Dieting Stinks!!

Have you ever had that moment where you are looking in the mirror and you notice your favorite outfit is fitting a bit snug. You think to yourself, "I need to go on a diet!" Dieting for some people is a very normal and easy (ish) thing. For someone with PKU it is a very hard thing to do.

Other than the low protein diet that all PKU patients should be on, there isn't a safe diet to go on. Most diets are based on PROTEIN, PROTEIN, PROTEIN!! Obviously, that is not an option for someone with PKU. Every diet has something that a person with PKU will have a problem with.

Here are a few examples...

Slim-Fast
Although their Shakes are delicious the contain 10 grams of protein each.
The Snack Bars aren't too bad, with 1 gram of protein, but they aren't really nutritious for you either.
The Meal Bars have 8 grams of protein.
The Shake Mixes are not much different than the shakes, coming in at 10 grams.

Atkins
Snack Bars come in at 8 grams of protein.
Breakfast Bars have 10 grams of protein.
Dessert Bars have 5 grams.
All Purpose Baking Mix has 20 grams.
Pasta has 11 grams.

South Beach Diet
Meal Bars: 12 grams of protein.
Snack Bars: 6 grams of protein.
Breakfast Bars: 9 grams of protein.

As you can see, all diets are based off of high protein levels. There are many more but I figured you wouldn't want to read more, you get the point.

Someone with PKU is already on what is known as the "Low protein diet." They get their protein from a formula, there are many different brands and flavors. They make shakes that have the daily amount of protein already broken down, or missing a piece known as phenylalanine.

There are no real diet options for someone with PKU, the only thing we can do is watch our portion sizes and exercise. That gets very difficult at times.

Until next time,
Phe