This week, Bobbi Conner talks with Dr. Natalie Freidin about healthy foods for individuals living with chronic kidney disease. Dr. Freidin is an Associate Professor of Medicine and a kidney specialist at MUSC.
TRANSCRIPT:
Conner: I'm Bobbi Conner for South Carolina Public Radio with Health Focus here at the radio studio for the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. A kidney- friendly diet can play an important role in helping individuals manage chronic kidney disease. Doctor Natalie Friedin is here to talk about the details. Doctor Friedin is an Associate Professor of Medicine and a kidney specialist at MUSC. Doctor Friedin, how is chronic kidney disease treated in the early stages of this condition?
Dr. Freidin: The two most common causes of kidney disease in this country are high blood pressure and diabetes. And so, in early stages of kidney disease, we tend to focus on managing the risk factors to slow the progression of kidney disease down.
Conner: Give us a brief overview of how certain foods can either help or hurt individuals who have chronic kidney disease.
Dr. Freidin: The first thing I recommend for people to do is to notice what it is that they're eating. Do they tend to eat a lot of takeout food? Do they go to restaurants? Do they eat a lot of packaged foods? And the reason I ask this is most of these foods are very high in salt. When you eat food very high in salt, you tend to retain fluid, which then leads to high blood pressure, which then increases your risk of kidney disease. And the next step is to start decreasing the foods that can be harmful, like foods high in sodium or salt, foods high in phosphorus, like dairy foods. And I'm not recommending people don't eat dairy foods, just noticing how much phosphorus, for example, is in the dairy food they're consuming.
Conner: Tell us about foods that are safe and recommended for people with kidney disease.
Dr. Freidin: If you take a look at the National Kidney Foundation guidelines, they recommend increasing your plant based nutrition. A lot of fruits and vegetables contain things in them that help neutralize acid in your blood, it's harder for your kidney to handle as you have progressive kidney disease.
Conner: What tips can help individuals with kidney disease as far as making good choices that are healthy for the condition that they have.
Dr. Freidin: Healthy choices include any kind of plant based material. So if there are beans that you buy that you soak yourself or beans that you get from a can, it doesn't matter. You're still eating more beans and that's the goal. Or when you're looking at getting some vegetables, if you can't afford fresh fruit and vegetables, which can be expensive, going to the frozen aisle because often things are frozen when they have just been produced and they tend to be less expensive. There is no nutritional difference between eating frozen veggies versus fresh vegetables, if that's what you can afford.
Conner: Are there some specific foods that people should avoid if they have kidney disease.
Dr. Freidin: It depends on the stage of kidney disease that you have. In the early stages, generally, you don't have to avoid many things. As your kidney disease progresses, especially to stage four or stage five, or if you're getting closer to needing to go on dialysis, really cutting out salt, which comes in so many different forms in this country, cutting salt out is imperative. Decreasing phosphorus, as I mentioned before, and also looking at potassium. People often think bananas are the highest source of potassium, but actually it's dried fruit, like dried prunes, dates. Those sorts of foods have a very high amount of potassium in them.
Conner: And those foods aren't good for someone with advancing kidney disease.
Dr. Freidin: Correct. The National Kidney Foundation has a host of resources, one of which is information about different food that you can substitute. So, they have a chart specifically that shows you foods that are high in phosphorus and potassium and sodium. And they give recommendations of foods that you can substitute that with.
Conner: Doctor Friedin, thanks for talking with us about healthy eating for people living with chronic kidney disease.
Dr. Freidin: You're welcome.
Conner: From the radio studio for the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, I'm Bobbi Conner for South Carolina Public Radio.
Health Focus transcripts are intended to accurately represent the original audio version of the program; however, some discrepancies or inaccuracies may exist. The audio format serves as the official record of Health Focus programming.
