Foods that are not good for kidneys

@gwladj76 NIH is aware. I find the only way to control sodium is to cook for myself with known ingredients. Absolutely nothing prepackaged. Admittedly I am fairly used to “scratch” cooking. I stopped adding salt. I eat out very rarely which may not be an option for you.

@mrainne I'll try to help. The problem is that I can contribute all that much. In my younger ears I thought that I could heal myself by doing lots of exercise and meditating every mornig. So, I never got a primary care doctor let alone actually went to see one for 25 years. It came as a complete shock to me when I suddenly felt like I was drowning when I lay down to sleep at night. I went to a local walk in clinic and they did and EKG and told me I should go to an emergency room. When I got there they met me at the front door admited me immediately. My blood pressure was 250/120.. I was 66 years old. The hospital on call nephrologist saw that and never bothered to do a biopsy just diagnosed me with hypertensive kidney disease. So, I switched to a different nephrologist after about 6 months with that one but by that time I had developed 2 or 3 cysts in each kidney and my new nephrologist said we migh end up with nothing but cyst fluid. I'm really not absollutely sure which type of kidney disease it was, but my solution was to hire a renal dietician to help me fight going on dialysis. That was helpful to get me started and after a few months I felt ready to take over doing my own diet. Rather than avoiding them, I tried to have blood tests done as frequently as I could to help me adjust my diet choices. The saying is EatTo Your Labs. Like so many others, I had to be careful with my potassiu, sodium and protein. I don't enjoy drinking and my weight is not an issue so that didn't require any changes. I enjoy challenging myself with things that are hard for me to do so excercise is always part of my life. When I hit 70 years old I went to the opening of a fencing club started by the son of a friend. After watching a demonstration I thought that it looked like an interesting challenge both phsically and mentally 9lots of very complex strategy in fencing) so I took up com-etitive sabre fencing at 70 years old. Lots of excercise, watch our labs and let them tell you how to adjust your diet, and don't give up without putting up a heck of a fight. I am almost 3 years post transplant and my eGFR last month was 90. Everyone is different, but I don't consider myself anything special so I fell like you can even better than me. Go for it!

@m1rmiller sorry for all my typos- too late at night for me I guess

@ailsas It's those family get-togethers to celebrate an anniversary, birthday, whatever. Many are too busy to cook a home meal, or too feeble to do so. I make a lot of my own meals from scratch, adhering to CKD guidance. My wife doesn't contribute much around the house, preferring to watch TV all day - literally. So, I'm on my journey, mostly fighting alone, trying to keep our home functioning. I have several interests (hobbies), cooking is one of them. With so much to do (maintenance- daily chores), sometimes it is overwhelming and exhausting. It's good NIH is aware, but I'm surprised they have not issued guidance to the food industry. Maybe, that day is coming.

@susangail53 I did the same thing when I went down to Mayo Clinic now I'm not sure what kind of chronic kidney disease you have mine is called renal tubular acidosis it's very rare so I form kidney stones very fast. The more citrus the better because citrus helps to dissolve kidney stones so for me I also drink a quarter cup of lemon juice everyday.

I found what I have to stay away from is like pop I don't drink any pop anymore not even a can of wheat I don't drink any Gatorade I'd stick to water and sometimes I'll drink a vitamin Water and by cutting that out for me has really gotten my number of hospitalizations significantly down I went from like every 2 months to once a year now that I have to go in and have surgery. Aside from that I cut back on my salt because I used to love salt put my sodium levels have normalized my potassium has normalized my my all of my your basic kidney labs they've all normalized just in cutting out pop adding extra citrus and cutting back on my sodium.

They never told me that I had to go vegetarian It is important to watch your protein intake so like I'm supposed to be on a low protein diet but whenever I'm in the hospital they don't have me on a low protein diet the only thing that I've really changed is my sugar intake and my sodium intake because Gatorade is one of the worst things they told me for my kidneys because of the sugar and sodium content in it.

I hope that helps.

@maryland9 I was told by the dietitian that banana is absolutely are good they don't contain as much potassium as people think they do but it's not something that I was told would harm my kidneys when I met with the dietitian at Mayo.

Thank you do much for your comments which were informative and very encouraging. Wishing you well.

You're welcome. Keep us posted on how it's going. Courage!

@susangail53 thank you for that info. I never heard of a Renal Dietician. I will find one of those. My diet is mostly fruits and veggies as was recommended by my Cardiologist. I sometimes eat chicken and fish. I'm worried about my sodium level as it's been going up and down for 5 yrs and every med the Nephrologist gives me reduces it even further. At the moment I'm on Urea tabs that make me tired and dizzy and my sodium is at 127
I'm at a point I dont know what to do
Any suggestions would be appreciated.