There’s no specific diet that can treat immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). Diet changes may affect how you feel, but their effect on platelet count is less clear. Still, eating a balanced diet with plenty of whole foods may support your overall health and help you feel your best while living with ITP.

When you prepare your own meals and snacks at home, you can choose nutritious ingredients and control how much salt and sugar they contain. This can be useful if you take corticosteroids — a common treatment for ITP — since they can cause high blood pressure and high blood sugar.

Here are five simple recipes that feature whole foods to help improve your diet while living with chronic ITP.

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1. Crispy Kale Chips for Healthy Snacking

Leafy greens aren’t just a side dish. You can replace salty snacks like potato chips and pretzels with nutritious and delicious kale chips.

Greens — including kale, spinach, and arugula — are a good source of vitamin K. Vitamin K helps the body make proteins involved in blood clotting.

If you take warfarin or other vitamin K antagonists, your care team may want you to keep your vitamin K intake steady. Large changes in how much vitamin K you eat can affect how these medicines work. Talk with your hematologist or healthcare team before making a major change in how many leafy greens you eat.

When making kale chips, look for fresh curly or Lacinato kale. The hearty leaves can withstand the heat of the oven.

2. Chia Pudding for a Better Breakfast

Chia seeds are often called a superfood or functional food. Nutrition experts caution that these marketing terms don’t mean one food can replace a healthy eating pattern. But chia seeds do provide fiber, protein, calcium, zinc, and unsaturated fat.

Whipping up a batch of chia pudding is a fun, easy way to get more of these seeds in your diet. Chia seeds swell quickly when mixed with liquid, so they should be soaked or served with moist food.

The recipe that follows is for a simple pudding, but you can customize it with different flavors. For the liquid, try almond, soy, or dairy milk or your favorite 100 percent fruit juice.

Include your choice of mix-ins, such as chopped nuts, sliced fresh fruit, raisins, vanilla extract, or cinnamon.

3. Festive Guacamole for an Everyday Staple

Most people think of guacamole as a party food, but there’s no reason this nutritious dip can’t be a staple in your diet. Making guacamole at home lets you control the ingredients and ensure you’ll have a fresh batch to enjoy.

Versatile guacamole is great as a:

• Topping for whole-grain crackers
• Condiment in wrap sandwiches
• Dip with freshly cut veggies
• Dressing for salad

Avocados are high in monounsaturated fats, which are anti-inflammatory and support heart and circulatory health.

4. Salmon Cakes for a Quick Seafood Dinner

Your pantry and fridge might already hold all the ingredients you need to throw together a tasty seafood dish — salmon cakes. In addition to being delicious and easy to make, salmon cakes are rich in omega-3 fatty acids.

Stock up on canned salmon and other ingredients when they go on sale so you’re always ready to prepare a quick meal at a reasonable cost.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recipe below uses canned salmon and other pantry ingredients.

5. Stuffed Dates for a Healthier Sweet Treat

Dates offer a sweet way to satisfy your sweet tooth. They can also fit into a snack or dessert when paired with nuts or another filling.

Although they’re high in natural sugar, dates beat out processed desserts by providing plenty of heart-healthy potassium and fiber — ingredients that promote overall health.

You can stuff dates with nuts and other ingredients when you want a pick-me-up for yourself or a special dessert or appetizer to share with others. One of the easiest ways to make stuffed dates is to fill pitted dates with peanut butter. You can sprinkle them with cinnamon for added flavor.

The recipe below offers a more savory take on stuffed dates, using fresh herbs and mascarpone cheese.

Join the Conversation

On myITPteam, people share their experiences with immune thrombocytopenia, get advice, and find support from others who understand.

What easy recipes or food swaps have helped you eat well with ITP? Let others know in the comments below.