Ditch the sandwich! Wraps to love for your kidneys!

Let’s preface this post, by saying sandwiches are not bad for your kidneys. What you put in a wrap you can put in a sandwich and vice versa. The sodium in one wrap versus 2 slices of bread is almost the same. However, since variety is the spice of life, we wanted to talk about the alternative to the ol’ sandwich. We’ve tried a couple of wraps already, and look forward to trying a few more. Below you will find a list of links to other wraps that could work with some helpful KidneyGrub modification ideas. Hopefully we’ll get to making (and eating) all of them over time.

Before we get to the wraps, here our a few ideas on making your wraps:

Wrap Break Down Info:

Tortilla for your Wrap:

The saltiest part of your wrap is definitely going to be the tortilla. Tortillas labeled for wraps are large and chock full of sodium. Two slices of bread in a sandwich is usually around 250-400 mg of sodium. So I would aim for <400 mgs total sodium from your tortilla (if you have 2 wraps <200mg sodium per tortilla) . You can find some smaller tortillas for around 300 mg sodium. As an alternative, you can do a couple things:
- Have a smaller wrap and a big old side dish of fruit or some more vegetables
- Wrap your fillings in a leafy vegetable like kale, collards, or deveined lettuce,
- Make your own tortillas
- Have really little wraps in corn tortillas. The corn tortilla thing is complicated with wraps because they just don’t roll well…but you could try.

Wrap Fillings: This is where you get your nutritional power! The majority of your wrap could and should be vegetables. Sometimes fruit fits in, but for the most part, vegetables are what count. For hard or crunchy vegetables you’ll need to slice them small in sticks or if you’re lucky enough to have a spiralizer you can do them in ribbons. I don’t have a spiralizer so we just do them in sticks.

Vegetables:

Crunchy vegetables to include: bell peppers, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, cucumbers, jicama, radishes, and water chestnuts. These are usually best cut in small pieces.
Other Veggies to shred or just stuff with: cabbage, endive, escarole, raw mushrooms, onions, snow peas, sprouts of any source, raw spinach, watercress, and zucchini
If you’re willing to cook a little bit then you can use a lot of other vegetables. Also, leftovers make great wrap fillings.
Here is our low potassium list

Protein:

Any type of fresh, cooked meat is great for a filling. With CKD most patients benefit from moderating their meat intake. There is only so much you can put in a wrap so if you fill your wrap with vegetables first you won’t room for excessive amounts of meat. If you’re on dialysis, you can definitely do a little heavier dose of protein.
If you want a deli meat, look for a lower sodium, preservative free deli-meat like Boar’s Head No Salt Added Roast Beef (40mg of sodium per serving) or Deluxe Low Sodium Oven Roasted Beef – Cap-Off Top Round (80mg/serving). Either of these are great choices and obviously drastically lower than the 200-300 mg sodium/serving found in other products. Remember when it comes to deli meat, lower sodium does not necessarily mean low sodium.
Vegetarian Wraps can be tricky for some CKD patients because of the potassium content of common vegetarian wrap fillings like beans. However, if you choose your veggies wisely from the low potassium group you should be fine to add any of the following vegetarian wrap choices to your diet.

Other Flavorful Ingredients:
- Feta (high sodium so use sparingly)
- Olives (can be high sodium and high potassium so use sparingly. Luckily really flavorful olives like kalamata go a long way!)
- Sweet or dill pickles – again they give a nice crunch but are salty, so use small diced bits for flavor.

Wrap Sauces:

This is where the “rubber meets the road!” Having a great sauce will make a wrap go from bearable to fantastic! Having a lower sodium sauce or vinegar to sprinkle on the wrap can help it not be so dry. A couple options: a salad dressing such as Braswell’s Vinaigrette, Mrs. Dash Ranch, or another favorite ( in small quantity if it is salty); a “sauce” such as BBQ sauce, honey mustard, mustard, mayo, etc… Click here for some sauces with used with chicken nuggets recently; a vinegar and oil – a little vinegar and oil goes well with so many things and is a great options. You can also use some hummus as your “sauce” and it makes a great vegetarian option. It is salty though unless you make it at home. If you’re making your wrap for lunch or to eat later, put your sauce on last (or in the middle of the wrap, surrounded by your fillings). Putting the sauce directly on the tortilla could make for a soggy, unappetizing meal later on.

Things to Avoid:

Lots of cheeses – too much phosphorus and sodium! If you’re stage 3 and early stage 4 CKD, a little cheese can work with a wrap, but be conservative. Try either a Swiss cheese (low in sodium) or a very sharp flavorful cheese like very sharp cheddar so you can limit the amount but still have lots of flavor.
Heavy portions of deli meats (lots of sodium and often lots of phosphates)
High potassium vegetables like tomatoes… Of course you can do a little bit, but if you don’t care either way, why not just avoid it?

Wrap Wrap-Up: Wraps to Try

I’ve surfed the web to find at least ten good wraps to try. Many are plant-based for CKD III & IV, but could easily have meat added if you are on dialysis and need more protein. I’ve attached the link and a description on how I would modify the recipe for kidney disease. The nutritional data attached with the recipes is from the original and then if you follow the KidneyGrub modifications, what you would be looking at for potassium, phos, and sodium. You’ll see a couple that we’ve already experimented with on KidneyGrub and we will be trying more down the line. The goal was to offer a variety of different items so you can get some ideas on some things to try. Having special dietary needs does not mean you have to have a boring diet!

Wraps to Try (if you are viewing this on your phone, the full chart may not show…)
Southwestern Chicken Lettuce Wrap
Sodium (goal <500mg)		Potassium (Goal <600mg)		Phos (Goal ~200mg or less)
Original	KidneyGrub	Original	KidneyGrub	Original	KidneyGrub
57mg	52mg	538mg	489mg	276mg	220mg
KidneyGrub Modifications		Why We Like this Recipe
Cut beans down to 1 c; added 1 c roasted corn and 1 c roasted zucchini; opted for 3/4 c green salsa;cut chicken down to 1.5 cups		A good dose of plant protein in this recipe plus lots of great flavor without a lot of salt. For CKD III and IV this would be a great “less-meat” meal. If you want to cut down more potassium, make the beans 1/2 c and increase the rice and/or corn.
Collard Lettuce Wrap
Sodium (goal <500mg)		Potassium (Goal <600mg)		Phos (Goal ~200mg or less)
Original	KidneyGrub	Original	KidneyGrub	Original	KidneyGrub
31mg	179mg	904mg	431mg	163mg	159mg
KidneyGrub Modifications		Why We Like this Recipe
Omitted avocado for 2 tbsp mayo and 2 hummus; added 1/4 tsp of bacon and chives seasoning by mccormick		A great plant-based meal for CKD III and IV. Use a collard leaf instead of tortilla helps cut back on sodium. On dialysis? consider adding some chicken or egg to this wrap for extra protein.
Roast Beef Wrap (no pic available)
Sodium (goal <500mg)		Potassium (Goal <600mg)		Phos (Goal ~200mg or less)
Original	KidneyGrub	Original	KidneyGrub	Original	KidneyGrub
459mg	321mg	285mg	309mg	190mg	67mg
KidneyGrub Modifications		Why We Like this Recipe
Used Boar’s Head Low Sodium Roast Beef and lower sodium cream cheese		We know not everyone wants to go meatless. Here is a way to include a small amount of meat without a lot of salt or heavy protein.
Hummus and Grilled Veggie Wrap
Sodium (goal <500mg)		Potassium (Goal <600mg)		Phos (Goal ~200mg or less)
Original	KidneyGrub	Original	KidneyGrub	Original	KidneyGrub
394mg	392mg	715mg	594mg	266mg	168mg
KidneyGrub Modifications		Why We Like this Recipe
Used homemade rather than store bought hummus to decrease sodium; reduced hummus from 1 c to 1/2 c; omitted pine nuts		Another great plant-based meal for CKD III and IV. It is a little heavier in potassium due to the beans, so keep any sides lower potassium if your potassium tends to run a little high. (for example: an apple, carrot sticks, Craisins, lower sodium corn chips).
Quinoa Wrap with Black Beans and Hominy
Sodium (goal <500mg)		Potassium (Goal <600mg)		Phos (Goal ~200mg or less)
Original	KidneyGrub	Original	KidneyGrub	Original	KidneyGrub
420mg	413mg	301mg	316mg	195mg	192mg
KidneyGrub Modifications		Why We Like this Recipe
Chose unsalted black beans and reduced from 15 oz can to 3/4 c; opted for 1 c brown rice rather than 1.5 c quinoa; omitted added salt; changed to homemade chicken stock		Lower potassium plant-based recipe (kind of hard to find recipes like this sometimes).
Tortilla Roll-Ups
Sodium (goal <500mg)		Potassium (Goal <600mg)		Phos (Goal ~200mg or less)
Original	KidneyGrub	Original	KidneyGrub	Original	KidneyGrub
213mg	213mg	65.4mg	65.4mg	69.2mg	69.2mg
KidneyGrub Modifications		Why We Like this Recipe
No Modifications		See our KidneyGrub post on these wraps. We love them because they are simple and versatile.
Bull’s-Eye Spiral Wraps
Sodium (goal <500mg)		Potassium (Goal <600mg)		Phos (Goal ~200mg or less)
Original	KidneyGrub	Original	KidneyGrub	Original	KidneyGrub
142mg	142mg	248mg	248mg	52.1mg	52.1mg
KidneyGrub Modifications		Why We Like this Recipe
Used lower sodium cream cheese rather than “micro veggie cream cheese” (a vegan cream cheese)		We love the roasted red peppers in this recipe. Another variation using cream cheese.
Garden Vegetable Wraps
Sodium (goal <500mg)		Potassium (Goal <600mg)		Phos (Goal ~200mg or less)
Original	KidneyGrub	Original	KidneyGrub	Original	KidneyGrub
471mg	468mg	377mg	293mg	136mg	116mg
KidneyGrub Modifications		Why We Like this Recipe
Tomatoes changed to yellow bell peppers (along with the red bell peppers of original recipe); 2 slices of ham used instead of bacon; added 1/4 tsp of bacon and chives seasoning by McCormick; cream cheese with garlic and onion powder used rather than garlic herb spreadable cheese		This has just a bit of ham for people wanting more “traditional” lunch fare. Another great “less meat” meal for CKD III & IV.
Sunny Spicy Wrap
Sodium (goal <500mg)		Potassium (Goal <600mg)		Phos (Goal ~200mg or less)
Original	KidneyGrub	Original	KidneyGrub	Original	KidneyGrub
801 mg	245mg	491mg	376mg	199mg	96mg
KidneyGrub Modifications		Why We Like this Recipe
1 oz baba ganoush hummus added rather than 4 tbsp of regular hummus; no optional sunflower sprouts added; omitted pumpkin seeds		This took a lot of modification, but we wanted to see if we could get a great plant-based recipe in a reasonable potassium level.
Poppy Seed Chicken Fruit Salad Lettuce Wraps
Sodium (goal <500mg)		Potassium (Goal <600mg)		Phos (Goal ~200mg or less)
Original	KidneyGrub	Original	KidneyGrub	Original	KidneyGrub
233mg	210mg	360mg	337 mg	160mg	152 mg
KidneyGrub Modifications		Why We Like this Recipe
See KidneyGrub Post		A different twist to chicken salad to mix things up and add some seriously great vitamins and minerals!