These blueberry muffins are more delicious than any boxed muffin mix and contain zero phosphorus additives. Typical blueberry muffin recipes and mixes include baking powder – which is just one big phosphorus additive!
This post may contain affiliate links through which we may earn a small commission to help keep this website free.
Table of Contents
- Are blueberry muffins good for kidney disease?
- Be careful with recipes found on big company websites
- Kidney Friendly Blueberry Muffin Recipe
People with kidney disease should avoid phosphorus additives whenever possible. These additives are very easily absorbed by your body, and too much phosphorus can cause problems with your cardiovascular system.
The good news is that there are kidney friendly alternatives to the traditional baking powder that is available in grocery stores. In fact, these baking powder alternatives are quite common in other parts of the world.
Here is the “recipe” for kidney friendly baking powder:
You can use it 1:1 to replace traditional baking powder in recipes. If a recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of baking powder, you would simply use 2 teaspoons of kidney friendly baking powder instead. This will dramatically cut down on the phosphorus in your recipes.
Are blueberry muffins good for kidney disease?
Pre-made muffins and boxed muffins mixes will almost always contain a phosphorus additive, so making muffins from scratch (which is actually quite easy!) is the way to go for kidney friendly blueberry muffins. Blueberry muffins can be an excellent treat for people with kidney disease, as long as they are made from scratch and contain no phosphorus additives. They are typically low in sodium, potassium, and protein..
Note that I am calling blueberry muffins a treat. Blueberry muffins are usually going to be high in sugar, which is why I would consider them a treat. They will also be low in fiber, and fiber is very important for a kidney friendly diet. They are fine to enjoy in moderation. Just be sure you are still getting in adequate vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and plant proteins in your diet.
Be careful with recipes found on big company websites
I did a search for “kidney friendly blueberry muffins” and was somewhat shocked that the two major dialysis websites were showing recipes that contained regular old baking powder.
FYI – these websites are typically run by Marketing teams, not dietitians. Not only that, but the recipes are often geared more towards people on dialysis and not people who have CKD and are not on dialysis. Sometimes that doesn’t matter, but sometimes it does (especially when it comes to protein!).
If a recipe is claiming to be “kidney friendly”, be sure that it is written by a dietitian and includes an in depth explanation for why it is kidney friendly. It is important to understand how the foods you choose will impact your kidneys and your health.
Kidney Friendly Blueberry Muffin Recipe
Blueberry muffins are considered a quick bread, and they are remarkably easy to make from scratch. I grew up making blueberry muffins from a box mix. I even recently made boxed muffins for a school event when I was too lazy to find a recipe I (wrongly) assumed it would be a lot more work to make them from scratch.
The boxed mix muffins were not that great in my opinion (although my son thought they were delightful). He wouldn’t stop asking me when we were going to make more blueberry muffins. I personally try to avoid phosphate additives for my family whenever possible, because I believe they are harmful for everyone – not just people with kidney disease.
I started searching for an easy recipe to make with my kids and came across this one: https://www.inspiredtaste.net/18982/our-favorite-easy-blueberry-muffin-recipe/ They were SO EASY to make and turned out so tasty. I’ll never use a boxed mix again.
I made a few tweaks to their recipe:
- I substituted the baking powder for kidney friendly baking powder.
- I used whole wheat flour instead of regular powder. This helps add a bit more fiber to the muffins, which is beneficial for everyone. I still consider them a treat because of how much sugar they have in them, but an ever-so-slightly healthier treat by using the whole wheat flour. You can use regular whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour.
- I also used dairy free milk in my recipe (which they said was fine). I am lactose intolerant, so I try to go with dairy free when I can. For people with kidney disease, dairy free milks are typically lower in protein. Reducing the amount of animal protein you consume (and dairy counts as animal protein!) can help you better manage metabolic acidosis and take some pressure off your kidneys.
- I also opted to use frozen blueberries instead of fresh simply because that is what I had on hand (and because we prefer the texture of smaller blueberries in the muffins vs. larger fresh ones). I followed their instructions and did not thaw them. They still left streaks of purple in the batter, but my kids thought that was cool! If you were looking for a more picture-perfect muffin, I would consider using fresh blueberries or rinsing the frozen ones to wash away some of the blueberry juice.
You can use any blueberry muffin recipe that you like, and simply substitute the baking powder with kidney friendly baking powder to make it low in phosphorus.
Kidney Friendly Blueberry Muffins
Nutrition:
Nutrition:
10
servings5
minutes20
minutesIngredients
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
.75 cups brown sugar
2 tsp kidney friendly baking powder (2 parts cream of tartar, 1 part baking soda)
.25 tsp salt
1/3 cup sunflower oil or other neutral flavored oil
1 large egg
1/3 cup unsweetened kidney friendly almond milk
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup blueberries
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a standard sized muffin tin with 10 paper liners.
- Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk oil, egg, almond milk, and vanilla until evenly mixed.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir gently until batter is evenly mixed, but be careful not to overmix.
- Gently fold in blueberries (if using frozen, consider rinsing them to avoiding making the batter purple).
- Divide batter evenly into muffin cups and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until tops are not longer wet and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out with crumbs but not wet batter.