I have a question. It's hardly the most important posted here, but one I suspect we've all faced.
I am 57 years old, stage 3b and on a reduced sodium and potassium diet. I've been sticking to it pretty well. But last night I went out to dinner. There was no nutritional information available, so I essentially picked the best of the worst on the menu. So I'm sure I went over my sodium limit.
My question is, are there any particular do's and don'ts when this happens? Drink more water or less? Does it even matter?
Thanks.
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kungfudude
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HI, It is almost impossible to not get sodium when you go out to eat unless you demand it. Most Chef's are taught to use this seasoning liberally. It brings out flavor.
Yes, the best thing you can do is drink lots of water to dilute and flush it out of you system. Funny, the websites I went to said to eat high potassium foods to help flush out sodium. Hmmm... interesting. I wouldn't though with CKD.
The other thing is to exercise to help remove excess sodium.
Next time, if you suspect what you are eating is super salty, eat only half of it. (if you can)
A renal diet is very restrictive and life is so short. As my nephrologist says, you have to have balance. So once in a while is ok. Its what makes life worth living.
Question about bread. I was wondering why you added bread here? So I went to and looked and holy smokes...there is a lot of salt in commercial bread. Who knew? There is also a lot of other additives in there, which was why I started making my own bread. The difference in how I feel after I eat my own, and eating other bread products is amazing. I use only 1 tsp of salt in my big loaf. And my own bread does not raise my blood sugar as much either.
Thanks for pointing this out about sodium in bread. I did not know.
Before I received my transplant, I found a bakery that would specially make me bread without salt. I had to order it ahead of time and this was years ago. Sara Eads
Sure, no problem. I also forget to mention CHEESE as another high sodium (and high phosphorus) item. Order sandwiches with a lettuce wrap (instead of bread), without cheese and without condiments to get the sodium count down while dining out.
It is a challenge to eat out. If restaurant is a chain restaurant, I check the menu and nutrition information available. If there is none I just do pre-planning and figure my other food for the day.
One meal I can let the salty stuff on the plate. If it tastes salty why eat it? I can ask the waiter for a salad and put the meal in a doggy bag. I go to restaurants that cater to older customers and the food is usually lower salt.
In some responses here it was suggested to drink lots of water. That may not be such a good idea especially if you also have cardiac issues such as an enlarged heart or early stage Congestive heart failure. Your kidneys already have difficulty clearing fluids so adding to it compounds the issue. Restricted Na diets are simply recommendations. If you frequently eat out then it becomes an issue. Going over on a rare occasion is forgivable. Moderation in every aspect of life is good behavior especially when you have kidney disease. Your concern is honorable and reasonable. Stay healthy kidney warrior.
Most of your big restaurants if you ask them can do low sodium options. You do have to ask however. Now if it is something with a sauce or some kind of topping, these are usually made in advance and will contain plenty of salt. They won't be able to do something about that. For an example, I have eaten at an "Outback Steakhouse" and they held that rub they put on all their steaks. Yes, it does make the steak good, but.... I have carried a favorite "no salt" spice combination in my purse and I use that. There are a lot of these no salt combo's out there now. Or, you can make up your own for your own tastes. Google - no salt spice combination. Actually, is very easy to do.
I have had a transplant and live in the middle of beef country, so eat steak out when I can. I made my own salt replacement and take it wherever we eat. Restaurants in my area are able to honor my low sodium request.
Something to watch out for in salt substitutes is potassium as it tends to be high. Depending on one's stage of kidney disease, some of us are also on a potassium restriction as well as a sodium restriction, not to mention protein and phosphorus restrictions.
I have that same problem because we, as retired seniors, eat out quite often. We like to visit a casino at least twice a month and they are a distance from home and need to eat out. So what do you do?
Moderation is the best policy. I am elderly too and I love casinos and good restaurants. My wife and I always split entrees and always request no added salt. Seems to work for us.
You want to avoid end stage and Dialysis at all cost. All protein, esp animal protein, is hard on the kidneys. Verified now is many Medical Journals. A low fat, low SOS (salt, oil, sugar) plant based diet (vegan) (WFPB-whole food plant based) is best. See PCRM.org, DrMcDougall.com, ForksOverKnives.com.
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