What to eat when you have diabetes, heart and kidney issues?

Posted by jacquee @jacquee, Jul 9, 2020

I am a caregiver trying to balance my husband's diet. The diabetes and low sodium are under control but potassium levels keep spiking. I want to provide tasty meals but every renal recipe I have tried takes extensive preparation. They are good but not practical. I am looking for a website/source that offers recipes, lists the amounts of sodium and potassium in each meal. Supposedly a something was passed in 2016 that would require food nutrition labels to include potassium but I am not seeing it very often.

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@jacquee I think this app I have used a lot when I was getting used to being a transplant patient and worked well I used the paid portion which was not expensive and added macros and other better options. The dietitian at Mayoalso said it was a good apt and used it to help me see how I was doing. So I hope it helps.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.myfitnesspal.android
May you have a blessed day
Dana

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@jacquee Welcome to Mayo Connect. We're glad to have you aboard our cyber journey. We are not medical professionals, but we do share our experiences and can offer what ideas work for us. As you know everyone is different, in lifestyle, health concerns, how we approach things!

In my experience, while I would love ease in cooking meals "like I used to" the reality is, it takes creative planning when dealing with special diets. At this point, my husband, who is a kidney transplant recipient, keeps a different diet than me. I have kidney disease Stage 3b, plus gout and prediabetes issues. He has backed away from a lot of red meat, and joins me leaning towards chicken, turkey, and fish. We have had to realize that we have to fix separate meals many times.

@kamama94 has been so helpful giving us recipes and ideas. Like your husband, I have potassium issues too. The biggies for me are potatoes, tomatoes, bananas, oranges, avocados, many melons. So, I had to buck up and cut them out completely, because "moderation" doesn't always exist in my mind 😉

How are you doing today? What stage is your husband in his kidney disease process?
Ginger

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@gingerw, You and I share some of the same potassium issues and until recent health diagnoses, "moderation" wasn't in my vocabulary much less practice! vbg I spent most of my life "eating to live" so there has been a sea change for me in creating new diet friendly meals and a new hobby discovered in gathering new recipes. The extra time and effort now is well worth it though because limitations and exclusions of some foods has improved my ckd values. Even though I wash up as I prepare meals as I can, any suggestions for making "clean up" more a friend would be gratefully received??? Many recipes make enough that leftovers can be stored or frozen for another day...that provides rewards come clean up time.

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@fiesty76

@gingerw, You and I share some of the same potassium issues and until recent health diagnoses, "moderation" wasn't in my vocabulary much less practice! vbg I spent most of my life "eating to live" so there has been a sea change for me in creating new diet friendly meals and a new hobby discovered in gathering new recipes. The extra time and effort now is well worth it though because limitations and exclusions of some foods has improved my ckd values. Even though I wash up as I prepare meals as I can, any suggestions for making "clean up" more a friend would be gratefully received??? Many recipes make enough that leftovers can be stored or frozen for another day...that provides rewards come clean up time.

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@feisty76 I actually enjoy the cleanup process, since I like a clean kitchen. Like you, I do clean up as I go, and going back in to the area after a meal, perhaps for cool water, it is always nice to see everything put away.
Ginger

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@gingerw, @fiesty76, I had to laugh when I read your posts because I can just hear my mother and grandmothers tsking at me for not cleaning up as I go! I can't even boil water without wrecking my kitchen. It has to do with the way I cook - I prep various ingredients in separate small dishes and use two or three different pans to saute or steam or dry-fry the ingredients. Then I wonk over to the other side of the spectrum and throw things together in a bowl and microwave it then eat whatever it is right out of the bowl. No wonder my mom and grandmas disapprove from where they watch over me on the other side. . . The way my living quarters are set up, I can't see any dirty dishes unless I'm actually in the kitchen so they don't bother me. Out of sight, out of mind. Until I run out of plates and/or skillets.

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@danab

@jacquee I think this app I have used a lot when I was getting used to being a transplant patient and worked well I used the paid portion which was not expensive and added macros and other better options. The dietitian at Mayoalso said it was a good apt and used it to help me see how I was doing. So I hope it helps.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.myfitnesspal.android
May you have a blessed day
Dana

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@danab, Once I become more comfortable with my smart phone, I look forward to exploring the google app for Myfitnesspal I think this site also has "regular" internet site that I have used in the past...may be mistaken but it sounds very familiar. Thanks for the link.

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@kamama94

@gingerw, @fiesty76, I had to laugh when I read your posts because I can just hear my mother and grandmothers tsking at me for not cleaning up as I go! I can't even boil water without wrecking my kitchen. It has to do with the way I cook - I prep various ingredients in separate small dishes and use two or three different pans to saute or steam or dry-fry the ingredients. Then I wonk over to the other side of the spectrum and throw things together in a bowl and microwave it then eat whatever it is right out of the bowl. No wonder my mom and grandmas disapprove from where they watch over me on the other side. . . The way my living quarters are set up, I can't see any dirty dishes unless I'm actually in the kitchen so they don't bother me. Out of sight, out of mind. Until I run out of plates and/or skillets.

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@kamama94 I will eat out of the cookpan, no problem. I will eat salad and main dish on same plate, no problem. It's just too many things to clean at once can be overwhelming enough to not do anything ;))
Ginger

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@gingerw

@kamama94 I will eat out of the cookpan, no problem. I will eat salad and main dish on same plate, no problem. It's just too many things to clean at once can be overwhelming enough to not do anything ;))
Ginger

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@gingerw, if I have the energy and stamina, i do a lot of cutting and slicing prep and can freeze most things, including sliced Roma tomatoes, diced celery, snow peas, cooked & mashed no sodium added, leached red beans for Mexican fillings, even Hy-Vee low-K, low-P baby potatoes, soaked and leached then mashed with water and a spoonful of coconut milk, even vegan gravy and various vegan pasta and veggie dishes. I spend two or three days a month doing this (in stages with rests in between) so at mealtimes I really don't have to cook, just assemble then microwave to heat what needs to be served hot. I've even cut up a frozen Roma slice for a salad and it works fine as long as the tomato pieces don't completely thaw before I eat the salad. I'm all about flavor over volume so most of my recipes make very small portions.

I got all wound up there. I'll hush now.

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What are Hy Vee low p low k potatoes? You sound like a walking book of recipes for a low potassium diet. Come cook at my house!! I’m going crazy trying to figure out what I can eat other than white rice and apples!!

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