All the semester 5 students try out five different special diets throughout the final year, so we can get a better understanding for our patients and what they go through. When I talk about diet, I mean a particular way of eating to treat or reduce complications of an underlying disorder. No weight loss, as a matter of fact- we try very hard to avoid weight loss, as malnutrition is a risk factor and greatly increases the chance of a negative outcome. This week we are on a protein reduced diet, and my allowance is only 40 grams. This is very hard! Remember that almost everything except sugar and oil has protein in it. Carrots, beans, rice, bread (a slice of bread has aprox 2gram!). As this wasn’t enough, we also have to restrict potassium intake (bananas, nuts, grains, fruit, dried fruit) and phosphate intake. When your kidney function is greatly reduced you start accumulating waste products as the kidneys can’t filtrate them out. This gives symptoms such as itching, loss of appetite, irritability, mental haze and more. For these clients this diet will almost instantly relieve them of the symptoms and maybe even postpone dialysis. Today I am skipping school so I can study for my exam in Sport nutrition tomorrow, wish me luck!
