Chronic kidney Disease

The Diet
Diabetes makes one focus on diet and exercise. The diet should make you conscious of caloric intake and carbohydrates. Carbs come in many forms. There are simple carbs like sugars, ie. corn syrup, sugar, and honey, and there are complex carbs, such as pasta, flour, and pastries. The difference is in how quickly they metabolize. When you take your blood glucose and you find it low, take the simple carbs; they will raise your glucose faster.

I count my carbs and base my insulin dosage on how many carbs I eat. I take two forms of insulin, Lantus and Humalog. Lantus has an approximate duration of 24 hours, so it provides a steady level all day. The humalog dosage is adjusted and added with each meal. After many months of adjusting the Lantus so that overnight I don't plummet, balance is achieved. As long as I don't go overboard on the carbs, I'm stable.

The diabetic diet should focus on a good balance of protein, carbs, and dietary fibre. Veggies are good as they can help fill you up with minimal carbs. There are still carbs in veggies, so keep that in mind. When choosing carbs, select whole grains and less processed foods.

Then along comes CKD. Kidney disease throws another wrench into the mix. A failing kidney means that the body can no longer process whole grains and fibre. Potassium, sodium, and phosphorus are important dietary concerns. One begins to wonder about food manufacturers, as they dump more than a day's allocation of sodium into a single serving! I'm allowed about 650mg of sodium per meal. A single A&W Uncle burger has 1300 mg! A packaged serving of black bean noodles can have 2300mg. I have found that many low-sodium prepared foods are substituting potassium for the sodium. Phosphorus can be found in diet colas. How many diet drinks are available in restaurants, other than diet cola? There is always water. Even soda water ahas sodium, duh!

I have to limit my consumption of potatoes (high potassium). I eat a lot of plain white rice (brown is higher in fibre). All bread has higher sodium levels than I like (white has about 170mg per slice). Have you ever tried to buy breakfast cereal without fibre? Don't get me wrong, everyone should be eating fibre, but it sure limits my selection when I should be avoiding fibre. I am allowed to get fibre supplements from Benefibre.

As part of the kidney diet, I need a certain amount of protein. Shrimps are good as they are low in sodium. Why is it that a fresh steak or hamburger has no sodium indications on the lable, yet once frozen, a burger patty can have 330mg? Throw in a bun for the burger and the sodium level rises to 1300 (see above for the uncle Burger).

Snacking is a bitch! First it has to be a healthy snack, ie no salt added. Candies are out, save them for low glucose levels. Watch the carbs! Fruits and veggies are often the safest, although an apple can have 25 milligrams of carbs. That's almost enough to warrant another insulin shot!

Disclaimer:
Although I am NOT a doctor or dietician, I am talking about real-world experience for over 38 years. Please consult a professional before taking my advice.