I had the first vegan meal of my life just over a month ago
when I visited my best friend Tiffany in California. We went to this very
hipster place that felt soo “LA”, everyone was overly cheerful and in touch
with feelings I clearly didn’t have. I was out of my element but determined to
make it through the experience; I proceeded to scan the menu for what would be
my first (and hopefully last) vegan meal. No surprise here, nothing sounded
good and I was so thankful I had eaten half a cheese and pepperoni pizza a few
hours prior. I realize I am being a bit dramatic about the whole experience but
vegetarian was one thing; vegan was on a whole other level. After discussing
the fact that “almond cheese” was actually just shaved almonds meant to look
like cheese, and feeling rather defeated, I selected a hummus and veggie wrap.
To
my surprise, it actually came out looking delicious. However, it tasted OK. I
understand people eat vegan for all sorts of reasons, I just didn’t feel like
this was a choice I could ever make. It was a great experience and a wonderful
dinner with a great group of people—no regrets here.
Call it karma, call it irony, but Monday after I returned
home from Cali, my kidney specialist laid the news on me that it was time to
start reducing my protein intake. And by reducing my protein intake, he meant
that a good place to start would be to stop drinking the additional 30g of
protein in my daily breakfast protein shake. In addition to changing my
breakfast meal of choice, the words vegetarian and vegan were soon mentioned
and all I could think about was my recent vegan meal, and I knew I was in
trouble.
Insert PKD relevance—twice
now I showed up at the doctor with lab results showing the protein content in
my urine was elevated enough to raise concern. Especially because 6 months
after my first appointment, my levels were even more elevated. Healthy kidneys
don’t allow significant amounts of protein to pass through their filters;
damaged kidneys don’t filter properly and let protein pass. Long term effects of consuming large amounts of protein have
shown to be damaging for people with kidney disease. Since at the moment there
is no pharmaceutical option for PKD (***Praying for the approval of tolvaptan***),
diet is one of the only things a person with PKD can control.
Anyone who has shared a meal or happy hour with me knows
that for me, cheese is a food group. I love cheese in every form (melted,
sprinkled, by itself—the list goes on) and on anything. Unfortunately for me,
cheese is also a high source of protein. Besides protein I was also advised to
significantly reduce my sodium intake, as sodium can lead to high blood
pressure which is a disaster for people with bad kidneys. For now, Chardonnay
is still in the clear (praise!)—but I received fair warning that kidney
patients end up with a laundry list of medications which usually restrict the
amount of alcohol one can consume. One day at a time though, and tonight,
Chardonnay is still in my glass ;)
Just as Rome was not
built in a day, it’s going to take this girl more than a day to even consider
the possibility of becoming a vegetarian and the even more remote possibility
of becoming vegan. I was relieved to have recently watched a webinar sponsored
by the PKD Foundation; where Renal Dietician, Kelly Welsh, noted that maintaining a
low protein diet on a regular basis was important but stressed that it is long
term effects of over indulging in protein that cause damage. This means that
you most certainly will find me indulging in a filet or juicy burger every now
and then.
I’ve been experimenting with my new found relationship with
vegetables and for the past several weeks have consistently been able to avoid
meat during the week. I’ve even been able to forego packing my “vegetarian” lunch
some days and have found some veggie options at lunch spots I love to frequent.
Below is tonight’s dinner—an item that has been on the menu several nights a
week since I got the low protein memo. This is my attempt at “cooking”
something vegetarian—zucchini, yellow squash, bowtie noodles, minced garlic,
diced onions, olive oil, and a sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Sincerely,
Chardonnay
What's in my glass...
Copa Di Vino single serve Chardonnay- this little gem is
amazing. I picked this up at Walmart tonight for all of $2.50. Single serve
wine—genius. With a plastic single serve glass and plastic top, you can
literally take this anywhere. Months ago David and I had seen this wine on an
episode of Shark Tank and I’m impressed it has now made it to a shelf near me.
{https://www.copadivino.com/}
P.S. PKD
The next part of my post I’ve reserved to be more
informative. I’ve promised to share what I learn, what works and what doesn’t.
For those of you without PKD, tuning out is expected, I won’t take it
personally. For those of you with PKD, this is good stuff.
First and foremost I highly recommend signing up for the PKD
Foundation’s email updates; this is where I found out about the recent
nutrition webinar I watched. {https://www.pkdcure.org/}
The same woman, Kelly Welsh, Renal Dietician, who delivered
the webinar, also writes a “Health Notes” blog for the PKD foundation which I’ve
found very informative. {http://pkdhealthnotes.org/}
Next on my book list is her book about being kidney wise:
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