Nutrition in renal insufficiency | Renal failure

Nutrition in renal insufficiency

Patients with renal insufficiency should eat low in protein, phosphate and potassium, but rich in calcium. In addition, an optimal blood sugar level setting is recommended for diabetes patients.

• Low-protein diet: 0.6-0.8 grams of protein per kg body weight daily is recommended.

  It is important to pay attention to the biological value of the proteins consumed. The more essential amino acids (which the body cannot produce itself) a dish contains, the higher the biological value. Potatoes with egg, beans and egg, milk and wheat have a high biological value.

  However, dialysis patients must eat a high-protein diet because proteins are lost during dialysis treatment.

• Low phosphate diet: Optimal is 0.8-1g phosphate per day. A lot of phosphate is contained in wholemeal bread, nuts, liver and other offal as well as in many dairy products. Recommended are quark, cream cheese, camembert and mozzarella.

  Many foods contain phosphate additives (E 338 to E 341, E 450 a to c, E 540, E 543, E544), these foods are better avoided in case of kidney failure.

• Low potassium diet: In advanced stages of renal insufficiency, potassium often accumulates in the blood, so affected patients should pay attention to their potassium intake, the optimum is 1.5-2g per day. Much potassium is contained in: fruit and vegetable juices, dried fruit, nuts, bananas, apricots, avocado, pulses, green vegetables, tomatoes and mushrooms.
• Low-salt diet: If patients suffer from high blood pressure and kidney failure, a low-salt diet is recommended.
• Drink quantity: Dialysis patients in particular must be careful not to overload their kidneys with too much fluid. The amount to be drunk depends on the urine production of one day plus an additional 500ml.

  However, almost all foods also contain water, which must be taken into account when calculating the amount to drink.

Renal insufficiency refers to the loss of kidney function, whereby a distinction is made between acute and chronic kidney failure. Acute renal failure develops more rapidly than the chronic form and, in contrast to the chronic form, is in principle reversible (reversible). Kidney failure is diagnosed with the help of the patient’s medical history, clinical picture, blood and urine tests (especially the retention values of creatinine and urea, glomerular filtration rate) and imaging procedures (including ultrasound).

The clinical picture usually includes changes in urine excretion, with both an increase (polyuria) and decrease (oliguria, anuria) depending on the stage. In both forms of renal insufficiency, the therapy initially focuses on the treatment of the underlying disease leading to the loss of function. This is supplemented by conservative therapy with monitoring of the fluid balance and administration of special drainage agents (loop diuretics).

If insufficient success is achieved, a renal replacement procedure can be initiated in both acute and chronic renal insufficiency, whereby extracorporeal (= outside the body) devices take over the task of filtering the blood. The transplantation of a new organ remains the last option for the treatment of chronic renal failure.