Healthy Festive Fare: Dialysis patients whip up renal-friendly Christmas meal in ITE-NKF tie-up

This article was contributed by the Institute of Technical Education (ITE).

Due to the need to control their sodium intake, dialysis patients are typically constrained to bland or plain food options.

This year-end festive season, however, some 20 caregivers and patients from the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) had the chance to learn from Chef Jason Koh of ITE College West, on how to cook a flavourful yet renal-friendly Christmas meal to enjoy with their families.

Developed as part of a wider three-year collaboration between the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and NKF to provide nutrition education to ITE students as well as adult learners, this ‘Healthy Christmas Menu’ short course comprised a three-hour virtual lesson with an NKF dietician on Nov 25 and a four-hour hands-on cooking session at ITE College West’s training kitchen on Saturday (Dec 12).

Mdm Siti Hanim Abdul Rahim was one of those who participated in the workshop. The 57-year-old music teacher and NKF patient-cum-volunteer enjoys cooking at home, as she believes this is a good way to prepare dialysis-friendly meals.

“I joined this cooking workshop to learn some nutrition tips, as well as new recipes that I hope to try out at home,” she shared.

For noodle stall owner Mdm Widya Tania, 51, it was the refreshing course menu which prompted her to sign up for the hands-on workshop.

She said, “I have never tried ingredients like turkey in my cooking before, it is something new to learn.”

She also believes that these dishes will be healthy and suitable for her, as the menu was specially designed with renal patients’ dietary requirements in mind.