How to Find a Healthy Diet for the Kidneys
Your kidneys perform tasks that that are critical to your health -- filtering your blood and cleaning your system of waste. When you have kidney disease or reduced kidney function due to other health problems, it is important to maintain the health of your kidneys by adjusting your diet. This helps reduce the stress on your kidneys while they work to support your body's other systems.
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Instructions
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Consult a kidney specialist (nephrologist) about the health of your kidneys. It is extremely important to know if you are moderately impaired or at risk of kidney failure. She will perform tests and assess your degree of kidney function loss. She will make some basic diet recommendations, based on your degree of kidney impairment.
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Ask your health care provider for a referral to a professional dietitian. He can help you review your current dietary habits and lifestyle, then make suggestions for ways to modify your protein, sodium and potassium intake, based on your nephrologist's test results. He can also help you prepare shopping and meal plans that fit your nutritional needs and suggested dietary restrictions.
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Get the latest research results on helpful dietary strategies from the National Institutes of Health. It maintains the best resources and links to scientific research on preserving kidney function. This information can help you develop a diet plan to that may delay the need for dialysis. It is also useful for patients receiving dialysis treatments. Discuss the advice with your health care team.
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Review the National Kidney Foundation's diet recommendations and resources for kidney patients. Use the excellent selection online of recipes it has developed to help its patients prepare healthy protein- and sodium-restricted meals. Get tips on emergency meal-planning and strategies for dining out.
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Visit the American Association of Kidney Patients website. Download its free nutrition calculator to help plan your diet. This will make it easier for you to become skilled at balancing your vitamin and mineral intake, while reducing kidney stressors in your diet.
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Tips & Warnings
Discuss any diet changes with your kidney specialist and dietitian before you implement them. Keep your health care team informed of any new symptoms while adjusting to your diet. You may need to tweak your meal portions or fluid intake to preserve your remaining kidney function.
Remember to follow the dietary guidelines for other health problems that may be contributing factors for your kidney problems. Diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure diets are usually very similar to renal diets, but may require additional nutritional restrictions.
