Vegetarians and IGAN

[Guest guest]

Hi:

I have a question for the group:

Are there any vegetarian members?

I am currently NOT vegetarian, but I grew-up being one. Lately I've

been hearing a lot of suggestions about different diets that could

help me. This is mostly from people that have NO IDEA about IgaN

but want to help.

I have asked my nephrologist about diet and he told me to keep a

balaced diet. Nothing specific.

I'd love to know if any of you have done your own research about

foods that have been beneficial.

Also, if you are vegetarian, do you still take FISH OIL?

Thanks for being there

Sicerely

Dany Schimpf

[Guest guest]

Hi Danny,

I was vegan when I was diagnosed, had been vegetarian for 7 years prior to

that. I worked with a dietician to keep my diet balanced. Depending on what

stage you are in and your dietary restrictions it is possible. The further you

advance into kidney disease, as your function worsens, you may have to add meats

back into your diet. The problem that a vegetarian diet has is the main protein

sources are also very high in potassium and phosphorus, two things that you will

have to limit if your function drops too low. The problem I started having was

that my albumin levels started to bottom out due to not getting enough high

quality protein in my diet....proteins that are easily absorbed by the system.

The high quality protein foods I could eat were high in phosphorus so I couldn't

eat enough of them to make the vegan diet work for the long term. I added meat

back into my diet at roughly 40% function....It took me a year to get my albumin

levels back to normal after adding meats back into my diet.

If anyone out there is thinking vegetarianism I would consult your doctor

and a dietician so you can avoid any of the pitfalls that come with being a

kidney patient and a vegetarian. It can be done but, like most things in life,

it requires a good balance of factors.

I also kept up with the fish oil tablets even when I was trying to keep with

my vegan diet...the fish oil was helping to bring my protein spill down so to me

it was just another medication and I still try not to think where it comes

from...I was vegan for ethical reasons, adding meat back into my diet was very

hard for me to do and I still view it as needing to eat it from a health

standpoint....I hide it in other dishes most days.

Amy G.

Vegetarians and IGAN

Hi:

I have a question for the group:

Are there any vegetarian members?

I am currently NOT vegetarian, but I grew-up being one. Lately I've

been hearing a lot of suggestions about different diets that could

help me. This is mostly from people that have NO IDEA about IgaN

but want to help.

I have asked my nephrologist about diet and he told me to keep a

balaced diet. Nothing specific.

I'd love to know if any of you have done your own research about

foods that have been beneficial.

Also, if you are vegetarian, do you still take FISH OIL?

Thanks for being there

Sicerely

Dany Schimpf

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http://www.igan.ca/id62.htm

Thank you

[Guest guest]

Hi Dany,

A renal diet really has to be customized according to individual lab results

and according to your body size too. I was put on a low protein diet, but

cautioned to eat complete sources of protein with all essential amino acids

which is easier to do with animal based protein rather than vegetarian based

protein. Also, because my potassium runs very high, I had to really restrict

potassium as well, but again that was based on my lab results. Generally, it

is not necessary to follow a renal diet until you get down to around 30%

function. A renal dietitian can really help once a restricted diet becomes

necessary.

I do not take fish oil.

In a message dated 8/11/2005 1:04:28 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,

dany@... writes:

Hi:

I have a question for the group:

Are there any vegetarian members?

I'd love to know if any of you have done your own research about

foods that have been beneficial.

Also, if you are vegetarian, do you still take FISH OIL?

Thanks for being there

Sicerely

Dany Schimpf

[Guest guest]

I was a lacto-vegetarian most of my life, from childhood on, that is, I did

eat dairy products and eggs. I only really ate meat when I couldn't get out

of it, like when I was in the navy and later the army. Sometimes, out at sea

or in the field, there was just nothing else to eat.

It was only once I was fairly close to renal failure that I was put on a

renal diet, primarily because I already didn't eat that much protein. The

pre-dialysis renal diet was low in protein, but most of that protein had to

be of the " high-value " kind. This means it has to be mostly meat, because

anything else with protein in it has too much potassium and/or phosphorus

along with it. In other words, meat packs the most protein for the least

amount of other things you don't want.

In my own experience, I don't see any health advantages to being a

vegetarian when it comes to having IgAN. Now, it's possible that not eating

much meat did help me last 25 years before I needed to start dialysis, but

that's really an unknowable. I'm on dialysis now, so, at this point, it

doesn't matter.

I think you can harm your health as much as you can improve it by not eating

enough when you have kidney disease. A good, well-balanced, heart-healthy

diet is probably the way to go. As the old saying goes, moderation in all

things, including moderation.

As for fish oil, I experimented with it myself BEFORE the Donadio fish oil

studies, in the early 90's when my kidney function started going down from

normal, but I never took it officially. To me, a pill just doesn't seem like

a meat product.

Pierre

Vegetarians and IGAN

> Hi:

> I have a question for the group:

> Are there any vegetarian members?

> I am currently NOT vegetarian, but I grew-up being one. Lately I've

> been hearing a lot of suggestions about different diets that could

> help me. This is mostly from people that have NO IDEA about IgaN

> but want to help.

> I have asked my nephrologist about diet and he told me to keep a

> balaced diet. Nothing specific.

> I'd love to know if any of you have done your own research about

> foods that have been beneficial.

> Also, if you are vegetarian, do you still take FISH OIL?

>

> Thanks for being there

>

> Sicerely

>

> Dany Schimpf

>

>

[Guest guest]

I think that for people with mild IgAN, who can pretty much eat anything

they want, you can be fine eating a vegetarian diet, as long as it's

well-balanced, and you supplement with vitamin B12 as necessary. Your doctor

can do a blood test for B12 if needed. Whether it will help keep the IgAN

mild is another question. There isn't much evidence for it to go by, either

way.

Because it's natural for IgAN to have highs and lows (flare-ups vs stable

periods), I would be careful in attributing any apparent improvement to

anything in particular, including diet. On the other hand, as long as it's

harmless, actively doing things for oneself like that can feel empowering.

Pierre

[Guest guest]

Tried it - hated it.

I found that I would crave chicken and beef, and that made me snack more. I did

limit the meat based proteins, but I also felt like I was dragging my butt as a

vegetarian. I do eat a lot of salads, even now. But now I do it because I

actually like salads.

Dany dany@...> wrote:

Hi:

I have a question for the group:

Are there any vegetarian members?

I am currently NOT vegetarian, but I grew-up being one. Lately I've

been hearing a lot of suggestions about different diets that could

help me. This is mostly from people that have NO IDEA about IgaN

but want to help.

I have asked my nephrologist about diet and he told me to keep a

balaced diet. Nothing specific.

I'd love to know if any of you have done your own research about

foods that have been beneficial.

Also, if you are vegetarian, do you still take FISH OIL?

Thanks for being there

Sicerely

Dany Schimpf

To edit your settings for the group, go to our Yahoo Group

home page:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/iga-nephropathy/

To unsubcribe via email,

iga-nephropathy-unsubscribe

Visit our companion website at www.igan.ca. The site is entirely supported by

donations. If you would like to help, go to:

http://www.igan.ca/id62.htm

Thank you

[Guest guest]

My son has been a vegetarian since the age of two. He is 12 now. Yes, he is

now taking fish oil because he knows it is important.