Sodium

[ReidB]

Stage 2 CKD,

Do we need to limit sodium because of blood pressure concerns or is it hard for kidneys to process, or both? When I asked my doc should I limit my sodium intake he said no.

[overnighthearingloss]

It does seem to raise bp which is not a good thing with impaired kidneys. However I was put on sodium bicarbonate capsules by a kidney doctor.

There are articles suggesting this is beneficial.

Baking Soda for Autoimmune Disorders

articles.mercola.com/sites/...

But be aware, if you are not cooking from scratch there is added sodium in processed foods. So you will be taking sodium without needing to add it and is something to be really aware of.

Also these days if you cook something like chicken fillets that you buy in supermarkets they have a saline solution injected into them as part of the preparation process.

[LorrieC]

I believe it is for both. I have reduced my sodium intake to under 2,000 mg. per day and my ankle swelling has decreased significantly and I have lost 13 lbs. My b/p is way below normal. I was surprised when my GFR decreased by 4!

[optimisticIndividual in reply to LorrieC]

decreased or increased?

[LorrieC in reply to optimisticIndividual]

Decreased which was discouraging. Since my last labs, it has increased again to 51. I have lost nearly 18 lbs, for most everything contains sodium.

[optimisticIndividual in reply to LorrieC]

Glad to hear that! Keep up the good work.

[Mysticlad]

Well, both but on top of those two reasons sodium causes your body to retain fluid which leads to the swelling over time. It makes your kidneys, heart, and lungs have to work harder and longer to eliminate the extra fluid which long term is not very optimal.

[lowraind]

This may be helpful:

davita.com/diet-nutrition/a...

[RickHow]

I believe you should follow your doctors advice, not ours. He knows more about your medical conditions. Now you will see here many are on restricted sodium diets. But most will say it is for blood pressure reasons. And high blood pressure hurts the kidney. And causes fluid retention, which is also harmful. And there is somewhat a difference between being on a low sodium diet and just watching your intake so it stays within normal daily recommended amounts. Probably this is what your doctor meant. You don't need to restrict (or limit as much as possible) sodium intake. Just keep it within normal ranges. But again a lot of things influence the decision. Only being stage 2 (which you should not be alarmed), your bp, other health considerations. And he probably was also looking at the results of your blood tests, urine tests, which likely showed your sodium levels as normal.

[ReidB in reply to RickHow]

I dont ever add salt to my food I know it already has sodium in it so I do watch my intake. However I do eat out sometimes and I eat fast food some but not a whole lot.

[RickHow in reply to ReidB]

My kidney doctor always advises me not to forego living and enjoying life, by being too extreme on my diet. For example, beef is to be avoided. But it does not mean once in a while it is going to cause any harm. Same with a treat. Or as you say some occasional meal that has salt.

[saifomar]

Doctors cannot tell you to stop eating fast food or colas directly because of economic / commercial / corporation-rules reasons. You need to figure out whats best for your own body. So limiting "fast food" and "colas" would be a great start even if your doctors says they are harmless. Yes, excess sodium puts (added) pressure on your kidneys which in turn raises your blood pressure and fluid retention. Additionally too much sodium in diet has shown to cause physical damage to the nephrons of kidneys!

"High salt intake may have detrimental effects on glomerular hemodynamics, inducing hyperfiltration and increasing the filtration fraction and glomerular pressure." - source : ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/121...

[ReidB in reply to saifomar]

I dont drink soda at all, I drink water only 98% of the time, I do drink orange juice, coffee, and cranberry juice sometimes.

[saifomar in reply to ReidB]

You cannot drink orange juice and coffee when on a renal diet! They are both very acidic and can cause further kidney damages. Cranberry juice on the other hand is kidney friendly and keeps kidneys healthy.

I only drink water, black tea, strawberry, blueberry, lemon and cranberry juice.

[ReidB in reply to saifomar]

Never heard of coffee being bad for my kidneys. I only drink one cup of coffee a day, I've asked 2 different docs and they said coffee is ok.

[RickHow in reply to ReidB]

Same here. Again it is quantity. Some people practically live on coffee. But my doctors tell me (all of them) having 2 or 3 cups a day is not harmful. I match you. Twice a day.

[saifomar in reply to ReidB]

"Caffeine can cause a short, but dramatic increase in your blood pressure, even if you don't have high blood pressure. It's unclear what causes this spike in blood pressure. Some researchers believe that caffeine could block a hormone that helps keep your arteries widened."

So in other words coffee has the same bad effects as salt does to your (impaired) kidneys. But if you are not watching your sodium intake I would not worry about your coffee intake. But for me I have to limit my sodium and completely stop drinking coffee because I am suffering from Hypertension.

[ReidB in reply to saifomar]

I don't have high blood pressure I work out 3 to 4 times a week and check my blood pressure once a week.

[ReidB in reply to saifomar]

I copied this from the national kidney foundation website:

Orange juice is very high in potassium. You should check with your physician to determine what is the potassium level in your blood. If your potassium level is normal, orange juice should be safe to drink if you have state 3 chronic kidney disease with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) between 30 and 59 milliliters per minute per 1.73 meters squared.

[Jonquiljo]

You have to realize that the 3500mg. of sodium per day that many people see as normal is really A LOT of salt! Even at 2000 mg a day, salt is really excessive and not needed.

As a society in general, salt is used in overabundance. A single restaurant meal can have 3500mg of salt in it. Fast food is even worse. If you feel like drinking water in excess after a meal, I bet it had way too much salt in it.

[ReidB in reply to Jonquiljo]

I do eat out sometimes and if I feel like I ate too much sodium I make sure I drink plenty of water afterwards dont know if this helps or not.

[Jonquiljo in reply to ReidB]

Well yes, but it's best not to eat all that salt in the first place. Restaurants put extra salt and fat in their foods to make people like them better. It's a poor excuse for just cooking it well in the first place.

[ReidB in reply to Jonquiljo]

Me and my wife usually like to go out once a week, I normally eat salmon, etc I stay away from fast food as much as I can.

[Jonquiljo in reply to ReidB]

Sounds good then.

[optimisticIndividual]

I suggest you focus on monitoring your bp. Only reduce sodium intake if you had a hard time to control your bp.