Encyclopedia of Diets - A Guide to Health and Nutrition

complete protein. While many plants do supply pro-

tein, high quality proteins are mainly found in meat

and eggs.

Fluid Intake

When patients are experiencing kidney failure,

their kidneys are no longer removing water from the

body with proper efficiency. The worse that the kid-

neys are functioning, the more important it is for

patients to monitor their fluid intake. Water retention

can cause swelling in the feet and ankles, as well as

other parts of the body. The most recommended

method for preventing water retention is to monitor

salt intake, as recommended above.

Function

The function of the kidney diet is to help patients

with kidney disease to feel better, limit their symp-

toms, and slow the development of kidney failure.

For people with kidney disease, it is important to

maintain the proper balance ofelectrolytes,minerals,

and fluid in the bloodstream. For patients undergoing

dialysis treatments, this becomes even more impor-

tant. This is because the kidneys work to rid the

body of excess electrolytes, minerals, and fluid by

filtering the blood. When a person’s kidneys are not

functioning properly, these substances can build up in

the body and cause symptoms such as nausea, vomit-

ing, tiredness, weakness, sleepiness, and other prob-

lems. If patients lower their intake of certain

substances they can help to control these problems,

but if they limit these same substances too severely,

they can suffer from malnutrition. The kidney diet is

designed to help patients find the best balance for their

body.

Benefits

The benefits of the kidney diet are enormous.

Patients who have been diagnosed with early to late

kidney failure must follow a special diet in order to

slow deterioration and lessen their symptoms. Patients

who do not follow a special diet will inevitably see

their disease become worse more quickly. Patients

who do follow this diet usually feel better and can

prolong the use of their kidneys.

Precautions

People with any level of kidney failure should be

under medical supervision. Patients will usually need

to work closely with a renal dietician who can monitor

important levels of electrolytes, minerals, and fluids to

make sure that patients are maintaining proper nutri-

tion while limiting the load on their kidney and other

bodily systems. The diet for dialysis patients is espe-

cially strict and should be taken extremely seriously in

order avoid further complications.

Risks

While there are risks to following the kidney diet

guidelines, they are usually far outweighed by the risks

of not following the guidelines. Patients should work

with a renal dietician to determine their specific require-

ments.Dietary supplementswill usually be needed to

maintain proper nutrition.

A concern for kidney patients is that they main-

tain proper protein levels. Kidneys, when functioning

normally, remove urea, a waste product of protein,

from the bloodstream. When kidneys are not function-

ing properly, urea can build up in the system and make

patients ill. Because of this patients with kidney failure

need to limit the amount of protein in their diets.

However, it is important for patients to not be over-

zealous in their limiting of protein, because too getting

too little protein can also have serious health

consequences.

Patients with kidney disease also run the risk of

losing bone calcium due to high phosphorus levels. If

patients do not take a phosphate binder, phosphorus

in the blood will pull calcium from the bones, making

them weak and brittle.

Potassium levels are also important to people with

kidney disease. This mineral affects the steadiness of

the heartbeat and its level in the bloodstream is nor-

mally kept steady by the kidneys. If there is too much

potassium in the blood it can be very dangerous for the

heart, and possibly even fatal.

Maintaining daily calorie intake is a concern for

patients following a kidney diet. With the great num-

ber of restrictions placed on the kinds of foods a

person can eat it can be difficult for a patient to eat

enough calories each day. However if overall caloric

intake is not maintained at high enough levels the

patient can suffer body tissue breakdown.

If patients with later stages of kidney disease do

not pay close attention to their sodium and fluid

intake they have a serious risk of retaining water.

Fluid can build up and cause painful swelling and

weight gain. It also can cause blood pressure to rise

which can adversely affect the heart. Kidney disease

patients also have a greater risk of heart disease. Fol-

lowing alow-fat dietwill usually be necessary.

Kidney diet