For tonight's dinner I baked off some turkey sausages, sauteed peppers, onions, and mushrooms and then scrambled it all into two eggs. And of course, I had to add my woooooster sauce.
But, often when I am having meals like this that are quite high in animal products, my mind wanders to veganism. My Dad has been a vegan for about a year now, which in the grand scheme of things is a relatively new vegan. I look at the meals he has and I automatically have a checklist in my mind ticking off all the things I am not allowed to eat, or only eat in limited quantities.
The vegan diet is high is fruits and vegetables, legumes, pulses, nuts, seeds, nut milks and butters, whole grains, and soy. All of these thing are high in potassium and phosphorus. I think to myself, if I ate like a vegan for just one day, I could very much end up dead.
Potassium and phosphorus restrictions aside, I would also have to look at getting my daily requirements of protein. Dialysis patients need extra protein because some is lost during our treatment. We need to replace that within our diet. Not only does it make us strong, it also helps us fight infection. Chronic kidney disease patients' immune systems are fickle at best and are prime targets for any nasty bug going around.
Don't get me wrong. I don't sit here and eat a whole cow every day all day. I'll even have days when I go vegetarian, but to sustain a vegan diet while on dialysis I think would be impossible while also trying to meet my nutritional requirements, and keeping within my strict guidelines.
Just a few thoughts. I would love to know if there are any vegans out there as well as on dialysis. It would be interesting to know what they eat.
I think turkey sausages have a lot of sodium, 33% of your daily intake only in 1 sausge you can verify the nutritional information here : https://cronometer.com/ and for example what i eat are beans to get my protein usually, and 1 cup of cooked black beans has 1.7mg of sodium, less than 1% of your daily intake of sodium... or 1 cup of chickpeas has 11.5mg of sodium... around 1% of your daily intake... which legumes are you talking about that are high in sodium ? because 1 turkey sausage has 500mg of sodium... or hemp seeds that has a lot of protein (and also low in sodium 12mg of sodium each 100gr) even hemp seeds have more protein than meat... what you are talking about that case in specific about chronic kidney diseases, check out this scientific studies: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5409713/ depends on each situation but its proven not to be harmful in all cases a plant based diet on chronic kidney disease patients... here is more information about veganism by harvard: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/is-a-vegetarian-or-vegan-diet-for-you
Hello
I had the Lillydale breakfast turkey sausage, which according to my packaging is 470mg of sodium for three, I had two. Sodium isn't really an issue for me as my blood pressure runs on the low side, I don't present with edema between treatments, and I am quite easily able to stay within my fluid allowance.
I don't think I said legumes were high in sodium. I said that a lot of fruits, veggies, legumes, etc, that make up a vegan diet are quite high in phosphorus and potassium.
For instance, just 3 tbs of hemp seeds has 48% your daily requirement of phosphorus. A normal person's requirement. That's more than half in just three tablespoons.
One cup of chickpeas for instance, has 1750 mg of potassium. In order for a food to be considered a low potassium food, and a green light for dialysis patients, it should have 100 mg of potassium or under per serving.. Even if I just had a quarter of a cup, that would still be over 400 mg of potassium.
I'm not arguing that legumes aren't full of protein. That is undeniable, my point was they are full of other nutrients that dialysis patients much restrict. If I decided to eat a cup of chickpeas everyday, my potassium could reach dangerous levels and even stop my heart.
I appreciate the links you sent. The Harvard one is not relevant as I believe they are talking about a vegan diet in general, not relating to CKD patients. Again, I am not arguing that a vegan diet is bad or not beneficial for most people, but perhaps not for me with my pretty much non-existent kidney function.
The other article looks into the benefits of a vegan diet to stop the progression of CKD, again, not my situation. That ship sailed about 30 years ago.
I think if an individual is vegan in the first place they wouldn't end up on dialysis in some cases. But a vegan's meat is soy and that is high on phosphorus >o<
It is near impossible to be a vegan dialysis patient, the foods they would have are quite restricted because of the points that you have mentioned.
Oh yeah, for sure no doubt a vegan diet would prevent dialysis, especially in people with diabetes. I certainly agree with a vegan diet, but I know it's impossible for us. :(
I see you have one of my fav ingredients!
I can't have eggs without it! You have good taste :)