5-Step Kidney Course that Teaches You Which Foods to Eat and Avoid
In this Free 5-Part Course, you will learn the RenalTracker's ECS Method to manage kidney disease through foods you can eat and avoid to help you limit progression of kidney decline and delay dialysis.
Researchers have discovered that kidney disease can be effectively managed and dialysis be delayed indefinitely with proper diet and appropriate lifestyle changes. However, just randomly looking for information online can be both unsafe, confusing, and difficult to follow.
According to US Renal Data System’s Annual Report, an estimated 2 million people worldwide are affected with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), increasing at a rate of 5% per year in the US.
With this in mind, RenalTracker’s multi-disciplinary team composed of behavior designers from Stanford University, nutrition health coaches, and in consultation with nephrologists from Mayo Clinic (US), present to you an easy-to-follow program on proper CKD management to help you delay dialysis.
This program has also won the KidneyX Redesign Dialysis prize competition, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Chief Technology Officer and the American Society of Nephrology.
...and now, we start with a three-step formula built on evidence-based studies.
RenalTracker’s approach to kidney disease management to help you delay dialysis is simple.
Remember the E.C.S. Method:
1. Evidence-Based Knowledge
2. Customized Kidney Diet System
3. Early Coach Support
In the next few minutes, you will know exactly how to apply ECS to help you limit kidney decline and delay dialysis. This entire page is dedicated to the Evidence-Based Knowledge section of the ECS Method. We will discuss the next parts as we go along.
...For now, let’s start with a short 5-step course that will teach you actionable steps you can implement starting TODAY.
Let's Start!
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Step 1: Know the Nutrients in Foods to Eat or Avoid.
You have to learn to differentiate the kidney-friendly food items from the non-kidney-friendly ones.
There are many things to consider, but the first rule you have to remember is to lower your SPPP intake.
There are many things to consider, but the first rule you have to remember is to lower your SPPP intake.
S - Sodium (salt)
P - Protein
P - Potassium
P - Phosphorus
We are what we eat. The CKD Stage you are in is determined by your GFR (Glomerular Filtration Rate) a.k.a. How Well Your Kidney Functions. The SPPP nutrients, particularly sodium, influence how well your kidneys are doing their job.
So, if you know what foods to eat and avoid based on these nutrients, you can improve your GFR, and help limit disease progression.
On to Step 2!
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Step 2: How to Effectively Limit Salt
Salt or, more accurately, the sodium in salt easily bonds with the water in your body. This, if not controlled, can lead to fluid imbalances, which in turn adds strain to your kidneys.
This may cause your body to hold extra water to wash away the salt inside you, which results to a rise in your blood pressure.
For this reason, you need to look for food labels with these words in order to control your sodium intake:
Keep in mind that your diet should contain less than 1,500 milligrams of sodium each day. This would be easier with a food-nutrient tracker (such as RenalTracker) that’s specifically designed for CKD management.
For fruits and vegetables, go with what experts refer to as Kidney Saviors, the ones with low-sodium content. Examples of these are:
You may also replace salt on your recipes with herbs and spices, like:
In order to slow your kidneys' deterioration, you need to avoid the high-sodium ones that will put your kidneys at risk.
Let's see Step 3!
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Step 3: The Best Way to Limit Protein Intake
For your protein needs, limit your intake to 37-41 grams per day.
Your kidneys are strained when you consume too much protein. These protein sources are what you should go for:
Avoid or limit the following:
Let's make sure you learned something so far with a quick test. Are you ready?
Yes, I'm ready!
Quiz 1: Testing What You Learned So Far...
I want to make sure you are learning something from RenalTracker. As they say, "You can lead a horse to water but you can never make it drink."
Below is a three-question quiz. After each question, I will teach you the right answers. So don't worry! If you're ready, start the quiz below.
Awesome job! Now let's proceed to the next step...
See Step 4
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Step 4: Be Mindful about Potassium and Phosphorus Intake.
Excessive potassium and phosphorus in the system are also stressful to the kidneys.
With high-potassium levels comes nausea, numbness, weakness, and slow pulse. Now, to keep your potassium in the 2,000 mg/day limit, you need to avoid high potassium foods, like:
For your phosphorus’ 800-1000 mg daily limit, avoid processed foods. People who want to eat healthy do this, and for a good reason. High amounts of phosphorus additives, and even sodium, are found in processed foods, like:
Sodas, colas, and other sugar-sweetened beverages are part of this list as well, so if you want to keep your kidneys functioning, then you need to lay off of these refreshments.
So that's the end of the Step 4. But before you proceed to Step 5, I want to test you again, and this will serve as a review of the previous steps as well. Let's start?
Start Quiz 2
Quiz 2: Testing What You Learned So Far...
Same rules apply; after each question, I will teach you the right answers. If you're ready, start the quiz below.
Good! Don't bother taking notes, though, because I have a surprise on Step 5. Proceed?
Surprise in Step 5?
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Step 5: Start a Kidney Diet that’s for YOU.
The Eat This, Not That! exercise we did for ingredients and recipes are just the first step. To be effective, majority of our CKD patients have applied RenalTracker's ECS Method to effectively follow a low SPPP-based diet.
We know this can be overwhelming and majority of CKD patients never get to even start to create their meal plans...
That's why, here's a sample food list and recipe e-book plan for you!