder, and occasional inappropriate humor

I'll take it, and so will anyone else who happens to need us and find us! Thanks!

Yes that too!! Surely there must be something besides blueberries!

Oh, there probably is, Kelsey. But see, I don't know what to buy grocery shopping yet, and I did remember seeing Blueberries on the list and my sister Linda eating them. So I bought a big carton of them. Now I have to eat them before they go bad, and I can't think of anything else that I should have bought, and it's 50 miles one way to go get anything else if I do think of it. So it's blueberries. And that, my dear, is convoluted Blooie logic!

Blooie! What a pickle you're in.

What does your doc think about the Mediterranean diet, as opposed to the far more restrictive renal diet? I mean, we know he's is in bed with blueberry growers lining his pockets with that sweet blueberry cash, but the mum (nurse and health nutter) mentioned that the Med diet is now often recommended instead.

I don't have firsthand experience, but I love researching, and learning. Following along.

Pickle? Nope, can't have them either. I think given the nature of the damage to my kidneys that's already occurred, my doctor isn't going to go with anything except the "official kidney diet",@honanbm. If there's an alternative that's acceptable to the National Kidney Foundation and to the traditional medical community, he might consider it, but without that I don't think so.

Now, remember, though, that I haven't met with the dietitian yet. I won't do that until after my nephrology appointment up in Billings on March 5th. And I imagine that the first meeting is likely to be, "What foods do you like? What foods don't you like? What do you eat regularly".... and so on, and then after that interview she'll (or he'll) put together a diet plan. That's what my understanding of the process is. But we'll see, and I'll bring it up, thank you so much!

 

[N F C]

Or eat blueberries for the rest of my life?

You must have been on my mind yesterday B...I was grocery shopping and somehow a carton of blueberries slipped into my cart

 

[Shadrach]

Hello @Blooie
Bulgar Wheat and Cus Cus and Semolina are all used extensively in North African cooking.
I cook with all of them.
They all tend to come in different grades right down to flour.
Bulgar Wheat needs a bit of oil and about one and a half times the volume of water to volume of wheat if the wheat is medium to coarse ground.
Bring to the boil and simmer covered for about ten minutes. Let it stand for a few minutes covered and then pour in about half a teaspoonful of olive oil and whisk with a fork until it fluffs up.

The finely ground varieties you can just add boiling water to, about 1:1 and leave to stand for four or five minutes. Then add the oil and fluff up with a fork.
I cook more with Cus Cus (finely ground but not flour)
A fast meal for me is a bowl of Cus Cus (Bulgar or Semolina) chopped walnuts, chopped sun dried tomatoes, a handful of black olives (not kept in brine but in oil) and a bean called Mang Tout washed and chopped.

 

[rjohns39]

@Blooie following along, I too am a fair hand in the kitchen with a fairly broad background in cooking techniques, so once we find out what is available I too would be happy to experiment.

 

[Blooie]

It’ll be awhile before our 2 week growing season here in Wyoming!

 

[getaclue]

Towards the bottom of this page, are colored, square, radio buttons. Click on each of those buttons, and read about the more kidney friendly foods, AND suggested portions. Portion control seems to be a key factor. Some foods are more kidney friendly than others, which does not mean you can eat them in unlimited quantities, but some of the less kidney friendly foods are not taboo, as long as you don't eat as much of them. https://www.allthingskidney.com/kid...approaches/kidney-diet/kidney-friendly-foods/

 

[Blooie]

Blooie, I'm a fan of your mama heating pad and of your sense of humor.
I'm praying that you'll get good reports from your lab work and that you will find a delicious and satisfying substitute for blueberries.
I want you to hang around and provide all of us with many more years of chicken wisdom.

You are everything I never knew I really needed!!!