Nutrition
Patients with end-stage renal disease must be careful about what they eat because some nutrients can cause harmful levels of substances to build up in their blood. Diets low in protein, sodium and potassium help keep these substances minimal, while high in calories help maintain their weight.
Kidney disease
For many people whose kidneys have failed or are failing, protein, potassium and sodium are restricted. The nutrient phosphorus almost always may be restricted.
People undergoing dialysis may be encouraged to eat 20 to 25 grams (g) of fiber daily because fluid restrictions, lack of exercise, and some kidney medications can cause constipation. The Daily Value for fiber, which is based on a 2,000-calorie diet, is 25 g.
Daily Values are reference numbers based on recommended dietary intakes to help consumers use label information to plan a healthy diet.
Nutrition Label on Packaged Foods
Under the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 and regulations from the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, virtually all food labels must now give information about a food's nutritional content. This can be a useful tool in deciding which grocery foods can be an acceptable addition to a diet. Consumers looking for nutrition information about a food should first look at "Nutrition Facts," usually on the side or back of the package. Special dieters can find the amount by weight of nutrients listed in the top part of the Nutrition Facts panel.
Some important points about the Nutrition Facts panel:
Sugars: The values listed for total carbohydrate include all carbohydrates, including dietary fiber and sugars. The sugars include naturally present sugars, such as lactose in milk and fructose in fruits, as well as those added to the food, such as table sugar, corn syrup, and dextrose. The label can claim "no sugar added" but still have naturally occurring sugar, such as in fruit juice.
Potassium: may be listed voluntarily with the nutrients listed on the top part of the panel, just below sodium. Its %Daily Value is based on a recommended intake of 3,500 mg a day.
Other vitamins and minerals may be listed on the Nutrition Facts panel, along with vitamins A and C, iron, and calcium. Amounts of vitamins and minerals are only presented as percentages of the Daily Value.
Calorie information appears at the top of the Nutrition Facts panel, following serving size information. This information is important for those needing to increase or decrease their calories.
Serving Size - The serving size information gives the amount of food to which all the other numbers on the Nutrition Facts panel apply. Serving sizes are designed to reflect the amounts people actually eat. People who follow special diets should be aware that the serving size on the label may not be the same as that recommended for their specific needs. For example, the label serving size for cooked fish is 3 ounces (84 g). A person following a 60-gram protein diet may be allowed only 1 ounce (28 g) of fish at a meal. So, in this case, the nutrient values would have to be divided by 3 to determine the nutritional content of the 1-ounce portion eaten.
Ingredients - The ingredient list is a source of information especially useful for people with food sensitivities. Some new requirements that provide more information in the list include listing of protein hydrolysates by source, FDA food-certified color additives by name, caseinate as a milk derivative in foods that claim to be non-dairy, such as coffee whiteners, and the source of sweeteners, such as "corn sugar monohydrate."
Recommended Nutrition Sites: |
Christopher Wilcox, MD, PhD