Planning Your Dialysis Diet

The dialysis machine removes wastes from your blood when your kidneys cannot do this job. These wastes come from the foods you eat. Wastes slowly build up in your blood between your dialysis treatments. While receiving dialysis treatments, you should follow a Meal Planning.

What can I do to make a dialysis diet part of my lifestyle?

Changing what you eat and drink may be hard at first. Following a dialysis diet may help you feel better. Think of these changes as "lifestyle" changes, not just "diet" changes. You will need to make these changes part of your daily routine.

A dialysis diet is one that is low in sodium, phosphorous and protein. A dialysis diet stresses the importance of consuming high-quality protein and limiting fluids. Some dialysis diets may also call for limited potassium and calcium. Every person is different.

Dialysis And Planning Your Diet

Keep a list of meals that are quick to fix (like omelets), so you can eat something healthy in a hurry, with little effort.

Adapt favorite recipes so you can eat foods you like.

Cook ahead for the week and put meal-sized portions in the freezer. You can heat them up quickly all week.

Read food labels and find some convenience foods that will fit into your healthy meal plans.
Mix and match foods from the lists you get from your dietitian.

Look up a few favorite foods in a food values book to see how you can add them into a healthy meal plan.

Look up the foods you want to eat and make charts so you can have custom menus that work for you.