My husband fit and well and told he is CKD 3a such a shock. He is on the Dr Moseley diet and loosing weight only needs a stone to loose but most of the food like tomatoes etc are in this healthy weight loss diet, he so enjoys the food but getting so confused on what he can and cannot eat. Why no lentils for example. Eggs no go unless you take yoke out. Is there available lists of food one can and cannot eat. Can’t find any full lists on internet.
Thank you
Willowdene, Hi, welcome. I was diagnosed with kidney disease in 2020. It is hard to know what to eat ! Do you have access to a renal dietician through your health insurance ? The dietician my insurance gave me wasn't much help, and I found a renal dietician to have a 1 1/2 hour zoom with online. My Dr gave me specific guidelines for the things I was to limit based on my lab results. For me it is phosphorous, sodium and potassium. With some, I had a list of values from the dietician. Everything else , I did individual internet searches, like "phosphorous in chicken" to get the amounts in each ounce. It wasn't too time consuming, as I tend to eat my same favorites . I hope this is helpful;please write back and let us know how it's going.
Thank you so much will get to dietitian for details. Strange broccoli is high in potassium shame x
First of all do not panic about being 3a. MODERATE kidney decline. If you simply go to google and search on terms like "ckd diet", or such, you will find tons of information. On this website you will find many differing opinions on what is an appropriate diet, etc., etc. In fact it can actually become confusing and some will say eat this or that, others will say don't, etc.Myself I had a kidney removed and became stage 3b. I now have improved to often achieving 3a, then drop, then back up. So DO NOT BE FRIGHTENED if you see such change from blood test to blood test. I see five types of doctors. Oncologist, Urologist, Kidney, GP, Heart. I ask all about diet. NONE have recommended a dietician. ALL have said that have to use common sense and examine our test results. That we are ALL different.
For example it is advised, generally, to avoid excess protein. Some take this to extreme and avoid protein almost exclusively. BUT the body needs protein. Too much salt is harmful to blood pressure and therefore the kidney. BUT the body needs some sale. Same is true for phosphorous, potassium, calcium. My doctors say the best way to approach it is to stay within the daily recommended guidelines that you will find on most food packages. It will for example say how much sodium is in the product and what percentage of your daily requirement. Keep your intake of all "foods" within the daily limits.
They also say that while we should limit protein, having that beef once a week maybe twice, is not going to destroy your kidney. Just don't go crazy and have high protein daily. In other words it is all in balance.
His blood tests will tell you how he is doing. It will reflect his protein levels, sodium, etc., etc. Be assured to find all in normal ranges and you are doing well.
The only added thing all my doctors recommend is to drink water throughout the day. Here too it does NOT have to be excessive. A little more than normal yes. But keep drinking enough to keep your urine light in color.
There is no magic wand. My diet is chicken 2 times a week, pork once, italian dishes but not too excessive with cheese, snacks of salt free pretzels, a small piece of cake or pie a couple times a week, nuts and peanut butter, no processed cold meats, salt free vegetables, potatoes 2 or 3 times a week, low sodium soups, a scoop or two of ice cream here or there,
eggs once a week (with the yolk, one or two yolks a week will not cause my death), english muffins, bagels, yes the occasional couple of slices of pizza.
You can become a slave to your diet and watch and measure everything you eat. And worry constantly. And live every moment thinking of CKD. To me it is better to just apply common sense, and live life as it was intended, to be enjoyed. Use practicality and common sense, but don't let the CKD and diet worries take whatever time any one of us has left regardless of CKD or not.
Well said RickHow, don’t let your husband become a martyr to the lifestyle but try to live within a balanced lifestyle. Red meat, poultry and dairy and eggs are all ok to eat but not excessively. If potassium becomes an issue reduce consumption of potassium rich foods and choose lower ones instead. My consultant said to once me that if I had orange juice and avocado toast on wholewheat bread, that would be too much potassium, so have egg on white toast and a glass of orange juice instead. Don’t cut out food groups there is no need, reduce alcohol and enjoy moderate exercise.
Thank you for your addition to Rick How. Lovely to have your reassurance we are fit 73 yr olds very active and did not want this to change our lifestyle or worry about our future. Stay well
Another question RickHow. my husbands only increase is creatinine 114Due to repeat April. Sodium, potassium okay. No phosphorus measurements
We are busy looking at foods and most say eat white bread, white rice etc but
To lower Creatinine advice is to eat more fibre wholegrain foods normally found in whole meal. I’m a bit confused!
Hi, just for your info I am 71 years old.You are finding what we all find if we search the internet, which is conflicting information.
ALSO you are falling into the trap that is the problem with this entire "CDK" philosophy.
That is, what is normal, what is not. The current way they classify CKD is measure your Creatinine level, and basically compare that to what is typical for a person of your age, sex, race. Not all that scientific really.
There is now growing consideration to modify what is, and what is not CKD, but rather just normal body decline. We are in our 70's. We could share lots of stories of what has changed in our bodies over our 70 years. "parts" which do not work as well as they used to. Is your heart as strong? No. Do you think as quickly as you did when you were in your 30's or 40's? No. Can you walk the same distances as easily? No. So why would we expect our kidney to be unique? Why can we say to people if your egfr level is below 60 it is not normal, but it is normal to be above 60, at any age??? We can't, we should not, but we do.
The current proposal is to change it. To tell what is NORMAL decline and NOT really disease, versus what IS CKD. And not just label people as diseased when they are not.
It goes as follows (proposed):
--IF you are under the age of 40 and your egfr is less than 75, it will be called CKD.
--IF you are between the age of 40 and 65 and your egfr is less than 60, it will be called CKD.
--IF you are over the age of 65 and egfr is less than 45 and there is protein in urine, it is CKD.
All else would be considered normal kidney decline.
If I calculate correctly your egfr is about 55. Mine bounces between 38 and 53. Has since 2017 without a problem.
As for diet. Again. Don't spend endless hours searching, worrying, investigating and just continuing to confuse yourself. I did it too. Was a crazy time. No matter what I did it changed nothing in my test results. APPLY common sense. Creatinine is a product made by the body (mostly from use of muscles in daily activities and processes. It is increased for different reasons (exercise too much, don't drink enough liquids to pass it through and out the kidneys, consume too much protein, too much salt (keeps the liquids in the bodies instead of eliminating the creatine), high blood pressure which effects kidney function. Other reasons but those are the main. So what to do? REDUCE protein (primarily beef and meat fats), drink sufficient liquids (average 60 to 64 ounces perday), keep salt in normal requirements, as "mom" used to say "eat your vegetables". Most other foods are okay just don't overdo. Remove skin from chicken, meats.
You body is going to produce creatinine no matter what you do. IT IS NORMAL. Some will write they reduced their Creatinine level by a large amount by drinking lots of water.
Of course it did. You are flushing more through your kidney. BUT did this change the kidney function??? Not really. You just pushed more through the kidney to elminate but it "cured" nothing.
There is a concept that FIBER can help the kidney because fiber helps to reduce or get ird of kidney inflamation. FIBER certainly can not hurt. And there are of course benefits to all parts of the body with FIBER. So if you enjoy high fiber foods, have at it. Here is a list of beneficial FIBER foods for the kidney.
Fiber Rich Foods That Are Safe For Kidney Disease:
Apple
Berries
Cherries
Peach
Pear
Pineapple
Plums
Watermelon
Broccoli
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Cucumber
Eggplant
Garlic
Take a deep breath. Relax. You are doing fine. Don't over investigate. Use common sense. Wait for next blood test. MOST OF ALL LISTEN TO YOUR DOCTOR. We here offer our experience and advice but we do NOT know your medical conditions, your medications, your current status, your blood and urine results, your overall health. Always remember no matter what chart, formula, information you get, you are at MILD to MODERATE kidney decline. So is the rest of our 70 year old bodies :).
Gosh you are so amazing RickHow. A powerhouse of information and reading it sure does make sense. Of course our organs deteriorate at our age and as we are fit and active, I do workouts every day! Colin not so much I may add, we still feel we should be fit inside.Thank you so much you are an amazing addition to this forum.
I will let you know what my husbands results are in mid April.
I’m sure many newbies will read this and feel happier, you have cheered me up AGAIN!
Hi Willowdene, welcome to the forum. The first thing to remember is that everyone with CKD is different and what works for one person will not nesessarily work for the another. The second is that there is a lot of confusing information out there. I would agree that sitting down with a renal dietitian is an excellent idea and shouldbe your first port of call. They are an invaluable resource. They can look at your husband's dietary requirements based on his lab results and suggest a diet suitable to also balance his need to loose weight. A diagnosis of CKD can be frightening but don't despair there is much that can be done to halt its progression using diet, exercise etc Family support is essential as is psychological support to cope with the diagnosis.
Good luck to you both on your new journey
M
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