Diet for kidney disease

Introduction to kidney disease

When a person has kidney disease and it leads to a failure of the kidneys, they will usually need dialysis to keep the kidneys working artificially even though this cannot replace the way the kidneys function naturally.

There are things that are important to take care of with kidney disease. Patients with this problem need to particularly watch their diets.

Of course, living a healthy lifestyle is of utmost importance, that is why it is recommended to stop smoking, eat healthy foods and exercise regularly.

Many people have also been known to undergo tremendous and unhealthy weight loss as a result of kidney problems. This comes from them not eating enough protein and other food that provides the body with energy.

Malnutrition is a common problem for people with kidney issues.

Obesity can also cause serious problems of a practical nature for people who are on dialysis. They usually have problems with accessing hemodialysis because the veins are too hard to reach through the fat or they are weak.

Recommended diet

It is very important for people with kidney problems to have a lot of iron in their diets. When a person suffers from kidney failure, they usually have problems with anemia as well, which is a low level of iron in the body.

Phosphate and calcium are other important parts of the diet as well.

These two will keep the bones healthy first and foremost.

When a person is treating kidney problems, the goal is usually to increase calcium levels and to decrease phosphate levels at the same time, which can be done, but the person’s diet must be followed closely in order for this to happen.

The trickiest part of this is to cut down on phosphate while not lowering the protein intake at the same time.

Potassium levels also need to be controlled, because a great amount of potassium in the blood can cause the heart to stop beating in some cases, but at the same time, very low levels of potassium can cause problems as well.

A person will need to consult with a nutritionist in most cases to keep this under control.

Protein is vital for people with kidney problems because it helps the body to build muscles and repair itself.

It will also help to fight infection.

People need to eat a lot of meat, fish, dairy products and vegetables like beans and peas.