Kidney Dialysis: Dietary Dos and Don’ts!

Basically, a healthy kidney removes waste from the blood. They also flush fluid from the body. Now, waste means the excess of chemicals, minerals, elements, mainly acquired through our diet. Waste can also include the excess of Phosphorus, Sodium, Fluids, Creatinine, Urea etc. One can reduce waste build-up by controlling diet constituting both solids and liquid. If not taken care of, this can make one sick between the dialysis. Diet hence forms an important part of treatment for patients undergoing kidney dialysis. For a patient under kidney dialysis following things matter the most: -

 1) Right kind and amount of diet.

 2) Medicines on time.

 3) Dialysis as prescribed.

Between dialysis sessions, certain types of diet if taken can cause wastes to build up quickly. A kidney treatment session may not be able to remove all that extra build-up. 

Dietary control of fluids

Kidney dialysis removes extra fluid from the body. But it has a limit and hence between the dialysis, one should always control the amounts of fluids taken. Excess fluid if taken may cause weight gain & swelling, changes in blood pressure that can trouble heart. Lungs may also be affected by the excess of fluids causing breathing difficulties.

In short, excess fluids may cause illness. Also, it may cause muscle cramps or have a sudden drop in blood pressure causing dizziness and sickness in the stomach.

• Avoid salty foods, this would help control liquid intake too as salt makes one thirsty.
• Always fluids here don’t alone mean water but everything liquid in room temperature even fruits contain water. So, one needs to keep a watch on their intake of other liquids too.

Dietary control of solids

A healthy kidney balances the number of minerals, nutrients and vitamins by removing excess of them. For a patient under kidney dialysis, taking the right amount of the foresaid minerals is of utmost importance. One needs to keep a track on food listed here: -

 1) Potassium Rich food like avocados, bananas, kiwis, and dried fruit.

 2) Phosphorus Rich food like poultry, fish, nuts, peanut butter, beans, cola, tea, and dairy products.

 3) Processed Meat contains a high amount of sodium and phosphorus.

 4) Sodium rich food, generally the processed and canned food carries a high amount of sodium which could make one thirsty and hence should be avoided.

 5) Calories required – As prescribed by the expert, one should pick the right amount of Vegetable oils—such as olive oil, canola oil, and safflower oil—are good sources of calories. Sugar, honey, jam, and jelly provide calories and energy without fat or adding other things that your body does not need.

It is crucial to reach the right kidney expert when needed for dialysis and other dietary explanations. Dr BK Upadhyay is one such best kidney specialist and nephrologists in the country. He is an Associate Director, Nephrology and Kidney Transplant Medicine in Asian Hospital Faridabad and trained from best institutes of the country (AIIMS, New Delhi) and SGPGI, Lucknow. Kidney transplantation (including high risk i.e. blood group and HLA incompatible), chronic kidney disease and dialysis are some of his areas of expertise.