Peritoneal Dialysis: Need more Potassium?
When it comes to kidney disease, there are a lot of “P” words which have specific nutrition recommendations . . . protein, phosphorus, potassium . . . sound familiar? Let me add in yet another “P” word, peritoneal dialysis or PD for short. It starts to get confusing after a while! The focus of this post is why PD patients may need more potassium.
Peritoneal Dialysis
With PD treatments, fluid and potassium are removed daily versus three times a week on in-center hemodialysis. PD treatments also remove protein. For these reasons, the PD diet is often less restrictive than the hemodialysis diet. More potassium is allowed–and may be essential to good health. Refer to my past blog post “Dialysis Diet to Match Your Treatment Type” for more information.
Potassium Functions
Potassium is a mineral which is plays a role in:
- regulating muscle contraction
- maintaining healthy blood pressure
- sending electrical signals in the body
- balancing fluid levels
The goal for dialysis patients is to keep potassium within 3.5-5.5 mg/dl. When levels are too high or too low, it will affect how your heart beats. PD patients lose more potassium through daily treatments and through their urine if producing it. Because of this they are often encouraged to eat more potassium by including more high potassium foods. See the DaVita.com article “Potassium and Peritoneal Dialysis” for more information.
Food Sources for more potassium
Most dialysis guidelines are written with hemodialysis dietary guidelines in mind. If you are a PD patient, make sure that the dietary recommendations are specific for PD. Most PD diets will include information on some higher potassium food sources to include in your diet.
Some examples of high potassium containing foods include: 
- Milk, yogurt, chocolate, nuts, seeds
- Fruits: avocado, banana, cantaloupe, dates, honeydew melon, kiwi, nectarine, orange, papaya, persimmons, prunes, raisins
- Vegetables: artichokes, bamboo shoots, beets, cooked greens, kohlrabi, potato, rutabaga, spinach, succotash, sweet potato, tomato (tomato sauce), winter squash
- Beverages: carrot juice, orange juice, prune juice, tomato juice
For PD patients, it is important to get enough potassium in your diet. This will help keep your potassium levels from becoming too low. If your levels become too low, your physician may prescribe a potassium supplement in addition to a diet with more potassium.
Your dialysis dietitian will help you find the right amount of high potassium foods to include in your diet. For kidney-friendly recipes, visit DaVita.com to access over 1,000 kidney diet recipes.
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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