Tips for preventing Kidney failure
There are two types of kidney failure:
1. Acute kidney failure is a sudden loss of kidney function. It’s usually reversible.2. Chronic kidney failure is a gradual loss of kidney function. It gets worse over time and isn’t reversible (but you can slow its progression).
When kidneys fail, waste and extra fluid builds up in your body. This causes the symptoms of kidney failure.
Diabetes increases your risk for heart disease and kidney failure. That’s just one reason to manage your blood sugar.
High blood pressure can increase your risk for heart disease as well as kidney failure.
Obesity can increase your risk for conditions associated with kidney failure, such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
A heart-healthy diet — one low in sugar and cholesterol and high in fiber, whole grains, and fruits and vegetables — helps prevent weight gain.
Eating too much salt is associated with high blood pressure.
Dehydration reduces blood flow to your kidneys, which can damage them. Ask your doctor how much water you should drink per day.
Alcohol increases your blood pressure. The extra calories in it can make you gain weight, too.
Smoking reduces blood flow to your kidneys. It damages kidney function in people with or without kidney disease.
In high doses, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen, reduce the amount of blood flow to your kidneys, which can harm them.
Reducing stress and anxiety can lower your blood pressure, which is good for your kidneys.
Exercise, such as swimming, walking, and running, can help reduce stress, manage diabetes and high blood pressure, and maintain a healthy weight.
If you think you might have kidney disease, it’s important to see your doctor for evaluation. Getting an early diagnosis and treatment can help slow the progression to kidney failure.
If you know you have kidney disease, regularly see your doctor to monitor your kidney function. While chronic kidney disease can’t be reversed, its progression can be slowed with appropriate treatment.
Eating Right for Chronic Kidney Disease
You may need to change what you eat to manage your chronic kidney disease (CKD). Work with a our dietitian to develop a meal plan that includes foods that you enjoy eating while maintaining your kidney health.
The steps below will help you eat right as you manage your kidney disease. The first three steps (1-3) are important for all people with kidney disease. The last two steps (4-5) may become important as your kidney function goes down.
Why? To help control your blood pressure. Your diet should contain less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium each day.
Buy fresh food often. Sodium (a part of salt) is added to many prepared or packaged foods you buy at the supermarket or at restaurants.Cook foods from scratch instead of eating prepared foods, “fast” foods, frozen dinners, and canned foods that are higher in sodium. When you prepare your own food, you control what goes into it.
Use spices, herbs, and sodium-free seasonings in place of salt.
Check for sodium on the Nutrition Facts label of food packages. A Daily Value of 20 percent or more means the food is high in sodium.
Try lower-sodium versions of frozen dinners and other convenience foods.
Rinse canned vegetables, beans, meats, and fish with water before eating.
Why? To help protect your kidneys. When your body uses protein, it produces waste. Your kidneys remove this waste.
Eating more protein than you need may make your kidneys work harder. Eat small portions of protein foods.
Protein is found in foods from plants and animals. Most people eat both types of protein. Talk to your dietitian about how to choose the right combination of protein foods for you.
Animal-protein foods:
Chicken, Fish, Meat, Eggs, Dairy.
A cooked portion of chicken, fish, or meat is about 2 to 3 ounces or about the size of a deck of cards. A portion of dairy foods is ½ cup of milk or yogurt, or one slice of cheese.
Plant-protein foods:
Beans, Nuts, Grains
A portion of cooked beans is about ½ cup, and a portion of nuts is ¼ cup. A portion of bread is a single slice, and a portion of cooked rice or cooked noodles is ½ cup.
Why? To help keep fat from building up in your blood vessels, heart, and kidneys.
Grill, broil, bake, roast, or stir-fry foods, instead of deep frying.Cook with nonstick cooking spray or a small amount of olive oil instead of butter.
Trim fat from meat and remove skin from poultry before eating.
Try to limit saturated and trans fats. Read the food label.
Heart-healthy foods:
Lean cuts of meat, such as loin or round, Poultry without the skin, Fish, Beans, Vegetables, Fruits, Low-fat or fat-free milk, yogurt, and cheese.
Limit alcohol
Drink alcohol only in moderation: no more than one drink per day if you are a woman, and no more than two if you are a man. Drinking too much alcohol can damage the liver, heart, and brain and cause serious health problems. Ask your health care provider how much alcohol you can drink safely.
Why? To help protect your bones and blood vessels. When you have CKD, phosphorus can build up in your blood. Too much phosphorus in your blood pulls calcium from your bones, making your bones thin, weak, and more likely to break. High levels of phosphorus in your blood can also cause itchy skin, and bone and joint pain.
Many packaged foods have added phosphorus. Look for phosphorus—or for words with “PHOS”—on ingredient labels. Deli meats and some fresh meat and poultry can have added phosphorus. Ask the butcher to help you pick fresh meats without added phosphorus.
Problems can occur when blood potassium levels are too high or too low. Damaged kidneys allow potassium to build up in your blood, which can cause serious heart problems. Your food and drink choices can help you lower your potassium level, if needed.
Salt substitutes can be very high in potassium. Read the ingredient label. Check with your provider about using salt substitutes. Drain canned fruits and vegetables before eating.