Foods With 200 mg of Potassium or More Food type Specific foods Fruits Apricots: 2 raw or 5 halves dried

Avocado (1/4 whole)

Banana (1/2 whole)

Cantaloupe

Dates (5)

Dried fruits, including figs, prunes, and raisins

Grapefruit juice

Honeydew melon

Kiwi (1 medium)

Mango (1 medium)

Nectarine (1 medium)

Orange (i medium)

Orange juice

Papay (1/2 whole)

Pomegranate (1 whole)

Pomegranate juice

Prune juice

Vegetables Artichoke

Bamboo shoots

Butternut and hubbard squash

Beets (boiled)

Broccoli (cooked)

Brussels sprouts

Chines cabbage

Carrots (raw)

Greens (except kale)

Kohlrabi

White mushrooms

Okra

Parsnips

Potatoes (including sweet)

Pumpkin

Rutabagas

Spinach (cooked)

Tomatoes and tomato products

Vegetable juices Others Beans (including baked and refried)

Bran

Chocolate

Granola

Milk (1 cup)

Molasses (1 tablespoon)

Nutritional supplements

Nuts and seeds (1ounce)

Peanut butter (2 tablespoons)

Salt substitute

Salt-free broth

Yogurt

Snuff/chewing tobacco



Source: National Kidney Foundation

Phosphorus

Phosphorus is a mineral stored mainly in bones, although smaller amounts are found in teeth, DNA, and cell membranes. It plays a key role in many biochemical reactions: converting food into energy, muscle contraction, nerve conduction, and healthy kidney function. Phosphorus also helps build strong bones.

Why It Matters in Kidney Disease

When healthy and functioning normally, the kidneys filter excess phosphorus out of blood; when the kidneys are diseased, this process is impaired and phosphorus can build up in the body. Excess phosphorus pulls calcium from bones, causing them to weaken.

In addition, high phosphorus and calcium levels may lead to calcium deposits in the lungs, eyes, heart, and blood vessels, which over time can increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, or death.

The tricky thing about phosphorus is that even when blood levels become dangerously high—what's known as hyperphosphatemia—there are no overt symptoms. The condition usually doesn't become evident until stage 4 chronic kidney disease.

Recommended Intake

According to the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines, adults 19 and over should get 700 mg of phosphorus per day.﻿﻿

Sources

Phosphorus is found in a variety of foods and beverages, in particular:

Beer and ale

Cocoa and chocolate drinks

Dark colas, including Dr. Pepper and similar peppery sodas

Canned iced tea

Dairy products including milk, milk-based drinks, cheese, custard and pudding, ice cream and cream-based soups

Oysters

Sardines

Fish roe

Beef liver, chicken liver, and other organ meats

Chocolate candy

Caramels

Oat bran muffins

Brewer's yeast

Phosphorus often is added to fast foods, ready-to-eat foods, canned and bottled drinks, enhanced meats, and most processed foods. To avoid phosphorus additives, look for the letters "phos" on the ingredients list. Some examples: Dicalcium phosphate

Disodium phosphate

Monosodium phosphate

Phosphoric acid

Sodium hexametaphosphate

Trisodium phosphate

Sodium tripolyphosphate

Tetrasodium pyrophosphate

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are nutrients that serve as the primary source of energy for the body. There are two types:

Simple carbs (basically sugars) are used nearly immediately upon consumption or energy

Complex carbs (sometimes called starches) are converted into glycogen, which can be stored and used later for energy.

Excess carbohydrates can also be converted to fat.

Why They Matter in Kidney Disease

When kidney disease has resulted from diabetes, managing the latter can play an important role in treating the former. This is because excess levels of sugar (glucose) in the blood is one of the causes of kidney damage due to diabetes.

Recommended Intake

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans advises that about half of daily calories come from carbohydrates, but it's not quite that simple.﻿﻿ Complex carbs are healthier than simple ones, for example, and a person's age, weight, height, and activity level also are factors.

For people with diabetes, ideal carbohydrate intake also depends on daily blood glucose levels, particularly for those who take insulin to manage the disease, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA).﻿﻿

Sources

If you have kidney disease related to diabetes, it's neither necessary nor smart to exclude carbohydrates from your diet altogether. However, you should be extremely picky about the types of carbs you eat. Your doctor or dietitian will provide you with an eating plan that's designed specifically to meet your needs.

However, generally speaking, you'll do best by steering clear of simple carbs and sticking to a prescribed amount of complex carbs. It also may be important that you lower your intake of carbs that are rich sources of potassium and/or phosphorus.

Eat (or Drink) These... Beverages with zero carbos: water, seltzer, unsweetened coffee and iced tea, herbal tea, diet drinks

Beverages low in carbs such as almond milk or soy milk

Low-fat and non-fat milk, Greek yogurt, kefir, and cottage cheese

Legumes (beans), peas, squash, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, corn, 100% whole grains (oatmeal, quinoa, barley, etc), non-starchy vegetables

Air-popped popcorn, whole grain crackers, whole grain cereals Not These... Fruit juice, soda, sweetened iced tea and coffee drinks, lemonade, Gatorade, vitamin water, flavored milk

White bread/rolls/bagels, Italian bread, multi-grain bread, white pasta or rice, muffins, croissants, scones, sugary cereals

Crackers, chips, pretzels, sweetened dried fruit, yogurt covered snacks, cookies, cake, ice cream, candy bars, cereal bars

Syrup, sugar (all types), honey, agave, molasses, corn syrup, fructose, high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, dextrose, maltose, fruit juice concentrates

Protein

The human body relies on protein for just about everything: Skin, hair, muscles, organs, and hemoglobin are made of protein. The enzymes that break down food and spark chemical reactions are proteins. The immune system depends on protein to make antibodies. Protein molecules aid the transfer of messages between neurotransmitters in the brains. And many hormones, including insulin and other metabolism-regulating hormones, are proteins as well.

Protein molecules are made of smaller molecules called amino acids. There are twenty naturally occurring amino acids. When foods containing protein are eaten, the body breaks them down and reassembles the amino acids to create the protein structures it wants to make.

4:56 How to Make Herbed Turkey Meat Loaf with Balsamic Brussels Sprouts

Why It's Important in Kidney Disease

Damaged kidneys may not be able to remove all of the waste from the protein a person consumes. The more of this waste the kidneys have to deal with, the harder it can be on them, causing dangerous wear-and-tear.

Besides further damage to already-compromised kidneys, a build-up of protein waste can cause symptoms such as nausea, loss of appetite, weakness, and changes in the way things taste.

Recommended Intake

The Recommended Dietary Allowance for protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight.﻿﻿ In easier terms, that comes down to 0.36 grams per pound, which equals as little as 10 percent of daily calories.

To determine how much protein you should take in every day, multiply your weight by 0.36. If you weigh 150 pounds and are relatively sedentary (protein needs are higher for athletes and other physically active people), for example, the ideal amount of protein you should eat is 54 grams.

For people with CKD, research suggests paring back on protein intake can help slow the progression of the disease﻿﻿﻿. However, there are no cookie-cutter guidelines for reducing protein: How much a person should cut back will depend on a variety of individual factors, including whether he or she is on dialysis or not, that a doctor or nutritionist will have to consider.

Sources

Protein can be obtained from animal and from plant sources. Animal proteins have all the essential amino acids, but some sources can be very high in unhealthy (saturated) fats, such as fatty cuts of red meat, whole–milk dairy products, and egg yolks. Fish, poultry, and low–fat or fat–free dairy products have the lowest amounts of saturated fats and are considered better choices for everyone, not just people with CKD or other medical diseases or conditions.

Plant proteins tend to be low in one or more essential amino acids, but by combining certain ones it's possible to consume all the important amino acids when following a plant-based or vegetarian diet. Plants proteins are low in saturated fat and high in fiber as well. Plant sources of protein include beans, lentils, nuts, peanut butter, seeds, and whole grains.

Fat

Healthy fat plays a vital role in overall health. It provides energy, is a building block of membranes throughout the body, carries essential fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, K, and carotenoids, and helps regulate blood pressure and other heart functions, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease, (NIDDKD).

Why It's Important in Kidney Disease

Certain types of fat are unhealthy: They can raise blood cholesterol and clog blood vessels, increasing the risk of heart attack or stroke in people with CKD who already are more susceptible to these problems than most people.

Recommended Intake

Most among the general population should consume no more than 25 to 35 percent of their daily calories from dietary fats, and less than 7 percent of daily calories should come from saturated fat. Most people should also aim to limit cholesterol intake to less than 300 mg/day.﻿﻿

Sources

Knowing how much fat to include in their diet can be a balancing act for people with chronic kidney disease and the professionals who treat them, one that requires knowing which fats are unhealthy and eliminating them as much as possible while at the same time getting enough healthy fats without taking in excess calories.