A Re(n)ally Tasty Halloween

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Every year when the fall and winter holidays start to creep closer, the internet EXPLODES with tips on how to "stay healthy through the holidays" and that "moderation is key." Or people do a complete 180 and say "treat yo-self" (- Leslie Knope) and eat whatever they want. But what if your life was literally dependent on what you ate on days like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas?

People with kidney disease live their lives with strict diet rules, even on the holidays. The kidneys are important for filtering out minerals, such as potassium and phosphorus. People with good kidneys don't have to worry about this, but when your kidneys stop working, these things build up as toxins in the blood. Many Halloween candies are full of potassium and phosphorus. Until I started interning at the Centers for Dialysis Care, I would have never even CONSIDERED those things, because I am lucky enough to have working kidneys. A lot of my patients would ask me, "you always tell me what I can't have. What can I actually have?" So I decided to do some investigating.

I was able to come up with a list of candies for them, "Halloween Survival Guide- Sweet and Treats: From Safe to Scary." I gave everything a category: green meant enjoy, yellow meant enjoy with caution and in moderation, red meant severely limit or avoid all together. Their category was based on potassium and phosphorus amounts.


Want a closer look? Double click on the pic!

Having a disease with strict dietary restrictions can leave people feeling down at events that are centered around food. This guide is for them to feel a little more normal around Halloween and give them a lot of options for candies they can eat. Focusing on what they can have instead of what they can't will hopefully make these days a little less stressful and a lot more fun!

OP



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