Diets

[Cornishbird29]

Hiya,

My daughter who has cirrhosis has been given a list of foods that she can and can’t eat. The trouble is all the foods she likes are on the no list. She doesn’t eat meat or fish. She prefers quorn. Does anyone know if there’s a recipe book out there with low salt, preferably vegetarian. Many thanks.

[lighthouse123]

Hi there, is quorn not advised?

[Cornishbird29 in reply to lighthouse123]

Hiya, my daughter sent me the copies she had that were given to her in hospital( she’s still in).Quorn wasn’t on there. I’ve just googled quorn, tofu etc and it’s fine. That’s the main staple of my daughter’s diet! We’re new to this what she can and can’t eat.

[MilliganHorse]

Hello and for sure it does appear a bit daunting at first, but the good news is there's lots of information and recipes available.

I bought 3 recipe books on Amazon specially for Cirrhosis diet, then there are a couple of sites especially for low salt diet etc just put the search in your search engine and that will bring up lots of helpful links etc. some offer a daily diet suggestion etc directly to your email inbox. Beware of ready made vegetarian items such as meat substitutes etc as they are often very high in salt. We bought some scales as it just makes it easier to weigh out 100g which is what most food labels work on to guage how much salt a portion will be. You can buy zero salt stock cubes and zero or 50% less things like ketchup most available in supermarkets.

We were told no or very low max 2.4g salt per day but ask your dieticien or doctor it does vary.

Good luck and I hope that her health improves over the coming weeks/months it is really worth sticking to the advice and change the mindset to what am I allowed or what can I have rather than what is not allowed and what can't I have it takes time.

Best wishes

[Cornishbird29 in reply to MilliganHorse]

Thankyou x

[BritishLiverTrust8 Moderator British Liver Trust]

Dear Cornishbird29

Here are the links to information about cirrhosis on our website, which you may find useful

britishlivertrust.org.uk/in... (including a suite of publications towards the bottom that are downloadable or can be posted)

britishlivertrust.org.uk/in...

If your daughter hasn't been referred to a dietitian, or you have specific questions about your diet, you can ask your doctor to refer your daughter.

If you are in the UK and would find it useful to talk things over, our nurse-led helpline is open Monday 9am to 3pm and Tuesday to Friday 9am to 4pm on 0800 652 7330 excluding bank holidays.

Best wishes

British Liver Trust

[Aplaceinthesun]

Quorn mince should be ok, it is low salt and hi protein (labelled all green on the product as the health signpost), which is what they like you to eat.

Chickpeas, lentils and other beans tinned in water are also very low salt and high protein, she should be able to make chilli, bolognaise or a curry using these.

I've had a similar problem and don't like red meat, dairy or eggs, but do eat some chicken and fish. Sainsburys low fat salad cream has less salt than their low-fat mayo.

My hospital has been very poor, took them 10 months to send me a diet sheet and 1 doctor seen in 15 months and no information about eating carbs before bed and not being allowed Ibuprofen! It does feel like a post code lotto.

Wishing you both well.

For anyone else, Sainsburys do a no added salt tinned red salmon which is green on the label and M&S have a tinned tuna with no added salt if this helps.

[Cornishbird29]

Thankyou. It’s all new to us. X

[MJE52]

look on Amazon for cookbooks for Cirrhosis there are hundreds

[Cornishbird29]

Thanks you x