Where do you go for help when you want to find out the nutrients in your food? Knowing  protein, carbohydrate, fat, sodium, potassium, phosphorus and calcium content of food helps you make better decisions…and may influence how closely you stick to your kidney diet. There are several sources to consider.

Food Labels

The most obvious nutrient source is the food label, available on all packaged foods. Many grocery stores provide nutrient information for fresh produce, and soon fresh meat will require a nutrition label. The drawback is that potassium and phosphorus are optional on food labels and these are among the most important ones you need to know if you have chronic kidney disease or if you are on dialysis.

Food Composition Books

Any bookstore has a variety of food composition books that list nutrients in foods. Your dietitian most likely has a copy of “Bowes and Church’s Food Values of Portions Commonly Used”, a comprehensive nutrition data book with thousands of foods, now in its 18^th edition.

Other food composition books vary in the nutrients included. A few on my shelf include “The Complete Book of Food Counts and Vitamin and Mineral Counter”, both by Corrine Netzer, and “The Calorie King Calorie, Carbohydrate and Fat Counter” from dietitian Alan Borushek. If you still prefer a book over an electronic reader or computer, these resource books are a good investment. Some are available to download an electronic version. An extensive list of food composition resources is available from the USDA National Agriculture Library.

On a smaller scale, you can order a pocket guide from the American Association of Kidney Patient. It gives potassium, phosphorus, sodium and protein values for many commonly eaten foods.

Nutrition Databases

As a USA taxpayer, you have invested in a nutrient database that is available to anyone without charge. You can download the USDA nutrient database directly to your computer desktop and easily look up foods. Almost all the foods in this database contain potassium and phosphorus values, and it is updated once a year. One drawback is you won’t find  brand name and restaurant foods, but many generic descriptions can be found. I keep the most recent version right on my computer desktop so it is easy to access and use.

Another quick look-up tool is the Food Analyzer on DaVita.com. Keep this tool in your favorites to easily look up thousands of food. This special database has a filter to only include items with potassium and phosphorus, a feature missing from many online food analysis tools.

Looking for more? DaVita Diet Helper is a no-charge online meal planner with already planned menus, a Food Analyzer and Nutrition Log. You can  track the foods you eat and instantly see nutrient totals, including calories, protein, carbohydrate, sugars, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, fiber, sodium, potassium, phosphorus and calcium. Your data is saved and automatically broken down into meals, snacks and daily total. There are other online meal planners, but Diet Helper has two features that are missing from other planners. It is based on protein, potassium, sodium and phosphorus instead of calories to provide customized meals for kidney diets; plus all the foods in the database contain values for all the above nutrients, unlike some programs that do not include potassium and phosphorus for all foods.

Nutrition Software Programs  

You can purchase nutrient software programs that have additional features like diet and exercise analysis, scoring systems, weight trackers, menu planners, and recipe features. These programs usually include the USDA database as well as generic, brand name and restaurant foods. There are many simple, easy to use programs, such as Dine Healthy, or a number of other software programs at the Nutrition and Food Web Archive. You can get more bells and whistles from larger programs like The Food Processor  or Compu Food Analysis. A Google search will reveal many options and information on nutrition software programs.

There’s an App for That

In addition to the above resources you can find many apps for your smartphone or other devices. These apps make it much easier to track your food intake throughout the day and to have real-time data to help make decisions about what to eat on your kidney diet. Kidney Diet offers an app secifically for people following a kidney diet with a focus on protein, potassium and phosphorus.  

Regardless of the source you use to find out the nutrients in your food, learning and sticking to a kidney diet is easier when you have tools and resources to help you choose the best foods for your health.

Kidney diet resources from DaVita.com

• Review and rate recipes
• Discussion Forums
• Monthly Recipe Alerts
• DaVita Diet Helper
• Phosphorus Challenge^TM
• Food Analyzer
• DaVita Cookbooks

Imagine you’ve enjoyed a Valentine’s Day dinner with your special someone. In addition to a romantically funny card, your sweetie pulls out a box of chocolates. Do you keep it or pass it on to someone who isn’t concerned about potassium and phosphorus? It may be a hard decision, but if you are more informed about chocolates your decision may be easier to make.

Kidney diets always include chocolate on the limit or avoid list because the potassium and phosphorus in chocolate can add up quickly. If you decide to keep your chocolates, be aware of how much each piece contributes to your daily potassium and phosphorus intake.

Consider these tips: Read more…

Recently I read an article on inflammation and fiber from Renal and Urology News that has a connection to the kidney diet and chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Low dietary fiber intake is a chronic problem in most Westernized diets. Our love of refined grain products, juices instead of fresh fruit, processed and fast foods, sweets and salty snacks, limited vegetable intake and narrow use of whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds has resulted in a fiber intake around 10 to 14 grams of fiber a day. In comparison, the Institute of Medicine recommends 14 grams for each 1000 calories, which is around 25 grams for females, 38 grams for males and 19 to 25 grams for children each day. Read more…

Today I ran across a Joslin Diabetes Center study about diabetes and early detection of kidney disease. The study results are of particular interest to me for several reasons. I’ve worked with so many people with diabetes, diagnosed with kidney disease and they didn’t even know they were at risk before ending up near or on dialysis. Secondly, while working in a DaVita dialysis center I was involved in a research study called the Nutrition and Inflammatory Evaluation of Dialysis Patients (NIED) Study that has provided extremely useful data about the connection between chronic inflammation and kidney disease. Third, diabetes is one of the chronic diseases in my own family so being as healthy as possible is an important personal goal. Read more…

The beginning of a new year is a great time to assess and plan your food budget. When it comes to buying food for a kidney diet, some people express concern over spending more money on special products to help reduce sodium and phosphorus intake. For example, the low sodium version of canned tuna and canned veggies costs more than the regular salted canned products. Low sodium condiments like no salt added ketchup and low sodium salad dressings also carry a higher price tag, not to mention the probability of containing potassium chloride, a salt substitute that kicks up the potassium content. Read more…

May all your holiday wishes come true. I’m looking forward to sharing many more kidney diet tips with you in 2012. Tell me what you would like to know about.

DaVita Dietitian Sara Read more…

Cheese is a featured ingredient in this month’s DaVita recipe collection, Kidney-Friendly Cheesy Appetizers. Almost everyone likes cheese, but kidney patients are told to limit or even avoid it due to the phosphorus content. In addition, some cheeses are quite high in sodium. Read more…

I love holiday music, especially Carol of the Bells and My Favorite Things. I also love to discover new food products that are special because they’re only available this time of the year. I made a couple of ‘discoveries’ that could easily become favorite things from my local Trader Joe’s store this week (also available online).  I like shopping at TJ’s because they promise no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives, no MSG and no trans fat. This means you can find kidney-friendly foods that are free of phosphate additives.

My first new holiday discovery is Speculoos Cookie Butter, described as “a deliciously unusual spread reminiscent of gingerbread and made with crushed biscuits”. Serving suggestions are to spread on pancakes, make cookie sandwiches, or use as a dip for celery or pretzels. Cookie Butter looks like a jar of peanut butter, spread smoothly like peanut butter, but the gingerbread-cinnamon-nutmeg flavor is out of this world! Because it’s free of nuts, the potassium and phosphorus are much lower than comparable nut spreads.  One tablespoon has 90 calories, 6 grams fat, 8 grams carbohydrate and less than 1 gram protein. In addition, the cholesterol and sodium are zero. Okay, you may need help with stopping at 1 tablespoon—but keep in mind moderation is important to feeling good throughout the holidays). Read more…

As the holidays quickly approach, it’s time to start planning holiday meals, appetizers for social events and friendly visits, and gifts from the kitchen. No need to stress over what to prepare for your kidney diet. DaVita dietitians have put together a collection of recipes, “DaVita Holiday Kidney Diet Delights” to make your holidays special and take away the worry about holiday eating.

The Eats and Drinks collection includes several easy to make appetizers and drinks. Festive Feast includes kidney-friendly entrée and sides for the main event meal. Season’s Sweets features our favorite treats for holiday gifts or to serve over coffee with your holiday guests.  

Download your no-charge copy of DaVita Holiday Kidney Delights today at DaVita.com/cookbook to complete your holiday cooking while keeping it kidney-friendly. In addition, there are over 700 kidney diet recipes in the DaVita.com recipe section.

Happy Holiday Eating,  DaVita Dietitian Sara

Kidney diet resources from DaVita.com

• Review and rate recipes
• Discussion Forums
• Monthly Recipe Alerts
• DaVita Diet Helper
• Phosphorus Challenge^TM
• Food Analyzer
• DaVita Cookbooks

One of the best things about the winter holiday season is an opportunity to socialize more than usual.  Parties, potluck at work, holiday brunch and family get-togethers always include food and drink. For people with kidney disease, holiday eating presents more temptations and dietary challenges. Prepare yourself to stay on track by finding 3 or 4 must-have kidney-friendly holiday recipes for upcoming events.

I’ve selected several recipes from the DaVita.com collection for you to incorporate into your holiday collection. Read more…