KidneyTalk: Vegetarian Strategies for Dialysis Patients

[okarol]

KidneyTalk: Vegetarian Strategies for Dialysis Patients

Have you struggled with trying to decide what foods have phosphorus and which ones have potassium while maintaining a vegetarian diet? Chhaya Patel, renal dietitian, has an extensive background on the subject matter and provides insightful and practical tips on choosing a variety of foods. The vegetarian diet comes with many options and lots of spice. Don't miss this juicy episode.

http://www.rsnhope.info/programs/kidneytalkshows/Chhaya_Patel/Chhaya_Patel_052010.php

[hotnspicyazgirl]

thank you for posting.

[MooseMom]

I'm listening to this right now...I have ALWAYS wondered how vegetarians handle a renal diet.  I love curry, and I have also always wondered how renal patients in India (who are mostly vegetarian) cope.  Thanks so much for posting this, okarol!

[Sunny]

Thanks for posting this.

[MooseMom]

This is the first dietician that I have heard talk about the renal diet in a positive way.  Instead of focussing solely on all the things to avoid, she talks about how to incorporate all kinds of food into your diet.  She does emphasize, though, that moderation is the key. 

[cariad]

I'm listening to this right now...I have ALWAYS wondered how vegetarians handle a renal diet.  I love curry, and I have also always wondered how renal patients in India (who are mostly vegetarian) cope.  Thanks so much for posting this, okarol!

I have been a vegetarian for 25 years, and I have often wondered the opposite: how do omnivores face the day? I love being a vegetarian and could not imagine ever going back (in fact, as most vegetarians will tell you, stay one long enough and there is no going back - you will become extremely ill.)

I had the dietician talk at both of my SoCal evals. I never followed it that closely, and my lab values for phos and potassium were never out of range. The only foods I mostly avoided were mangoes, bananas, and avocado (OK, that last one hurt, especially since I lived in a part of SoCal that could easily have been renamed "little Mexico".) I always suspected my vegetarian, soy-heavy diet helped my renal function hold out as long as it did.

As a side note, I live with 3 omnivores and am not a vegetarian out of a strong animal rights conviction or religious edict. I do not like meat and generally avoid vegetarian foods that try to mimic the taste. Vegetarian curry is heavenly. Because so many Indians are vegetarian, there are more options than most cuisines. I would go far out of my way for a well-executed palak paneer or baingan bharta.

[MooseMom]

I think I mispoke.  The reason I've wondered about vegetarianism and the renal diet is precisely because I could so easily be vegetarian but was afraid to once I got this enormous list of things to avoid, most of them being fruits and vegetables.  My idea of a perfect lunch was always a baked potato topped with lentils or some sort of legume, or maybe with a lovely raita.  All of my favourite foods had suddenly become taboo.  I figured there were many people in the world who were already vegetarian before developing renal disease, and I wondered how they adjusted their diets. 

My aunt lives in SoCal and has an avocado grove.  They are so good, and it kills me that I can't eat them because she always offers to send me some.  Up here in Chicago, we don't get lovely avocados.

As for Indian cuisine, maybe it's just where I live, but it is hard to find dishes that don't have the inevitable lentils, yogurts and/or potatoes.  Even a good saag has to be eaten in moderation.  A good vegetable biriyani is usually fairly safe.  I do have some trouble with potassium and phosphorus (not on binders yet), so I need to be careful.

[cariad]

Ah, I see. Well, I guess in my mind I had exactly the same restrictions as anyone else when faced with the renal diet. If you truly dislike something, then it's not really a restriction. I always thought it was a tremendous advantage on the predialysis diet to be a vegetarian since I was told to limit "animal protein" and encouraged to go for it with tofu. Then again, I think the only true way to find your optimal diet is to (carefully) see how different foods affect your levels. There were many times when all I could face eating was potato. I ate the potato, but I was lucky somehow in that I never had high potassium, and I was taken off binders pretty quickly because I was apparently being overmedicated.

I had an amazing tofu burger for lunch that had onion and green pepper incorporated into the patty, a white roll, lettuce, slice of tomato, and some mayo. I think a renal dietician would have stood up and cheered. If I wanted a pasta and had to limit tomatoes, I would roast red peppers, puree them with herbs and a bit of garlic, perhaps add a touch of tomato for balance, and then enjoy. (And of course when I say 'I' would do this, I mean 'Gwyn' as Ms. Cariad rarely cooks.) Why would saag need to be restricted? I never even thought about that - I thought spinach was more or less a freebie. Same with eggplant.

I have to think there are more than a few Chicago curry houses that are dreamy - keep looking! We have some lovely places here in Wisconsin, and our city is microscopic compared to yours.