Caution to the wind - I had Indian cuisine last night!

[Athena]

How bad am I? It was a lovely night out in town and I sat down to a sumptuous Indian dinner. All that curry and spices! I had butter chicken with cashew nut curry sauce, yogurt mint dip, indian succulent bread. Yummy! I only drank water with the meal.

Can anyone tell me how bad this actually was? I'm still waiting to see my renal dietician, but my phosphorous and potassium levels are good according to recent lab results so I'm wondering what people's opinion may be about how bad this was. I find it very hard to fathom food restriction because I've always had to worry about carb restriction because of my diabetes.

[Zach]

First of all … YUM!
And another thing … YUM!!!

Other than the levels of salt that might be in some of the dishes, you're probably fine with that meal.
Just don't do it every day.

 

[Athena]

Thanks Zach!

[MooseMom]

I love few things more than a good curry!!!

As Zach said, this is the kind of meal that should be considered a treat rather than an every day event.

The problem with curries is that so many dishes are vegetable based and so can be high in, especially, phosphorus.  All of those aloos (potatoes) and lentil/chickpea dishes.  Plus, in some dishes, the meats are marinated in yogurt (high in phosphorus, too).

I would try to stick to tandoori meats, naan breads and cauliflower based curries.  But truth be told, I'd have anything I wanted but would eat only a small portion and take the rest home to eat the next day.  That way, I'd reduce the dietary dangers AND would have an extra day of eating curry!!!  It was a win-win!

None of this matters, though, as long as your labs are good.  Always follow your labs.

Yumtastic!

[Athena]

Moosemum, that's a wonderful suggestion! Enjoy a sumptuous meal over 2 days instead of one evening.

As for my labs, activated Vit D3 (calcitriol) is what is now keeping my PTH to almost normal levels. Serum phosphorous, Calcium & Potassium have always been normal. So that is what I mean by having 'good labs'. Technically in CKD, there is no such thing as good labs, for the serum creatinine & BUN/Urea are always above normal. Sorry if that's being too pedantic! Haha.

[MooseMom]

Oh Athena, believe me...if elevated creatinine and BUN are your only "bad" numbers, your labs are indeed "good"!  Elevated creatinine won't kill you, but high phos/K/Ca most certainly can.  In the grand scheme of things, you are very lucky!     I hope you enjoy your next curry!!! 

[Charlie B53]

Wow.  This thread shows me that I have a LOT more to learn about phosphorous.  Mine has been beginning to run high enough that Dr order a 'binder' that I haven't been taking very often.  I have been under the impression that P is primarily found in red meats but you point out that it can be high in vegetable sources also.  But it stands to reason that I have been thinking WRONG, after all, I am a Guy.

 I need to:

A.  Start remembering to take the binders.  And I have some I put in a tin, IN my pocket!

B.  Learn what foods are high in P.

[PaulBC]

Phosphorus is found in nearly everything, though I think it is usually low in fruits. About the only high protein, low phosphorus, commonly available food I was able to find is egg whites. My daughter's phosphorus was OK on a very restricted diet but she needs more food to grow, and it has been a problem after relaxing restrictions. We need to stay consistent about binders (and I think we were being unrealistic about the dosage too).

I also agree with Zach's advice "Just don't do it every day."

[Athena]

Wow.  This thread shows me that I have a LOT more to learn about phosphorous.  Mine has been beginning to run high enough that Dr order a 'binder' that I haven't been taking very often.  I have been under the impression that P is primarily found in red meats but you point out that it can be high in vegetable sources also.  But it stands to reason that I have been thinking WRONG, after all, I am a Guy.

 I need to:

A.  Start remembering to take the binders.  And I have some I put in a tin, IN my pocket!

B.  Learn what foods are high in P.

Charlie, other high phosphorous foods are dairy products like milk, cheese (except butter & cream I think), nuts, seeds, chocolate and certain vegetables like avocadoes. I believe salmon has a high level of phosphorous as well. However all foods contains a certain level of phosphorous. I have found that calcitriol really does help to reduce 'secondary tertiary hyperparathyroidism', which is raised PTH levels, quite well.

[ramlamb57]

Wow.  This thread shows me that I have a LOT more to learn about phosphorous.  Mine has been beginning to run high enough that Dr order a 'binder' that I haven't been taking very often.  I have been under the impression that P is primarily found in red meats but you point out that it can be high in vegetable sources also.  But it stands to reason that I have been thinking WRONG, after all, I am a Guy.

 I need to:

A.  Start remembering to take the binders.  And I have some I put in a tin, IN my pocket!

B.  Learn what foods are high in P.

Take the binders right after or just before every meal. Very important. One nasty side effect though (at least for me, you may not have this) is increased bowel movements (sorry if u are eating Indian food right now LOL) But I was told that is how you know the binder is working. makes sense. Another thing you have to endure, I'm sorry.

[Deanne]

I ate whatever I wanted to (with a bit of consideration given to salt and protein) until my labs started to tell me it was time to change my habits. I figured the time would come soon enough when I needed to limit myself and I wanted my life to be as least restrictive as possible. My neph has always agreed that the fewer the limitations the better.

[Athena]

I ate whatever I wanted to (with a bit of consideration given to salt and protein) until my labs started to tell me it was time to change my habits. I figured the time would come soon enough when I needed to limit myself and I wanted my life to be as least restrictive as possible. My neph has always agreed that the fewer the limitations the better.

Deanne, that exactly what my Nephs want me to do, except for keeping an eye on salt and protein levels. The problem is we, as proactive patients, are always looking at changing our diets as a way to combat progression & this usually just leads us to nowhere. There is no magic diet, except for just eating healthily by avoiding junk food.

The only other issue I have is high LDL cholesterol levels, for which I don't take statins. The dietician recommended avoiding saturated fat like butter, full cream milk, cutting down on eggs, etc but I love all these foods with a passion. Even if I were to avoid them, I doubt my LDL would be in the desirable range