Kidney Disease and Diet
Caring for your kidneys involves a few lifestyle factors, which are totally manageable by you.
Kidney Health Australia list key recommendations for keeping your kidneys healthy. These are:
- Maintain a healthy blood pressure (this can be managed by your diet)
- Keep your blood sugar level within acceptable targets (your diet plays a huge part in controlling this)
- Maintain a healthy body weight (this is affected by your diet)
- Maintain a healthy active lifestyle (make sure you eat well so you have the ‘energy’ to go and do something active)
If you already know that you have kidney issues, or if you are simply curious to know how to look after them, Sue can help you with some of the key dietary issues:
What about salt?
- understand how much salt is okay
- understand the salt guidelines and know how much is too much
- understanding food labels for salt
- know the difference between salt and sodium
- find low salt products
- find how to make food tasty without salt
What about Potassium?
Understand which foods are high in potassium and which foods are lower in potassium. Know what is a good limit for your potassium intake (if required).
What about Protein?
- learn how much protein to eat each day.
- Learn which protein-based foods to eat, and how much might be suitable, depending on your level of kidney problems
What about Fluid?
- understanding fluid restrictions
What about weight management?
- learn how to manage your weight
- learn what you might do to try to gain weight if this is an issue for you.
