Healthy eating guideline

Healthy eating guidelines

The following are some general guidelines that you should follow at all times, before or after dialysis has started:

Eat regular meals.
Include plenty of variety in your diet. This will provide you with essential nutrients such as protein, calories, vitamins and minerals. These nutrients keep you well nourished.
Eat some high-fiber foods such as whole-grain bread and cereals.
Eat only moderate amounts of fats.
Avoid adding extra salt to foods if you have high blood pressure.

To reduce your weight:

Eat less fat. Fat is very high in calories.
Eat less sugar. Sugar has no nutritional value other than calories.
Drink less alcohol. Even moderate amounts of alcohol provide lots of calories.

To reduce your fat intake:

Avoid cakes, pastry, cream, mayonnaise, cream cheese, or other high fat foods.
Use butter or margarine sparingly. Try low-fat spreads.
Don't fry food.
Cut the fat off meat.
Use skimmed or semi-skimmed milk in place of full cream milk.

When the time for dialysis draws near, some people may suffer from a loss of appetite and some foods, particularly meat products, may taste 'funny'. Loss of appetite is one of the major symptoms of kidney failure. Weight loss and loss of appetite are important reasons for starting dialysis. Be sure to tell your doctor about changes in your appetite.

If you have a poor appetite and are losing muscle mass or flesh weight, you may find the following suggestions of ways to increase your weight helpful:

To avoid weight loss:

See your dietitian who will be able to help you by changing parts of your diet.
Eat frequent small meals.
Snacks should have nutritional value.
If you can only manage small meals, try to include biscuits or crackers and cream cheese as snacks in between meals.
Boost your calories. Add butter or margarine to cooked vegetables and use full cream milk instead of low fat milk.
Try dietary supplements. Ask your dietitian whether supplements are appropriate for you, which ones to take, and where to buy them.

May 1, 2006

Next: Special dietary considerations