What’s not to love about a cold salad served in a chilled bowl with your favorite salad dressing? Today’s kidney diet tips will help if you’re following a low potassium diet but love salad greens.  As you can see from the chart below, all the salad greens listed are less than 200 mg potassium for a 1 cup portion.  Mix and match the ones you like best. The goal is to stay below 200 mg potassium for one salad.  If you want a larger portion, select the lowest potassium greens, arugula and green or red leaf lettuce.

Unfamiliar with some of these greens? Go to Cooks Thesaurus foodsubs.com,  to see pictures.

Salad greens are naturally low in sodium, but the wrong dressing can really boost the sodium content. When selecting a salad dressing buy low sodium commercially prepared dressing. Better yet, homemade salad dressings are easy to make,  inexpensive and contain no additives. Try one of these DaVita.com salad dressing recipes:

Basic Salad Dressing

Cranberry Dijon Vinaigrette

Creamy Vinaigrette

Italian Dressing

Oil and Vinegar Salad Dressing

Tarragon Vinaigrette

 Kidney diet resources from DaVita.com

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

Once again a message was sent out to alert consumers about contaminated food—this time cantaloupe.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 72 people are ill and 13 people have died from eating listeria contaminated cantaloupe.

Listeria is an illness-causing bacteria similar to salmonella and E. coli, but more deadly. Most of the past listeria outbreaks are related to soft cheese and deli meats, but in the past 2 years there have been several produce-related outbreaks. Symptoms of listeria include fever, muscle aches, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. In some cases victims are unable to speak. Read more…

The renal diet….it’s confusing…and the rules don’t apply to everyone the same way. Today I want to look at potassium and who needs a restricted low potassium diet, who can benefit from eating more potassium-rich foods, and what the goals are for low, normal and high potassium.

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans includes a chapter on foods and nutrients to increase. Potassium is on this list because the average American diet does not include the recommended servings of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, milk and milk products. Research actually shows that a low sodium, high potassium diet helps reduce blood pressure and risk of stroke by 21%. Reduced risk of kidney stones and decreased bone loss are also listed as benefits of a high potassium diet. Read more…

Potatoes are a staple in the American diet. We love hash browns or home-style fried potatoes with breakfast; french fries with burgers; baked potatoes topped with butter, sour cream, vegetables or chili and cheese; potato skins with the same toppings; stewed potatoes and mashed potatoes with gravy. No wonder the potato is so popular with so many ways to prepare them.

Potatoes are rich in carbohydrates, a good source of vitamin C, B6 and provides 2 grams of fiber. One 4-3/4″ x 2-1/3″ diameter potato with skin contains 1080 mg potassium. That’s over half the daily goal for a potassium restricted diet.

People withe chronic kidney disease or on dialysis who require a low potassium diet can still eat potatoes by using a technique to reduce potassium. Although potassium is not totally removed, it is lowered enough to safely include a small portion and keep your diet kidney-friendly.

Double-cook technique for reducing potassium in potatoes 

Use this newer technique to remove potassium in 30 minutes or less.

• Peel potatoes and cut into thin slices, diced small or shred for hash browns.
• Place potato pieces in a pot of water and bring to a boil.
• Drain water then add fresh water.
• Bring water to a boil and cook potatoes until tender.
• Drain water and prepare potatoes as desired.

The double cook method reduces potassium below 200 mg for a 100 gram portion (2/3 cup). Another well known technique for reducing potassium in potatoes is to cut up and soak potatoe pieces in water. To learn more about this technique read the article “Lowering Potassium in Potatoes” in the Diet and Nutrition Section of DaVita.com.

Try one of these kidney-friendly potatoe recipes low in potassium, sodium and phosphorus. Use the double cook method instead of soaking.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Individual Frittatas

Low Potassium Style Stewed Potatoes

Mrs. B’s Pierogies

Picnic Potato Salad

Roasted Vegetable Salad

Slow Cooker Pot Roast wit Low Potassium Potatoes

Kidney diet resources from DaVita.com

• Review and rate recipes
• Discussion Forums
• Monthly Recipe Alerts
• DaVita Diet Helper
• Phosphorus Challenge

High potassium is a concern for people with chronic kidney disease and those on dialysis because it is very dangerous. Extremely high levels can make your heart stop, and the scary part is you do not feel anything until potassium is quite high.

Symptoms of high potassium include tiredness, weakness, muscle cramps and irregular heartbeat. Read more…

This week a question came up about watermelon in the dialysis diet. Some patients are told to avoid watermelon while others are told it’s ok to include. Why the mixed messages? It has to do with 3 issues—portion size, potassium and fluid.

• Portion: The typical portion is a wedge of watermelon—equal to about 3 cups. For a dialysis diet that includes limited potassium and fluid, a wedge of watermelon contributes too much potassium and fluid. Most dietitians advise limiting watermelon to a 1 cup serving. Instead of cutting a wedge, cut the watermelon into bite-size pieces and measure into a cup.
• Potassium: Knowing how many fruits and vegetables to eat and the best portion size is essential to controlling potassium intake. A wedge of watermelon contributes 560 mg potassium but a smaller 1 cup serving contains only 180 mg potassium. Since a one cup portion of watermelon is smaller than a typical portion, try measuring your servings until you can successfully guesstimate a 1 cup portion. You can also cut your portion into small triangular pieces as sometime seen when watermelon is placed on a salad bar or used as a garnish. Most other melons are much higher in potassium compared to watermelon. For this reason watermelon is usually the only melon included in a low potassium diet plan.
• Fluid: It’s easy to exceed your fluid goals if you don’t count watermelon as part of your fluid intake. That’s because watermelon is 92% fluid and has little fiber. A wedge of watermelon has close to 3 cups of fluid!  For dialysis patients on a fluid restriction, watermelon is limited to 1 cup and may be counted as a replacement for fluid if water weight gains are a concern.

Nutritionally, watermelon is a good source of vitamin C, beta carotene and lycopene, a phytochemical with antioxidant activity that may protect against cancer. As mentioned, when consumed in small portions it is also low in potassium, and naturally very low in phosphorus and sodium.

Once available only during summer months, watermelon is now available year round in most large markets. Consider adding watermelon to your favorite fresh fruit salad. Make summer salsa with watermelon as a replacement for tomato. For a special refreshing watermelon treat, try Watermelon Cooler from the DaVita.com kidney-diet recipe collection.

Kidney diet resources from DaVita.com

• Review and rate recipes
• Discussion Forums
• Monthly Recipe Alerts
• DaVita Diet Helper
• Phosphorus Challenge

Super Bowl Sunday is a great opportunity to serve your guests a healthy vegetable appetizer. Everyone knows vegetables are good for you.  A serving or two will kick up your intake of fiber, vitamins A, C, K, folate, calcium, magnesium, potassium, antioxidants and phytochemicals known to reduce risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and cancer.  Vegetables are naturally low in sodium and calories.

If you have kidney disease, potassium in vegetables may be a concern. Blood potassium levels rise as the kidneys lose ability to remove excess potassium in the urine. Usually this occurs in later stage 4 and stage 5 when there is little kidney function left. In earlier stages of chronic kidney disease potassium usually stays in the normal range regardless of the diet. High potassium in early stages may be due to medications such as blood pressure pills and potassium-sparing diuretics. It’s important to know your potassium level each time your blood work is done and to ask your doctor if a low potassium diet is required or not.

The DaVita kidney diet recipe collection has 6 tempting vegetable appetizers that are low in potassium and high in nutrition and flavor.  Regardless if you are a Pittsburgh Steelers fan or Green Bay Packers fan or you simply want to enjoy being with friends and family, make it an opportunity to serve one of these healthy low potassium appetizers at your next get-together.

Artichoke Relish on Toasted Pita

Are You Kidding Me Artichoke Dip

Artichoke Relish on Toasted Pita

Asparagus Spread

Cucumber Sandwiches

Pierogi with Sweet Cabbage and Mushroom Filling

Raw Veggies and Dip

Kidney diet resources from DaVita.com

Review and rate recipes

Discussion Forums

Monthly Recipe Alerts

DaVita Diet Helper

Phosphorus Challenge

Quince is a pear shaped, golden yellow fruit related to the pear and apple fruit family. Unlike it’s cousin fruits, the quince is very tannic and bitter when eaten raw, so most recipes call for cooking the fruit. When sugar is added the cooked quince turns crimson red and develops a flavor described as a combination of rose, vanilla, cinnamon and cardamom. Some popular quince recipes include quince baked or poached with sugar, quince added to stewed or slow cooked meat dishes, quince tarts, preserves and a spreadable paste known as membrillo. Read more…

Pineapple is a symbol of friendship and hospitality as well as a sense of welcome, good cheer, warmth and family affection. It’s also a great fruit choice for the kidney diet. The DaVita Dietitian team admires the pineapple so much they chose it for their logo to go with their motto “Improving Nutrition Together”.

Pineapple fits a low potassium diet plan with 125 mg potassium for 1/2 cup frozen or canned (chunks or crushed), 2 rings or 3/4 cup fresh. Read more…

Most people aren’t concerned about potassium because healthy kidneys regulate potassium to keep blood levels normal. If you have chronic kidney disease (CKD) you may need a low potassium diet as your kidneys stop working. Read more…