Folks suffering from kidney problems should maintain a low potassium diet plan.
And you might be wondering what potassium is. Potassium is a mineral, contained in most fruits, vegetables and other foods, including that vital part of most menus: potatoes. It helps us by keeping our heart and digestive system healthy, maintains the fluid balances in our body and facilitates the working of nerve impulses by producing electricity.
As can see, potassium is vital – even for folks with kidney failure. However, if you suffer from kidney disease you need to limit high potassium foods and maintain a low potassium diet. Therefore it is important that you know how to stick to a low potassium diet. This is because your damaged kidneys cannot deal with excess potassium in the way normal kidneys can. So it’s vital you understand the background to a low potassium diet and maintaining the correct level of potassium in the blood.
Why limit potassium intake and follow a low potassium diet?
Normally our body gets rid of excess potassium through urine. But people with chronic kidney disease cannot get rid of potassium through urine as their kidneys do not function properly. This causes the potassium to build to abnormal levels in the blood, which causes hyperkalemia. Maintaining a low potassium diet plan and keeping a low potassium diet sheet can lower the risk of getting this unwanted condition.
The problem is that hyperkalemia symptoms don’t become apparent until our blood has abnormally high levels of potassium. And that can be really dangerous because the body might develop serious complications such as irregular heart beating, muscle weakness or paralysis.
What is considered a correct level for a low potassium diet?
Folks with normal kidney function need not bother about their potassium levels because potassium is in most foods. So there’s no danger of getting a shortage and any excess is excreted by the kidneys. However, people who suffer from chronic kidney disease are advised to limit potassium intake from 1500 milligrams to 2700 milligrams every day – about half that recommended for people with normally functioning kidneys.
Here is an outline low potassium diet sheet for your daily potassium intake:
- Vegetables- 3-4 servings of low potassium vegetables daily
- Fruits- Every day we can have 1-3 servings of low potassium fruits
- Dairy products- Daily we can have 1-2 servings of dairy or other foods that are high in calcium
- Grains- We can have 3-5 servings of low potassium grains
- Meat and meat products 3-7 servings of low potassium meat daily
How to monitor your potassium intake:
Be your own expert and know which foods contain a high level of potassium and avoid them. Keep an eye on the fruits and vegetables that are high in potassium and limit their intake in order to maintain a low potassium diet. Also limit milk and milk products with other alternatives, such as soya or rice milk. In order to maintain a low potassium diet, always discard the liquids from canned fruits and vegetables by washing them thoroughly in water. Some seasonings contain a high level of potassium, so always check the labels. Keeping a sharp eye out for food that is marked as low in salt, low in sodium, and low in potassium.
And, if you are also following a low salt diet, be aware that salt substitutes are high in potassium so in order to make your low potassium diet work, stick to herbal spices. Also stay away from artificial sweeteners as they are high in potassium.
Another simple and easy way of sticking to your diet is by controlling portion sizes. Bear in mind your low potassium diet will not be effective if you have big servings of low potassium foods as it would still result in high potassium levels in your blood.
If you are a chronic kidney disease patient be sure never to skip dialysis. Full dialysis treatment is necessary to have adequate cleaner blood so remain on a full program of treatment. But be aware there is a detailed kidney diet plan available here, which has already allowed chronic kidney failure sufferers to actually reverse their condition and so avoid kidney dialys
Key low potassium diet tip:
Because vegetables are so good for your general health and yet contain potassium, here’s a great tip to allow you to enjoy the health benefits as part of a low potassium diet. Slice the vegetables into small pieces after peeling. This increases the area of exposure, so soak the vegetable pieces in clean water for around four hours at room temperature. After soaking, rinse the vegetables in fresh water. Your vegetables are then ready for use as a valuable part of your low potassium diet.
Filed under: Low Potassium Diet
RETURN TO KIDNEY DIET SECRETS HOME PAGE
