Kidney Cancer Nutrition Pre and Post Radical Nepherectomy #diet #Nutritional support #Kidneycancernutrition

I would say just eat healthily and normally. Plenty of veg and good quality protein of whatever sort is your norm. For after the op do have a freezer full of healthy easy meals that you enjoy. You may not feel up to much standing and cooking. No need to puree.. you will need roughage to get the bowels working properly! Have some treats too. Self-care and things that cheer you up are important for recovery!

Hi Beebo,

I can talk for hours about good diet!! but I'll try and be succinct.

Avoid Ultra Processed Foods as if they didn't exist!!! That applies at any stage in your life but most people are only beginning to realise that the big "food" manufacturing companies have flooded the shops with UPFs which are designed to be cheap, tasty, and keep us hungry enough to want to keep buying more. Plus a lot of them are packed in plastic, adding to all those microplastics already in our bodies since years ago.

I cook from scratch. I cook a balanced meal: a less than palm sized piece of fish or sometimes meat, half a plate of various vegetables, and a little bit of carbs such as 4 mini potatoes. I never add sauces, not even home made. My go-to for added taste is ground peppercorns. I try and eat as pure as possible, therefore breakfast is two boiled eggs, a banana and/or overnight oats - jumbo oats soaked in milk and I also add milled flaxseed, or milled linseed. Tea/supper, is good quality soup, sometimes with a slice of good quality bread. I pay more for my soup to get one that comes in a carton and has solely vegetables, with no additives...it is a French one ordered from French Click. The UK soups all have added salt, oils, all kinds of stuff. I used to make my own soup but freezer space (is full of frozen veg!) dictates how much of a big batch I can freeze these days. I buy bread from the Polish deli which is multi-grain, sourdough and has no sugar or other unneeded substances added. I pay more for better quality food these days, so eat a bit less of it to compensate for the higher price.

Plant-based diet is ok but only if you are cooking from scratch. Avoid pre-prepared foodstuffs. You can knock up a veggie dish quite easily with fresh veg and pulses, and pepper and herbs to season. Use extra virgin olive oil in preference to other oils. Baked beans apparently come under "healthy UPFs" but you could even make your own with some mixed beans, a can or bottle of passata, and perhaps a little flour to bind...I haven't tried but I'm sure it's possible. Me, I just add the passata to the beans and leave out the thickening agent of the flour! I even discovered that passata is not all the same! If you buy the plain tomato one, it is just tomato, but if you buy the tomato and basil one, it additionally has salt, sugar and acidity regulator!! 

Not sure why you want to puree everything? but there's no harm in doing so if you wish.

Don't buy things like soya yogurt. They have additives. If you are not strictly vegan, go for the Greek yogurt (not the Greek style) as it has nothing in it except milk.

I always read the labels. Living alone, I don't need to do big shops but I take ages in the supermarket as anything new I want to buy, has to be scrutinised before it goes in my basket! I have read the labels for many years but the last couple of years, I have read them more carefully than ever before and have rejected things that have added unnecessary ingredients or that have several substances that I cannot pronounce. I occasionally buy some of these items, such as chocolate, as a treat. 

You sound like you are doing pretty well already as you are cooking from scratch. As long as you have all the food groups within your diet, including protein which is less easy if you happen to be vegan, you are setting yourself up for a good healthy gut and body to go into surgery with.

Just seen Tilly's reply as she was posting as I was doing so. 

Excellent advice from her. I almost forgot the "after" you had asked about!

If you have freezer space, batch-cook soups and home-made dishes for when you come home. Anything that is easy to heat up/cook. Soups are really good and nutritious even if you don't feel like eating or indeed cooking.