FYI New web resource helps kidney patients with diet planning

[Guest guest]

I didn't see a link in the article, but if you go to the Canadian kidney

foundation web site, you will find he link.

> TORONTO -- The first Christmas after Marie-Eve Chainey's kidneys failed

> was not a joyous event.

>

> To be sure, there were things for which to be grateful. Chainey, then

> still a teenager and a nationally ranked high jumper, had survived several

> attacks of an out-of-the-blue blood clotting disorder. She was lucky to be

> alive, though the illness left her with zero kidney function.

>

> Her clotting disorder seems to be in remission, but doctors believe it

> would flare up if she underwent a kidney transplant, so she is not on the

> transplant list.

>

> Chainey found it torturous to watch family and friends enjoying the foods

> she associated with the holidays, foods which were now off limits to her.

>

> " (For) French Canadian families, holidays are all about food. We eat all

> the time. And it's awesome, " says Chainey, now 28 and a fourth-year

> nursing student at the University of Ottawa.

>

> That first Christmas, the reality of her new life hit hard. " I actually

> cried the whole time. And I was in my room most of the time too, because I

> didn't want people to see me cry. But the thing is, anything that was

> served I could not have. "

>

> " It was awful. Every holiday's the same thing. "

>

> People with kidney disease have to follow highly restricted diets,

> limiting not just their sodium intake but also potassium, phosphorus,

> protein and even fluids. No food choice is a mindless one -- even a

> Popsicle counts against the day's allotment of liquids.

>

> Foods that most of us are urged to eat -- fruits and vegetables, brown

> rice and whole grain pastas -- are not kidney diet friendly. Even

> something as simple as mashed potatoes are a no-no, unless the water is

> changed several times during the boiling, to leach out potassium.

>

> The myriad restrictions make figuring out what to eat almost a full-time

> job.

>

> " You think of a normal breakfast: orange juice, cereal with milk and a

> fruit. Well, none of these we are allowed, right? " Chainey says.

>

> " It becomes, really, the challenge of the day. Every day, trying to find

> something you can eat is the biggest challenge of your day. "

>

> The Kidney Foundation of Canada is trying to come to the rescue. The

> organization has developed a web-based resource, the Kidney Community

> Kitchen, that helps people with kidney disease plan meals and track their

> nutrient intake.

>

> " The focus in this really was reintroducing the joy and celebration of

> food for kidney patients, " says Nadine Valk, the foundation's national

> director of programs and public policy.

>

> " We wanted to make this as easy as possible, as normalized as possible so

> they can start participating again when it comes to sharing a meal. "

>

>

>

> Eleven renal dietitians -- who volunteer their time -- have come up with

> recipes that are kidney friendly. The recipes may be as helpful for family

> members and friends of people with kidney disease as for the patients

> themselves, Valk says.

>

> " Family and friends stopped inviting them over, because they didn't know

> what to feed them. They didn't feel comfortable going out to eat because

> they didn't feel confident that they could find something they could eat

> on a restaurant menu, " she said.

>

> To publicize the new resource, the Kidney Foundation sent journalists a

> small basket containing five food items: A chocolate bar, an orange, a box

> of whole wheat spaghetti, a small can of tomato sauce and a small tin of

> bean salad. The press release challenged recipients to figure out which

> food people with kidney disease can eat.

>

> It was a trick question. The answer was none.

>

> A healthy diet for a kidney patient is counterintuitive to people who

> don't suffer from the disease, Valk says. " It's good nutrition to eat

> whole grains and dark, leafy greens, but you can no longer have those when

> you have kidney disease. "

>

> Take a meal of whole grain pasta and tomato sauce, with a side salad of

> lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms and cheese. Fine for most people, but a very

> unhealthy meal for a kidney patient.

>

> The meal planner contains a kidney-friendly alternative: white pasta with

> a red pepper coulis, a side salad with red peppers and cucumbers, which

> are lower in potassium than some other vegetables.

>

> By necessity, the site offers a lot of choice. The restrictions facing

> kidney patients vary greatly, depending on their level of kidney function

> and the dialysis regime they follow. Some kidney patients are also

> diabetic, or have heart disease, making their meal planning even more

> challenging.

>

> Chainey has a lot more food freedom than she did in the early days after

> her kidneys failed, when she lived on smoothies made of raspberries,

> non-dairy creamer (dairy products are restricted), corn syrup and oil.

>

> For the past eight years, she has undergone dialysis at home at night, six

> times a week. Studies have shown nocturnal dialysis is more effective, and

> Chainey is a big proponent.

>

> When she was undergoing dialysis three times a week in a clinic, she

> didn't have the energy to wash her own hair or walk a flight of stairs.

> And her food restrictions were onerous.

>

> The more frequent regime does a better job of ridding her body of the

> toxins her body can no longer flush on its own. As a result, she has more

> food options and more energy. She has been able to resume training and is

> again competing as a high jumper. Last year she qualified for the Canadian

> nationals, at the senior level.

>

> But her dialysis machine isn't portable. When she heads home to

> Kapuskasing in Northern Ontario for the holidays, she has to switch back

> to clinic-based dialysis. And the more restrictive diet kicks in again.

> This year, she'll go armed with recipes.

>

>

>

> " I think a lot of people don't realize how complicated it is for someone

> that doesn't have kidney function to have a normal lifestyle, " Chainey

> says.

>

>

>

> The Canadian Press

>

>

> Posted at 2011/12/13 08:40:19

>