@catmomma, hello.

I do have a medical background, certain research skills and writing skills and a fairly good grounding regarding diabetic diets, so until gastroparesis came along to complicate everything, I was able to design a workable kidney-friendly, diabetic-friendly diet. But gastroparesis and inadequate nutrition have complicated things.

I'm not trying to be gluten-free but do avoid gluten foods whenever I can. (As a someone with renal disease on an ovovegetarian renal diet modified to conform as much as possible to a diabetic diet and a gastroparesis diet, I do eat soft white slider buns daily, mostly for the protein content since I cannot eat meat.)

My nephrologist suggested a vegetarian diet several years ago and I made that transition fairly easily. Unfortunately local dietitians were "behind the times" about kidney diets, especially meat free ones, so as I've indicated in other posts, I had to research and design my own renal diet and was able to improve my kidney status as a result, with a few ups & downs, including short-term dialysis now no longer needed - I'm now back to stage 4. (My nephrologists and PCP still offer their patients my recipes with my caveat that since manufacturers do change ingredients and since nutrition content labels also change it's always good to read every label every time a food is purchased.)

I'm also a type 2 diabetic and there is conflict between a diabetic diet and a renal diet. For instance, a diabetic diet encourages consumption of whole grains whereas a renal diet does not due to the extra potassium and phosphorus contents of whole grain foods. (Forget about whole grains on a gastro diet!)

Therefore, as someone with gastroparesis, that diet really conflicts with the other two.

And as I've said before, local GI people here also have been unhelpful, partly because they seem to know little about the other two diets and their food suggestions for gastro would put my only remaining partial kidney at risk as well as make my diabetes management next to impossible.

Hence my restrictive diet to try to manage three chronic illnesses. Lack of adequate dentition restricts me even further.

As for Mayo, this is as close as I can get. I no longer am able to travel and Mayo's wouldn't take my insurance even if I could travel and could afford to get there. I am so grateful for these support groups and for extremely knowledgeable nephs and PCP.

I used to be a gourmet cook and truly enjoyed food (too much!) I used to say I never met a food I didn't like. Gastroparesis has taken the joy out of eating and since I am so mobility impaired (also have Parkinsonian tremors,) I no longer can cook much or continue to experiment with recipes. Having spent a year in and out of the ER and in and out of the hospital and gagging if I even attempted to swallow anything, being able to drink juice and Boost and consume purees and soft foods is an improvement for me. In short, I have felt so awful until recently that eating was a traumatic experience!

Things have improved, though. I do enjoy mashed potatoes, soft avocados, very well-cooked carrots, spinach, beets, and cauliflower and have yet to grow tired of vegetable juice and certain fruit juices.

Any suggestions you might have will be most appreciated so I can continue to improve my nutrition status. Thanks in advance!