Protein Supplements/Bars for Dialysis & Diabetes?

[lilsis2018]

Does anyone have suggestions for protein bars available in the US that are appropriate for dialysis and diabetes?

We've been struggling to get my brother's albumin up to target (4.0 or above) -- we made progress the first couple of months, but for the last 4 months, he's been stuck in the 3.8-3.9 range.  I'll say that the clinic is perfectly happy with where he's at, so maybe I'm concerned for no reason.

He's asked the clinic dietician as well as a Kaiser dietician for suggestions and they've been unhelpful -- one recommended bars that were completely inappropriate for diabetics and the other recommended bars that are no longer made.

He already takes a 1-ounce shot of LiquaCel a day but is hesitant to increase because of the fluid.  He'll be switching from HD to PD any day now, so perhaps he'll feel differently then, but I would still like him to have something on hand to grab & eat for crazy days or in case of emergency.


Thanks,
LilSis

[kickingandscreaming]

When I first had LiquiCel I didn't know any better and I just drank it straight.  That's not a lot of fluid.  Now, if I have it I mix it with sparkling water and it's not half bad.  But I'm on PD and fluid isn't an issue.

[lilsis2018]

LOL -- he doesn't mind the taste, or so he tells me.

He's not really gotten good info about diet changes once he transitions from HD to PD even though he asked.  I've just added that to the (long) list of things we've had to muddle through on our own.

[kickingandscreaming]

With PD, there are few (bordering on no) dietary or fluid restrictions.

[lilsis2018]

Thanks for the info!

Honestly, when he was discharged from the hospital (he was in for about 7 weeks), the HD diet stuff is what I was most panicked about - and I was completely panicked about it - because he wasn't given much info (mostly "do NOT ever eat X"), and some of the info was contradictory.  For instance, both the hospital & rehab center would give him a PB&J sandwich when his blood sugar dropped too low, and the dialysis center staff freaked & said he should NEVER EVER have peanut butter.  Yet peanut butter is on the emergency diet list -- not sure that's exactly what it's called, but the foods to have on hand if there's a disaster or something & dialysis won't be available.  He wasn't on dialysis before he was hospitalized & both his phosphorus & potassium were lovely (low end of the normal range), so he went from a completely normal diet to something neither of us knew a thing about it.

Anyway, what he's been told about the difference between his dialysis diet & the change to PD is:  he'll need more protein (hence my question), he'll have "less" fluid & potassium restrictions, but the phosphorus & sodium restrictions remains the same.  That's really it.

A couple of weeks ago, I had him ask what his fluid limit would be on PD (it's 32 oz on HD) & he's still waiting -- they keep forgetting to get an answer. And, I've really wanted to know about the potassium because he loves tomatoes & potatoes and hasn't hardly had either since going on dialysis 8 months ago, which just breaks my heart for him.  I tried to explain to him that it would probably be OK for him to try having mashed potatoes, for instance, once every week or 2 because his potassium is low-to-mid normal, but he's been too scared to rock the boat.

So, I'm really glad to know that if we have to mostly muddle through the diet change on our own, we hopefully won't screw things up too much.

I finally found some protein bars (NuGo Smarte Carb) that seem to fit the dialysis requirement, and his primary care doc says they should be OK with diabetes as long as the sugar alcohol doesn't cause GI problems & he watches his blood glucose a little closer the first few times.  He tried one today & liked it.


LilSis

[Marilee]

The thing about peanut butter is that peanuts (and other legumes) are excellent sources of potassium and phosphorus as well as protein and fat. Many HD patients have to restrict potassium and phosphorus, and so they are careful about too much in the way of peanuts. My hubby (on PD) actually has to boost his potassium and restrict his phosphorus, and it turns out peanut butter is just fine for him.

I don't know what your brother's labs are like regarding those minerals, but if phosphorus is something he's working, you might want to check out my phosphorus web-page - all about boosting protein without going overboard on phosphorus: https://mylowphosdiet.wordpress.com/ . I hope it helps .

[Charlie B53]

Hard boiled eggs, with a little pepper, but NO salt.  I fix them by the dozen and try to keep them handy in the fridge.

The beauty of PD is the dietary freedom as compared to Hemo.

PD does take out a lot of potassium so he will be needing to eat more potassium, far more than HD people.

Color me jealous here.