8 Tips for Staying Healthy and Enjoying the Holidays on a CKD Diet

Just because you’re dealing with chronic kidney disease doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the holidays and keep up your CKD diet. In this article we will discuss 8 tips for staying healthy and enjoying the holidays to the fullest.

Sticking to Your Renal Diet During the Holiday

Why it’s important to follow your Kidney Diet even during the holidays

For those on dialysis or dealing with chronic kidney disease, it is of the utmost importance for you and your health to continue following your diet, especially during the holidays. The holidays run rampant with high levels of sodium, phosphates, processed foods, and dairy. One holiday meal filled with these could severely impact your health, which isn’t worth it just for a quick splurge.

8 Tips for Eating Holiday Meals with Friends & Family on a Renal Diet

Talk to Your Dietitian About “Splurging” During The Holidays

If you are worried about the enticing holiday meals to come, it may be beneficial to talk to your dietitian and make a plan. Your dietitian can help you to come up with planning tips that allow you to enjoy the holidays without compromising your health. These tips could include how to cook foods to reduce the sodium and potassium such as double boiling potatoes or leaching them in water before cooking. Your dietitian will have many alternatives and reminders for you as you go into the holidays like remembering to watch your fluid intake and take your phosphate binders with your meal.

Plan Your Meals and What You’re Going To Eat A Few Weeks Before Gatherings

Preplanning your meals and what you are going to eat at holiday festivities can greatly decrease the stress of the events. Planning ahead helps you prepare yourself to know what you will be eating and what you will be politely declining from the dinner table. Most of our families are planning their dishes in advance as well, so to help make it easier on you, just ask everyone what’s going to be served. Knowing this information allows you to contribute a dish that is needed at the table and that is healthy for you, as well as noting what you can eat and what’s going to be a no-go. Writing all of these things into a food diary will also help you to keep track of what you should be mindful of going into the holiday events.

Cook For Everyone or Bring Your Own Holiday Feast

A good way to avoid any temptations or slip-ups with your diet is to be the host of the event! You can cook your own meal per your dietary restrictions and allow everyone to indulge with you. This could be a great way to introduce your family and friends to new holiday dishes, or you could ask them to contribute by giving out recipes that they can follow. However, if hosting an event seems like it would be a little too much for you, it is also an option to make your favorite meal and bring it to enjoy at the gathering you’ll be attending, while maybe making a little extra to share with those around you.

Use Kidney Friendly Substitutes during meal prep

One way to make the holidays work for your diet is to find kidney-friendly replacements for some of your favorite or classic dishes. One major key in this is to avoid salt, especially in your food seasonings. You can use fresh herbs, garlic, onion, and low sodium substitutes, instead of going straight for the salt. To ensure the healthiest, CKD-friendly meal possible it is best to cook your dishes from scratch, this ensures that there are no hidden processed foods or ingredients, and no added sugars, salts, or phosphates. Remember fresh is best! Especially when it comes to veggies, fruits, or meats. For dishes that require eggs you can substitute with egg whites, and for those that call for dairy products, you can replace them with low-fat options. Unsweetened applesauce can also be used in the place of oils.

Don’t Overload Your Plate! Keep An Eye On Your Portions

We are all familiar with the family members that encourage us to fill our plates and go back for seconds, but if you’re on a chronic kidney disease diet then portion control is key. A good tip is to use a smaller plate so you only have the choice to fill a smaller space, thus reducing your portions by necessity. A preplanning tip to help control portions in the face of a big meal is to eat a large healthy breakfast. Since you will be making your own breakfast before the gathering, it is guaranteed to follow your diet so if you eat a large breakfast then you will not be going into the event hungry while thinking with your stomach.

Another helpful visual is the healthy plate rule! This works for everyone and helps you to plan your portions on your plate, half of the plate should be vegetables, with some kidney-friendly fruits such as apples or berries. The other half should be split with your protein of choice, followed by your starches/ whole grains. If you set up your plate in this way then portion control should be a breeze. If you want seconds, it is recommended to only go back for the starches and vegetables, especially if you are planning on having dessert.

Go For Kidney-Friendly Desserts

Speaking of desserts, there are many kidney-friendly options! So don’t despair and think you will have to go without a sweet treat for the evening. First, we’ll point out what desserts to avoid. Higher potassium options and options with high dairy content should be avoided, this means your pumpkin, sweet potato, pecan, and chocolate pies. Also, any ice cream or whipped cream with dairy should also be avoided as they have increased sugars, fats, and calcium. Healthy alternatives to these include fruit pies, fruit cobblers, snickerdoodles, sugar cookies, angel food cake, carrot cake, or a simple baked apple! You have many choices that are regular holiday favorites as well, and you can even add some whipped cream if it’s non-dairy and doesn’t contain any added phosphates.

Can Kidney Patients Drink Eggnog?

Eggnog is a popular holiday drink, which is usually high in potassium and suggested to be avoided. If you would still like to partake you should assess this with your current diet plan and dietitian, as those on less strict potassium diets may be able to indulge in a small glass, if they plan the rest of their meal around this. If alcohol is included in the eggnog, it should be limited to only one small glass, as alcohol can affect the liver, brain and cause fluid retention. The eggnog should be pasteurized and raw eggs should be avoided as there is a risk of contracting salmonella.

Thanksgiving Renal Diet-Friendly Meal Suggestions

Main Dishes

Thanksgiving is usually the time of year when turkey takes the center stage as the main dish, which is great because it is a healthy and kidney-friendly protein! Roasting is the healthiest way to prepare this meat without adding any additional sodium or oil content. You can pair this with a healthier gravy alternative by mixing the roast turkey drippings with cornstarch for the same gravy effect without the added store-bought sodium. Remember to peel the skin from the turkey before you dig in to further reduce the sodium and oil you’re consuming. You can find more information on these recipes for Thanksgiving here.

Side Dishes

For kidney-friendly side dishes, it is best to begin with fresh ingredients, a popular holiday side is coleslaw. While classic coleslaw can contain added salts, oils, and dairy, there is CKD alternative! This red apple slaw recipe is both crunchy and sweet and is the perfect way to cut through more savory dishes that are present on the Thanksgiving table. It is a delicious low sodium option that uses apples and cabbage to get both your fruits and veggies.

Desserts

An easy and delicious way to bring a simple dessert to your gathering is to use this green gelatin recipe that is CKD-friendly. While some gelatin may have added sugars, this is a lower sugar and zero fat option that is just as delightful to eat! This is a delicious and healthy take on classic gelatin that adds flavor and flair to a usually ordinary dessert. You’ll use unsweetened applesauce, lemon-lime soda, and sweetened gelatin mix (but you have the option to use unsweetened to cut down on the sugar). Top it off with some nondairy, phosphate-free whipped topping and this will make a great dessert addition to share with the family.

Christmas Meal Suggestions On A Kidney Diet

Main Dish

Similar to the Thanksgiving turkey we mentioned above, you can do a related dish for your Christmas main course. Roasted turkey is a classic that everyone loves, and is a perfectly healthy option for those on a CKD diet. Follow this recipe here, to see how to blend and baste the perfect Christmas turkey with fresh herbs, low sodium, and maximum flavor!

Side Dishes

A spicy take on a classic vegetable dish for this Christmas holiday is this spicy cauliflower side dish. For this side, you will use fresh cauliflower, garlic, oil, and red pepper flakes. You’ll mix these, bake the cauliflower, top it with parmesan, and finally melt it for a spicy, cheesy take on a classic veggie. This is both an easy and low sodium option that will add a kick to the dinner table.

Desserts

If you like cinnamon apples during Christmas time then this cake is perfect for you to share with your family and friends. It is quite an easy recipe that has a great holiday flavor! You’ll need cinnamon, sugar, flour, oil, eggs, orange juice, baking powder, and vanilla for this recipe which you can find here. This cake is full of flavor and texture and is sure to be a crowd favorite.

You can still enjoy eating during the holiday season even on a CKD diet

With the holiday season fast approaching it’s time to start thinking about how you can still enjoy the festivities without undoing all your hard work. With a CKD diet, eating healthy during this time of year can be challenging because many traditional holiday foods contain high amounts of salt, sugar, and fat. The good news is that there are lots of ways to enjoy food deliciously while staying within your dietary restrictions. We hope this blog post gives you a better idea of how you can still enjoy the holidays even on a CKD diet!