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Nutrition

Maintaining a healthy diet is an important part of living well with kidney disease. However, your needs and the needs of other kidney patients are not all the same. As your disease progresses, your dietary needs will as well, especially for those who undergo dialysis. Nutrients that affect the kidneys that you will have to monitor in your diet are protein, phosphorus, potassium and sodium. It is very important to consult with your doctor and determine your individual nutritional needs before making a health plan. To help you better understand kidney-friendly nutrition and receive recipes, below are several links.

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Understanding Kidney Healthy Nutrition

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Nutrition and Chronic Kidney Disease

 

National Kidney Foundation Basic Nutritional Information​

  • Diet and nutrition are an important part of living well with kidney disease. As your kidney disease progresses, your dietary needs will likely change as well. Be sure to talk with your healthcare practitioner about your individual nutrition needs.

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Abbott Condition Driven: Kidney Disease Pamphlets

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Diabetes and Chronic Kidney Disease​

 

Below are free online accounts that collect your personal health information and tailor recipes/nutritional advice for you.

 

My Food Coach

Foodcare has partnered with the National Kidney Foundation to create the free online resource as well as the My Food Coach app. This website/app allows you to select your health conditions such as your stage of chronic kidney disease and other conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. This information is used to choose recipes, grocery lists, and restaurant menu items (within the zip code selected) that fit your dietary needs. 

 

Eat Fit Program and Eat Fit NOLA App by Ochsner Health Systems (with nutritional restaurant information from NOLA, Northshore, Bayou, Baton Rouge, and Washington Parish) To find the app, search Eat Fit NOLA in the iTunes App or Google Play Store or look online at https://www.ochsner.org/eat-fit.

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This free app uses the same Foodcare software that My Food Coach uses to allow you to find recipes and restaurant menu items that are tailored to your dietary needs. To receive information about restaurants in your area, you can enter your zip code and find the local menu options that fit your dietary needs and their specific nutritional information. However, there are a few differences with Eat Fit NOLA and My Food Coach apps. The geographic location of restaurants is more limited with the Eat Fit NOLA app as compared to the My Food Coach app. Restaurants can display the Eat Fit designation, but check your app to see if these options fit your dietary needs as the Eat Fit designation items may not work for your diet. There is a list of recipes, but less than is available with the My Food Coach app. Warning: The grocery list in the Eat Fit Nola app is not tailored to your specific dietary needs and should not be used as a guideline. Use the My Food Coach app grocery search for a more tailored list specific to your health needs. An added feature with the Eat Fit NOLA app is that it can connect you to fitness opportunities and community services around your area.

 

DaVita Diet Helper

To create an account, visit www.davita.com/tools/diet-helper/. This free online resource allows you to create an account with your specific nutritional needs provided by your doctor/nutritionist (grams of protein, milligrams of sodium, phosphorus, and potassium as well as liquid intake). With this information, the website can help you to plan your daily meals and keep track of your nutritional intake. The site also has 1000+ recipes that are kidney-friendly to make healthy meals. DaVita Diet Helper uses your meal planner for the week/month to generate a shopping list and helps users save money by indicating if any of the items on the grocery list are on sale nearby. It also has tips for dining out to eat healthy at restaurants. The food analyzer helps you determine the nutritional content of your favorite foods. You can also submit your recipes to the site to help better track your nutritional intake.

 

Kidney-Friendly Recipes

Below are websites with kidney-friendly recipes. Make sure to look at the recipes and check to see the protein, potassium, sodium and phosphorus levels. Choose the recipe based on your dietary need. If you have diabetes, some websites will list recipes as diabetic friendly.

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* Has diabetic friendly recipes

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Chefs who have worked with the National Kidney Foundation to develop kidney-friendly recipes:

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