Hello, and welcome back my awesome readers to one of my topics that readers seem to love, Taste Test Tuesday. With my new job and all that goes with that, I had forgotten I wanted to repeat this series every week. But, if you read my Extreme Grocery Budget Challenge post yesterday, then you knew I was going to talk about this today. I will tell you at the end of the post why I ultimately chose Quest Pizza.
This Quest pizza and this is the link to the item with the ingredient and nutrition info, is quite expensive. For 2 servings it was $7.48. With that said if your family loves pizza, and maybe you are on a weight loss journey, this could be a good option for you. I didn’t even know Quest made pizzas, so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw them at Walmart Sunday. I like the Quest tortilla chips, and some of their protein bars, but not all. I am fussy about protein bars, anyway, so it isn’t a flaw in the Quest product. I was looking for a healthier option pizza, for both CKD and weight loss. I could not find any WW pizzas, so I opted for one of these. Before I get to the nutrition of this Quest pizza, and no I did not look at it first, except for the fiber and carb count, I want to talk about texture and taste. I am a huge texture eater. If the texture is odd, chances are I am not going to like it, or even eat it. I chose a thin crust Quest pizza, and I fully expected the crust to come out crispy. Not only is this crust not very thin, but it also does not come out crispy after baking. So, I threw it into the air fryer for 5 more minutes. The only thing that got crispy was the toppings. I was a little disappointed by the crust, but not enough not to eat it. The cheese I am not so sure about either, but it didn’t taste bad or have a strange texture. As far as taste goes, it was overall fairly bland. I am funny about pizza sauce and this one was OK. I think if I buy it again, and actually I still have half of it left, I will sprinkle on some garlic powder. Would I buy this again? Maybe.
Now as far as nutrition goes, and now I am speaking in relation to my CKD, this is probably not a great choice. Why? I threw away my box, and I can’t really make out the ingredients on the box online, but the list is fairly long. That means it probably has additives I would normally opt to avoid. Remember, there are only 4 slices to this pizza, and 2 slices are a serving size. It is very high in fat, sodium, calcium, and protein. In this regard, this is not a healthy option for CKD as most pre-packaged foods are not. Plus, I can not account for how much phosphorus is in it, but I can assume it is pretty high. It is high in fiber, and low in carbs, and I was not hungry after I ate 2 slices. This was definitely a spur-of-the-moment buy for me. I would have been much better off using one of my Wellness wraps, a little marinara sauce, low-fat mozzarella cheese, and making my own little pizza.
So, why did I choose this particular pizza? I have not discussed weight loss at all much this year, and that is on purpose. But, I recently started following Itrackbites. It has a different name now, but I am finally coming off of my plateau and seeing results. It is similar to WW in that you get assigned a set number of points and each food item has a point value, and some are zero points, but not like WW. Anyway, I knew we would have pizza on Sunday for a quick and easy dinner. I also knew the pizza my family likes is like 13 points per slice, so I was hoping for an alternative. For the 2 slices of the Quest pizza, it was 10 points and was a much better fit for that day. That is why I chose the Quest pizza, and because I was intrigued by how it would taste.
This is not a paid post, as none of my posts are. This is my thoughts and my journey. If you would like help in your health journey email me for a free consultation.
Hello, and Happy Saturday! If you are on my Mailchimp mailing list then you already knew that I was going to do a Zero Point Food Challenge. It will begin on this coming Tuesday, and go for two weeks, but I thought I would just give a preview of what a day of eating might look like. I have been researching, reading, and watching Youtube videos of other people who have done this challenge. It is obviously based off of WW Zero Point Food List. I won’t go into all of the details now, but there are specific reasons as to why I chose this challenge, and I have some thoughts on the concept. But, that is all for Tuesday. I can tell you my challenge will not look exactly like WW. First of all I am not a member of WW so I can not speak to how their program really works. I can only go by information I have found online, my research, and what my nutritional needs are. So, this will be a Melissa Zero Point Food Challenge! Come back Tuesday! For now, this is what I will eat for today, Saturday 6/5/2021. It is a lot of images, and I will explain each meal. The pictures will show the nutrition info also. I do not count drinks, and I will explain why on Tuesday.
Breakfast: 10 green grapes, 1/2 of a medium banana, cinnamon sugar small sprinkle, and 1 tbsp. Cool Whip, not fat free. It isn’t necessary and I will explain why on Tuesday. By my calculation these are all zero point foods.
Lunch: 3.3 oz of Pork Tenderloin with Paprika, Pepper, and Basil Herbed Salt baked at 350 for 35 minutes. This is the leanest pork you can buy with only 3 grams of fat per serving, which is actually 4 ounces, and I only am eating 3.3 ounces. I sprayed the bottom of the pan with spray Olive Oil. On the side I cut up 6 cherry tomatoes and sprinkled with salt.
Dinner: Since this is a work day it will be a thermos meal, either cold or hot. I decided to do hot today. For dinner I will have 2 ounces of the Pork Tenderloin left over from lunch, a 1/2 cup of the mashed potatoes shown below, and 1/2 cup of the Happy Harvest creamed corn. I mix it all together and since I am using creamed corn there is no need for butter or gravy. If you look at the labels you will see the fat content per serving definitely makes them a free food. Some of these are packaged so the ingredient list may not be great. But, I am using what I have in the house, leftovers, or whatever is affordable. Since no one else in my house is doing the challenge I have to work around them as well.
According to my food tracking app this is the Nutrition data for the whole day.
Calories: 583
Total Fat: 10 grams or 26% of RDA this is very low fat
Saturated Fat: 3.5 grams or 29% of RDA
Sodium: 914 mg this is a very low sodium day
Total Carbs: 74 grams. I typically allow 100 grams per day in food
Net Carbs: 65.6 grams because of 8.4 grams of Fiber
Protein: 50 grams that is my limit for the day with CKD.
Phosphorus: 486 mg
Potassium: 1658 mg
I also take a 1/2 tablet of a multi vitamin, but I do not include that in the nutrition app until the end of the day, because it skews my thoughts on what I am actually eating. I know this seams like not enough calories, and it isn’t, so I will have to figure out a snack that is low fat, and I don’t want anymore large amounts of protein or salt. I would also rather my carbs did not go over a 100 for the day. I will let you know tomorrow what I chose to add as right now I don’t know. You also have to consider that I do not track drinks. Times that I have tracked drinks, I may get an extra 100 to 150 calories from my daily drinks. Zero Point foods are not meant to be a whole diet on WW. They are meant to build your meals around. OK, so that is all I am going to say for now. Come back on Tuesday to read the full reasoning, and how I will do it, and track it, plus what I eat in a day, and results at the end.
Happy Friday! Today is my Orthopedic consult for my injured shoulder. While I was able to work yesterday without too much discomfort, I also did not lift or pull on anyone. My boss was in agreement to these terms for me to work. I have a feeling this will need to continue if I am going to work until it completely heals. This post may contain affiliate links.
Today, I am going to discuss the 3rd low calorie food item in my new series. Cantaloupe is this week’s featured food. Cantaloupe is a Musk Melon and I have one plant growing in my garden. I decided to give it a try even though the directions said it needed a lot of room to grow. I have placed it in one of the raised beds all by itself and it has several blossoms that I hope will produce fruit. I have never really eaten much Cantaloupe. It is an awesome source for Vitamins, C, A, plus Potassium, and Folate. Vitamin A is a fat soluble vitamin which means in order for the body to absorb the Vitamin A properly it must be eaten with a fat source. So, bring on some yummy fruit dip or whipped topping full fat variety. Just use it in proper portion sizes. I think a lot of times people don’t realize when they remove fat completely from their diet they probably are not absorbing vital nutrients properly, as well as when they take a supplement. You can read more about this here.
Per my Nutrition Facts app 1/2 cup of raw cantaloupe contains the following nutrients: There are others but these are the basics.
Water: 90 grams. This is a lot of water. If you are on fluid restrictions be sure to account for water in foods. If you are underhydrated have some cantaloupe.
Calories: Only 34 calories per 1/2 cup
Protein: Less than 1 gram
Fat: .19 gram
Fiber: 1 gram
Carbs: 8 grams
Calcium: 9 mg
Magnesium: 12 mg
Phosphorus: 15 mg this is a great choice if you have to watch your phosphorus intake
Potassium: 267 mg. If you have CKD this is a high Potassium option. Either have a 1/4 cup or be sure and adjust you other potassium food items the rest of the day.
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Happy World Kidney Day! I hope you are celebrating this day by loving your kidneys just a little bit more. I have talked in previous posts about soaking vegetables to leach potassium, and boiling meats to decrease phosphorus. Today, I am going to discuss some actual studies that show that different cooking methods can help reduce phosphorus, potassium, sodium and fat. Namely soaking, boiling, using a pressure cooker, and stewing. The three main things I took away from these articles are: 1- a pressure cooker is the best method to use, 2- slicing your meat, rather than leaving it one solid piece works best, and 3- be sure and discard any of the water, juices, gravies, etc that the meat will produce. Do not consume it.
Below are the articles that I found that are the easiest to read, and the easiest to understand. There is also a video you can watch. 2 of the articles I read were from one website, and I can not upload them here. But, if you are interested in reading them leave me a note in the comments and I will try to get them to you.
Always remember to discuss any dietary changes you wish to make with your doctor, so you can be properly monitored to be sure the changes do not have any negative effects on your health.
Always remember, whole, unprocessed foods are going to give you the healthiest options of food choices.
Welcome back! I have not done a Portion Distortion post in a while. Follow me on Pinterest. So, I thought today I would focus on the humble potato. Potatoes are a powerhouse of nutrition. Now, I know you are going to say they are very high in potassium, so not good for CKD, and they are high in Carbs, so not good for Diabetes or losing weight. All of that is true. However, it comes down to portion control and knowing how many carbs a day you are allowed in your diet. If your doctor absolutely tells you no potatoes, then obviously no potatoes. 1 medium potato has 26 grams of Carbs. If you are allowed 150 grams of carbs per day, then you may be able to eat that one potato. Plus, if you have CKD you can soak your potatoes prior to cooking to reduce the potassium amount. If I am making mashed potatoes I soak mine for an hour, drain the water, and soak again with fresh water for another hour. Then drain the water again, add fresh water, and cook as usual. The key is to control the portion size. A serving of mashed potatoes is 1/2 cup. Avoid french fries, or other deep-fried potatoes, to avoid all of the fat. An air fryer is helpful. If you do decide to eat french fries eat only one small portion. Don’t add cheese, bacon, and sour cream if you are trying to make your potato a healthier option. Also, potato chips, while made from potatoes, are not the humble potato I am speaking of. There is a video below on the health benefits of potatoes, and you can read about the amazing potato here. Do you want to learn more about Mindfulness or my new 30 Day Coaching Plan? Then use the contact form at the end of the post to send me a message with whatever you are interested in.
If you read this blog then you know I have stage 3 CKD. I eat one potato a day, usually for lunch. I bake it, or steam it I guess, in my Instant Pot. I weigh it and calculate my carbs and record it. I do not have issues with potassium so eating potatoes is ok for me at this stage. However, if potassium was a problem, I would have to figure out how much potassium I would be allowed in a day, and then eat my potato and record it. I don’t see me giving up my daily potato habit. But, one potato has over 700 mg of Potassium, and some people with CKD are only allowed 4,000 mg of Potassium per day. You have to be careful with Potassium, too much, and too little can both be unhealthy for the body. If you have CKD and you love potatoes, talk to your doctor or dietitian about how much potassium you can have in a day and then stick to it.
Before I get to the fabulous gift idea for today I want to give an update on my low carb meals. I had a rough Friday and Saturday. While in Publix they had some of their deli sunflower bread. This stuff is to die for, and it is almost always sold out. Now, the smart thing to do would have been to eat two slices and freeze the rest. But, no I did not do that. I ate a lot of it, and I mean a lot. It was delicious and I didn’t feel guilty, but then I had to get back on track. Saturday, my daughter made homemade pizzas with flatbread I bought at Aldis. I was going to have some and then I decided not to consider all the Sunflower Bread I ate the day before. I aim for 70-100 total carbs per day. So, and this was delicious you guys, I made a low carb pizza bowl type thing. I pan-fried cabbage, onions, 8 slices of pepperoni with a little garlic until the cabbage was to my liking. Then I put some mozzarella cheese on, about an ounce and a half, and put it in a bowl. I will definitely make this again. Tonight, we are having chicken alfredo. I decided to have a small amount of the alfredo sauce, which I don’t care for because it is low in carbs. I will cook the pasta separately, and my family can just add the chicken and sauce to their pasta. Mine will be served with a sweet potato. I know that doesn’t make sense it is still carbs. Yes, but a sweet potato has way more nutrition than pasta and I will only have one serving. Tuesday morning we volunteer and I very rarely eat before we go. It is physical and I need energy stores. Tomorrow will be my next Dollar Tree food challenge. I am almost certain I will not be eating this one either, but my husband or daughter may. Come back tomorrow to check it out. My Herb for the month of December, Dill is going well. It is super delicious on potatoes, lol.
Ok, gift idea #7 for people with CKD is, a heating pad. People with CKD often suffer from pain from cramping, and for other reasons. Due to restrictions on OTC medications, it can be hard for them to get relief. Heat is a wonderful tool to relieve pain. I found two very cool heating pads on Amazon. One is a vest, that you wear for back, shoulder, and neck pain relief. That one looks really awesome. You will find it here. The other one is one that actually wraps around the body part that needs heat. You can find it here. As for me, I get thigh cramps, probably from exercise, and heat is wonderful to help relieve the cramps. Please always follow the manufacturer’s directions for use to prevent injury. If you are prone to blood clots be sure and ask your doctor if heat is safe for you to use.
I just wanted to make a quick note about Epsom Salts. A lot of bath salts actually contain Epsom Salts. Epsom Salts are very high in Magnesium and should not be used if you have CKD without asking your doctor.
Before I begin I want to explain my Dollar Tree Food Challenge. I have been watching different food challenges on Youtube. It is obvious you can eat at Dollar Tree. For my challenge, I wanted to compare two different foods and the nutritional value, as well as taste and overall value. I am unsure of how many places actually only offer Dollar Tree food options as a choice to eat. The two Dollar Trees that I frequent are within feet or a mile of other grocery stores where prices are very affordable and have healthier options. So, I simply don’t understand why someone would choose to eat Dollar Tree foods if you don’t need to. I find their serving sizes for a dollar to be higher than you could get the same at another store, or make your own. See my results below.
Today is day 6 of my 14 Days of Gratitude Challenge. Today’s prompt is, something I am grateful for today. Today, and probably every day I am very grateful for the internet and my smartphone. While our internet provider is not as fast as my son’s who lives in a bigger college city, it is faster than my mom’s in the sticks. Most of the time she can’t even get a signal on her phone to access the internet and her computer is slow. I can’t believe in 2020 in the USA that people still don’t have access to affordable good internet service. It just baffles me. Without the internet, it would be very difficult to find good information, and studies on CKD and other topics for this blog. Of course, this blog probably wouldn’t even exist. Having good information, quickly, right at the tips of my fingers is something I am extremely grateful for.
Now for the Dollar Tree Food Challenge. I compared Celeste pizza for one, to a can of peas. What I was looking for was comparable protein per serving size, and then all of the other nutritional info especially in relation to CKD.
First, the pizza. I am not a fan of frozen pizza to begin with but I picked it because per serving of one pizza there are 9 grams of protein. That is actually a pretty small amount of protein for a food item with sausage and cheese on it. I only ate half of this small pizza and gave the other half to my husband. So, I ate 4.5 grams of protein. The whole pizza which is about the size of 2 normal size pieces of pizza, there is 360 calories, 15 grams of fat, 7 grams saturated fat, a whopping 730 mg of Sodium, 47 grams of Carbs, 2 grams of fiber, 4 grams of sugars, Calcium 8% of DV, Iron 15% of DV, and Potassium 2% DV. The ingredient list is so long it is ridiculous. The cheese is not real, and it has added Phosphorus as most processed foods do. So, from a CKD perspective, this is a horrible food choice. The sodium alone is 32% of DV, and the added phosphorus in this meal would be 100% absorbed by the body. While I could not locate this particular pizza on Eat This Much, similar pizzas have 22% of the DV of phosphorus per serving. On top of all that, it had a very chemical taste to it to me, and was not even enjoyable or filling. This is not something I personally would choose to consume again.
Now, compare the can of peas. First of all, it has only 4 ingredients, peas, water, sugar, and salt. That right there already makes this a better food option. Comparing the protein to the pizza, the peas per 1/2 cup serving size have 4 grams of protein. That is almost exactly half of the Celeste pizza. Plus peas are loaded with other nutritional items and is real food, not fake manufactured food. Per 1/2 cup the peas are 50 calories, 5 grams of fat, sodium is 290 mg, Carbs 11 grams, Fiber 3 grams, Sugars 4 grams, Vitamin A 6% DV, Vitamin C 10%, Calcium 2%, Iron 6%, Phosphorus 8% DV. You can’t change the sodium content of the pizza, but by rinsing the peas twice, you can greatly reduce the amount of sodium in the peas. Add butter, margarine, or other seasonings to flavor your peas and this is a much healthier food option from Dollar Tree. I will eat the peas with my dinner meal tonight. If they taste gross I will let you know, but I am doubting canned peas are going to taste like anything other than canned peas.
You can see the images below with the ingredients and nutrition labels. I am not picking on Dollar Tree or Celeste pizza. My only goal is to inform. There is obviously a market for these foods or they wouldn’t offer them. But, I do think it should raise concerns if people really only have a Dollar Tree to purchase food items from, and some of their items I could have purchased cheaper elsewhere.
Learning to read nutrition and ingredients on labels can help you eat smarter and healthier, especially if you have CKD or any other Chronic Disease. If you would like to learn about me and my Health Coaching services, use the contact form after all of the images to message me for a free email meet and greet.
Below I will share a link to a delicious roasted rosemary radish recipe. I have tried this recipe and it is delicious. It fits perfectly into my Rosemary Challenge for the month of November. But, the main point of this post is for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. While I think it is going to be a much different holiday this year, due to Covid, it doesn’t mean you can’t still have a lovely meal with recipes that fit a CKD diet.
I love tomatoes, and while I don’t have a potassium restriction lots of people with CKD do. I find radishes to be somewhat bitter when eaten raw. In small amounts it is ok, like in a salad. But, when I roasted the radishes they were absolutely delicious. You could technically mash them to replace mashed potatoes. I did mine with carrots and onions too, but that is not part of the recipe below.
Nutrition for radishes in relation to CKD:
1 cup of raw radishes has: 19 calories, basically 0 fat, 4 grams of carbs, 45 mg of sodium, 270 mg of potassium, 2 grams of fiber, about 1 gram of protein, 17 mg of vitamin C, 29 mg of calcium, 0.4 mg of Iron, and 23 mg of phosphorus. The amount of potassium in 1 cup of radishes can be considered high, so you could half it.
1 cup of raw tomatoes has: 32 calories, basically 0 fat, 7 grams of carbs, 2.2 grams of fiber, 9 mg of sodium, 427 mg of potassium, 1.6 grams of protein, 25 mg of Vitamin C, 18 mg of calcium, 0.5 mg of Iron, and 43 mg of phosphorus.
I use the website Eat This Much for nutrition info. Radishes would also be a good replacement for mashed potatoes which are also very high in potassium. Check out this recipe for roasted rosemary radishes, https://eatthegains.com/rosemary-roasted-radishes/
Update 8/13/2021: I love tomatoes. and I do eat them. I do not have issues with Potassium, however. I also really liked the roasted radishes above.
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This post will combine a bunch of different topics into one. Yesterday, I shared that this week’s food challenge was for me to be completely meat-free. Why I decided on that challenge I did not explain. If you follow me you know I have CKD. Last week I was browsing through Twitter and one of the kidney organizations I follow was doing a survey on initiatives that various kidney patients would like to see them pursue in the new year. I also knew before that, that there was a huge push for a plant-based diet to be used to treat kidney disease. Some of the questions were geared around that topic. One of my biggest complaints with them using a plant-based diet to treat kidney disease, well actually two complaints, is 1- phosphorus in a plant-based diet is going to be very high levels according to research I have done, though it may not be well absorbed by the body, and 2- I feel like Anemia is a huge issue to consider for anyone on a plant-based diet, but could be dangerous for people with kidney disease. Those 2 reasons, plus the video below encouraged me to approach this topic in the form of a food challenge.
You also know, if you read this blog, that I am creating a Nutrition course for my high school child. The video below will be included in that course.
To begin I need to clarify some frustrating definitions.
What is plant-based? According to Harvard University a plant-based diet is: plant-based or plant-forward eating patterns focus on foods primarily from plants. This includes not only fruits and vegetables, but also nuts, seeds, oils, whole grains, legumes, and beans. It doesn’t mean that you are vegetarian or vegan and never eat meat or dairy. Rather, you are proportionately choosing more of your foods from plant sources. Why does this frustrate me? For one thing, not everyone classifies it the same way. Some lump plant-based in with veganism. Plant-based simply means the majority of your daily food intake will come from plants. This could mean frozen, canned, etc, especially if you live in a food desert.
What is whole food plant-based? This is a much stricter version of a plant-based diet. Foods should be of the least processed possible and probably raw. In another words in its most natural form. Why is this frustrating? Again, because so many groups and organizations are lumping all of it together, and trust me people take this stuff personally. Let me be clear. If you live in a food desert or on a fixed income, this diet is going to be very hard to follow and or very expensive. A lot in this group are also putting veganism in there. Some of these do not consume any oil in any form as it is highly processed.
What is Vegetarian? Very similar to plant-based, matter of fact I would say almost exactly with the exception that again, organizations and other entities are trying to push the Veganism movement in here. I think that is why it is now called plant-based instead of Vegetarianism. I will be doing plant-based or Vegetarian with some dairy and some eggs. Why? Because of B12. It is the best way to get that vitamin. I have no desire to be Anemic, and yes I can and will take a multivitamin but as you may or may not know there is some evidence that suggests the body does not even absorb multivitamins and are a complete waste of money.
What is Vegan? Vegan’s eat no meat at all, or any product that is derived from meat. They do not buy leather, or any fashion and beauty products derived from or tested on animals. This is a very noble goal to have. It is also not the healthiest for humans. It is awesome for animals, but some studies suggest Vegans do not necessarily eat a healthy diet just because they are not consuming meat products. Next week I will focus on this as it pertains to kidney disease. Some will say Veganism is a political movement and a lot of them are kind of aggressive about their choices as it pertains to convincing others.
I am not saying any of these are better or worse. What I am saying is that without proper education of all the issues that go with kidney disease and the complexities of it, these types of diets will only confuse people. Since phosphorus is not on food labels and is very hard to track in food items, suggesting everyone should be plant-based is complicated. I don’t want B12 injections, so I will do what my body needs to keep Anemia away. If that means I eat small amounts of meat or meat products then that is what I will do.
Now, to the next confusing part of this post. The video below is not about kidney disease. But, it is about living a healthier life into our later years. She mentions G-Bombs in the video and that everyone should be eating them every day. Of course, I had to see what G-Bombs were. Why is this confusing and frustrating? Keep reading to find out.
G-bombs is an acronym for Greens, Berries, Onions, Mushrooms, Beans and Seeds. Great, right? Let’s check some more.
Greens- If you follow some groups, greens means leafy greens. Such as mustard greens, spinach, kale, parsley, romaine lettuce etc. Well, some of us don’t actually like a lot of those greens. You may be bummed even thinking you can not meet your greens’ needs. Greens encompass any food source that is green. Yes, it is true that leafy greens are exceptionally healthy, but so are lots of other greens such as iceberg lettuce, peas, green beans, limes, broccoli, and so many more. So, go ahead and eat your greens, all greens. But, what if you have CKD? If you have kidney disease these greens are typically very high in potassium. So, be sure to eat them in small to moderate amounts. Plus, keep in mind if you are taking Coumadin, or Warfarin greens can be very high in Vitamin K which can affect the effectiveness of your medication. These things just confuse people when they are not told accurate information.
Berries- This one completely made me laugh. Strawberries, blackberries and others are not berries. They are fruit, but not berries. However, bananas, avocados, pumpkins, tomatoes, watermelon, and kiwis are. LOL, so eat your berries. I am pretty sure when they said berries in the video, as a matter of fact, I think she said strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, etc. Now, mind you those fruits are still very good for you but are not berries. Blueberries might be. Again, confusing to consumers of this information.
Onions- Alright I will give them this one. I don’t think there is any way to confuse onions.
Mushrooms- Mushrooms are actually very healthy and a decent protein source for anyone not eating meat. However, I don’t care for fresh mushrooms so I only eat canned or jarred. Plus mushrooms, again are very high in their phosphorus content and should be eaten mindfully if you have kidney disease. Canned or jarred may be less in phosphorus due to processing, but there is no definitive test I can find to that. They are very low in calories too.
Beans- This is my least favorite food to eat. Legumes would fall under this too, but peas are the only ones I like. I can eat small amounts of beans and that is not bad because beans, except green beans are high in potassium and phosphorus. They would need to be eaten with care if you have kidney disease. I only eat 1/4 cup at a time. They are a good source of protein but there is debate about how much of that protein is actually usable by the body.
Seeds- This is another very confusing category. You are probably eating way more seeds than you ever knew. You are probably thinking flax seeds, chia seeds and sunflower seeds. While those are seeds, again, if you have kidney disease these can be very high in phosphorus and I consume in small amounts only. Nuts can also be included according to the video, again, phosphorus is an issue. Read about seeds, here.
When you put all of this info together you can see how I, someone with kidney disease is frustrated with these kinds of recommendations. I don’t think there are enough studies showing it is safe for all aspects of kidney disease. Yes, I put all of that on my survey. Now, with all of that said, anytime you can eat a healthier diet with less processed foods and more whole foods it is obviously going to be better.
Now, for what I ate today. I made an avocado dressing to put on a baked potato and carrots for lunch. I typically don’t eat breakfast, but I did have a slice of leftover pizza. Dinner will be broccoli, sauteed mushrooms and onions and two eggs. I am not hungry and seem to be satisfied enough. I did go slightly over my carbs limit. I use Myhealthykidney, an app on my phone, and or Eat This Much website to try and figure out how much phosphorus I am consuming. Contact me to learn about my Health Coaching plans.
First let me state, for new readers, I have CKD stage 3. I do not have Diabetes or HTN. I have dedicated my Health Coaching to bringing awareness to Kidney Disease and the complications that come with it. If you would like to learn more about my Health Coaching service, use the contact form at the end of the post to message me. Holidays are especially hard for people with CKD, due to limitations in foods they can eat.
I have been a nurse for 33 years. Over those years I have had friends and patients with chronic diseases that they just never seem to manage very well. I always wondered why? Then, I was diagnosed with CKD in 2017. It is hard, very hard, that’s why. But, with determination, communication with your doctor, support services, family and friends it can be done. You can still live a full and happy life.
I follow a lot of social media groups, organizations with recipes tips, etc, I have purchased kidney cook books, and yet one thing I am always disappointed with is that they often are very high in Phosphorus. Phosphorus is not on food labels so tracking it can be very difficult. I have mentioned before that I use Eat This Much and My Healthy Kidney to help me judge the amount of phosphorus in foods.
Halloween candy can be very high in Phosphorus. The peanut butter cups I mentioned yesterday, have 78 mg of Phosphorus per serving. While that is considered low, a serving was two little pieces.. So, you can see how quickly that could add up. With the high limit of 900 mg per day of Phosphorus, or less, for most kidney patients, candy can be dangerous.
Below, I have put together some of my previous posts that cover Halloween, candy, or holiday foods. Maybe you are taking your kids trick or treating, or want to have a Halloween party. Covid can be very dangerous to those of us who have CKD. But, it doesn’t mean we should have to hide away and have no life as politicians have suggested. I am not advocating anyone to be dangerous, risky, or spread the virus. If you are sick you should stay away from people, even for the regular flu virus. I am just saying we deserve a life as much as anyone else, and safety is of utmost importance. I do not put recipe amount facts because I don’t know them for sure. If you want to use any of them for the upcoming holidays, do a little research on the ingredients to be sure they fit your diet needs. I find a lot of kidney patients complain that families don’t even attempt to honor their diet needs at holidays. Now, that is their perspective and may or may not be the whole story, however from personal experience I can say it is accurate. People are so caught up in their own wants and needs that they exclude anyone who may be different than theirs. Some other things I have noticed. People who are recovering alcoholics and people drink in front of them. People who have quit smoking and they have to sit in a room full of smokers at family events. People who have sensitivities or allergies to foods and not one meal item has been created with them in mind. These are things that alienate people and add to their loneliness or isolation. Most people will not ask what will be served or how it will be adapted to meet their needs as not to feel like a burden. These are all things that make me very sad.
Updated 9/6/2021: Happy Monday to all of my wonderful readers! I am not sure I am liking this new WordPress editor. I can’t post to certain categories anymore, which is annoying. At any rate, this week for Mindful Monday I am sharing another portion distortion food plate. As I continue to teach my husband, and myself about portion control, I am always learning too as I coach others, we are seeing how much portion sizes are out of control in the USA. Today, I will discuss pancakes.
Who doesn’t love pancakes? They are an easy, affordable breakfast option for many families. However, pancakes are also high in carbs, and a calorie dense food. Pancakes are also a good source of Iron which can definitely make pancakes a healthy breakfast choice. I had a box of amazing Chocolate Chip Pancakes in my cupboard. We don’t eat pancakes a lot, but I wanted a calorie dense morning starter because I probably was only going to have a very light, or no lunch, and was doing a lot of outside work on a very hot and humid day. But, I also wanted to stay within my chose eating portions.
According to the box, one serving is 1/2 cup dry pancake mix, mixed with water. That made exactly one pancake. My pancake got a little mangled when I flipped it, but you get the idea of the size in my image. That one pancake, portion size, was 220 calories. I added a 1/4 cup of Maple Syrup, which added another 100 calories. A portion size on the label of the Maple Syrup was a 1/2 cup for 200 calories. I halved it. This one pancake, was very filling and I had no problem keeping my energy levels up through the sweaty outside work until I could get a meal again.
You can see how pancake calories can very quickly add up if you don’t follow the portion sizes on the food label. I have seen people put way over the recommended 1/2 cup of syrup on their pancakes. Remember 1/2 cup has 200 calories, the majority of which comes from sugar. If you have CKD, pancakes are also high in Phosphorus, one portion having up to a possible 20% of the recommended amount for a day. The pancake mix I used had chocolate chips, making the Phosphorus most likely even higher. They can also be high in Potassium, and definitely Sodium. If you have CKD be sure and consume only one portion of pancakes. Trust me, I know how hard it is to eat just one pancake. But, they are a very filling calorie dense food item, so one is very satisfying.
If you have any questions, please use the contact form after the images, to contact me. I am a Health Coach with CKD, and if you would like to learn more about my coaching services, use the contact form under the images to message me.
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