Fad Diets & PKU

As the prime month for dieting begins, please spare a thought for those of us who have no choice but to avoid over 80% of foods every day, every year.

Why do I feel bad when my PKU embarasses others managing lifestyle diets?...I remind them of their privilege.

The privilege of choice

A few of my friends have been trying various diets, and all power to them. I genuinely hope that they are happy with their food. The conversations this month tend to revolve around how cutting out or adding foods has helped people. This can be difficult for someone with PKU, or the many other rare dieases which are managed by a restricted diet therapy.

Often these conversations become stilted or end in embarassing silences when those involved remember that am managing a far more restricted diet, or cannont make simple changes to my diet.

Why do I feel bad when my PKU embarasses others discusing their lifestyle diets?

Because, whether I speak or not, I remind them of their privilege. Being able to chose what you eat, or what you avoid, is not an option for anyone on a medically restricted diet. This is the downside of the fad diet phenomenon. For of us sitting through these conversations, it’s going to take a pretty big upside to balance that out.

PKU-friendly products

The trend towards plant-based and vegan diets has improved the wide availability of PKU-friendly products. I wasn’t allowed cheese for the first 30 years of my life. But then coconut based cheeses came out and suddenly I was rolling in cheesy experiments.

There are many other new products of course. For the first time in our relationship the hubby and I can have the same milk in our tea. This may not seem huge, but it’s the small things that matter - and the knowledge that if you mix the cups up you don’t have to worry. The PKU social media community are an excellent resource to find PKU friendly products.

PKU-friendly recipes

Finding PKU-friendly recipes for all of these new products is exciting. I often have a go at making these inventive dishes at home. Weekends are a good time for experimenting and filling up the freezer with handy low-Phe or Phe-free meals.

If these work a few times, then I'll pop the recipes up at https://pigpen.page/tag/recipes/. Or these can be searched by main ingredient (e.g., carrot or fennel) using the search box on the home page. Alternately, check out the websites for the specialist food providers.

The PKU social media community are an excellent resource to find PKU friendly products

Eating out

Eating out has also become much easier in the last few years. In pubs, the standard meal was salad & chips and the restaurant dish was some a version of vegetarian risotto or pasta. “Hold the parmesan please.”

The trend towards catering for other diets has helped. Obviously, just because a dish is plant based or vegan doesn’t mean that it is suitable for the PKU diet. But there is more choice now. The number of tweakable dishes per menu has only increased slightly but the variety has exploded. Some of my meals out have included both teriyaki and tempura cauliflower, ratatouille tartine with vegan cheese, wild mushroom parmentier and beetroot tartare.

Remember, be kind

Whether you are the one with PKU, sitting through a friend's list of 'good and bad' foods, or a friend who just wants to share their experiements, uncomfortable feelings can be avoided with kindness. Perhaps you could tell your friend that, you are happy for them in their lifestyle and move the subject away from diets. Or ask your PKU friend if they have any tips for managing a diet in the long-term which they might share.

I hope many will enjoy the experiments with food this month and are able to making lasting changes for the better. Please remember to leave some of the low-protein vegan items for the rest of us!