Dialysis patients need to be on a special diet. You may not be able to eat everything you like, and you may need to limit how much you drink. Your diet may vary according to the type of dialysis.
Salt, Sodium and Water
You already know you need to watch how much you drink. Any food that is liquid at room temperature also contains water.
These foods include soup, Jell-O, and ice cream. Many fruits and vegetables contain lots of water, too.
They include melons, grapes, apples, oranges, tomatoes, lettuce, and celery. All these foods add to your fluid intake.
Fluid can build up between dialysis sessions, causing swelling and weight gain.
The extra fluid affects your blood pressure and can make your heart work harder.
You could have serious heart trouble from overloading your system with fluid.
The best way to reduce fluid intake is to reduce thirst caused by the salt you eat.
Avoid salty foods like chips and pretzels. Try to eat fresh foods that are naturally low in sodium.
You can keep your fluids down by drinking from smaller cups or glasses.
Potassium
Potassium is a mineral found in many foods, especially milk, fruits, and vegetables.
It affects how steadily your heart beats. Healthy kidneys keep the right amount of potassium in the blood to keep the heart beating at a steady pace.
Potassium levels can rise between dialysis sessions and affect your heartbeat. Eating too much potassium can be very dangerous to your heart. It may even cause death.
To control potassium levels in your blood, avoid foods like avocados, bananas, kiwis, mellons, oranges (and orange juice) and dried fruit, which are very high in potassium.
Phosphorus
Phosphorus is a mineral found in many foods, mainly milk and cheese, dried beans, peas, colas, nuts, and peanut butter.
If you have too much phosphorus in your blood, it pulls calcium from your bones. Losing calcium will make your bones weak and likely to break (osteoporosis).
Also, too much phosphorus may make your skin itch. People on dialysis are limited to 1/2 cup of milk or ½ cup of yogurt per day.
You probably will need to take a phosphate binder or calcium carbonate to control the phosphorus in your blood between dialysis sessions.
These medications act like sponges to soak up, or bind, phosphorus while it is in the stomach. Because it is bound, the phosphorus does not get into the blood.
Instead, it is passed out of the body in the stool.
Protein
Before you were on dialysis, your doctor may have told you to follow a low-protein diet. Being on dialysis changes this.
Most people on dialysis are encouraged to eat as much high-quality protein as they can. Protein helps you keep muscle and repair tissue.
The better nourished you are, the healthier you will be. You will also have greater resistance to infection and recover from surgery more quickly.
Your body breaks protein down into a waste product called urea.
If urea builds up in your blood, it's a sign you have become very sick.
Eating mostly high-quality proteins is important because they produce less waste than others.
High-quality proteins come from meat, fish, poultry, and eggs (especially egg whites).