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

@darlingdoll, Thanks for the photo of petite you in this perfectly sized chair. And the sweet pic of you petting the little donkey is a keeper. On Sat. mornings, one of the local channels has a program of unlikely animals becoming best pals: FurFriends Forever. One segment was about a miniature donkey and his best friend a duck. Watching them together was a hoot. If animals of different species can become best friends, why are humans so slow, in some cases, to follow suit?

Hi fiesty,
Thanks for your reply with all the info! It is what other friends have also indicated, that lab results are indicative of the day on which blood was drawn, not the overall picture. I can't help but think my doctor had not informed me when I was obviously disturbed. (Nor have so many doctors over the many years that I've been a patient of numerous issues that called for bloodwork). So I thank each and everyone for taking the time to offer valuable informaton that enables me to go to my next visit as a much more informed patient, the benefit of speaking with friends, and I now know to look at the whole picture (doctor's advice) but I will also dig for more knowledge and not work with only what's available. (Hard to believe, don't dig is advice from my last visit). Knowledge is gold, and you have given me the gift of knowledge! Blessings!

Thank you so much! It is very helpful and I've bookmarked it! Thanks!

Thanks for writing! I hope you are doing well now. Take care!

Hi, @ausie, Perhaps the single most alarming and disturbing fact I discovered over the past year was how important is was for me to become a very proactive and insistent patient advocate for my health issues. Always blessed with excellent health, I never questioned a doctor; never paid attention to annual lab reports, always relied on what docs said or didn't say regarding labs or diagnoses. Never again.

U.S. docs are well trained in prescribing tests and making diagnoses. They are not trained in the importance of diet and its effect on many chronic health conditions. It took numerous pleas from me to get various docs to prescribe an appetitie enhancer, order additional tests and sign off for an insurance covered dietitian consult. I learned that I was at stage 3 CKD at my 1st visit with the requested nephrologist; my pcp's lab report had not mentioned it and at that time I didn't know what an eGFR was.

While members in MayoConnect do not pretend to be docs, we are the frontline with help, encouragement and experience because we are the ones living with our various conditions. You said it best: "Knowledge is gold". With it, we can learn to better manage our conditions; without it, we are at the mercy of too often overworked healthproviders who in some cases have neither the time nor training to help us take preventive measures early on. Time spent on learning how to better manage our health issues is some of the most important time we can spend if we want to continue to be the "stars" of our own lives. Best to you and all as we learn together.

Hi Carnes, Yes, eGFR about 34. Well dear, go for the Green Tea in a cup 24/ to sip. And chow down on those salads with Tuna. And if you don't like water well then you are out of luck. Don't eat a lot --that is the key. If you are over weight and focus on eating --big problem. And find a good Neurologist --and treat him like a King. The rest down the line is just plumbing. Georgia in Australia

I am stage 3B, breakfast is either wheatena or quick cook steel cut oats (whole foods) quaker oats has only 1 gm of sugar. Lunch is salad every day with arugula, carrots, red onion, cucumber, red pepper, and radishes. Sardines in olive oil 2x per week

Hi stage 3B (what does that mean??)-- Don't get paranoid about food-EAT LESS. Just keep your eye of the blood and urine tests and if you don't know how to read them, learn !!! And "love your Neurologist". Mine emails me and answers my every question. Talk in his terms. Know your eGFR and Creatinine !
I send your Neurologist an email "update" every 2 weeks with bloods, urine and current meds. AND A BIG THANK YOUR FOR YOUR CARE. American in Australia

stage 3B means my eGFR is 31, which means I am that much closer to requiring dialysis. I communicate with my nephrologist, have no idea why you communicate with a neurologist if you have kidney issues. BTW, my BMI iis less than 25. Thanks for corresponding American in Australia.

Hi again you guys --Georgia in Australia --IT'S THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT here--Fingers not working on the computer --Meant to say NEPHROLOGIST. YOU KNOW -- THE KIDNEY GUY !!! Learn to read the blood and urine tests. ! Do your own Sieman's 10 dipstick urine test at home in the bathroom. (Cost $60 from the drug store - 6 month supply) It tells you 10 things about your kidneys right there in your own bathroom. You can do it every day if you are a "worry wart". Ask question, and when they don't like it --ask some more !!!!

My friends tell me "I am taking this and that and I feel like this and that ". I say , "What does your blood test tell you?"
WHAT !!! I don't know how to read that. You guys buy a new car and then say I won't bother to learn how to drive it ? You are not really interested if you can't do that one.
Georgia in Australia.