I've been cooking and baking

Food for a PD patient

Photo by valentina galvis on Unsplash

So recently I have been putting together the recipes I’ve been using to stay healthy. I quickly get tired of two hamburgers and a potato for dinner. With steaks so expensive nowadays, I can only get them rarely now. Part of my dialysis routine includes making sure I have enough protein in my diet.

When doing peritoneal dialysis (PD) I lose a lot of protein, calcium, and other minerals when the solution drains. This means that my nurses take monthly labs to check if I am eating enough protein and if I need other vitamins to stay healthy. I can drift to anemia really easily.

Also last year when I was having a lot of problems with respiratory issues and rashes, I finally decided to do an elimination diet to see if “maybe” that some of my issues were caused by allergies. In the process I found out that I had severe allergic reactions to pea protein. My mucus and rashes were caused by avacados, soy, tomatoes, and a few other vegetables. Melons and watermelons are also off my eating list. Even worse corn of any type as in syrup, starch, etc causes inflammation in my gut, which makes my diverticulitis flare. No corn. No diverticulitis.

I read the labels on food. Do you know that everything has some form of corn in it including HFCS? (High fructose corn syrup)

One of the things I could eat, which suprised me was gluten i.e. bread. Like anything else I have to keep that in check because bread and rice can make me gain weight. I have to stay at a certain weight while I am on dialysis.

When I realized that most processed food and some restaurant food wasn’t good for me, I had to come up with some modified recipes that would taste good and I wouldn’t feel deprived.

I’ve modified recipes for chicken nuggets, sauces, bisque, and stews. I mix my own packets of herbs and spices for my food. Since tomatoes have a lot of acid and causes me to have GERD and digestive problems, I found a substitute in red bell peppers. I use them for the base for anything that needs tomato sauce.