Diet Nutrition for Chronic Kidney Disease Patients

When you have chronic kidney disease, diet is an important part of your treatment plan. Your recommended diet may change over time if your kidney disease gets worse. A number of tests should be done to "keep tabs" on your overall nutritional health. Your doctor can also refer you to a registered dietitian who will help you plan your meals to get the right foods in the right amounts.
Here are the tips of diet for CKD patients.

1. Getting the Right Amount of Calories

Getting enough calories is important to your overall health and wellbeing. Calories are found in all the foods you eat. They are important, because they:

! give your body energy

! help you stay at a healthy weight

! help your body use protein for building muscles and tissues.

2. Getting the Right Amount of Protein

Getting the right amount of protein is important to your overall health
and how well you feel. Your body needs the right amount of protein
for:

! building muscles

! repairing tissue

! fighting infections.

3.Other Important Nutrients in Your Diet

To feel your best each day, you may need to change the amounts of some of the following nutrients in your diet. Your dietitian will help. you plan your meals to get the right amounts of each.

Sodium

Kidney disease, high blood pressure and sodium are often related. Therefore, you may need to limit the amount of sodium in your diet. Your doctor will let you know if you need to cut back on sodium. If you do, your dietitian can teach you how to select foods that are lower in sodium. Learn to read food labels so you can make lower sodium choices when you shop for foods. Sodium is a mineral found naturally in foods.

Phosphorus

Your kidneys may not be able to remove enough phosphorus from your blood. This causes the level of phosphorus in your blood to become too high. A high blood phosphorus level may cause your skin to itch and the loss of calcium from your bones. Your bones can become weak and may break easily. Eating fewer foods that are high in phosphorus will help lower the amount of phosphorus in your blood. Your dietitian will help you choose foods that are lower in phosphorus.

Potassium

Potassium is an important mineral in the blood that helps your muscles and heart work properly. Too much or too little potassium in the blood can be dangerous. Whether or not you need to change the amount of high-potassium foods in your diet depends on your stage of kidney disease and whether you are taking any medications that change the level of potassium in your blood. (For more information on the stages of chronic kidney disease, see the table on the inside front cover. You may also contact the NKF to obtain About Chronic Kidney Disease: A Guide for Patients and Their Families.) Ask your doctor if your potassium level is normal. Your doctor may ask you to take potassium supplements or other medications to balance the amount of potassium in your blood. Take only the supplements recommended by your doctor. Your dietitian can help you plan a diet that will give you the right amount of potassium from your food.