Christmas and Dialysis

What can you eat at Christmas if you are on Dialysis and need to watch the Potassium, Salt and Phosphate?

Kidney Health Australia has put together a short guide to help you make the best choices and the following suggestions shouls help you stay on your dialysis diet and enjoy a Christmas meal with the family.

Instead of This	Try This
Fruit Cake	Panettone or Shortbread
Christmas Pudding or fruit mince pies	Pavlova, Cheesecake, apple or pear tarts, strudel or pies or trifle made with low potassium fruit
Nuts or Potato Chips	Pretzels, popcorn or cornchips
Custard	Cream
Mango, banana, apricot, peach or nectarines	Fresh low potassium fruit eg: Strawberries, blueberries, green grapes or watermelon
Dried fruit	Fresh lower potassium fruit
Coleslaw	Green bean salad, rocket salad with roast capsicum or pear and rocket salad
Potato Salad	Creamy pasta or rice salad
Ham	Roast turkey, pork or chicken, fresh prawns and fish
Gravy made from powder	Home made gravy with flour and pan scrapings, cranberry sauce and apple sauce.

Be careful with soups as they often have high salt.

Be mindful of fluid volumes in foods as they can add up with the addition of drinks when socialising.

Homemade stocks can be made with the bones, vegetables for flavour and using herbs and pepper in place of salt