Dietary Challenge- help!

[distracted1]

Hi, I am relatively new to this group. Was wondering if someone out there could point me in the right direction - recently, I was diagnosed with a kidney disorder requiring me to follow a low oxalate diet. Fast forward a few months, and the doctor now thinks that I may have a gallbladder issue, which then requires me to eat a more lean diet. To top THAT off, I am recovering from a blood clot (of unknown origin!!!) and am on blood thinners for at least 3 months, requiring me to limit vitamin K, and again, change eating habits. I am completely at a loss here - three different issues, three different ways to set up an eating plan, what on earth should I be eating??? Where do I even begin???

[TheAwfulToad]

Since these are all pretty serious issues you mention, I certainly wouldn't feel confident about offering advice.

However I will observe that:

a) Very few common foods contain high levels of oxalates, so that one shouldn't pose any problems.

b) Gallstones (if that's what you're referring to) are associated with a lack of fat in the diet - crudely speaking, you gallbladder sits there with nothing to do. The rationale behind telling you to consume even less fat is that your gallbladder has even less to do, and therefore there's a reduced risk of expelling the stone along your bile duct. Unfortunately, it also results in formation of more stones (or the existing ones getting worse).

You might want to just do your own research on this issue and come to your own conclusions. As with most things body-related, it's complicated, and the outcomes of various courses of action are non-intuitive.

[distracted1 in reply to TheAwfulToad]

My own research is what has gotten me confused. I think I just need to restart and focus on one piece at a time next. It certainly is overwhelming

[Vonnieruth in reply to distracted1]

You could ask your gp if they would consider doing a referral to a dietician

[andyswarbs]

Doctors have next to no training in nutrition. I would get a referral from your doctor to a dietician. I seems like your kidneys are being challenged so any diet that reduces stress on that gland should be worth researching.

On this forum you will find two main approaches for health, those advocating low-carb & high fat and those advocating the opposite ie high carb and low fat as a way to improve health generally. Rather than talking about the differences let me mention a couple of points where there is some agreement:

Remove processed foods from your diet. This means reducing visits to takeaways, restaurants and ready-made meals from supermarkets.

Remove dairy from your diet: This is a big challenge because whey is in so many ready-made foods. But with 75% of people globally being lactose intolerant then it is worth considering just on that reason alone.

Just the above can be big changes for anyone. If you are serious about improving your health then they are not bad places to start.

[distracted1 in reply to andyswarbs]

Thank you for your advice. I appreciate it!

[Cooper27 Administrator]

I am following a low-ish oxalate diet just now, I notice a lot of the banned foods are not allowed on paleo, so you could start there? The best thing to do is to take a couple of hours to sit down and come up with a 28 day meal plan - if you can come up with a varied plan for 28 days, you can follow that plan every month and be ok.

With regards to warfarin, the reason they ban vitamin k is out of concern you will eat a lot on one day, and none for the rest of the week, as it causes spikes. You can eat foods containing vitamin k, so long as you eat roughly the same amount every day (although discuss this with your practice nurse). This was the advice my mum was given.

[distracted1 in reply to Cooper27]

Do you mind sharing with me some of the things you eat? What meals do you plan? I think its a good idea, but I would love a starting point if you wouldn't mind.

[Cooper27 Administrator in reply to distracted1]

I think Pinterest has been really helpful for me - lots of useful recipes, and easy to save them for later!

I always cook dinner to last 2 nights at a time, by as an example of a 2 week period, I'd eat:

Chicken stir fry with extra veg and spiralised noodles

Pork loin steaks baked with apples, potatoes (peeled) and veg

Cod topped with a tangy tomato sauce, some potatoes (peeled) and veg

BBQ pulled beef (slow cooker) with griddled mediteranean veg and salad

Chicken tray bake with Mediterranean veg

Burgers with sweet potato "bun"

Chicken curry with cauliflower florrets

You're meant to limit potatoes and sweet potatoes, but they're my only source of carbs these days, so I keep them in and limit them.

Lunches: I've eaten salad for the last fortnight, but usually eat soup.

For breakfast I have been eating banana coconut bars with fruit.

I forgot, but I think you can also get away with very small quantities of brown rice, I have a couple of spoonfuls a couple of times a week.

[distracted1 in reply to Cooper27]

THANK YOU! This is a great start to figuring this all out

[Cooper27 Administrator]

I had an appointment with my nutritionist last night, she said red lentils and green/yellow split peas are quite low in oxalates, it's ok to eat a 50g portion of you want a meat alternative chickpeas are somewhere in the middle, so a few chickpeas are ok too (I'm definitely having a poppadom at the weekend based on that ) but don't eat excessive amounts!

[DietitanClare]

Definitely sounds like you need a referral to a Dietitian. They would answer your questions about specific foods.