Diet Question

[Turtlewoman]

I gave up red meat and pork, and I eat a lot of chicken and salmon. Is salmon okay for CKD?

[Hidden]

Salmon is okay in moderation. I had to give it up when I had my gallbladder removed as it has a high-fat content.Also, don't stop eating foods with potassium and phosphorus. They are essential to your health. You do need to eat enough to stay inside the reference range on your labs.

Best of luck.

[TaffyTwoshoes27 in reply to Hidden]

What symptoms did you have that made you believe you had gallbladder issues? I was recently in an auto accident as a passenger (both vehicles totaled) and the seatbelt caused pain in my lower left rib and around my gallbladder area. I haven’t felt well since the accident. I had a X-ray of my left ribs and doctor said he did not see a fracture and “lungs looked fine”. I sure would like your feedback and will do some additional research. Thanks.

[Hidden in reply to TaffyTwoshoes27]

Sorry to hear about the accident. I had pain in my right side that came on suddenly. My scheduled appointment with my nephrologist was coming up and I called him and he thought it might be stones of some type so he had me go to the hospital's outpatient services and have an ultrasound. That's when they determined I had gallstones and they were blocking the ducts, causing the pain. He wanted me to consult with a surgeon. I did, and after he looked at the ultrasound results, he gave me two options. One was to take the pain and do nothing, or have the surgery and be pain free. Between the two appointments I did my research and decided that if surgery was indicted then I would do it. The surgeon contacted my cardiologist for clearance and he called me in and ran an EKG, echocardiogram and a stress test and he cleared me for the surgery.The surgeon informed me that he would begin the surgery laparoscopically but if necessary it would be completed as an open surgery and that requires a much longer recovery.

I went to the hospital about 7:00 am had the surgery about 10:30 am and was sent home about 3:0 pm. They had no problems so it was done laparoscopically. My only post operative instructions for eating was to eliminate all fatty foods. With my kidney-friendly meal plan the only things I had to eliminate were a couple of types of fish, catfish and salmon. I gave my neighbor the remaining fillets, and his son got my catfish rigs. That was in October of 2019 and after a quick recovery, I've been pain free. I do miss the salmon, and the time spent fishing for catfish, but being pain-free is worth it.

A bonus to having the surgery. I now have a plastic container with a number of gallstones presented to me after the surgery. I keep the container on my computer desk and it serves as a good reminder when I want to put salmon back on my menu.

[TaffyTwoshoes27 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks! I did do research and determined the gallbladder is on the right side!

I’m glad to hear you feel better since the surgery!!

I have been having stomach pain. Maybe it is from accident. It was a hard impact (airbags employed). I was, thankfully, in a Land Rover getting a Lyft ride to the nephrologist (totally unnecessary trip. I had been having telehealth appts for over a year!). I had just had a complete exam, including X-rays, CT scan, etc., from my Transplant Hospital one week before Nephrologist.

I am trying to stay away from groups of ppl that I don’t think are vaccinated. The Nephrologist had 5 ppl in the room that day. PLUS, since my Lyft driver was sans car before I got to the Nephrologist’s, a nice police officer took me to my appt.

If it’s not one thing……

Take care!

[TaffyTwoshoes27]

“Lots of protein” is not necessarily what I was instructed during CKD. You may want to consult with a Renal Dietician or Nephrologist.If you get on dialysis, you will need to eat more protein because you’ll need to keep your Albumin blood results at an acceptable level.

[Skeptix]

What is your urea/BUN reading? What stage CKD are you?

Meat = protein. "Lots of meat" = lots of protein= lots of urea.

Urea is a toxin and a kidney damaging one at that. So consuming lots of protein doesn't make a lot of sense. Which is why low or very low protein diets exist for slowing CKD progression. If your urea is out of spec then you are eating too much protein for your stage if the disease.

Give meat is so high in protein, the move is for plant based diets. That is: you get your nutrition whilst keeping protein intake low. Goes the thinking anyway.

Additionally, meat is acidic whereas an alkaline diet is indicated for CKD. Another reason not to eat lots (or indeed any) meat or meat derived products.

I wouldn't be relying on a doctor or even a nephrologist or even a renal dietician to be telling you what to eat. You need to establish things for yourself. Your docs may be operating according to out of date science - indeed many are. Mine was. Indeed, I was told one of the reasons why there was no early stage intervention is that there were no resources (Irish health service). The resources there are can barely cope with dealing with end stages of the disease. Crazy but that's straight from my renal dieticians mouth.

The very latest recommendations (2020) for early stage CKD, from the (very conservative and very slow to change) NKF is; low protein diet (which almost necessarily excludes meat) or very low protein + keto acid supplements diet (which absolutely necessarily excludes meat).

Lots of chicken and fish sounds like the wrong advice. Rather, it sounds like advice from the 2000 guidelines which most are operating according to

[OKShakespeare]

Your blood test will tell you if it is OK for you, but most likely it will not be. Fasting and low meat protein consumption relieve the stress and allow healing.

[orangecity41 NKF Ambassador]

What is your level of CKD? Ask your Doctor about a CKD diet based on other bloodwork than the eGFR. Many of us are on prescribed diet and have slowed the progression of CKD. Salmon is on my diet in limited quantity and do eat it several times a week, along with other fish. Keep us posted on what CKD diet your Doctor prescribes.

[Meettheparents]

Dear Turtlewoman, I am a registered nurse and for years ate “a lot of chicken and salmon” and two large eggs per day because I was eating low carb, trying in vain to lose weight. Unfortunately that diet and use of Ibuprofen caused a spike in my creatinine in February of 2020. I did my own research and found that animal protein of all kinds is hard on kidneys. I immediately put myself on a plant-based diet and 1 1/2 years later I have found that it is effective at lowering my creatinine, which is almost back to normal. There is a lot of denial/misinformation about this issue, even in the medical community and on this site. I urge you to look into the value of whole food plant-based eating.

[Skeptix in reply to Meettheparents]

Have you got CKD and if so, which stage? It'd be interesting to here someone's creatinine coming back into range via a plant based diet.

[Meettheparents in reply to Skeptix]

Thanks for asking. My creatinine was 1.85 and GFR was 28 in Feb. of 2020. Since then, it has improved with every lab result. In March of 2021 it was 1.03 and 60. I will get it checked again in Sept.

[Skeptix in reply to Meettheparents]

Question:

- have you CKD? You said you had a spike due to diet and ibuprofen. Does that mean your gfr was a temporary blip as opposed to a reading caused by disease damaged kidneys?

(It would be some result to change CKD numbers by that extent)

- was the plant diet one that was protein limited?

[Turtlewoman]

I didn't mean to say I eat a lot of meat. I eat salads with olive oil and lemon juice, sandwiches with baked turkey cutlets or Sunbutter (sesame seed butter, an alternative to peanut butter), instead of eggs I use Egg Beaters, I eat cereal with almond milk, and drink water with lemon juice in it. For dinner I have either chicken breast or a salmon fillet with white rice and a vegetable, largely cauliflower or cabbage or green beans. I hope this is a kidney friendly diet, that's what I'm trying to do. I also eat apples and applesauce and nectarines.

[Skeptix in reply to Turtlewoman]

It's really a matter of urea. If your urea is elevated then you're eating too much protein. It's hard to get protein levels down eating meat (or any other protein dense food)

[Meettheparents]

I have found that the more I explore the fresh produce department, the less I crave meat. I also discovered a wide variety of protein-rich legumes like chickpeas and lentils. Just a couple of tips - oatmeal is super healthy for the kidneys and brown rice is better than white. The best thing about eating plant-based is all the energy I have. I feel better than I have in years. Best wishes.

[LuvSmallDogs in reply to Meettheparents]

Do you track your protein intake? If so, how many grams of protein do you take in a day on average?