May 4th :Low protein foods

Here is a snapshot of some of my favorite low protein foods. This photo includes,  cambrooke bagels , maddys homestyle muffin mix, aproten pasta, cambrooke eggz,My morning breakfast cambrooke eggz omelet!   aproten cookies, my bettermilk formula, apples and plums!

These medically necessary foods make up the majority of the low protein diet. You are required to have a prescription to have access to these foods. You also must be followed by a metabolic clinic and attend regular appointments.    Low protein foods consist of chemically altered and artificial imitation foods. That are made to not have protein in them so therefore are very low in phenylalanine . Unfortunately most are high in carbs and refined sugars. Also high calorie.

There are several companies that specialize in the production of low protein foods.  The most popular is Cambrooke Therapeutics. They have many pre made and frozen foods.

I use to rely heavily on mostly baking mixes and pastas and made a lot of my own food from scratch.  This way I could control what was going into them.

Up until a few years ago, British Columbia Residents paid out of pocket for these medical foods. These foods are very costly. For Example a bag of pasta is 9 dollars. A box of baking mix is 54 dollars. 1 Box ( 1 serving ) of  imitation mac and cheese is 18 dollars, and a bag of rice is 21 dollars.

Thanks to CanPKU , Their team of volunteers including myself and BC Health Minister Terry Lake BC residents now have a low protein food subsidy of 250 dollars a month. We also now order foods from the National Food Distribution Center in Montreal and they have a freezer section so now I have access to the pre made cambrooke foods. The convenience of the low protein foods give me more freedom and time  to focus on other things. I use to bake food once a week on the weekend and make enough to freeze for the week. Now I can grab something from Cambrooke on the go.

My favorite foods are the Cambrooke Eggz, Aproten Pasta, Aproten Biscott cookies, Fruity Banana hot cereals, and the cambrooke pitas, pizza rolls, bagels , tortillas, and mix quick.

I also love the baking mixes by taste connections . I use it to bake perogies and english muffins.

I also frequently bake my own recipes for pizza pockets , pizza , apple strudels, and buns with wheat starch.

I regullary acess low proten recipe sites such as http://www.Cookforlove.org and Cambrooke foods to help make meals more interesting and keep a variety in my diet.