What is a Renal Diet?

Are you familiar with what a renal diet is?

THE STORY: People with compromised kidney function must stay on a renal diet, a diet designed to cut down on the amount of waste in their blood. But what exactly comprises a renal diet? Here’s the lowdown on the renal diet.

THE BASICS: It’s the kidneys job to filter blood, remove waste through urine, balance minerals and more. When kidney function is comprised, it means your kidneys cannot properly filter waste from your blood - if waste is left in the blood, it can mess up one’s electrolyte levels causing serious problems. If you’re experiencing this, you will need to follow a renal diet. What does that entail?

When you’re following a renal diet, you must limit foods high in potassium, sodium and phosphorous. Why these things? When kidney function is comprised, the kidneys can no longer remove excess potassium leading to potassium levels building up in the body. The result can be muscle weakness, irregular heartbeat, heart attacks and more. Likewise, reduced kidney function means your kidneys cannot rid the body of excess sodium and fluid leading to increased thirst, edema, high blood pressure, and more. When kidneys can no longer remove phosphorous from the body it leads to high phosphorous levels which can pull calcium from your bones or lead to dangerous calcium deposits in blood vessels, lungs, eyes and heart.

FOODS TO AVOID: Unfortunately, these restrictions can lead to several foods you must avoid. These include:

Melons such as cantaloupe
Bananas
Oranges/orange juice
Tomatoes
Dried beans
Cooked greens
Avocados
Dark-colored sodas
Whole wheat bread
Canned foods
Dairy
Processed meats

BUT even with restrictions like these you can eat plenty of delicious meals.

TOP CHEF MEALS RENAL DIET MENU: Top Chef Meals has worked with a team of dietitians in order to create a renal diet meal plan where every meals has less than 600mg of potassium, 500mg of sodium, and 200mg of phosphorous. Our goal is to ensure that renal patients will receive the right diet, in a tasty form and with a variety that will continue to make eating enjoyable. For families, our aim is to provide a delivered renal diet solution that eliminates the added stress involved in figuring out what to cook.

You can choose between weekly meal plans or from our a la carte menu to design your own. What kind of meals can you eat? How about chicken fajitas with herbed brown rice, dried cranberries and zucchini? Or if you’re more of a seafood person maybe you’ll enjoy our flounder francaise with cabbage and citrus quinoa. You can also dig into comfort food in the form of our homestyle meatloaf with zucchini and herb lentil rice!

No matter your food tastes, with our meals there will always be something to satisfy.

THE ROUND-UP: The thought of going on a renal diet might be overwhelming, especially at first, but rest assured there will still be plenty that you can enjoy! If you’re unsure where to start, visit our renal diet page to get delicious meals that meet your requirements delivered directly to your home.