Stopping Kidney Disease Food Guide: A recipe, nutrition and meal planning guide to treat the factors driving the progression of incurable kidney disease

This cookbook has delicious recipes that are easy to make. If you are looking to increase fruits and vegetables in your meals this is a great cookbook. Just one or two recipes are worth the price of this cookbook because once you find your favorite recipes I believe you will then make them on a regular basis. I'm eating out of this cookbook for the most part, repeating recipes each week.Each recipe has a nice photograph plus cost analysis and nutrition facts. I don't see any sugar being used in these recipes, just calorie free sweeteners of your choice. The recipes are also low-salt to no salt so you can adjust your salt-intake as needed.At the end of the book there is a handy index, lists of recipes by cook time, preparation time and price. I found these recipes to be economical but it will depend on how much you need to get to start. I already have all the dried herbs and spices.You will need a blender for the smoothies and if you want to make the ice cream an ice cream maker is needed.Most of the fruits and vegetables are easy to find.The more I looked through this cookbook the more appealing the recipes became. So far the recipes I've tried have been great. I made 8 recipes so far:Stewed Cinnamon Apples - I used apple pie spice instead of the cinnamon.Omelet with Peppers and Onion - I used a whole egg instead of just the egg whites.Pineapple with Rum Sauce - I used apple juice in place of the water and rum and just used rum extract. I cut up the pineapple into little pieces and served them with ice cream.Basic Fruit Smoothie - I used mango and strawberries plus blueberries and froze all the fruit before making. I also used orange juice in place of the milk substitutes, water and other fruit. So easy to adapt.Coconut Macaroons - I loved these - they bake fast and are really easy to make. I used rice flour instead of tapioca flour and they worked perfectly. These are delicious treats and so healthy too.Sweet Potato baked in the oven - a 15 ounce one takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes. (so good)Tostada Salad – I ended up making the dressing out of mayonnaise and the lime juice, plus I put the chili powder and garlic powder in the dressing. I added plant chicken pieces and used jalapeno lime tortilla chips. I also roasted some chopped red onion with the corn. (I'm making this again soon!!!!)Ginger Garlic Vegetable Ramen Bowls – I used thin spaghetti instead of the mung bean noodles and made the umami sauce with low sodium tamari and water. I also used vegetable base plus water in place of the unsalted vegetable broth. I can have a little salt at dinner.Pumpkin Chili - Possibly one of the best recipes for using canned pumpkin ever! Will make this again! (I'm now making it with even a little more pumpkin and the sauce is delicious. I think I will use half a can for each recipe and then save half the pumpkin in the freezer for later. I also use two medium zucchinis instead of the eggplant...so all zucchini instead of eggplant and zucchini) - I'm now using the Happy Belly pumpkin puree and this recipe has become even more economical. I use vegetable base and water in place of the vegetable stock.Other recipes I want to try soon include:Cherry LemonadeVegetable FajitasMushroom BourguignonVegetable MasalaCorn SoupSo I think you will really enjoy these recipes and there are plenty to choose from. I am already thinking of making the coconut macaroons again or even doubling the recipe! They are so good and are made with maple syrup.I can't wait to try more recipes and I hope more delicious recipes will be created even for a second cook book. I find these so easy to make especially if you prep the vegetables the day before and have them ready to go for the pumpkin chili. Then in 15-20 minutes, dinner is served.Enjoy!~The Rebecca ReviewP.S. Update 6/25/2024 - So eating more vegetables and fruit really does work. My GFR is back up to 61 after it had fallen to 58. Making the pumpkin chili all the time has been a great idea! My goal is to get it back to 68 again. With this cookbook and some supplements I'm doing really well.

Yes, some people will be immediately put off by the diet, as it is almost vegan. (As far as I can see, the only non-vegan ingredients mentioned are egg whites and maybe butter.) But the author, Mr Hull, explains WHY this is—our weakened kidneys have to struggle when dealing with the high acid load in meat and a lot of dairy products. An excellent way to speed our kidney decline is to eat lots of animal protein, which is what we DON'T want!The diet is not vegan, vegetarian, or any "ian" diet; it pushes no political, philosophical, or any other agenda, other than "let's eat better for our kidneys." Many people have a problem with this as if they think that it's some sort of an affront to be expected to eat no meat! Look, Mr Hull didn't make the "rules" about what our kidneys can tolerate, he just reports what IS. And this is it. Meat, cheese, and dairy are hard on our kidneys. Complaining about this fact doesn't change anything.As for the cookbook itself, it's very helpful in explaining the different things we need to be looking for when planning our meals and the reasons for them. His other book (Stopping Kidney Disease) is important to read first because it gives a back story about the WHY (with copious medical studies backing up his conclusions). In this cookbook he gives suggestions on how to transition to this new diet. He gives an abbreviated list of food values so you have an idea of which foods have what elements in them. This helps you plan your menu and grocery shopping.The recipes themselves? I've only dabbled in a few—primarily his mainstay "pecans and cranberries every morning" breakfast. (It's great, and he's right, it's super easy to prepare and you KNOW it's good for you!) The recipes look delicious and I plan on trying a few. But even if I don't—they still give me a starting point and an idea of what I can do. As it is now, I'm happily making some similar dishes, inspired by his cookbook.He makes it clear that this cookbook is just the first edition, and that he plans further, improved editions. As for now, I think it's a great start and will help you get a clearer picture of what is possible with this diet.

Like the summary and information in the book at the beginning, not really impressed with the recipes though, doesn’t really seem like sufficient recipes to last you 90 days. Feels like there should be more structure to the food guide.