Some people misconstrue “renal diet” to be a type of vegetarian or vegan diet, since they are told to control their protein intake.

However, you don’t have to entirely eliminate meat from your intake. You just have to choose the right kind of meat.

List of Renal Diet Meats

The following is a list of meats for your renal diet. Note that these still need to be properly portioned to avoid going overboard with your protein limits. Consult your healthcare providers and/or dietitian.

But Wait a Minute…?

Aren’t I supposed to stay away from beef, and pork, and these other meats?

You might be thinking that way, of course. However, like what I said, it’s all about portioning. Look at how big your meat portion should be:

Calculating Your Limits

You also have to note how much protein you can take in a day. The current recommended limit for those on pre-dialysis diet is about 37-41 grams of protein per day, but this is still subject to limits set by your nephrologist.

There’s also a way to calculate your protein intake based on your body weight. In the case of pre-dialysis (CKD Stages 1-4), you’ll need between 0.6 - 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.

So, for example:

Jane weighs about 132 pounds. To get her approximate weight in kilograms, let’s divide her weight by 2.2, so…

132 lbs ÷ 2.2 = 60 kg

Now that we have her body mass, let’s see how much protein she’s allowed daily by multiplying her body mass with the limits indicated above:

60 kg × 0.6 g/kg = 36 grams
60 kg × 0.8 g/kg = 48 grams

That means Jane is only allowed about 36-48 grams of protein daily.

BONUS MATERIAL:

Here’s how much protein common foods (animal-based) have, in grams per serving size: