Celebrity Chef to Demonstrate Kidney-Friendly Cooking for the Holidays
Chef Aaron McCargo, Jr., sponsored by Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMCNA), is bringing his cooking skills and signature “flavor of bold” cuisine to Detroit to help dialysis patients and their families learn how to create delicious kidney-friendly meals. Chef McCargo, star of Food Network’s “Big Daddy’s House” television show, will visit with patients on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 30 – Dec. 1 at several Detroit-area Fresenius Medical Care clinics, where he will share cooking tips and recipes for the holidays. While in the Motor City, he will also give a live cooking demonstration at the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan’s Kidney Ball fundraising event.
More than 940,000 Michigan residents have chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan. African-Americans are among those most at risk, due largely to their high rates of diabetes and high blood pressure, which are the two leading causes of CKD. This progressive, usually permanent loss of kidney function, frequently leads to kidney failure, which can only be treated with dialysis or a kidney transplant. Dialysis is a life-sustaining process that cleans waste products from the blood and removes extra fluids when a person’s kidneys fail. Michigan has one of the highest rates of kidney failure in the entire country with close to 14,000 patients on dialysis.
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Maintaining a healthy diet is important for everyone, but for those on dialysis it can be a matter of life and death. To stay healthy, dialysis patients have to control their levels of potassium, phosphorus, salt and saturated fats by limiting their intake of certain foods. That’s why FMCNA partnered with Chef McCargo to show patients how to make kidney-friendly cooking easy, fun, and delicious.
“We’re pleased to bring Chef McCargo to Detroit to share his healthy cuisine tips with the area’s dialysis community,” said Steve Chowen, regional vice president, Fresenius Medical Care. “His unique recipes for adding bold flavors and variety to meals help dialysis patients learn how to get more enjoyment from eating, while still complying with their renal diets.”
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Come meet Chef McCargo at these free, open house FMCNA events:
Friday, Nov. 30
2 – 4 p.m.: Fresenius Medical Care Garden City, 27201 West Warren St. in Dearborn Heights
Ÿ6 – 8 p.m.: Fresenius Medical Care St Clair Shores, 26210 Harper Ave. #200 in St. Clair Shores
ŸSaturday, Dec. 1
Ÿ12 – 2 p.m.: Fresenius Medical Care University, 18430 Livernois Ave. in downtown Detroit
With the holidays quickly approaching, each clinic will be giving away the FMCNA “Fill Your Plate” cookbook with dialysis-friendly recipes for all attendees.
Also on Saturday, Dec. 1, Chef McCargo will present a live cooking demonstration for attendees of the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan’s (NKFM) Kidney Ball at the MGM Grand Detroit; 1777 3rd St. Chef McCargo will demonstrate how to prepare appetizing dishes that are tasty, affordable and dialysis-friendly. One of the appetizers at the event will be prepared by Chef McCargo, and an FMCNA dietitian will be available to answer questions. Tickets are required. To purchase tickets for the Kidney Ball, visit www.nkfm.org or call 734-222-9800.
“The National Kidney Foundation of Michigan is grateful for the support of Fresenius Medical Care, and we are thrilled at having Chef McCargo here to participate in our Kidney Ball,” said the NKFM’s Lisa Schutz Jelic, director of development. “This annual event helps support programs that address the root causes of kidney disease – obesity, diabetes and hypertension – while calling attention to the fact that 70 percent of kidney disease can be prevented.”
FMCNA encourages people to visit www.ultracare-dialysis.com to see McCargo’s renal diet recipes and view his online cooking demonstration video. Dialysis patients can also find fitness tips, recipes, videos and other information about staying active and maintaining a healthy diet at FMCNA’s Healthy Lifestyles website. For more information about dialysis facilities near you, call toll free at 1-888-325-5175.
