You can listen to the full episode above or via Apple Podcasts here.
Alternatively, check out the transcript below!
Disclaimer: This article and podcast episode is not a substitute for personal medical or dietary advice. Talk to your doctor before making major dietary changes or starting a new supplement. See our Disclaimers for more details.
Resources Mentioned In this Episode
- Way’s to reach Kate: YourKidneyDietitian.com
Instagram
Or TikTok - Earthlings
- Stats about CKD in the United States
- Examples of Phosphorus Additives
- KDIGO Guidelines
- Lizzo
About Kate
Kate is a Registered Dietitian with 9 years of experience, including 5 years working exclusively with people with kidney disease. She is a Board Certified Specialist in Renal Nutrition.
Previously a vegetarian for many years, Kate committed to a vegan lifestyle for the animals in 2016, and enjoys getting creative with plant-based cooking and baking (and teaching clients how to do the same!).
She otherwise enjoys running races ranging from 5Ks to full marathons, pursuing hobbies like yoga and dance, reading hockey themed romance novels, taking care of her houseplant collection, and spending time with her husband and their houseful of cats – currently two resident cats and two foster kittens.
You can find Kate posting helpful nutrition tips and info on Instagram, TikTok, or over on her website.
Transcript
Kate: I’ve seen clients go from being basically in stage 5on the verge of needing to start dialysis, go back to stage 4 because their numbers are improving,
Christine: Wow!
Kate: and being on, you know, a well planned whole foods plant-based diet has helped them achieve that.
Christine: Welcome to the Plant Powered You podcast! This is the resource for all things vegan nutrition. I’m Christine, your host in vegan bestie, and I also happen to be a dietitian!
As a disclaimer, this podcast is just providing education and a bit of entertainment. If you have any questions about your health or diet, talk to your own healthcare provider. Our full disclaimers will be linked to in the show notes below. Now let’s get to the episode.
Hey Kate, welcome to the podcast!
Kate: Hi, good morning!
Christine: I am so excited to talk with you about vegan nutrition for chronic kidney disease, and that’s a pretty long term right there. So I’m sure we’ll be referring to it as “CKD” for short during this episode.
For people who don’t know, Kate is a dietitian, a vegan, and also a board certified specialist in renal nutrition. And for those who are like, huh, what does renal mean? Um, Kate, could you please share what that means and how you got into renal nutrition?
Kate: Yeah, so renal is just a word that refers to the kidneys.
I got into this field when I started working at a dialysis clinic. Previously I had had a background in clinical nutrition in a hospital. I had also worked as a grocery store dietitian for a while, but I wanted to get back to something clinical that had more of a specialty. So I found myself working at a dialysis clinic!
And I learned very quickly a lot about the kidneys and just how much nutrition really plays a big role in nutrition for the kidneys. And that was about five years ago. And then earlier this year I started a private practice, to work with people with chronic kidney disease, pre-dialysis. So taking more of a preventative approach.
Christine: Mm-hmm, awesome. And I also mentioned that you’re vegan as well. So how did you get into that? Because I know a lot of our listeners are, vegan or thinking about being vegan. So I’d just like to askfor a little short story about how you adopted that philosophy.
Kate: Yeah, so as a kid growing up, my mom actually started doing Meatless Mondays for us every Monday night, and that was kind of my introduction to plant based eating, and I also learned more as I got older that, you know, it was not just the eating, but really the whole-you know, lifestyle: the vegan lifestyle.
That appealed to me because I loved animals. And the more that I learned about that, the more I was like, I don’t really want to eat animals! And so I became vegetarian when I was in high school, and then it took me a while to make that transition over to veganism.
That was really, I think, prompted by… I watched the documentary: Earthlings. I know many of us have seen that.
Christine: Oh! Mm-hmm.
Kate: I think I put it off for a long time because I knew that it was gonna be hard to watch and it was that, it was definitely the thing that kind of pushed me to really make that commitment to the full vegan lifestyle.
And I’ve been vegan for the past six and a half years.
Christine: Wow! Yeah-I actually have not seen Earthlings. I just watched the trailer and I was like, oh no… I don’t think I can do that!
Kate: It’s definitely a tough watch.
Christine: Yeah!
Kate: But um, yeah, it was what I needed to give me that push, so I’m glad that I decided to watch it.
Christine: Yeah. For sure. And we’ll link that in our show notes too (if anyone’s interested).
But back to the CKD stuff, (chronic kidney disease). Can you just give people a quick overview about what the kidneys do so that we get a better understanding as well as what happens when they decline?
Kate: Definitely. So the kidneys are the coolest organs in the body, in my opinion.
They’re two small bean shaped organs. They’re located posteriorly below the rib cage, and they perform so many different functions in the body.
I think the main thing that people know about is that they filter the blood. They filter the blood and then that, whatever the waste products come from that become our urine.
But in addition to that, they have endocrine functions. They help to kick off the production of red blood cells in the body. They help with regulating blood pressure. They make sure that the body’s maintaining the right balance of different nutrients and minerals, and they also help to regulate our acid base balance.
So they do a whole lot of different things. So when the kidneys, become damaged or stop working, that creates a really big problem because all of these functions are regulated by the kidneys.
So what chronic kidney disease is, is it is: a gradual loss of kidney function over time. And this happens when the kidney tissue becomes scarred and that filtering ability is lost.
So the part of the kidney is that do that filtering work. It’s no longer functional. And this happens gradually over time. It is not reversible, unfortunately. And the top two causes of kidney disease that account for, I think about two thirds of all cases of CKD are diabetes and high blood pressure.
Those conditions both lead to chronic damage to the kidneys over time. What I would like to say and explain to my clients is that anything that impacts the blood vessels and the health of the blood vessels can impact the kidneys because the kidneys filter the blood. So anything that’s involving those vessels or could be damaging to those vessels is gonna impact the kidney health.
Christine: Wow. So you mentioned high blood pressure and diabetes as being risk factors (For kidney disease) right? Those conditions are very common! Is kidney disease quite common?
Kate: It is very common. the most recent estimates that I’ve seen are that about 37 million Americans have chronic kidney disease. Um, and in many cases it’s underdiagnosed or not even diagnosed.
Christine: Oh snap.
Kate: We do have 5 state stages of kidney disease and oftentimes in the first two stages it is considered “lower risk.” So doctors might not even tell people that they have it or start addressing it until it gets to stage 3. So oftentimes people will get their labs drawn, go to the doctor and find out that they’re in stage 3, stage 4… in some cases, even stage 5kidney disease and you know, previously had no awareness of it.
It is called a silent disease sometimes for that reason because it can progress, and for a long time the kidneys are working hard. You might not even feel any symptoms because the kidneys are working really hard despite that reduced function.
So very important! I’ll just give a plug to get screened for kidney disease and make sure that you’re getting your lab work done. And especially if you are somebody that does have high blood pressure or diabetes, to just know that, there is a very strong correlation here, so it’s important to keep those conditions well control.
Christine: For sure. Yeah. And just to clarify, for this podcast, we’re just talking about. What is it? Stages 1 through 4?
Kate: Stage five is technically when the kidney function is 15% or less. Somebody can be in stage five and not on dialysis yet.
But once somebody does get on dialysis, that is considered end stage kidney disease. There’s very little kidney function left at that point in time. But yeah, we’re talking about the earlier stages before somebody starts dialysis.
Christine: Right. Just to clarify for the listeners… cause there’s different nutrition recommendations as I understand it- when you get to dialysis.
Kate: Yes.
Christine: So, people might go to say get their labs drawn. And let’s say that your doctor says oh, you have stage three and that’s all they say… They don’t mention anything about nutrition. Why do you think it’s important for people to maybe see a dietitian at that point.
Kate: Yeah! Unfortunately, people who get diagnosed with kidney disease often don’t get referred to a dietitian and get very little nutritional guidance about what to do.
I’m not sure exactly why it is, but it doesn’t seem to be a priority in the nephrology field to use nutrition as an intervention. That might just be due to, you know, lack of education with physicians because as we know, physicians really get very little nutrition education.
But the field of nutrition for kidney disease has also been evolving a lot over the last couple of years. Patients, oftentimes if they get anything from their nephrologist,-they might get told to wash their salt.
But just saying “watch your salt” like what does that mean? If you don’t know what that means, that’s not very helpful.
And people might also be given outdated information about the diet because like I said, the field has been evolving, the type of information that somebody would’ve been given 15, 10, even five years ago probably looks very different from the research and the knowledge that we have now and what types of nutrition approaches we can take to manage kidney disease.
So I think it’s really important for people with kidney disease to see a dietitian, especially a board certified specialist in kidney nutrition, who is really up on all of this current research and can help to clarify what are the facts and what is the outdated information, because people oftentimes will go to “Doctor Google” and find all this information and just get really confused and not really sure how to figure out exactly what’s right for them.
And that’s what I do. I just kind of make it easy and take all that stress and anxiety out of it.
Christine: Well, that’s awesome because even as I was researching questions for this episode, I was finding information that was outdated from, you know, back when I was doing clinical several years ago!
Kate: Mmm hm!
Christine: and I’m thinking, wow, there’s a lot that’s changed. So this is gonna be really exciting to hear from a specialist, all about what’s new.
So let’s get into some questions that vegans in particular (so those that are a hundred percent plant based) might have about chronic kidney disease!
The first question, kind of just a big overview question is: can you still stay vegan if you’ve been diagnosed with CKD?
Kate: You definitely can still stay vegan, however certain nutrients might need to be modified. And this looks a little bit different for everybody based on what was the cause of the kidney disease and what stage of kidney disease you are at now.
This kind of goes back to some of that outdated information that’s found online! If you look up a, like a meal plan for kidney disease, you’re gonna find something that’s like grits and eggs for breakfast, like a Turkey sandwich on white bread for lunch, chicken and white rice and green beans for dinner.
And it, you know, it, it seems kind of contradictory looking at that because if you know that some of the top causes of chronic kidney disease include things like diabetes, it’s really weird that you’re seeing things like the white rice recommended!
And we also know, of course, that plant-based diets can be really beneficial for high blood pressure and for managing diabetes.
So that’s where it gets confusing, like- why are we seeing these completely different things recommended once you get to a kidney disease diet- if it’s strongly related to these other conditions?
So if you are following a, a fully vegan plant-based diet and managing kidney disease, it’s really important to make sure that you are taking interventions to manage whatever is the cause of the kidney disease.
So if you have high blood pressure, it’s really important to prioritize keeping that blood pressure well controlled. If you have diabetes, it’s very important to eat in a way that’s going to keep those blood sugar levels well managed to prevent any further damage to the kidneys.
What we know about diets that can hurt the kidneys over time are things that are typically gonna be higher sugar, higher salt, more highly processed foods, saturated fats (because of their link to heart health).
And we also actually know that animal proteins, because of the way that the proteins break down in the body, can be damaging to the kidneys over time. So actually, plant-based diets can be extremely beneficial, but they just need to be carefully planned to make sure that they’re hitting all the nutritional targets for somebody with kidney disease.
Christine: When you mentioned the white bread stuff, it was bringing me flashbacks to my clinical days when we had those handouts and it was saying like, you know, choose white bread over whole wheat bread.
Kate Yeah!
Christine: As I understand, that’s kind of changed, hasn’t it?
Kate: It definitely has. Yeah, I had those handouts too.
I actually, I have one saved in my Google Drive- one that I used to use back in my hospital days. And I look at it, and I’m just like, oh, no. Like I was sharing the best information I had at the time, but you know, I just, wish I had understood more cuz I feel like I definitely, you know, led some people astray. Obviously I would share different information if I was counseling those patients.
Christine: Yeah, for sure. So I’m guessing that a lot of your clients have questions about phosphorus and potassium. Maybe they’ve been told by their doctors just as a blanket statement to “cut down on it.” And there’s a lot of high phosphorus and potassium foods at vegans eat like legumes, for example.
What would you say to that? Should everyone with CKD be limiting phosphorus and potassium? That’s two different questions, but..
Kate: Yeah. I can start by talking about the potassium and then the phosphorus, but what I’ll say first is that that does kind of go back to that old renal diet where people were told kind of broadly, if you have kidney disease: Avoid these things.
So there’s two important things to know about that: Number one-the diet needs to be individualized for everybody. If you have kidney disease and you have normal potassium and phosphorous levels in your blood, there’s really no indication to be overly restrictive of either of these nutrients. It really needs to be based on the individual.
The other thing to keep in mind is: I oftentimes see it said “potassium and phosphors are bad for the kidneys”, and that’s not really the case. These nutrients are not directly damaging the kidneys or causing harm to them. What does happen over time (if the kidneys are not working properly), is that levels of potassium and phosphorus can build up in the bloodstream, and that can become a problem in the body when those levels are high.
But the nutrients themselves are not bad for the kidneys or damaging to the kidneys. So I think that’s a really important myth to correct. I’ll talk a little bit about the potassium first.
So potassium is found in lots of plant foods of course. And one thing that is really interesting about this guidance to restrict potassium… it’s really not founded in a lot of strong evidence (that eating a super high potassium diet actually increases the potassium levels in the bloodstream)!
As nephrology practitioners, we use guidelines called the KDIGO Guidelines, that’s K D I G O. It stands for “Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes,” and they’re our clinical practice guidelines. And if you look at the section on potassium, it actually says in there that potassium, there’s really not very many studies that actually link potassium in the diet to high potassium levels in the blood.
This recommendation that’s been out there for a long time, it’s really kind of been operating on more of an assumption: that if you eat a lot of high potassium foods, it’s gonna cause high potassium in the bloodstream.
So it then further goes on to say in the guidelines that if somebody does have high potassium, there’s many other things that can cause high potassium in the blood.
So this could be poorly controlled diabetes, it could be related to certain medications. it could be related to a GI bleed, it could be related to acidosis, which is a condition that happens in kidney disease where the blood gets too acidic. So it’s really recommended to explore all these other causes first, then maybe look at dietary factors.
And some people might be more sensitive to dietary, potassium than others, but, really, we actually have very little evidence that a high potassium diet is really contributing to high potassium in the blood.
And in fact, it could be detrimental to restrict high potassium foods because we know that a lot of these high potassium foods are just rich in fiber and antioxidants and so many other nutrients that are really important.
So we might actually be doing people a disservice by promoting like a lower potassium diet when it’s not really warranted.
Christine: So don’t give up your tomatoes if you don’t have to. Right? Exactly. To
Kate: Exactly!
Christine: Especially if you enjoy them.
Kate: Exactly. And I hear that all the time. People tell me, you know: “I don’t eat tomatoes anymore” “I don’t even put a one slice on my sandwich anymore.”
And I say, “no, like, have a slice on your sandwich!” And that’s the other thing I’ll emphasize is that even if you are, told by a dietitian that it’s best to limit your potassium intake, you don’t have to completely avoid super high potassium foods.
There’s always a way to plan and fit those foods into your diet. So those foods can fit. And that’s the approach that I take. I really don’t like to tell people to avoid anything one hundred percent.
Christine: Yeah. That just makes us… sad!
Kate: Yeah!
(they laugh)
Christine: Hey friends, I just wanted to pop in really quick to tell you about my awesome resource, plantpoweredyou.com
It is a dietitian created resource for those wanting to start or sustain a vegan diet. We’ve got information about transitioning, information about selecting vegan products! So so go ahead and check it out- It’s all free! plantpoweredyou.com
All right, friends, let’s get back to the episode.
So what about, um, phosphorus then?
Kate: Yeah. So again, if the kidneys aren’t working well to regulate the phosphorus levels in the body, phosphorus can build up in the bloodstream. That’s a problem because that phosphorus in the blood can contribute to forming some calcifications or hardening in the blood vessels in the body-including the blood vessels in the heart. That is really dangerous.
So high blood phosphorus is a really bad thing that we want to avoid. High blood phosphorus is also usually an indication that there might be some problems with bone health because some of the phosphorus that ends up in the blood (without going too in depth into kidney physiology), some of the phosphorus that ends up in the bloodstream is actually pulled out of the bones-that’s something that can happen when the kidneys are not working well.
But in terms of phosphorus in the diet, lots of plant foods like beans and nuts and whole grain bread, they are higher phosphorous foods! So those have typically been on those “lists of foods to avoid you know… choose white rice or white bread instead,” which is really confusing to a lot of people because they’ve heard that whole grains in beans and nuts are healthy.
Christine: Yes!
Kate: So the thing to know about this, and this is something that we’ve, been teaching for within the last five years now- there’s actually different types of phosphorous in our foods.
Some are more bioavailable than others, meaning that some are more easily absorbed into the body than others. The type of phosphorus it is found in our plant foods- it is bound to phytates in the foods and that phosphorus is actually not highly absorbed. We call this like phosphorus that’s naturally found in plant foods organic phosphorus, and it’s really only like 20 to 50% absorbed.
So, for example, if you’re looking at a jar of peanut butter and it says that it has 200 milligrams of phosphorous per serving. You’re really only absorbing about a hundred milligrams-half of that or less. So even though something might look like a higher phosphorous food, the body really isn’t absorbing very much of it.
We also do have some phosphorus that is found artificially added to foods. It’s a food additive in things like Coca-Cola is the big one I always tell people to look out for. It’s in there as a food additive and that artificial phosphorus, it’s also called inorganic phosphorus that’s absorbed upwards of 90%.
Christine: Oh Wow!
Kate: So those types of things are the ones that are really going to impact blood phosphorous levels. So that’s what I really advise people to look out for. And again, It could be detrimental to overly restrict those plant foods just for the sake of the phosphorus, because you’d be missing out on all the awesome benefits of eating those foods otherwise.
Christine: Well, that’s really good news for vegans because, they eat plant-based foods! But, if they are wanting to choose some of the more processed vegan stuff, like let’s say vegan cheeses or plant-based milks, is there anything they should be looking for in the labels in regards to phosphorus?
Kate: Yeah, so phosphorus is not always going to be listed on the nutrition fact panel. I typically teach people to look in the ingredients list. If you see any ingredient that contains the prefixed “phos,” P h O S, that would be an indication that there is some artificial phosphorous added to that product.
Like I said, you don’t have to avoid certain foods one hundred percent, but that might be a case where you look and say, “okay, this one has phosphorus. Is there a similar product that’s an alternative that doesn’t have phosphorus?” Or if, if that’s the one that you wanna choose, maybe just be mindful of how often you are using it.
Christine: Awesome. Yeah. What are some examples of that? Does it say like, phosphate, does that, does that count too? As long as it has “phos” in it?
Kate: Yeah, so it’ll be things like, “Dicalcium phosphate, tricalcium phosphate, phosphoric acid, sodium hexameta-phosphate…” There’s a whole bunch of different ones.
I actually can send you a list of some different options if that’s something that you would wanna share with listeners so people would know what to look for on their food labels.
Christine: Yeah! We’ll be sure to link that down below.
Another hot topic for those with CKD is protein. So if their doctor probably says, you know, you need to limit protein, and they’re like, “Wow, you know, I don’t eat animal products! I’m just eating, you know, like fruits and vegetables! Beans are probably the highest sources of proteins I have…”
What would you say to vegans with CKD? Should they be limiting beans, for example?
Kate: The most important thing for vegans with CKD to know is: to understand exactly how much protein they should be eating over the course of the day.
And then from that you can start to determine how much can I have at each meal and what is an appropriate amount?
Christine: I like that!
Kate: Exactly. Yeah. So things like beans and lentils can fit! Or things like nuts or nut butters, those can fit in very easily into a lower protein diet. You would need to be mindful of portions of these things because a lower protein meal can become a high protein meal if you’re doing larger portions.
But just in as example, some people with kidney disease might be aiming for like 40 grams of protein per day in total. So eating something like, half a cup of beans for a meal that would provide about seven grams of protein, so that would be completely appropriate to have at a meal.
This is one of the reasons why plant-based diets are actually really great for chronic kidney disease, is because animal proteins are significantly higher in protein. So, just based on the amount of protein in those foods is very hard to limit into a low protein diet- a lower protein diet for chronic kidney disease.
So eating plant proteins is a really great way to go.
Now, some, some protein foods like tofu and seiten and tempeh might be a little bit higher in protein. But again, it’s just about knowing what the portion is and how that fits into your overall protein budget for the entire day.
Christine: I like that because it gives your clients, you know, some power with what they wanna pick to meet those protein needs!
Kate: Exactly.
Christine: Awesome. Yeah. And then, I’m sure another really common question you get is about sodium! Maybe their doctor has said, “you need to limit sodium, but they’re not very specific.”
Maybe your patients are like “Well, I cut out the salt shaker, so I’m good. Right?” What do you have to say about that?
Kate: Right. Yeah, so I think that’s what people think most of the time is, I’m gonna stop cooking with salt. But the majority of salt in the typical diet comes from more of our more processed foods, and there’s, there’s degrees of processed foods.
When I say processed, I don’t necessarily mean like like frozen meals and things. Bread is a processed food. Canned beans are processed foods. They’re, you know, they’re less processed but they are still processed to a degree cuz they’re different than the original food item. Um, so anything that is processed in any way could potentially have some salt added to it.
And that could be there for flavoring or it could be there as a preservative. Um, one of the big things that I tell people to watch out for is salt in breads. Breads can be very, very high sodium foods.
Christine: Yes.
Kate: I really like to recommend choosing a bread like Ezekiel bread which is a sprouted grain bread.
Christine: I like that one.
Kate: So something like that is a really great choice for the kidney. And it’s a whole grain product. So that’s a bonus, and you’ll get some good fiber and lots of other good nutrients in there as well.
Another thing that I’ll mention with the sodium that I think a lot of people get confused about when shifting to a more kidney focused diet because many of my clients that I work with, they have not previously been plant based, but are shifting that way for kidney health because we know that it has a lot of great benefits. Um, a lot of people will hear, plant based, or I’m eating, you know, plant based foods, and they will choose options like the Beyond Burger or the Impossible Burger because those are plant based options.
But those are pretty highly processed, plant-based options, and they contain quite a lot of salt in them. So I always emphasize that, you know, if you are eating, a vegan plant-based diet for kidney disease, you really wanna be mindful about limiting those processed “pho-meat” products just because they can have so much salt in them
Again sometimes it’s okay, but the majority of the time it’s gonna be a better option to go for something like beans or lentils or tofu or soy products that are gonna be naturally lower in salt
Christine: Yeah-Not to mention they’ll probably be less expensive too!
Kate: Definitely, yeah, definitely. That’s, that’s another myth about the plant based or vegan diet is that: it’s really expensive!
It’s actually not though, if you’re buying a lot of the fake meat products it can be pretty pricey. But if you’re buying lots of beans and lentils and those types of things, it’s pretty affordable.
Christine: Yes. So we covered so much, but in closing, is there anything else that vegans should know about nutrition for CKD?
Kate: I would say the main thing just to know and understand is that nutrition can be so powerful for managing chronic kidney disease and a whole foods plant-based diet is honestly one of the most powerful tools that we have to manage chronic kidney disease, to improve the lab values, to put less work on the kidneys to help people feel more energized!
I’ve seen clients go from being basically in stage 5 on the verge of needing to start dialysis, go back to stage 4 because their numbers are improving!
Christine: Wow!
Kate: being on you know, a well-planned whole foods plant-based diet has helped them achieve that. So just know that it is really powerful and know that it’s not inevitable that kidney disease is only going to get worse or continue to progress.
There’s steps that are within your control to, you know, make diet changes and really feel empowered that there’s something that you can do. But in the meantime, people can reach out to dietitians on their own if this is something they want to learn more about and get more guidance on a well planned vegan diet for kidney health.
People can find me at my website, which is yourkidneydietitian.com. Um, I’m also on TikTok and Instagram @yourkidneydietititan.
And I run a 12 week nutrition program for people with kidney disease. That just helps them feel a lot more confident about their food choices and feel confident that they can manage their disease while also still enjoying life and time with friends and travel and like all those things about life that are, you know, important and enjoyable.
Christine: That’s awesome. Yeah. So don’t wait for your doctor to send a referral that he may never send! .
Kate: Mhm!
Christine: Check Kate out and I’m such a big fan of her Instagram page. She has such great information on there.
And so in closing, I just have a little fun question for you: What is your favorite dish at the moment (because it’s always changing). And choose one famous vegan that is alive currently, who you’re eating it with.
Kate: Great question. So I had to think about this for a minute, but we had a new upscale vegan restaurant open in Chicago recently called Planta. Um, I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. They have a couple locations, but they just recently opened.
I went there for my birthday recently and it was amazing. And they had this fabulous dish called Bing Bing broccoli. It was almost like a kind of like crispy, tempura kind of broccoli that had this really good dipping sauce. And I just, I cannot stop thinking about it and I can’t wait to go back and have it again.
And I would love to share a meal there or share that dish with Lizzo because I’m a huge fan of her, and how focused on body positivity she is. I think she’s fabulous and not to be like a hipster, but I’ve been a fan of her for a long time and I’ve been excited to see her get so popular over the last couple years.
She’s really awesome. So Lizzo, call me if you wanna go to Planta with me and get some bing bing broccoli.
Christine: Yes! Come to Chicago! Awesome. And then before you go too, I know that you have… today is Black Friday-it’s November 25, 2022. And I know that you have a special offer going on for a limited time, so could you please share that with everyone out there?
Kate: Definitely-Yeah. Today’s through November 30th. I have a special holiday promo going on, for anybody who joins my 12 week nutrition program. I have a brand new, diabetes and chronic kidney disease mini course.
Just like there’s a lot of confusing information out there about kidney disease, a lot of people really struggle when trying to combine the information that they’re finding about diabetes in kidney disease in a healthy way.
So I have a mini course that I’ve created with an easy framework for how to combine these, the diets for these two conditions. And I also have a three day meal plan with 10 recipes. So anybody who joins my nutrition program between now and the 30th, will get access to this mini course for free.
So if this is something that, you know, is relevant to you with having both kidney disease and diabetes, you definitely don’t wanna miss it.
Christine: Awesome. And we will link all of that in the show notes. So go ahead and check Kate out and thank you so much for coming on the podcast.
Kate: Thank you so much for having me.
It was so fun to talk about this. I love talking about the kidneys and all things kidney nutrition and plant-based nutrition, so I really appreciate the opportunity.
Christine: Hey friends, before you go, don’t forget to follow Kate over on Instagram or TikTok. Her handle is: yourkidneydietitian. She’s also over on the web at yourkidneydietitian.com
And if you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and give it a five star rating on Apple Podcasts. Check out plantpoweredyou.com for more information about vegan nutrition! Until next time…