Stage 3 Kidney Disease and Diet: What can I eat?

@carnes I’m type 1 Diabetic and have CKD (wavering between stage 3 & stage 4). I have an autonomic neuropathy complication called gastroparesis that gets aggravated by high fiber foods, particularly legumes & cabbage. I’ve been blessed to not have food allergies and I’m not a picky eater at all. I’ve been on a carb:insulin counting low sodium diet for a long time. I generally avoid fat and go with a moderate amount of lean protein. I’ve had pretransplant (kidney) evaluations and reviews. The nutritionists tell me to “eat for the kidney labs”. My nephrologist monitors labs and I currently have no restrictions such as potassium or phosphorus. The thing that was most helpful for me was seeing a dietician to figure out the requirements of my medical conditions as they came up and develop a plan that worked for me.

@carnes I also am borderline Stage 3/4 Kidney Disease. Currently I follow five limiting diets: low fiber, low carbohydrates, low fat, low dairy and low oxilate. I eat popcorn, rice cakes, rice, Grape Nuts, Shredded Wheat, bananas, strawberries, peaches, nectarines, pears (few), cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew, oranges (few), green beans, peas, corn, cabbage, cucumbers (raw), onions, tomatoes, avocadoes, summer squash, carrots (few and most often cooked), asparagus, chicken, lean beef, tuna, fresh/frozen fish, a little pork, and a small amount of dairy from cheese, yogurt, ice cream and milk. The way to enjoy the foods you can eat is with your seasoning. I had very little available to me during a long hospital stay and watched cooking shows. Now I often check recipe sites for ideas: FoodNetwork, Cooking.com, Allrecipies.com, to name a few. I do put canned dry beans in my chili, but we only eat that a few times a month. I encourage you to check some things out and would love to hear how you are doing. Good luck.

Hi all,
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I know you will enjoy reading it and getting to know Rosemary, as much as I have!

@carnes
I found a "Diabetes meal plan recipes" in Mayo's Patient Care and Health Information Section. You can find a list of some Healthy Recipes that might give you some ideas. I hope you will find something that will satisfy your tastes as well as your dietary needs.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/recipes/diabetes-meal-plan-recipes/rcs-20077150
I am not on a diabetic diet. However, I am always interested in something to perk up my meals. So, I want to ask you to share a new recipe that you discover. OK?

I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes about 15 years ago but wasn't diagnosed with early CKD until 2016. I always have a flu shot but got the flu in the winter of 2017-18 and a month later my GFR was at 28! (Stage 4 CKD.) As a retired nurse I knew to immediately go on a renal diet and within two month my GFR was at 33%. At that time I went on a vegetarian renal diet (it can't be called vegan because I eat egg whites) and a month after that my GFR went up to 35 %, in other words I went from stage 4 to stage 3 - barely. I have found 2 websites to be extremely helpful in determining potassium and phosphorus values of various food items: a nutrition data site (one of the keywords is Self) and a nutrient ranking tool on a myfooddata site. Unfortunately as a new member I cannot yet post links or URLs so will try to do that later on. It hasn't been easy but I think I've finally come up with a vegetarian renal diet for myself which is diabetic-friendly, tasty and filling. (Latest A1C was 5.8) Am waiting for latest metabolic panel results to see if my GFR has improved and if potassium and phosphorus levels are better. Wish me luck!

Just got lab results. GFR slightly up from 35 at 37, BUN down from 40 to 37, Cr down from 1.47 to 1.41. Potassium is normal at 4.5 (was 4.8) Values indicate mild improvement in kidney function. I'm wondering how much my vegetarian renal diet has to do with the slowly improving values. Any feedback will be appreciated.

kamama94, I want to say Welcome to Connect. I am happy that you have joined in this discussion, and I am pleased to see that your dietary changes are having positive effects. I am a liver/kidney recipient, and I feel it is necessary to tell you that i do not have any kidney experience, because my kidney failure was acute and related to my liver condition. It was just never on my health radar.
I have located some discussions where other members have shared some dietary suggestions and changes that they have made. I invite you to have a look, and to join in anywhere.

Pre Transplant Diet and Exercise Ideas
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/pre-transplant-diet-and-exercise-ideas/
CKD
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/ckd/?pg=1#chv4-comment-stream-header
Stage 3 CKD
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/stage-3-ckd/
I look forward to learning with you.

Much appreciated.

kamama94, What has your nephrologist had to say about your numbers?
I am aware that a lot of people struggle with the best diet for CKD. And I wonder if you have had the opportunoty to consult with a nutritionist? I would like to think that your doctor could provide you with someone who would be interested in your diet and the resource information that you will soon be sharing here.
Enjoy your day!

Both neph and primary are pleased and say they expect further improvement.
When I first noticed my GFR was dropping several years ago I knew to lower K, P and Na.
After the dramatic drop last Feb post-flu in Dec-Jan and before I even consulted with the neph or a dietitian, I started a renal diet similar to that of my former CKD patients.
Then in May my neph suggested that a vegetarian diet MIGHT help. It was an easy transition since I already was limiting meat. We all believe it's at least partly responsible for improved renal function since a renal vegetarian diet doesn't stress the kidneys as much as a regular diet does.
Dietitian consult helped some but you'd be surprised how many professionals understand a vegetarian diet and know about a renal diet but not both combined into one. Vegetarian diets rely heavily on legumes, for instance, and tomatoes - no-nos for a low K & low P diet.
So I've spent a great deal of time reading labels, contacting food manufacturers to learn mineral content of their products (phosphorus is not required to be listed,) and going online to various websites to find nutrient values. I wish I could post links as two in particular are approved by my neph but as a new member I'm not allowed to post URLs.
BTW, I have only one functioning kidney, the left one stopped working years ago and finally atrophied but no one knew because I was asymptomatic, therefore no reason to suspect a problem requiring imaging. Last May neph, primary and I were all three surprised to see a tiny bean that used to be a kidney.