You might be wondering what
the top 8 dietary and lifestyle changes for polycystic kidney disease are.
Managing a healthy diet and proper nutrition choices can be difficult especially
if you have polycystic kidney disease. In this video, we will cover the top
8 dietary and lifestyle choices for polycystic kidney disease (PKD) which are based
on the latest research findings. The goal is to avoid anything that has the potential to make the
progression of polycystic kidney disease worse. These recommendations include:
1. Drinking more water 2. Limit sugar intake 3. Limit sodium
4. Reducing oxalate intake 5. Avoiding phosphate food additives 6. Considering low-carbohydrate foods and ketosis
7. Focusing on plants 8. Taking KetoCitra When we look at the big picture, we want
to point out that healthy eating is one behavior in a healthy cascade. Exercising regularly leads
to better stress management, which leads to more energy, which
leads to making healthier choices.
It’s not surprising people are
confused about how to approach nutrition and kidney disease. There is a lot
of conflicting information on the internet. Research is fast-paced and even practitioners
have a hard time keeping up with it. So, what predicts success?
When making dietary and lifestyle changes, those who stick with the changes they make
tend to see more benefits in the long run. Let’s start talking about the top 8 dietary and lifestyle changes for
polycystic kidney disease (PKD). The first thing to do is to drink more water.
I’m sure you’ve heard this once or twice, staying hydrated is important for everyone and especially
for those with polycystic kidney disease! It helps to prevent harmful crystals from forming
in kidneys by diluting urine, it can lower sodium in the blood, and prevent kidney stones. Staying
hydrated is important to overall kidney health as dehydration can contribute to causing
urinary tract infections (or UTIs). So how much fluid should you drink?
A good rule of thumb is to aim for 3 liters of fluid per day. 1 liter is equal to 32 ounces.
It's important to focus on water and not drink sodas or fruit juices or other drinks
with sugar.
Some teas and coffee may be ok. Even though drinking water is important, drinking too much water can cause low or unstable
electrolyte balances. Your fluid intake should be determined by your physician because patients
with later-stage disease may need to limit their water intake. 3 liters is a good goal
for most people with mild to moderate ADPKD but the goal needs to be modified based on body
weight, exercise, hot weather and other factors.
While this may be a difficult change in the
beginning, it can help you save money since you will no longer be purchasing soda, juices,
and other beverages that have added sugar. 2. Limit sugar intake.
Kidney cysts love sugar! Diabetes is the leading cause of chronic kidney disease, so it’s important
for individuals to monitor their sugar intake. Cutting out foods that contain added sugar such as juices, sweets, desserts, yogurt, and
other foods is a great place to start. Sugar in industrialized countries is sneaky. Sugar has worked its way into most food, and
many sodas have 8 teaspoons or more of sugar and even worse, the average American
consumes up to 6 cups of sugar in one week. So what does sugar look like on a nutrition label? You will notice on a nutrition label, that sugar
is broken down into total sugars and added sugars. Total sugars include added
sugars as well as naturally occurring sugars like those found in fruits.
Added sugars are sugars introduced to products or foods to add flavor or extend shelf life.
When reducing sugar intake, focus both on the added sugar label and the total sugar label.
When you eat fruit, avoid mostly sugary fruits and switch to berries that are lower in sugar.
Eat them only on occasion, not as a staple.
We are surrounded by high-calorie,
high-carbohydrate, and high sugar foods that are tasty so it might be difficult
to understand how to balance this. When making food choices, it’s important
to remember that decreasing added sugar in your diet will help prevent spikes in
blood sugar, improve insulin sensitivity, and protect your kidney function.
While it might be hard in the beginning, it can actually help to save you money since you
will no longer be buying highly processed foods, candies, and other desserts with added sugar. 3. Limit your sodium intake.
Sodium is necessary for many bodily functions, however, too much can pose health issues.
Because of this, it’s important to read the nutrition labels of the foods you choose in order
to avoid highly processed foods with added sodium. Another good rule of thumb is to prevent using additional salt during cooking. Most of the
foods we consume have more than enough already! Your daily sodium goal depends on your
stage of kidney disease and other factors, so you should ask your healthcare
practitioner prior to making drastic changes. Limiting your sodium intake might prove to
be difficult in the beginning, but making proper foods choices that contain less sodium
will help you to save money in the long run.
4. Reduce oxalate intake.
Oxalate is a waste product that humans don’t need, and it comes primarily from the foods we eat.
Excess oxalate is filtered by the kidneys and excreted when you urinate. Heavy loads of oxalate
crystals put excess stress on your kidney filters and also can contribute to kidney injury with PKD. How oxalates are absorbed, or not, can
be influenced by how much you consume but also by other minerals, especially calcium.
A high oxalate load and a poor calcium intake can predispose people with PKD to an
increased risk of injury and kidney stones.
For those following a plant-based ketogenic
diet, it’s important to recognize that some vegetables are high in oxalates such as
spinach, swiss chard, beets, and almonds. Instead, try foods such as broccoli,
mushrooms, lettuce, and asparagus. For more information on foods high and low in
oxalates, check out the link below this video. 5. Avoid phosphate food additives.
You've probably heard about the importance of reducing your phosphorus
intake to support kidney health. With polycystic kidney disease, your kidneys
are less effective at filtering phosphorus. This is why phosphorus can build up to higher
levels in your blood.
When phosphorus runs high in the blood it can lead to long-term issues such as
weak and brittle bones or cardiovascular issues. Phosphate can also lead to calcium
phosphate crystals in the kidneys that can then lead to kidney
stones and worsen PKD progression. Phosphorous, is frequently used as a preservative
and is “hidden” in most packaged foods. Reading the ingredient lists is extremely important
because phosphorous is NOT listed on the nutrition label. Unfortunately, people are forced to look
through the ingredient list which makes this challenging. A good rule of thumb is to stay away
from foods that contain the four letters “PHOS”.
6. Consider lower carbohydrate foods and ketosis.
Carbohydrate-predominant, diets consumed by most individuals in industrialized societies
may worsen the progression of PKD. High carbohydrate intake leads to high blood
glucose and insulin levels, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes which have been
associated with more rapid progression of PKD. There are several ways to decrease your blood
glucose levels and insulin needs and overall risk of developing diabetes and obesity.
1. Time-restricted eating – eat only during an 8-hour window and fast
during the other hours of the day. 2. Limit your intake of starchy foods
– remember starch is a form of sugar! 3. Switch to a very low carbohydrate, high
healthy fat, moderate protein “ketogenic diet”. And lastly,
4.
Fiber is ok, even though it is counted as a
“carbohydrate on food labels”. 7. Focus on plants.
Eating more plant-based foods in place of animal-based foods
such as red meat may help prevent and slow the progression of kidney disease, Type 2
diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. So, what about meat as a protein source? Animal food sources lead to acidic urine
and low urine citrate levels. Acidic urine increases the risk of damaging crystals,
and kidney stones and likely worsens PKD. Meat also contains high amounts of “purines”
which leads to the waste product uric acid that needs to be excreted by the kidneys,
again leading to damaging crystals. Some full-fat dairy, fish, and seafood are ok
to give you a variety of important nutrients that are difficult to obtain solely from plants.
It’s a good rule of thumb to reduce the number of animal food sources and increase the number of
plant foods.
You don’t have to become a vegan. 8. Take KetoCitra.
For those of you who don’t know, KetoCitra is the FIRST non-prescription product
developed for the dietary management of polycystic kidney disease (PKD) and is intended for
individuals with mild to moderate stages of ADPKD. KetoCitra™ may still be appropriate for
individuals at more advanced stages, but this should be determined by
your health care practitioner. KetoCitra should be taken
under medical supervision. KetoCitra is designed to support all of the other
dietary and lifestyle changes discussed before. KetoCitra can be taken by itself but it is
recommended to combine it with the other changes to maximize benefit. KetoCitra supports
individuals with PKD by providing the ingredients BHB and citrate together with an alkaline
base, and a beneficial blend of minerals. BHB: research shows that metabolic
abnormalities in ADPKD kidney cells lead to a preference for glucose as an
energy source.
In a nutshell, kidney cysts love blood sugar and they hate the alternative
energy source that the body makes during the metabolic state of ketosis: the ketone BHB.
The BHB in KetoCitra supports ketosis that is intended to mimic the beneficial
effects of fasting or a ketogenic diet. Citrate: helps to normalize
urine pH to a less acidic level, helps to normalize the levels
of citrate in the urine, and helps decrease the chance of developing
damaging crystals and kidney stones. One of the additional benefits of KetoCitra
is it provides calcium and magnesium, which are two electrolytes that bind with oxalates and
phosphates in your gut which reduces how much of it is reabsorbed to be filtered by your kidneys.
KetoCitra also provides potassium which helps to control high blood pressure. Most people
don’t get enough potassium in their diet. However, some individuals may
have high potassium levels, so it’s best to check with your practitioner to
determine if KetoCitra is appropriate for you. KetoCitra is also sodium-free
making it kidney-friendly and not a contributor to high blood pressure.
You should always check with your health care practitioner whether the minerals provided
in KetoCitra are appropriate for you because people with failing kidney
function may need to limit their intake.
KetoCitra helps kidneys to
retain their natural resilience. KetoCitra helps with the dietary management
of renal crystal precipitation by… Normalizing urine pH by providing
51 mEq alkaline base per day. Normalizing urine citrate
levels by providing citrate. Suppressing the dietary uptake of
oxalate and inorganic phosphate by providing calcium and magnesium.
KetoCitra helps with the dietary
management of metabolic abnormalities by… Raising blood BHB levels
by providing exogenous BHB. It’s important to note that most over the
counter BHB products on the market contain artificial ingredients and electrolytes that
are potentially harmful for PKD and CKD patients Taking KetoCitra is easy and it even
counts towards your daily fluid intake! While it can be expensive, implementing the
first 7 steps gives you an overall savings that can more than offset
the expense of KetoCitra. Taking KetoCitra combined with the other
top 7 dietary and lifestyle changes discussed in this video is a strategy
for long-term health and happy kidneys.
All of these changes may seem overwhelming. Every person is different and some people
need to modify their diet in a specific way depending on their level of kidney function or
other medal conditions they may have. Ideally, working with an experienced renal dietitian
will help you to implement these changes. Working with an experienced renal dietitian
is the first step in learning how to make appropriate dietary changes for PKD.
See the notes in the description for renal dietitian recommendations in the United
States who are dedicated to PKD and nutrition. Another option is the Ren.Nu program, which
is a great way to learn about the what, why, and how of PKD nutrition. This
program aims to impact polycystic kidney disease by teaching you step-by-step how
to integrate KetoCitra into your lifestyle and adopt a PKD-smart nutrition plan for
sustainable nutrition and lifestyle changes.
It's important to remember that you don’t
need to try to do everything all at once. Make changes step-by-step. And if you
need help, contact a renal dietitian who can help you start implementing
these 8 dietary and lifestyle changes. If you fall off the wagon, brush yourself
off and hop back on. You can do this! If you have questions, please contact
us at the email address listed below and don’t forget to follow us on our social
media platforms for more information..