Kidney Matters - Issue 4, Winter 2019

Red light
During 2017, my wife (who does most of our cooking) stuck rigorously to the advice in the diet pamphlets, but my
symptoms became a little worse, in particular itching and retching, together with fatigue. It also became clear I needed
to worry about phosphates in foods as well as sodium and potassium.
Having spent winter shivering all the time and feeling sick, I decided I had to see if I could do more to help myself, rather
than just getting worse while awaiting dialysis. Extensive research suggested a very-low-protein diet might help; I
clearly needed to take responsibility for my own diet. Furthermore, monthly
blood tests results (accessed
via Patientview) made it
possible to monitor the
effects of my choices.
I started to do a lot of my
own food selection and
preparation, learning key
facts so that I could use the
rules while eating out in
restaurants. While setting
out to reduce my protein
intake further, I also chose to
avoid red meats and give up
altogether on dairy products. I
used a ‘highlights’ chart (diet is
a moving target and the current
chart is pictured on the left)
to focus on a narrow range of
foods. I began to sense how my
body would react to different
foods and drinks, and to judge
how much food to eat without
needing access to food scales.
After a few months, I found that
I was involuntarily selecting
foods which gave me a protein
intake of between 40g and 60g
per day, usually towards the
“Reducing protein
intake in chronic
kidney disease
has been shown to
improve symptoms
of uraemia such
as nausea and
altered taste”
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Issue 4 Winter 2019 www.kidneycareuk.org