So conflicted. :(

[sammiejo23]

Friends, I need advice! Or maybe just to vent. Or maybe both. Hah. This diet is driving me crazy, and as a vegetarian I'm having problems with my protein. Of course all the good stuff I would normally eat (beans and nuts anyone? YUM!) are out because their potassium levels are off the fricken charts. I have this protein powder stuff that I'm supposed to drink daily, but I am absolutely terrible at remembering to take it. So that's not really doing anything. I am so morally against eating meat...(for way too many reasons to explain on here), and I've been a veg for so long that I can't even imagine I'd be able to touch the stuff, even if I wanted to. But at what point do you go against what you believe in and come to the realization that sometimes you have to put aside your morals for the sake of yourself? And then comes the question of if I have the strength to do that or not, which I suppose I wouldn't know until I tried...but ah. I just don't know. I don't know if I can do it. I don't know if I should do it. I have an idea of what you guys will probably tell me, but thoughts? Please?     

[paul.karen]

Well you have to stay healthy.
There are drinks you can take like ensure ect. to help build up your protein.  Being a vegetarian must make this disease all that much harder.  Maybe a specialty health store might have some stuff you could eat non animal.  Do you have a black forest store by you?

Best of luck.

[sammiejo23]

Hi! The problem with the drinks is that I get tired of drinking the same thing over and over...I think that's where the protein powder went downhill! I suppose I could try a specialty health store, it's just that a lot of meat substitutes and such have ridiculous amounts of sodium, not to mention a ton of other things in them that couldn't possibly be wise to eat. It wouldn't hurt to try though. I've actually never heard of Black Forest, so I'm thinking that's probably a no, haha.

[carol1987]

That is so difficult...  Ultimately I would say you have to do what is best for your health.
Hopefully someone here has been in your position and can offer some advice!
 

[jbeany]

The ensure things always scare me - one of the major ingredients always seems to be corn syrup.  Plus, adding fluid you don't really like the taste of is pointless to me.
It's possible to be fully vegetarian, but I think it would get really repetitive after a while.  There's only so many things you can eat that will work.  How about eggs, though?  They have just declared them safe again - 1 a day won't hurt your cholesterol levels.  And check carefully on cheeses - some of the varieties have much lower levels of phos and K than others, making them safe to eat in larger quantities.  Or, if you really are low on protein, can you make the stretch to fish without making yourself sick?  Even a small serving of tuna might go a long way to boosting your protein levels, without having to contemplate a plateful of steak. 

I know what you mean about not being able to go back on meat.  I'm not even a vegetarian, but I drastically cut back on red meat in the last 5 years.  When I do have some now, I'm queasy and sick for hours afterward.

[paul.karen]

http://www.davita.com/diet-and-nutrition/lifestyle/the-vegetarian-diet-and-chronic-kidney-disease/a/2506

If this link doesnt work just google vegeterian foods for dialysis patients and a link from davita will come up.

[Sugarlump]

How high are your potassium and phosphate levels? If they're not too high, mine were quite reasonable on dialysis, you have more leeway with foods such as peanut butter, feta cheese, eggs even jacket potatoes, tinned tuna, soya mince ... I watched my levels and ate accordingly following a virtually vegetarian diet, and managed to get sufficient protein. Depends on things like residual kidney function, how good a dialysis you are getting etc. The more varied a diet the better for you.

[WishIKnew]

just an idea - what about the protein power bars they sell in grocery and convenience stores?  I've looked at them and they have a lot of protein...  I don't know about the phosphorous...

Keep searching!  You'll find an answer.  Don't eat meat if it is against your beliefs.

By the way, I eat meat all the time and still can't get my protein numbers in range.

[MooseMom]

I love curry, so I know that many people in India are vegetarians.  ESRD exists in India, too, so I've often wondered how they eat and stay healthy on dialysis.

Have a listen to this..

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

[cariad]

Sam, I've been a vegetarian most of my life as well. I never had to alter my diet for ESRD because no matter what, my labs stayed in range. Then again, I did not really eat, so if you have a small enough portion of anything, it will not really affect your labs. They say that phosphorous from vegetarian sources is not absorbed as fully as from meat sources, perhaps that contributed as well? I think my potassium was once at the border of high, but that was the worst it ever got.

Eggs are of course a good source of protein if you eat those. How about tempeh, tofu, seitan? Do you like those? Quorn if you are not vegan and don't mind the meat imitators? There are carbs that are also decent sources of protein - quinoa, spelt, etc. I loathe milk, so I could not drink those protein drinks myself. I have discovered Oat Milk and I love it for cereals, but I think that is actually high in potassium and phos.

There should be no need to eat meat, and I strongly believe you would get very sick if you tried. You lose the ability to digest it, and I have been quite ill from this. I was once trapped at my job, absolutely starving (and was expecting, so more pressure to eat). I knew I could not get out of there for another 8 hours or so, and all I had was a frozen entree to chuck into the micro. It was a Wolfgang Puck pasta or something, I heated it and could immediately taste chicken. I had not read the ingredients because it sounded vegetarian, but they had used chicken broth. I choked it down out of desperation and upchucked violently once I got home. Do not do this to yourself.

Just as an aside, I am a vegetarian because the thought of eating meat grosses me out. My family eats meat while I'm at the table with them almost every day - I have no desire to influence others to join me in vegetarianism. So, I am not trying to convince you to fulfill my political agenda. Aren't most meats reasonably high in potassium as well? The nutritionists with whom I spoke were all quite excited when I kept going on about my longstanding love of tofu. That has also been shown to improve kidney function. I think you'll be ok with that sort of protein source.

[rsudock]

Besides Cariad I think another member who is vegetarian is Kristina I think...maybe try contacting her.

[Henry P Snicklesnorter]

.

[MooseMom]

What a great idea, Henry!  Instead of concentrating on what you CAN'T eat, compile a list of those you CAN.

What has your renal dietician had to say?

[Henry P Snicklesnorter]

.

[MooseMom]

I actually, I was directing that question to sammiejo, but Henry, I can't believe you were given so little information!  Good for you for finding all this stuff out yourself.  They bang on and on about how important the renal diet is as part of a patient's treatment plan, yet they tell you virtually nothing?  That just makes no sense.  But it's probably just as well because in my experience, too many renal dieticians just tell you what you can't have instead of helping you make a plan with foods that you CAN eat. 

[Henry P Snicklesnorter]

.

[sammiejo23]

I will look at the spread sheet idea! That sounds like it might be really helpful, thanks Henry! And thanks everybody else for your responses, I appreciate them. MooseMom, my renal dietician doesn't know much about the vegetarian diet at all. She hasn't been of much help.

[monrein]

Egg whites are an excellent source of protein.

[MooseMom]

MooseMom, my renal dietician doesn't know much about the vegetarian diet at all. She hasn't been of much help.

Oh, there's a surprise...

[sammiejo23]

Sam, I've been a vegetarian most of my life as well. I never had to alter my diet for ESRD because no matter what, my labs stayed in range. Then again, I did not really eat, so if you have a small enough portion of anything, it will not really affect your labs. They say that phosphorous from vegetarian sources is not absorbed as fully as from meat sources, perhaps that contributed as well? I think my potassium was once at the border of high, but that was the worst it ever got.

Eggs are of course a good source of protein if you eat those. How about tempeh, tofu, seitan? Do you like those? Quorn if you are not vegan and don't mind the meat imitators? There are carbs that are also decent sources of protein - quinoa, spelt, etc. I loathe milk, so I could not drink those protein drinks myself. I have discovered Oat Milk and I love it for cereals, but I think that is actually high in potassium and phos.

There should be no need to eat meat, and I strongly believe you would get very sick if you tried. You lose the ability to digest it, and I have been quite ill from this. I was once trapped at my job, absolutely starving (and was expecting, so more pressure to eat). I knew I could not get out of there for another 8 hours or so, and all I had was a frozen entree to chuck into the micro. It was a Wolfgang Puck pasta or something, I heated it and could immediately taste chicken. I had not read the ingredients because it sounded vegetarian, but they had used chicken broth. I choked it down out of desperation and upchucked violently once I got home. Do not do this to yourself.

Just as an aside, I am a vegetarian because the thought of eating meat grosses me out. My family eats meat while I'm at the table with them almost every day - I have no desire to influence others to join me in vegetarianism. So, I am not trying to convince you to fulfill my political agenda. Aren't most meats reasonably high in potassium as well? The nutritionists with whom I spoke were all quite excited when I kept going on about my longstanding love of tofu. That has also been shown to improve kidney function. I think you'll be ok with that sort of protein source.

cariad, I think this is exactly the answer I needed. 

[sammiejo23]

Oh, there's a surprise...

Aha, right?

[MooseMom]

Looking at the long term, if you could do more frequent dialysis...say, nocturnal or even short daily home hemo, you will probably find that your food choices can be expanded and vegetarianism will be less problematic.  Just a thought for the future.

[Ladystardust24]

@SammieJo.

I'm not Vegetarian, but I do love my health food things.. nuts and all.

and I found it super hard on dialyisis to avoid those. Especially trying to eat healthy. I could never willfully drink ensure. I had a very bad bad experience with it during someone quite traumatic, so I don't do that stuff. A lot of higher protein things will have potassium.

Are you vegan by any chance?