Your Diet and Chronic Kidney Disease

If you have chronic kidney disease(CKD), it’s important to watch what you eat and drink. That’s because your kidneys can’t remove waste products from your body like they should. A kidney-friendly diet can help you stay healthier longer.

What’s a Kidney-Friendly Diet?

It’s a way of eating that helps protect your kidneys from further damage. It means limiting some foods and fluids so certain minerals don’t build up in your body. At the same time, you’ll have to make sure you get the right balance of protein, calories, vitamins, and minerals.

If you’re in the early stages of CKD, there may be few, if any, limits on what you can eat. But as your disease gets worse, you’ll have to be more careful about what you put into your body.

Your doctor may recommend you work with a dietitian to choose foods that are easy on your kidneys. Here are some things he might suggest:

Do the DASH

DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. It’s a diet rich in fruits, veggies, low-fat dairy products, whole grains, fish, poultry, beans, seeds, and nuts. It’s low in sodium, sugars and sweets, fats, and red meats.

Talk to your doctor about it if you have CKD. He’ll let you know if there are certain reasons you shouldn’t try the DASH diet.

It’s not an option if you’re on dialysis.

Cut the Sodium

This mineral is found naturally in many foods. It’s most common in table salt.

Sodium affects your blood pressure. It also helps to maintain the water balance in your body. Healthy kidneys keep sodium levels in check. But if you have CKD, extra sodium and fluids build up in your body. This can cause a number of problems, like swollen ankles, high blood pressure, shortness of breath, and fluid buildup around your heart and lungs. You should aim for less than 2g of sodium in your daily diet.

Try these simple tips to cut the sodium in your diet:

Avoid table salt and high-sodium seasonings (soy sauce, sea salt, garlic salt, etc.).
Cook at home -- most fast foods are high in sodium.
Try new spices and herbs in place of salt.
Stay away from packaged foods, if possible -- these tend to be high in sodium.
Read the labels when shopping and choose foods that are low-sodium.
Rinse canned foods (veggies, beans, meats, and fish) with waterbefore serving.

Limit Phosphorous and Calcium

You need these minerals to keep your bones healthy and strong. When your kidneys are healthy, they remove the phosphorus you don’t need. But if you have CKD, your phosphorous levels can get too high. This puts you at risk for heart disease. What’s more, your calcium levels begin to drop. To make up for it, your body pulls it from your bones. This can make them weak and easier to break.

If you have late-stage CKD, your doctor may advise you take in no more than 1,000 milligrams (mg) of phosphorus mineral each day. You can do this by:

Choosing foods with low levels of phosphorous (look for “PHOS” on the label)
Eating more fresh fruits and veggies
Choosing corn and rice cereals
Drinking light-colored sodas
Cutting back on meat, poultry, and fish
Limiting dairy foods

Foods that are high in calcium also tend to be high in phosphorous. So, your doctor might recommend you cut back on calcium-rich foods. He might tell you to stop taking over-the-counter calcium supplements, too.

Reduce Your Potassium Intake

This mineral helps your nerves and muscles work properly. But when you have CKD, your body can’t filter out excess potassium. When you have too much of it in your blood, it can lead to serious heart problems.

Potassium is found in a lot of fruits and veggies, like bananas, potatoes, avocados, and melons. These foods can affect potassium levels in your blood. Your doctor will let you know if you need to limit this mineral in your diet. If so, he may recommend you try low-potassium foods, like:

Apples and apple juice
Cranberries and cranberry juice
Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries
Plums
Pineapples
Cabbage
Boiled cauliflower

As your CKD gets worse, you may need to make other changes to your diet. This might involve cutting back on foods that are high in protein, especially animal protein. These include meats, seafood, and dairy products.

What about Fluids?

If you have early-stage CKD, you probably don’t need to cut back on fluids. But if your condition gets worse, your doctor will let you know if you need to limit those, too.