WHAT I EAT AND DRINK

 Chronic Kidney Disease is a very serious disease and very hard to beat because there are many variables to observe and the medical community does not really know how to cure and sometimes the medication to treat it is worse than the disease itself. We are left to cure ourselves because the lack of proper dieting and treatment is a sure sentence of forever prison to a machine several hours a day several days of the week. But there’s no need for panic. Just adapt yourself to a new reality and diet.

It's all a matter of common sense. Imagine a car filter. When the filter is new the engine works perfectly, but as the usage and heating up the motor, the oil has to work harder and, as times pass, the dirt from the heated oil - should say "burned oil", if not changed it can prevent the car from providing the clean oil the car needs to perform it's duty. In fact it can "burn" the motor.

The same principle applies to our kidneys but we can't simply change the filter - the kidney. We must, then, since we have to eat anyway, provide the kidneys with as simple filtering food, thus avoiding difficult food for the kidney to filter. That's why we can't have animal protein, which is much harder to filter than vegetal protein. The same thing applies to oil. By experience you know that filtering oil is much harder than filtering water. And, as with the car filter, it is much harder to filter the oil if the oil is burned. That's why we should avoid any oil, although we can have Olive Oil or Coconut Oil in natural form, never "cooked or burned". which means never to eath any fried (oil burned) food.

When I was diagnosed, my eGFR - the percentage capacity of the kidney to filter - was 37%. Now it is 65%, which is almost normal for someone of my age - 77.

This diet is more a change of lifestyle than a simple diet. Now we have to be mindful of everything we eat, paying attention to our levels of phosphorus, purines, potassium, etc... No longer can we eat in restaurants, except salads with simple italian dressing. The lack of protein and carbs made me a lot weaker because I lost 20 pounds in the first months of the diet, never to recover, but maintaining. I'm now just skinny but healthy. I lost all the itching I had and lots of pain all over the body. I'm definitely another man now, but feel great even with the shadow of 2 debilitating diseases, CKD and Gout. 

WHAT I EAT AND DRINK

 

The most important part of this diet is not what eat, THE MOST IMPORTANT IS TO KNOW ‘WHAT NOT TO EAT”

Whatever you want to eat, if it is NOT in the list, DON’T EAT. The food that is not in this list is not in there for nothing. This is the result of lots of people searching and experimenting.

 

I make an effort of ingesting about 70% leafy greens, vegetables and fruits - preferably the berries - and 30% vegetal protein, grains and pasta

 

I avoid any oil - hard for the kidney to filter - used in any way -

I do not eat anything that comes from an animal

I avoid eating any industrialized food. 

I eat salt in a very low amount, sprinkled in the food already cooked.  Sea salt is much less damaging to the kidneys than regular salt 

I do not use Over the Counter pain medication, except Acetaminophen

I consume vegetable based meat like, hamburguers, and vegetable sausage with spaghetti

 

VEGETABLES

 

OBEYING THEIR POSITION IN THE PURINE’S TABLE

Any green vegetable you can find, except those that too high concentration of potassium

- Collard greens

- Asparagus

- Spinach 

 

Alfalfa Beans

Artichokes

Arugula

Asparagus

Bamboo Shoots

Beats

Beet

Broccolis

Cabbages (all Kinds)

Carrots

Cauliflower (all colors)

Celery

Cucumbers

Collard Greens

Dandelion

Egg Plant

Endive

Fennel

Green Beans

Kale

Leaks

Lettuce

Lima Beans

Mushrooms (limited)

Mustard

Onions

Parsley

Parsnips

Peas

Peppers (all)

Purple Beans

Radishes (all)

Seaweed

Soybeans

Spaghetti  Squash

Spinach

Spirulina

Summer Squash

Turnips

Watercress

Wax Beans

Yellow Squash

Zucchini

FRUITS:

Apples

Blackberries

Blueberries

Cherries

Cranberries

Pears

Pomegranates

Raspberries

Strawberries

Watermelon is very convenient because it is a natural diuretic. I make juice of it and freeze it to be easier to prevent spoiling

Limited I eat:

Avocados

Grapes

Mandarin Oranges

Peaches

Plums

DO NOT EAT 

- PINEAPPLE - Contains bromelain which destroys protein - and we need all proteine we can get. 

- Regular Oranges

GRAINS: limited 1/2 cup 1-3 times wk depending on phosphorus levels being midline.

ALL WHOLE UNPROCESSED.

 

Barley

Black Rice

Brown Rice

Buckwheat

Corn

Kamut

Millet

Oats

Red Wheat

Rye

Spelt

Teff

White Wheat

Wild Rice

 

Flax Seed - Crushed, 3 tbsp every day VERY IMPORTANT

Beans and legumes (all, limited to 1/4- 1/2 cup 2x-3× per wk max based on phosphorus and potassium levels holding mid line on lab values.

EXTRAS

ACV - Apple Cider Vinegar - 1 tbsp 3 times daily. Wash your mouth immediately after ingesting because it can destroy your teeth.

VERY LIMITED PORTIONS:

Dark Brown Sugar

Amino Acids

Arrowroot

Blackstrap Molasses

Maple Sirup

Sesame seeds

Tahini

ALL SPICES (open)

Cinnamon

Garlic (Lots)

Ginger

Turmeric