Some Diet and Cooking Tips for Kidney Failure Patients

The Need for a Special Diet for Kidney Failure Patients

Those who have experienced kidney failure must undergo dialysis treatment. Dialysis is an artificial means by which toxic substances and waste products are artificially filtered from the blood by machine. As part of their dialysis treatment, kidney failure patients also must heed a strict diet in order to ensure that dialysis treatments are optimally effective and also to prevent the build up of waste products in the blood between dialysis treatments. The goal of this diet is to provide a healthy balance of fluid, minerals, and electrolytes. This article provides some diet and cooking tips for kidney failure sufferers.

Diet Goal One: Limit Protein Intake

Although protein is an important part of everyone’s diet, kidney failure patients must closely monitor and limit their protein intake. The reason why this is true is that a by-product of protein metabolism in the kidneys is a compound known as urea. Whereas people who have healthy kidneys are able to process urea to prevent its build up in the blood, those who suffer from kidney failure often experience an overabundance of urea in their blood due to the fact that their kidneys are unable to process it effectively. This excess of urea can cause severe nausea and decrease in appetite. The smart choice for kidney failure sufferers therefore is to keep protein intake low so that urea levels also remain low.

Specifically, kidney failure patients should limit their meat, poultry, and fish intake to about three ounces per day (for perspective, an average healthy individual may eat three times this amount each day). When cooking or baking, these individuals should take necessary steps to limit protein. For example, it is often the case that certain high-protein ingredients, such as peanuts, milk, cheese, and eggs, can be left out of the recipe or swapped out in favor of a low-fat or no fat substitute without much, if any, loss of flavor or consistency. In one particular example, two yolks can be added instead of a whole egg in recipes that call for an egg (egg white is higher in protein than is egg yolk).

Diet Goal Two: Lay Off the Salt

In addition to protein, salt certainly also is an enemy to kidney failure patients. Increased salt consumption can drive up blood pressure and cause potentially harmful fluid retention in kidneys. While many people are in the habit of adding salt to the foods they eat, this is a particularly bad habit for kidney failure patients to practice as foods in a well-balanced diet provide us with all of the salt that we need.

In addition to obvious steps such as avoiding snack foods, like potato chips and pretzels, for example, other steps for minimizing salt intake that can be taken include not adding salt when boiling water (which is something that many people do to make water boil faster when cooking pasta, for example). Some people also have found that a little bit of lovage (which is a plant that can be found in many specialty food stores) or lemon juice, when added to their favorite meal, really bring out the taste of salt that is naturally present in their meal.

Further, although one might think them to be a satisfactory alternative to salt, salt substitutes should be avoided by those who have experienced kidney failure unless directed otherwise by their doctor. This is true because these products can have harmful effects in such patients.

Diet Goal Three: Reduce Potassium Consumption

Potassium is another no-no for kidney failure patients (at least in high amounts) as it can cause severe heart problems. Foods high in potassium include most fruits and vegetables, and in particular oranges, bananas, potatoes, and tomatoes. Recipes that call for these foods should be avoided. If certain meals that contain these foods are favorites and difficult to give up, you may try to experiment by replacing high potassium foods with low ones. For example, many people find cauliflower, which is relatively low in potassium, to be an excellent substitute for potatoes. As another example, some people elect to substitute roasted red peppers in certain recipes that call for tomatoes. (It is important to note, however, that cauliflower and red peppers do contain some potassium, so they should not be eaten indiscriminately, but instead they should be consumed in moderation.)

This article is only meant to provide some basic background information regarding diet and cooking tips for kidney failure patients. It is not intended to replace the good advice of your doctor.

References

Johns Hopkins Medicine, Nutrition and Kidney Disease: Watch Protein, Potassium, and Salt in Diet: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/transplant/Patient/BridgesArticles/DietandLifestyleCorner/DLCSp03NutritionKid.html

Mayo Clinic, Chronic Kidney Failure: Lifestyle and home remedies: https://www.mayoclinic.com/health/kidney-failure/DS00682/DSECTION=lifestyle-and-home-remedies

MedLine Plus, National institutes of Health, Diet - Chronic Kidney Disease: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002442.htm