How To Diet For A Dialysis Patient

2015-02-04 11:34

Dialysis patients have specific diet guidelines that differ from any other group of people. How to diet for a dialysis patient? Here are some tips for following a healthy diet plan.

When a person is on dialysis, nutrition is the most important part of the diet. It is important to increase protein, eat less salt and avoid foods high in potassium and phosphorus. Limiting calories is also important as dialysis patients tend to gain weight from the procedure. This can be achieved by limiting sweets and sugary foods. The specific diet is as below:

1. intake more protein

Patients on hemodialysis need 8-10 ounces of protein daily. Patients on peritoneal dialysis need more protein. They are recommended to eat 1-1/2 times more protein than usual. High protein can be found in ricotta, eggs, meat, chicken, turkey, fish or pork.

2. low phosphorus intake

It is important for dialysis patients to limit phosphorus as the kidneys lose the ability to balance calcium and phosphorus. Phosphorus is not removed in dialysis and is important to eat only foods low in phosphorus such as cheese, butter or tub margarine, dried beans, liver, nuts, sherbet and chocolate.

3. limit potassium

Hemodialysis patients need to limit high potassium foods, but patients on peritoneal do not, as they are having dialysis every day and the potassium risk is eliminated. Foods high in potassium are bananas, tomatoes, oranges, exotic fruits and potatoes.

4. low salt intake

Salt causes the body to retain fluids and cause the blood pressure rise. Dialysis patients are suggested to use herbs to season their foods and avoid salt substitutes made with potassium.

5. foods to avoid or limit

There are foods to avoid especially those which contain high levels of potassium such as oranges, orange juices, kiwis, banans, raisins, dried fruits and melons. Other foods to limit or avoid are potatoes, wither squash, tomatoes, pumpkin, beets, avocadoes and parsnips.

Diet is important for dialysis patients. However, how much you can eat depends on your medical conditions. Thereby, if you want to know how much you can eat or what you should avoid, you can describe your medical conditions to pkdtreatment169@gmail.com or consult our online doctor directly.

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