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Diet does make a big difference

Went to the nephrologist today. About 4 months ago I had gone to them for the first time because I had a GFR of 54%. I followed the diet instructions and when I went today I had a GFR of 68%!!! So following the kidney diet makes a big difference.
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Avatar universal
First, what the heck does "bump" mean?  And could I please also have a copy of your renal diet.  Thanks!

I second Lindahand's notion that a renal diet can improve GFR!  About six months ago, my GFR was a healthy 93.  Then three months later it was 53!  After taking Lindahand's advice about following a renal diet, My GFR has come up to 72 (which is still 21 points lower than it was originally).  I had to cut out all dairy! No fruit. Almost no vegetables (except for string beans, cabbage, and sometimes potatoes that were soaked overnight).  No added salt. No colas.  White rice and bread instead of brown.  Reduced high fiber foods.  Thanks, Lindahand, for the info about Mrs. Dash - I have been missing salt horribly!!  I do cheat, though, occasionally but don't overdo it.  I do have spaghetti sauce and cheesy garlic bread (had it for dinner yesterday and woke up with bad chest pain - have normal cholesterol).  Anyway, it's good to know that you can help your GFR by diet.  It does help!
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Avatar universal
In healthy condition, our kidneys perform continuously to remove the excess fluid and metabolic wastes as well as keep electrolyte balance like potassium, phosphorus and so on. However, for the patients with Chronic Renal Failure, their kidneys fail to function normally. Consequently, the electrolyte balance is disordered and the metabolic wastes build up in their body. In order to relieve their damage to kidneys, they should regulate their daily diet to avoid the aggravation of Chronic Renal Failure.
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Someone asked again so I am bumping this. Hope this isn't bugging anyone. If it is let me know and I will stop. Just don't want to go through the effort of re-writing it.
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963889 tn?1359677334
thanks so much!!!!!!!!
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Avatar universal
Bump. This topic is coming up again so here is the diet information.
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Avatar universal
Bump. Some people have been asking about specific diets and this has that information.
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It is mostly an elimination diet of no high potassium fruits or vegatable. So you can rarely have bananas, oranges, tomatoes, potatoes, leafy greens, nuts, and squash. I didn't have to eliminate them totally, just reduce significantly. Tomatoes were the hardest one for me.You can have boiled potatoes but you need to soak them overnight and then pour the liquid off before cooking them. That removes a lot of the potassium.

I also watched the phosphorus levels so no dark colas except rootbeer. Limited pre-packaged food which are loaded with phosphorus.

Limited salt intake. You get used to having no salt on your veggies.One thing to watch out for is salt substitutes. Many of them use potassium. Mrs. Dash doesn't.

I was supposed to cut in half the intake of red meats and pork. I have pretty much eliminated them. We eat beef maybe once a month, and I eat (Dear Husband can't handle it) pork maybe once a month as well.

I eat mostly lean chicken and turkey. I am trying to include more fish in there, but I am not the best at cooking fish. I limit my intake of protein to a little less the size of a fist. I use coconut milk instead of milk on my cereal to reduce protein. Rice milk is horrid stuff. Best I can say about it is that it is wet. Coconut milk has more fat in it but it is healthy fat.

Davita is a good website for idea. Depending what stage you are on. It is more meant for stage 4 and 5. If you are stage three you can have a bit more protein.

Eating out is a bit of a bugger, but then I usually just say "you gotta live a little' and eat mostly what I want to. It is a life long committment so it is important to 'treat' yourself now and again.

The other thing is consuming 2 litres of fluids, mostly water (This will be less if you are at a higher stage I think. I was stage 3) a day.

The other thing that is important is to avoid anything that is an NSAID. So no Aleve, Advil, Ibuprofen, Motrin, Arthrotec, Celebrex, Naproxen, and many cough and cold medicines will also have ibuprofen in them.

It takes a while to get used to but you find new favorites. I do still mourn the loss of the tomato though! Good luck.
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Linda... thank you for your great info.  It’s now 2018 and I’m wondering how you are doing now?  Is your GFR staying up.  Just diagnosed with stage 3A and feeling hopeful from your post... are you still out there?
Avatar universal
yes please share!
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Avatar universal
Hi Linda,

I was wondering what type of diet you're following that helped your GFR levels improve that much?

I think it's great yours did! Please share.
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