Main Menu
Nutrition
Eating Healthy with Kidney Disease
Eating Healthy with Kidney DiseaseWhen you are living with Chronic Kidney disease, it’s important to make food choices that will keep your kidneysfunctioning to the best of their ability. You can do this by working with a registered dieititian. It’s important at allstages of kidney disease.“Manage any symptoms that you might have. But also to maintain as healthy of a body as you possibly can.”– Kelly Welsh, RD DieticianThere isn’t one specific diet plan that works for everyone with chronic kidney disease. Lab tests help dietitianscreate a diet plan that’s right for you. Rogelio Garcia is a Hemodialysis patient who knows how important eatingright is to staying healthy.“Labs are taken every two weeks and once those labs are done, the dietitian knows to take a look at those labsand look to see what are your phosphorus levels, what are your potassium levels and what are your hemoglobinlevels.” - Rogelio, Patient“Soon as kidneys start failing these labs can become out of range and really cause some major side effects andsymptoms that are usually taken care of if we get them back into range.” – Kelly Welsh, RD DieticianWhile no chronic kidney disease diet is the same, there are some common culprits that can harm your health. Theyinclude protein, potassium, phosphorus and sodium. Eating the right amount can help control the buildup of wastein your kidneys.With protein, meats, chicken, fish eggs, how much you can eat depends on the stage of your kidney disease. Earlyon, you might need to limit protein.“In stages 1,2,3 and 4…a patient’s goal is primarily to preserve the kidney function that they have left. Becauseprotein intake, large amounts of it, can be stressful on already stressed out kidneys, we basically recommendjust a normal intake.” - Kelly Welsh, RD DieticianThat all changes if you are on dialysis, when you may actually need more protein.“Because dialysis is really great at removing the extra fluids and waste products, but it also takes along someprotein with it, your protein needs dramatically increase.” - Kelly Welsh, RD DieticianPotassium is found in foods like tomatoes, potatoes, bananas, chocolate, orange juice, nuts and peanut butter.Potassium helps muscles, like your heart, work.Page 1 of 2This program is for informational purposes only. Publisher disclaims all guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness,or suitability of this video for medical decision making. For all health related issues please contact your healthcare provider.HCRN1002498 EN EatingHealthyWithKidneyDisease.pdf© The Wellness NetworkEating Healthy with Kidney DiseaseBut when your kidneys are not working well, too much potassium can build up in your blood and becomedangerous.“If there’s too much potassium in the diet it can throw our heart rate, or our heart beat off, causing it to stopin the most dramatic of circumstances. So it's a very important lab to monitor on a regular basis.”- Kelly Welsh, RD DieticianPhosphorus is found in many boxed foods, dairy products, nuts, peanut butter, chocolate and cola drinks. Toomuch phosphorus , can weaken your bones and cause other serious problems.“If we’re in Stage 5, phosphorus builds up, pulls calcium from the bones and deposits it in various arteriesand organs in our body causing a serious condition called calcification.” - Kelly Welsh, RD DieticianYou also need to monitor sodium, or salt, in your diet. Things like processed and fast foods are very high insodium. You’ll also want to limit the amount of salt you add to your own food.“Too much sodium will mean that our body is going to retain fluid which makes it harder for our heart towork and can increase our blood pressure.” - Kelly Welsh, RD DieticianBecause many Dialysis patients start to make less urine, they also have to pay careful attention to how muchfluid they drink every day.“For someone who has to be on a fluid restriction, this would be how much fluid they should be taking in, atmost, in a 24-hour period.” – Kelly Welsh, RD Dietician“Not to dehydrate yourself but not also to over hydrate yourself. Because if we’re over hydrating we’reincreasing the workload of our heart, increasing the workload of our kidneys and making it harder fordialsysis to work.” - Kelly Welsh, RD DieticianHemodialysis patient, Venus Dickinson, says it might seem hard at first – but it’s all about accepting a new wayof eating.“It was changing your lifestyle to eat things that are more healthy for you.” – Venus, PatientA registered dietician will help you learn what foods to eat, and what ones to limit, to keep your kidneys workingas best they can.Page 2 of 2This program is for informational purposes only. Publisher disclaims all guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness,or suitability of this video for medical decision making. For all health related issues please contact your healthcare provider.HCRN1002498 EN EatingHealthyWithKidneyDisease.pdf© The Wellness Network
Search by specialty, location, and more.
Learn how to make healthy choices in the amounts of calories, salt and alcohol we consume.
Learn several strategies for controlling restaurant portion sizes.
Learn why whole grains are an important part of the foods you should eat every day.
Learn which foods to choose and which to limit when eating heart healthy to reduce your risk factors for heart disease.
