(Photo courtesy of PIA)
BAGUIO CITY – Students from two universities in Baguio City and Benguet demonstrated their culinary skills by preparing kidney-friendly meals during the Classica Moderna Main Course Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Challenge held on November 4.
The competition, part of the 2nd North Luzon Alternative Health and Wellness Expo, aimed to promote health-conscious cooking while strengthening Baguio’s position as a health and wellness tourism destination.
Chef Den Abad, one of the competition judges, said the event highlighted nutritious meal options for individuals living with chronic kidney disease.
“We have our advocacy in health and wellness tourism. So right now, the participants are in a cook show which is catered to CKD-challenged patients, so ito ang mga healthy foods na makakatulong sa mga patients with CKD,” Abad said.
Students from Saint Louis University (SLU) and Benguet State University (BSU) prepared three-course meals using ingredients selected to meet the competition’s dietary guidelines for CKD patients.
The SLU team served maya-maya cucumber with compote as an appetizer, followed by herb-roasted chicken roulade with broccoli, carrots and charred red bell pepper. For dessert, the students prepared apple tarts with peach and apple purée.
Meanwhile, BSU students presented ratatouille as their appetizer, chicken breast rolled in zucchini with corn purée and mushroom sauce as the main course, and strawberry panna cotta for dessert.
Both teams worked under the guidance of their coaches to ensure their dishes complied with the competition’s nutritional requirements.
BSU instructor and registered nutritionist-dietitian Annie Bacoong said one of the biggest challenges was balancing the nutritional content of the dishes, particularly potassium levels, which vary depending on a patient’s medical condition.
“Yung challenging part is the nutrition compliance. Usually individualized kung ano ang mga potassium level nila, kasi may mga CKD patients na low in potassium that would require them higher potassium foods, so ang ginawa namin is to play safe,” Bacoong explained.
She said the teams aimed to prepare meals with moderate potassium content to accommodate the competition’s dietary considerations.
The three-day expo also featured health and wellness discussions, free medical assessments, alternative and complementary wellness services, culinary competitions, product demonstrations, entrepreneurship sessions, fashion presentations and workshops.
The event was organized by the Department of Tourism–Cordillera Administrative Region in partnership with the UPNorth Business Club as part of efforts to promote health and wellness tourism in Northern Luzon.
