What’s Healthy About the Dialysis Diet?

Diets by nature limit certain foods or food groups. Often this causes dieters to focus on what they can’t have instead of what they can have. The list of foods limited in the diet for kidney patients includes many more foods than other diets because of concerns about protein, sodium, potassium and phosphorus.

Being an optimist, I think we need to focus on the positive parts of the dialysis diet! By doing so we can better appreciate the beneficial foods that can be eaten and feel more positive about the renal diet.

Today and future posts will include selected ‘kidney-friendly’ foods and some of the good things about them.

                                                     A is for….Apple.

Apples are fairly low in potassium compared to other favorite fruits like bananas (408 mg) and oranges (255 mg). One medium apple (2-3/4″ diameter) contains only 158 mg potassium, 9 mg phosphorus and 0 mg sodium. In addition, apples are a good source of fiber–3.7 grams if unpeeled.

Another great feature about apples is there are so many varieties with variations in taste (tart, sweet, sour). Apples are great eaten raw as a snack or cooked to include as a hot side dish with the meal. Applesauce is a favorite for meals or snacks. Baked apples and the all-American favorite apple pie ate great for dessert. You can probably think of many more ways to prepare this kidney friendly fruit. Why not include an apple a day!