Discover a world of flavour in our simple but delicious kidney-friendly recipes, which are low in sodium, potassium and phosphorus and can be enjoyed by everyone! The cookbook series Spice it up! was originally created for dialysis patients. All recipes have been analyzed by our team of licensed renal dietitians. We’d love you to
* bring more colour and flavour into your daily cooking
* try out new renal-friendly recipes
* get info about kidney diet and dialysis nutrition
* follow our practical renal diet tips
* become a renal diet gourmet chef!
We help you with the challenges of preparing foods for loved ones with kidney failure.

|
|
Tips for the Renal Gourmet |
|
|
|
From the Desk of our Renal Dietitians |
|
What?s new in the renal diet? |
Nutrition research seems to be constantly evolving
and changing! And so does our food supply. This can
make life confusing, especially for a kidney patient.
Renal diet recommendations and the foods we are
eating have changed dramatically in the fifteen years
that I have been practicing... |
|
|
Along Way to Delicious! |
Some of the earliest diet recommendations for
patients with kidney failure come from the 1940s,
before dialysis was available. These diets meant no
salt, almost no protein, and strictly limited fluids... |
|
|
Shake That Salt Habit! |
Salt or sodium reduction is important for all Canadians,
but it is especially critical for those who have or are
at risk for Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). The kidneys
play an important role in the balance between sodium
and fluids, and when the kidneys aren?t working,
this balance is disrupted... |
|
|
Beat The Heat: Surviving the summer on a restricted fluid intake |
Hot summer days are wonderful but can be very hard forpeople who must restrict their fluid intake. This article is especially for people who have to try to manage both their fluid intake and beat the heat at the same time...
|
|
|
Malnutrition: Are you getting enough protein and calories ? |
Protein and the right number of calories are critical to good nutrition. Calories provide energy to keep you going, and the right proteins help you fight infections, build muscles, produce hormones and repair tissues...
|
|
|
Watch out for Phosphate Additives! |
Sometimes it seems as if kidney patients need to be detectives when it comes to reading labels. A quick glance at a Nutrition Facts table gives you an idea of sodium content but won’t give you enough information when it comes to phosphorus (or phosphate). Food manufacturers are not required to list the amount of phosphorus in foods on food labels...
|
|
|
Diabetes and Kidney Disease a Challenging Combination! |
Diabetes is a serious chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin (Type 1 diabetes) or the insulin that is produced cannot be used properly (Type 2 diabetes).Type 2 diabetes is much more common, accounting for 90% of all cases of diabetes.The World Health Organization considers diabetes to be a global epidemic that stems from less physical activity and a rise in obesity....
|
|
|
|
|
Tips for Coping |
|
Reduce Your Sodium with Spice It Up! |
Feel like having comfort foods? Choose our recipes instead of convenience products you?ll find in the supermarket. Our table shows the amazing difference in sodium content between ?home-made? and ?store-bought?... |
|
|
When You Need to Take Multiple Medications |
It is not uncommon for people with kidney disease to need
to take several medications every day, and in fact, on average,
they may require 8 to 12 different medications. Often,
this is because in addition to kidney disease, they have other
medical conditions, and may be treated by more than one
physician... |
|
|
|
|
News & Research |
|
Researchers Release Model of Implantable Artificial Kidney |
University of California, San Francisco, researchers have unveiled a prototype model of the first implantable artificial kidney, which they say could one day eliminate the need for dialysis. The device includes thousands of microscopic filters as well as a bioreactor to mimic the metabolic and water-balancing roles of a real kidney. It is being developed in a collaborative effort by engineers... |
|
|
Together you can |
When kidney patients begin to look at treatment options they have a lot of choices. While not all treatment options are right for everyone, choices include transplantation, hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. If patients choose dialysis as their form of treatment, they next need to consider if they want to receive these treatments in a dialysis facility or at home. Although home dialysis regimens are considered "self-care" procedures that can be preformed fairly independently, patients often need the help and support of family members or friends... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stories |
|
No going back to how I ate before |
It was very difficult for me not to have any more
whole grains and my favourite dish, which is chili,
because of the dietary restrictions! I was very lucky,
though, because my family was so supportive and
we all started eating salt-free and learned how to
make great food within the limits of a dialysis diet....
|
|
|
Choice Ambassador |
François-René Dussaultmay look like a regular middle-aged male, but there’s a lot that’s extraordinary about him. It’s not just that he’s a thriving lawyer who succeeded in having Ottawa City Hall agree on a tax credit when his home hemodialysis treatment made his water and sewer bills skyrocket. And it’s not just that he’s living well with an hereditary form of kidney disease, Alport Syndrome, that caused both his kidneys to fail a decade ago. It’s that his kidneys may have failed – but his stamina and vision haven’t...
|
|
|
Food Choices Make a Difference |
Kidneys are the master chemists of the body. They produce vital hormones that help regulate blood pressure and control mineral levels that keep bones healthy.They also clear your system of toxins such as the excess of medications or the waste product of muscle activity known as creatinine. Proactive management of kidney disease can make all the difference to one's health and quality of life. Making the right food choices is part of that critical difference....
|
|
|
|
|
From our Readers |
|
“Spice it up! truly takes the boredom out of kidney disease recipes. I have been trying every dialysis diet cookbook on the English speaking planet and have not found anything as fun, inspiring and tasty!”
Marie-Jo, Ottawa, Ontario
|
|
“When my renal team told me that I have to follow a “renal dialysis diet”, I said to myself “good-bye to great food and welcome to boredom”. Now I know that it is really possible to make my diet both tasty and renal healthy. Spice it up! opened my eyes to cooking both, renal-friendly and tasty!”
Gregory, Victoria, British-Columbia
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|