Diet and nutrition are an important part of living well with kidney disease. As kidney disease progresses to the chronic stages, your dietary needs will change accordingly. For instance, patients already on dialysis need to increase their protein intake while someone with stage 2 or 3 of kidney disease has a low protein requirement. The dietary requirements are also based on the medical conditions, health, weight, and the type of treatment they are taking in.
A healthy diet and exercise plan are extremely vital to ensure that your kidneys do not lose their function. But every dietary modification should be done under the supervision of your dietician.
Why diet matters?
• The main aim of a renal diet is to allow the kidneys to get rid of waste and toxins.
• A renal diet plan ensures that CKD is prevented from progressing to renal failure by balancing the required nutrients.
• To control the fluid and electrolyte balance, you will need to watch out protein and water intake and regulate blood pressure.
Important nutrients and their link to CKD
• Sodium is bound to raise your blood pressure and cause fluid retention if you keep in consuming this nutrient without checking the content. For patients with kidney disease, extra sodium can build up in the form of waste in the blood, affecting the heart and the lungs. Thus, think of reducing sodium in your diet, your renal dietician can work on how you can stay within this limit.
Sodium is found in almost all processed foods and canned products. Make sure to check labels of the product you buy from the market, use their substitute if possible.
• Protein are the building blocks of our body, you must have heard this statement while you were in high school. The statement is true but when your kidneys are not working as they are meant to, they cannot handle much of the protein. Hence, it is extremely important to get all the energy you need in the form of carbs and fats as a substitute for low protein intake. The limited protein you take will then be used to build new cells and resuscitate the damaged ones. The main sources of food include, eggs, milk, beans, and nuts while vegetarian can consume protein in the form of bread and cereals.
• Like potassium, sodium should also be consumed in a restricted manner. Potassium levels in your blood can exceed the required amount if your kidneys are not properly working leading to hyperkalemia. Further, hyperkalemia can increase your heart rhythm and increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Your RDN may suggest potassium limit according to the severity of your chronic kidney disease. Some dietary potassium foods that you should shake off from your diet are bananas, oranges, honeydew, apricots, grapefruit, raisins, and dates.
Your renal dietician may help you with other aspects of your diet to confirm that you are getting what your renal needs. These include:
1. Calorie consumption: Calorie intake helps to maintain weight in a healthy range.
2. Phosphorus: Poor kidney function leads to build up of phosphorus in your blood, hence, look for the potassium in the food items you are taking.
3. Vitamins and minerals: Limit the vitamins and minerals in your diet to ease the pressure otherwise these nutrients may put on your kidneys.
4. Calcium: High phosphorus in your blood means, decreasing availability of calcium for your bones. Thus, maintain the right balance of phosphorus and calcium in your diet.
Karma Ayurveda is an ayurvedic kidney disease treatment center that has been helping kidney patients since 1937. Until now, Doctor Puneet Dhawan kidney speicalist has been able to treat more than 35000 patients with ayurvedic medicines and a better diet plan.
If you wish to know how we do this, connect with us!
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