Mathea Ford's Blog, page 81
December 15, 2014
Avoid Kidney Failure By Changing Your Diet
Kidney disease is a diagnosis that no one wants to hear. The fact that you have a chronic illness, one that you will live with for the rest of your life, it is a challenging and daunting truth to come to terms with. It is just too easy for some to focus on the negative and to lose hope in the future, but you can take steps to avoid kidney failure.There is hope, however, if you are willing to work for it. Simply changing your diet, for example, can truly help you to avoid kidney failure. Yes, you can avoid kidney failure, and still live a healthy and happy life, by changing your diet.
What is kidney disease?
To truly understand how changing your diet can make such a difference in the overall outcome of your disease, you need to understand what kidney disease is and why it occurs.
Kidney disease is the chronic condition where your kidneys gradually lose function over time. This can take months or years, depending on your specific condition and how well you take care of yourself. You can, as already mentioned, ultimately effectively avoid kidney failure by slowing or even halting the progression of the disease by changing your diet.
How does this work?
Your kidneys are ultimately responsible for the filtration and removal of waste and excess buildup in your body. When the kidneys are not functioning properly, as with kidney disease, the ability to filter and remove these products diminishes.
Certain foods that you eat contain ingredients, vitamins and minerals that are supposed to be filtered and flushed out by the kidneys. Once the kidneys lose function, they have to work much harder to do the same job that healthy kidneys do. If no changes are made to the intake of these ingredients, the kidneys have to work harder and harder, until they eventually shut down.
If, however, the intake of these ingredients is greatly decreased, the kidneys will not have as hard of a time doing their job. Without the extra duress, they have the potential to keep working at their current ability for a very long time. Unfortunately, there is no way to regain function that is already lost, so the sooner you make changes the better.
What changes should I make?
Once you are diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, your doctor will likely give you a list of dietary restrictions. It is important that you follow those restrictions religiously.
Sodium: In kidney disease, too much sodium can cause such problems as edema (swelling), dangerous fluid retention, elevated blood pressure, and more. Cutting sodium out of your diet will make a huge difference towards avoiding kidney failure.
Potassium: Too much potassium in your system can cause muscle cramps and weakness, numbness, and tingling.
Phosphorus: Added phosphorus can cause your bones to be brittle and lead to calcium deficiencies.
These and other restrictions are important enough that they might make all the difference to your life with kidney disease. Not only will following food restrictions help make you more comfortable, but you could effectively stop the progression of kidney disease and avoid kidney failure. It is hard to avoid kidney failure, but support helps. Look around my website for other ideas and support.
Follow these topics: Renal Diet, Renal Diet Headquarters Blog
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Renal Diet Menu Headquarters -
Suggested Reading:
Making Kidney Smart Choices to Avoid Renal Failure
Fluid Restrictions for Kidney Failure
A Renal Failure Diet – Why Do I Need One?
December 8, 2014
Kidney Disease Has Changed My Family’s Meals
The diagnosis of a chronic illness can change your entire life. From your daily routine to the foods you eat, so much can change with the few simple words of a diagnosis such as kidney disease. Some of these changes not only change your life, but the people around you lives as well.
Kidney disease is one of those chronic illnesses that can affect the lives of your family as well, if only because of how much it changes mealtime. Mealtimes are often the main gathering of family togetherness, with everyone gathering around the table to share and talk about their days. While kidney disease may change the conversation very slightly, the meals that you gather around will likely change immensely.
Eating healthier when a family member is diagnosed with a chronic illness such as kidney disease is an enterprise that the whole family can, and should, take on. Kidney disease can (and should) change your family’s meals, and here’s why:
Ensuring Success
If you or a loved one is the only person at the table eating differently, it can quickly become much harder than it should be, and potentially lead to failure to comply with dietary restrictions. After all, it is already hard enough to change your own habits without the temptation of those very same habits sitting around the table with you. A kidney disease patient will be much more likely to stick to their dietary restrictions and successfully live a healthier and longer life with the people around them supporting them and doing it together.
Family Togetherness
“The Family That Plays Together, Stays Together”, or so you have heard. This old adage can apply to many other aspects of your life, however, including meal times. Having the whole family eat healthier together has so many benefits, one of which is the strengthening of the very ties that hold you together. It lets everyone at that table, from the oldest member to the youngest, from the healthiest to the ailing, know that you are all in this crazy ride called life together. Lest anyone dare forget, you are a family and you are here for each other no matter what.
Break the Chain
Especially if less than healthy meals are a norm in your house, changing your family meals could potentially break the chain of illness in your family. After all, eating habits are often learned behavior. If you suffer from a chronic illness such as kidney disease, diabetes, heart disease, or a list of other illnesses, these are all issues that are greatly affected by the foods you eat. Teaching your children and/or grandchildren about healthy eating habits could be one step towards breaking the chain of chronic illness in your family.
If there is anything more important than your health, it is the health of your family and loved ones around you. Sharing, learning together, and coming together over healthy meals is a part of family togetherness that goes beyond the simple sharing of a meal.
So kidney disease has changed your family meals? That is a good thing. Together you can take steps towards a healthier and happier life together, one meal at a time.
Follow these topics: Kidney Dialysis, Renal Diet, Renal Diet Headquarters Blog
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Renal Diet Menu Headquarters -
Suggested Reading:
How Meals Can Help With Chronic Kidney Disease
Living With Kidney Disease: Why Should I Cook Meals At Home
Suffering With Chronic Kidney Disease
December 3, 2014
Top Tools And Equipment To Stock Your Kitchen For Cooking At Home
Products Can Make Life Easier
When it comes to cooking, there are certain kitchen gadgets and storage solutions that are important to have in your house to make the journey easier. I want to share my thoughts and list the top tools that I know make a difference when you are cooking or baking. These items make great gifts, can help with arthritis, and are available on Amazon. I have created links that go directly to the product on Amazon for your convenience.
You Need These Kitchen Tools
Let’s begin with some simple tools that you might already have, or are missing but didn’t realize you need!
Have you ever started mixing a recipe, only to realize it takes about 5 different bowls? Not only are you getting a lot of dishes dirty, you have to find the bowls to begin with.
1. Nesting Bowls -Anchor Hocking Glass Bowl Set – 10 pcs
I love this set because it’s glass and can be used in the microwave or in the oven. It’s dishwasher safe, and the price is great! I find that I usually need a small, medium, and large bowl when cooking. This gives you all of that, and if you need more buy two sets.
2. Stainless steel measuring cups and spoons. Onesource 8-Piece Deluxe Stainless Steel Measuring Cup and Measuring Spoon Set
This is a set of measuring cups and measuring spoons. When I think about accurate measurement, I want something that is not going to bend and warp and get banged up. Or break when I drop it. So I love the idea of a stainless steel set because it does all of those. And this set is also inexpensive.
3. Plenty of glass measuring cups in different sizes. Anchor Hocking Gift Boxed 3-Piece Open-Handle Measuring Cup Set.
This is a set of 3 that has a 1 cup, 2 cup, and 4 cup measurement. And they are made of pyrex, which doesn’t break or chip very easily. It’s measurements are in ml and ounces, so you are good to go whether you are in the USA or outside of it. Glass doesn’t cloud like plastic either.
4. A handy kitchen timer. I like the digital ones, but that’s just me. You can choose another style. You can even use the timer on your oven. But use one. Here is the one I like because I am usually doing 5 things at once. Taylor 5849 Quad Kitchen Timer with Whiteboard
5. You need quality knives and cutting boards. This will make your life so much easier. Cuisinart Advantage 12-Piece Knife Set
is an excellent knife set, and I like it because the colors make them easy to identify – instead of chef knife, big knife, small knife – you can refer to them by red, blue, green, etc.
As for cutting boards – here is my favorite: Catskill Craftsmen 16-Inch Tempered Glass Cutting Board with Padded Feet
I like to use glass because it’s less likely to scratch or hold onto bacteria when cutting. You should wash your cutting board often, especially between all food items you cut on it.
6. Quality pots and pans are a staple. Not using the inexpensive ones that warp and handles break off and lids don’t quite fit – priceless. This is a very good set: Simply Calphalon Nonstick 10 Piece Set
, and I realize it’s a little pricey but it is a great investment. I love the hard anodized aluminum pans. It makes for very even heat and they last a long time.
These Kitchen Tools and Equipment Are Helpful But Not Mandatory
7. Something that I cannot live without is my slow cooker. As a matter of fact, my lid handle broke off earlier this year and it bugged me so much that I finally searched out a new handle. Mine is a programmable one but you can get nearly any kind. Here is the one that I suggest – Hamilton Beach 33967A Set ‘n Forget Programmable Slow Cooker, 6-Quart
. But if you are just cooking for 2 you might want to get a smaller one. Most of the time you should get one big enough to fill about 1/2 to 3/4 full when you are making a recipe.
8. Food processors are misunderstood if you ask me. They provide a lot of great mixing and making capability. This is the one that I have had for several years – about 10 – KitchenAid KFP1333CU 13-Cup Food Processor with ExactSlice System – Contour Silver
. It works wonderfully to make fresh items and pizza dough and lots of other healthy foods.
9. A blender is also needed, especially if you want a smoothie. You can get a counter top blender (like this: Oster BVCB07-Z Counterforms 6-Cup Glass Jar 7-Speed Blender, Brushed Stainless/Black
) or a Handheld immersion blender (like this: Cuisinart CSB-75BC Smart Stick 2-Speed Immersion Hand Blender, Brushed Chrome
). The benefit of the counter top blender is that if you want to make smoothies or shakes, you are better off with that one because it’s very powerful. If you plan to do more simple blending, the immersion blender is fine (and less messy). The other thing is that the immersion blender works excellent to make a nice smooth soup right on the stove or counter.
10. Last but not least – a salad spinner. Yep, a salad spinner. Excelsteel Cook Pro Inc Salad Spinner, 4-1/2-Quart
A salad spinner works wonders for all types of vegetables including those you soak to leach out the potassium. You can spin them dry. Use the food processor to slice them thin and then soak them. You can then spin them so they aren’t so soggy.
I hope you enjoyed my review of items that are great for your kitchen. Please add your suggestions in the comments below and let me know what you think!
Follow these topics: Pre Dialysis, Recipes, Renal Diet, Renal Diet Headquarters Blog
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Suggested Reading:
Renal Diet Headquarters Podcast 034 – What To Keep In Your Kitchen Cupboard And Making Good Snacks
Living With Kidney Disease: Why Should I Cook Meals At Home
Cooking Out on Dialysis
December 1, 2014
Find Secrets To Flavorful Pre-Dialysis Meal Plans
When you are a renal patient, it is important to keep your diet controlled. Natural ingredients and additives like phosphorus, potassium, and especially sodium can be extremely harmful. The main reason for this is that it is the kidney’s main function to flush out excess waste and other deposits. When the kidneys are not functioning properly they are unable to flush out the extras, causing damage and pain.A lot of people automatically assume that meal plans for people with renal failure, or really any other chronic health problem, have to be bland and boring. The fact is, however, that there are flavorful solutions that can suit the needs of a pre-dialysis meal plan. There are so many options available to you to make all of your meals taste so amazing, you won’t even miss the added salt and fat.
Here are some secrets to flavorful pre-dialysis meal plans:
Herbs
Using fresh herbs when cooking can give your meals a huge boost. No only do they make foods tastes good, but the depth of flavor is truly unmatched.
Dry herbs are absolutely acceptable, but use fresh whenever possible. You can find many fresh herbs in your grocer’s produce section, and dried herbs in the spice aisle. Growing your own herb garden is an easy, fun, and creative way to always have the herbs you need on hand.
Flavorful Secret: Each herb has a very specific taste, so you can experiment with combining them to create perfect flavor matches. For example, rosemary and thyme meld together perfectly to create a match that is perfect for poultry and fish dishes.
Salt Free Spices
In the spice aisle, look for “salt free” spices such as the popular brand Mrs. Dash. These are easy to use, flavorful spice mixes that give you a huge boost of flavor without the added sodium that you truthfully don’t need to make delicious dishes.
Flavorful Secret: Look for any brand’s version of salt free “table spice”. This zesty mixture gives you a pop of flavor and just enough heat to tantalize your taste buds. Even better, this mix works great on just about any dish you use it for, it is so versatile.
Lemon Juice
A lesser known trick of the trade is simply using lemon juice to flavor your foods. This is a surprisingly perfect solution for dishes that you think need salt. The acidity of the lemon juice adds a bright flavor and completely diminishes the need for added sodium.
Flavorful Secret: When baking fish or chicken, squeeze some lemon wedges over the meat and leave the rinds in the pan while it cooks. Then serve each plate with an additional lemon wedge for a fresh squeeze of flavor.
Use any of these flavorful secrets in your favorite dishes and see what a difference it makes. You might even find that you don’t need the added salt after all, that the foods you eat are delicious on their own right. With these tasty tips, you can say bye-bye to boring pre-dialysis meals and get back to enjoying your food.
For other flavorful pre-dialysis meal ideas click here.
Follow these topics: Pre Dialysis, Renal Diet Headquarters Blog
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Renal Diet Menu Headquarters -
Suggested Reading:
Pre-dialysis Diet Plan and Supermarket Secrets
Creating Meal Plans For Those On Dialysis
A Chronic Renal Failure Meal Plan Is Important in Pre-Dialysis Kidney Disease
November 24, 2014
Finding The Right Books About The Dangers of Kidney Disease
Living with a chronic illness such as kidney disease is tough enough, but not knowing where to get the best information about your illness and how to treat and deal with it is the true hard part. The fact is that with the right information and action on your part, you truly can live through just about anything. Knowing how to treat kidney disease, what to eat, and how to care for yourself is key.Your doctors and nutritionists are helpful only to a point. Often, they are pressed for time and you can only talk to them for so long at once. Not only that, but sometimes it is hard even knowing what questions to ask. In order to get started gaining the knowledge you need to ask the best questions and understand the answers when you get them, all has to start somewhere.
Reading is often the best solution to problems such as these. There are tons of books out there with information about kidney disease. There are informative books, medical books, cookbooks, and more all available to you. You just have to know which books to start with.
This book is a super useful resource for people that have recently found out that they have kidney disease because it helps you not only understand what is happening to your body, but also helps you figure out what questions to ask your doctor. It is broken up into three distinct parts to help you understand your situation: one part devoted to you kidneys and what is happening to them, one part to conventional treatments, and the third is devoted to “complementary” treatments such as lifestyle changes that are effective.
Coping With Kidney Disease: A 12 Step Treatment Program To Help You Avoid Dialysis
This book does a great job of going in-depth on all of the different aspects of kidney disease. Not only does it describe what is happening to your body and help you understand the dangers of kidney disease, but it also lays out a program to help you take better care of yourself and avoid dialysis indefinitely. The author works for the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and got much of the material for this book through clinical research. In the book, he stresses that chronic kidney disease can lead to many other chronic illnesses and vice-verse.
Kidney Disease: A Guide For Living
Written by an actual chronic kidney disease patient, this book does an excellent job of not only describing the dangers of kidney disease, but also how very treatable it is. The author not only gives you a very readable personal viewpoint, but he knows how difficult living with kidney disease is. Overall, it is a very optimistic narrative of how kidney disease patients can overcome and live with this chronic illness.
Books often lend us an entire new world of information. For kidney disease patients, books about the dangers of kidney disease offer the opportunity to learn so much more about kidney disease, and how to live healthily and happy lives. For more books you can check out my author page on Amazon.
Follow these topics: Renal Diet Books, Renal Diet Headquarters Blog
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Renal Diet Menu Headquarters -
Suggested Reading:
Kidney Disease Labs: “Kidney Disease: Common Labs and Medical Terminology”
Suffering With Chronic Kidney Disease
Living With Chronic Kidney Disease-Predialysis AKA My First Book!
November 17, 2014
Creating Meal Plans For Those On Dialysis
Living with kidney disease is hard enough for the patient that has to endure with the symptoms and dietary restrictions that come along with it. Not having people around that understand this struggle only makes things more difficult.
Care-giving is an entirely different struggle, one that can also be quite challenging. If you are a caregiver or have a loved one that is dealing with chronic kidney disease, you might feel helpless to help them. One small way that many people choose to help their friends and loved ones that are dealing with hardship is to cook or create meal plans for that person.Chronic kidney disease comes with a pretty long list of dietary restrictions. Some of the most notable restrictions are sodium, potassium, and phosphorus. Patients in the later stages of renal disease and those that are going through dialysis might also have fluid restrictions. Considering that so many of the foods we eat have many of these very ingredients in them naturally, it can be hard to know what to include in meal plans.
Creating meal plans for those on dialysis gets easier as you get use to the restrictions. It helps to keep in mind all of the foods that are still available for the patient to eat. Focusing on what can be eaten, and not just on the restrictions, makes putting together meal plans much easier.
Here is a small example of foods that most people on dialysis can eat:
Carbohydrates: Cream of Rice cereal, most white breads and bagels, low sodium corn chips, unsalted pretzels, puffed rice cereal, English muffins, white pastas, and rice (brown or white).
Proteins: Chicken, turkey, most seafood, fish, eggs and egg substitutes.
Fruits: Apples, grapes, canned peaches and pears, lemons, and pretty much any kind of berry.
Vegetables: Cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, garlic, onion, mushrooms, peas, zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, bell peppers (green, red, yellow), jalapeno peppers, and eggplant.
Beverages: Water, cranberry juice, clear sodas, lemonade, root beer, ginger ale, and tea.
Fats: Use nondairy alternatives such as nondairy creamers, nut milks, etc. Olive oil is the best fat to use when cooking and offers good flavor to recipes. Mayonnaise and low sodium dressings are okay, as is a small amount of butter or margarine.
All of these and more are foods that you can build each meal with. There are plenty more foods out there that are safe for kidney disease patients undergoing dialysis, too. Do keep in mind fluid restrictions. Especially if the patient’s doctor has put them on a very strict fluid restriction, even the foods that the patient eats can count towards fluid intake.
As a good rule of thumb, each meal should include a bit of each of the above listed food groups, and as usual fats should be limited to small amounts. Start with a base, like rice or a bread option, then choose a protein and supplement with lots of fruits and vegetables. Avoid canned vegetables when you can, as they often have lots of added sodium.
With this information, you are now on your way to providing delicious and healthy kidney safe meals for a person on dialysis.
If you need more help with a creating meal plans for a dialysis diet, Click Here!
Follow these topics: Recipes, Renal Diabetic Diet, Renal Diet, Renal Diet Headquarters Blog
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Renal Diet Menu Headquarters -
Suggested Reading:
Renal Diet Plans for a Healthy Kidney
A Chronic Renal Failure Meal Plan Is Important in Pre-Dialysis Kidney Disease
A Renal Dialysis Diet Is Easy To Follow With A Meal Plan
November 10, 2014
Books to Help You With Pre-Dialysis Meal Planning Basics
http://www.amazon.com/Mathea-Ford/e/B008E1E7IS/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
For kidney patients dealing with end stage renal disease and the impending probability of dialysis, it can be a daunting prospect. It can be hard to know what is coming next, or how to deal with the restrictions your doctors or nutritionist recommend. It can even be tough to know what questions to ask to get started.
One of the biggest questions a lot of renal patients have is what they are and are not supposed to eat. There are so many restrictions for dialysis patients, especially for those getting ready for or already undergoing dialysis. With such long lists on what not to eat, it can be hard to figure out what you can eat.
Learning to eat around so many restrictions also brings up another issue. How exactly do you build meal plans based on these new recommendations for eating? How do you get started learning all new recipes and a new way of cooking?
Luckily, there are books available to teach you pre-dialysis meal planning basics. These books come recommended by doctors, nutritionists, and specialty health websites.
Davita Cooking Collections (http://www.davita.com/cookbook/index....)
The Davita website, which is a website devoted to education and information about kidney disease and kidney failure, has free downloadable cookbooks on their websites. They also have over 800 kidney friendly recipes, many of which are deemed appropriate for pre-dialysis as well. Each recipe is clearly marked as to what state of renal disease the recipe is safe for.
Living Well on Dialysis: A Cookbook For Patients and Their Families (http://www.amazon.com/Living-Dialysis...)
Written by the National Kidney Foundation itself, this cookbook is a great tool to introduce healthy, kidney safe recipes and meal ideas. Not only are there easy to follow recipes, but the book includes helpful hints and tips.
The Kidney Friendly Diet Cookbook: Recipes For A Pre-Dialysis Kidney Disease Lifestyle ( http://www.amazon.com/The-Kidney-Frie...)
This easy to follow and informative cookbook was written by a registered dietician. People who have tried these recipes have remarked that the recipes were easy to follow and were enjoyable. Most recipes are “family friendly” and are geared towards cooking for multiple people, but easily broken down for one or two people.
Cooking For David: A Culinary Dialysis Cookbook (http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-David-C...)
This book is great for those people that loved cooking before being on a pre-dialysis diet, and would like to continue to love cooking. It focuses a lot on foods that you can eat instead of what you can’t. This is because this book was inspired by someone that the author used to cook for. She felt awful that all of her recipes would come out so bland and boring after omitting all of the salt and other ingredients that weren’t kidney safe. So she set to work testing hundreds of recipes, 160 of which made it into this book.
There are so many resources available for pre-dialysis patients everywhere to learn about meal planning and recipes. The internet is a great place to find resources and Amazon is an easy way to find books. You can find so many easy to follow and delicious recipes and meal plans, making meal planning the easiest part of dialysis. Remember to speak to your doctor if you have any questions about your diet, or if you plan on making changes to your diet. Your physician and/or nutritionist is always the best person to make recommendations or approve changes for you.
For more resources check out my other blog posts.
I love hearing from you about what you think and questions you have. Please post a comment with any questions or comments about pre-dialysis meal planning basics!
Follow these topics: Kidney Dialysis, Pre Dialysis, Renal Diet Headquarters Blog
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Renal Diet Menu Headquarters -
Suggested Reading:
Meal Planning for Kidney Disease
Renal Failure Meal Planning
Renal Diet Headquarters Podcast 024 – Grocery Shopping and Meal Planning with Kidney Disease
November 3, 2014
Sensible Pre-Dialysis Meal Plan
For kidney disease patients getting ready to go through dialysis, there are many things you must do to prep your body. One of these things is following a sensible pre-dialysis diet.At the later and end stages of renal disease, the diet you should follow becomes more restrictive. This is because your kidneys simply are not able to process and filter all of the excess waste in your body. Not following an appropriate diet at this stage of kidney disease can be extremely uncomfortable and can even cause serious problems such as shortness of breath, heart problems, or stroke.
There are many things that need to be restricted as part of a sensible pre-dialysis diet. These are some of the things you need to keep an eye out for:
Sodium: Sodium can cause fluid retention, swelling, and much more serious problems. Your doctor will most likely recommend a very strict monitoring of sodium intake.
Fluid: End stage renal disease is often met with strict fluid restrictions. This is because your kidneys cannot filter out the excess fluid, which can cause build up that leads to some pretty serious complications.
Protein: When protein is ingested, it creates waste and byproducts that need to be filtered out of the system. Before dialysis, it will often be recommended that you follow a low protein diet. After dialysis has started however, your doctor might say that a higher protein diet can be resumed.
Potassium: A buildup of potassium for a kidney failure patient can lead to muscle weakness, abnormal heart rate, and even heart attack. Since the kidneys cannot flush out the excess potassium, patients are recommended to severely limit potassium in their diet.
Phosphorus: While phosphorus binders are often prescribed for renal patients, it is still an ingredient that needs to be monitored. Phosphorus build up can leach calcium from bones, making them brittle.
An example of a sensible pre-dialysis meal plan is:
Breakfast
Omelet with onion, bell peppers, and mushrooms.
Lunch
Chicken salad make with fresh cooked chicken, mayonnaise, celery, chopped apples, and fresh ground pepper. Eat on a sandwich with white bread, or with unsalted crackers.
Dinner
Baked fish with white rice and steamed veggies.
Snack
Carrots with hummus. Small apple sliced with 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter.
Beverages
Stick to water whenever you can, but drinks such as lemonade are also permitted. Remember to keep a strict eye on how much fluid you are consuming. Closely monitoring your fluid intake will make dialysis more comfortable.
A sensible pre-dialysis diet will help with a lot of things. First of all, the right diet can help to assure that your body is better able to process everything you put into it. Second of all, following the recommended diet suggestions that your doctors make will help make dialysis more comfortable for you and ensure of its effectiveness.
This sensible pre-dialysis meal plan is a simple example of how easy it can be to follow the recommended diet. It might seem like there are a lot of restrictions, but there are still plenty of things you can eat and enjoy.
Thank you for stopping by today, make sure to check out my other blogs about pre-dialysis!
Follow these topics: Pre Dialysis, Renal Diet Headquarters Blog
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Renal Diet Menu Headquarters -
Suggested Reading:
A Chronic Renal Failure Meal Plan Is Important in Pre-Dialysis Kidney Disease
A Renal Dialysis Diet Is Easy To Follow With A Meal Plan
A Chronic Renal Failure Diet Is Easy With A Meal Plan
October 29, 2014
Eating To Avoid Dialysis
Learn more about how to eat when you are in the early stages of Chronic Kidney Disease.
Follow these topics: Kidney Dialysis, Non Dialysis, Pre Dialysis, Renal Diet, Renal Diet Headquarters Blog, Video
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Renal Diet Menu Headquarters -
Suggested Reading:
Secrets to Avoid Dialysis-Eating a Pre-Dialysis Diet-Calories, Carbohydrates, Protein & Fat
Foods To Avoid When You’re on Dialysis
Eating Out On a Kidney Diet: Pre-Dialysis and Diabetes
October 27, 2014
Easy Vegetarian Diet To Help With Kidney Failure
You might have heard about all of the amazing benefits that a vegetarian diet can have for kidney failure patients. Added to the overall health benefits, a vegetarian diet can help to control blood glucose levels, lower blood pressure, and stabilize cholesterol levels, all of which contribute to healthier kidneys. Perhaps most importantly, a vegetarian diet can actually help to slow the progression of kidney failure.
These reasons alone are enough to give a vegetarian diet a try. But many people feel that a vegetarian diet would be hard, or that they wouldn’t like it. The typical American diet revolves around large portions of meat, animal proteins, and processed food, after all.
A vegetarian diet can be easier and more enjoyable than you might think, however. Here are some ideas you can try. All three meals of the day, plus snacks, are included to get you started.
Breakfast
Remember that breakfast often sets the tone for the entire day. You need to eat enough to give yourself the energy you need to make it to the next meal, but you don’t want to overdo it. As always, watch your protein intake.
Ideas:
Omelet made with onions and bell peppers, with a slice of white toast.
Breakfast sandwich made with an English muffin, egg substitute, and a slice of Tofurkey sandwich meat.
Cream of Wheat hot cereal topped with a small diced green apple and cinnamon. If you need a sweetener, use one tablespoon or less of honey.
Lunch
Lunch often comes at the busiest time of the day. To save yourself from scrambling to find something to eat and ending up at a fast food place, plan ahead and pack lunches.
Ideas:
One serving of pasta salad with onion, bell pepper, carrot, and cucumber. Pair with one serving of fruit such as an apple or half a banana.
Tossed salad with mushrooms, red bell peppers, and cauliflower topped with homemade dressing made with one tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, minced garlic, ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard, and lemon juice.
One serving of white rice with one cup steamed veggies such as broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, onions, and mushrooms. Season with one tablespoon margarine and low sodium seasoning salt. Have a cup of mixed berries on the side.
Dinner
After a long day, people feel drawn to the dinner table for delicious meals, togetherness, and comfort foods. You can still have all that on a vegetarian kidney diet.
Ideas:
Angel hair pasta sauteed with one tablespoon olive oil, garlic, onions, and mushrooms. Serve with a tossed salad with balsamic vinaigrette.
Saute chopped asparagus, zucchini, onions, mushrooms, and broccoli with garlic and herbs. Serve over white rice cooked with saffron and herbs.
Tofu lettuce wraps: Saute tofu slices in one tablespoon sesame oil with garlic, onion, matchstick carrots, mushrooms, and a little bit of hot red pepper paste. Spoon steamed rice and filling into large lettuce leaves.
Snacks
A handful of baby carrots and 2 tablespoons hummus.
One serving of vanilla wafer cookies.
One small apple, sliced with 1 tablespoon peanut butter.
A vegetarian kidney diet can be easy and quite delicious. At first you will need to put a little extra thought into your meals, but you will find that it is easier than you think. Not only that, but the benefits of a vegetarian diet for kidney failure patients are too many to pass up.
Look for more easy vegetarian kidney diet ideas here.
Follow these topics: Kidney Dialysis, Pre Dialysis, Renal Diabetic Diet, Renal Diet, Renal Diet Headquarters Blog
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Renal Diet Menu Headquarters -
Suggested Reading:
Top Ten Side Dishes To Eat With Your Pre-Dialysis Kidney Disease Meals
VEGETARIAN RENAL DIET: WORTHY OR NOT?
Making Your Own Salad Dressings
