Today I wanted to clear up a few things in regards to what constitutes a healthy renal diet. I receive emails daily from confused and at their “wits end” kidney disease sufferers, wanting to know what they can eat. Especially what they CAN eat, not what they CAN’T eat (fair enough too).
This problem lays not in whether or not the right information is out there, but unfortunately in that all the good information has been diluted by all the garbage out there. Mass article writers, without any medical training, and even worse, (some) large kidney health organisations are to blame. Articles are prepared to supply a demand, but are not based on any proper healthy renal diet knowledge.
A diet can be healthy for one person, and harmful to another, a diet can be deemed healthy in terms of the right proportions of carbohydrates, fats, and protein, but totally miss the mark in taking into account foods that have a directed negative impact to the kidneys. This is the problem, and this why you are reading one article that says “X”, and another that says “Y”.
And so my goal today is to provide reliable, trustworthy renal diet information based on sound naturopathic and nutritional teachings to provide you with the top 7 tips on how to eat a healthy renal diet – so that you may at least have your foundations right; because without healthy dietary foundations, then any renal failure diet guidelines you follow… will fail.
Here Are My Top 7 Healthy Renal Diet Tips:
1. Consume: Everyone is telling you want you can’t eat, so I decided to tell you first what you can eat. Nothing’s better to knock the wind out of your sails while you are trying to come to terms with your current health situation, than to be faced we a wall of “Can’t have’s”, and “Should not’s”.
The list of foods below is deemed “healthy” in kidney disease, but also some of the foods are especially beneficial for kidney disease. These foods are marked with an asterix*.
• Fruits: Apples, without skin; Apricot; Blueberries*; Grapes, red or green; Peach; Pears, asian; Pineapple; Plums; Raspberries*; Strawberries; Watermelon*.
• Vegetables: Asparagus*; Cabbage, red; Cauliflower; Celery; Garlic; Lettuce, iceberg; Mushrooms; Onion; Parsley; Radishes; Mung beans, sprouted.
• Protein: Fish*; Chicken; Tempeh*; Tofu*.
• Miscellaneous: Carob (good alternative to chocolate); Flaxseed Oil*; Hummus; Popcorn, air-popped; Rice, white; Sea Salt; Olive Oil; Olives; Horseradish; Tapioca pearls; Oregano; Curry Powder; Sesame seed kernels; Paprika; Macadamia nuts.
Of course there are more foods than this that you can eat while suffering with renal failure, the difference being is that these foods are “healthy”. It is also important to note that these foods also satisfy the requirements of potassium, phosphorus, and sodium content for renal diet (as explained below), but with most things in life, you can have too much of a good thing – therefore the foods are healthy when eaten at normal servings sizes per day. Don’t overdo anything, moderation is the key.
2. Avoid: Unfortunately this tip cannot be avoided, there are simply foods that are downright bad for your kidneys, and these need to be removed from your renal diet. Here are a list of foods deemed “bad” for kidney disease, and therefore should be avoided in your renal diet:
• Red meat: See my article on negative effects of red meat here
• Highly processed foods
There are many more foods that I could list, but these main categories encompass the best part of them. If you can follow an unprocessed, whole food renal diet, then meal times will be a breeze. If you resist change, and resort to processed, take-away, and pre-packaged foods, then you will struggle, and fail to realise the benefits that a healthy renal diet can have on you and your kidneys.
3. Monitor: Probably the most well known of all renal dietary guidelines, is to make sure your consumption of Potassium, Phosphorus, Protein, and Sodium are within normal healthy limits. Unfortunately “normal” healthy limits between individuals can vary greatly, and that is why you need to see a trained nutritionist (or doctor) to customise a diet just for you.
The first thing to note that a lot of people fail to mention, is that not everyone needs to rigidly adhere, monitor, and calculate their daily potassium, phosphorus, protein, and sodium levels. It all depends on your stage of kidney disease, and your blood test results (especially your blood test results). I have some clients that need to increase their sodium and potassium levels… which is completely different to what a lot of people are recommending on the web. Why do I do this? Because I actually look at their blood test results before I recommend anything! You see, not every kidney disease sufferer is going to have high levels of one, or any of these four nutrients.
Therefore rule 1 is: get your blood tested*, and request a copy from your doctor. This way you are familiar with you condition, and better equipped to take more control of your health. And of course you’ll know exactly which nutrients are high (or low) so that you may alter your renal diet accordingly.
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