Healthy Eating Patterns: Guidance from the new Dietary Guidelines
The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines released last week tell us that instead of focusing on single nutrients or foods in isolation, we should focus on eating patterns and, consider everything we eat and drink. I like this approach, and believe it’s already changing the way we choose foods, even for people with kidney disease. Although the Dietary Guidelines are not intended as a medical guide for diet in treatment of chronic diseases like kidney disease, the recommendations can help people focus on healthy eating patterns. We believe this is a way to improve health and reduce risk for other chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
- Follow a healthy eating pattern across the lifespan.
- Focus on variety, nutrient density, and amount.
- Limit calories from added sugars and saturated fats and reduce sodium intake.
- Shift to healthier food and beverage choices.
- Support healthy eating patterns for all.
You can read the 2015 Dietary Guidelines expanded version of the above guidelines here.
An eating plan for kidney disease requires balance of many dietary components. It’s easy to focus on the numbers (for example, how much potassium or phosphorus) instead of the healthiness of foods. I’ve observed people obsessing over the mineral content of a specific food without considering how much, how often, and how it should be included in a meal or as part of the daily food intake. In contrast, by focusing on the whole meal and its healthy attributes, while still making kidney-friendly choices, we can develop healthier eating plans and enjoy the foods we choose more.
This focus on creating healthy eating patterns is in sync with changes renal dietitians and kidney patients are already making. DaVita dietitians have created resources called “Eat Healthy: Today’s Kidney Diet” to help patients understand this new focus. The goal is to show patients a way of eating that relaxes restrictions on healthy foods like whole grains, legumes, nuts, Greek yogurt and other foods once off-limits due to potassium and phosphorus content. Instead the focus is on improving the quality of what you eat by including some of these foods with known health benefits.
You still must limit the amount of some of these healthier foods. Just as eating too many calories will cause weight gain, eating too many higher potassium or higher phosphorus foods will impact your blood potassium or phosphorus levels. So attention to meal planning and how much you eat (portion size and frequency) is still important.
Work with your dietitian to understand how to include a wider variety of healthy, whole, fresh foods, while limiting processed and refined foods in your individualized eating plan. Evaluating the impact of new eating patterns on potassium and phosphorus blood test results is a very important part of changing to a healthier kidney-friendly eating plan. It’s exciting to see changes that are making the kidney diet healthier.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2015 – 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 8th Edition. December 2015. Available at http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/.
The Dietary Guidelines graphic is from the health.gov dietary guidelines 2016 digital press kit.
Additional Kidney Diet Resources
Visit DaVita.com and explore these diet and nutrition resources:
DaVita Kidney-Friendly Recipes
This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment. Consult your physician and dietitian regarding your specific diagnosis, treatment, diet and health questions.
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