Can You Eat Bacon on a Renal Diet?

If you have kidney disease, it’s important to watch your intake of sodium, potassium, and phosphorus. Foods that contain high amounts include cola, brown rice, bananas, processed meats, and dried fruits.

It’s possible for fluid and waste to build up in your body when your kidneys are damaged and can’t work right.

By avoiding or limiting certain foods and sticking to a kidney-friendly diet, you can help keep waste from building up in your blood, improve kidney function, and stop further damage (3).

Sodas contain phosphorus in their ingredients, especially dark-colored ones. They also have a lot of calories and sugar.

Many food and beverage manufacturers add phosphorus during processing to enhance flavor, prolong shelf life, and prevent discoloration.

Your body absorbs this added phosphorus more than natural, animal-based, or plant-based phosphorus (9).

Unlike natural phosphorus, phosphorus in the form of additives is not bound to protein. Rather, it’s found in the form of salt and is highly absorbable by the intestinal tract (9).

Additive phosphorus can typically be found in a product’s ingredient list. However, food manufacturers are not required to list the exact amount of additive phosphorus on the label.

Different types of soda have different amounts of additive phosphorus, but a 12-ounce (oz) or 355 milliliters (mL) cola has 33 5 mg of phosphorus (10).

As a result, sodas, especially those that are dark, should usually be avoided on a renal diet.

Avocados are usually a healthy food, but people with kidney disease should stay away from them because they are high in potassium.

In fact, one average-sized avocado provides a whopping 690 mg of potassium (11).

People with kidney disease can still eat this food as long as they limit the potassium by cutting the serving size to a quarter of an avocado.

If you are on a renal diet and have been told to watch your potassium intake, you should limit or avoid avocados, including guacamole.

But keep in mind that everyone has different needs. The most important thing to think about is your overall diet and health goals.

Canned foods such as soups, vegetables, and beans are often purchased because of their low cost and convenience.

However, most canned foods have a lot of sodium because salt is added to them to keep them fresh longer (12).

Because of the amount of sodium in canned foods, people who have kidney disease are often told to avoid or limit their intake.

Also, draining and rinsing canned foods like tuna and beans can greatly lower the amount of sodium they contain (13)

Whole wheat bread may be more nutritious, mostly due to its higher fiber content. However, white bread is usually recommended over whole wheat varieties for individuals with kidney disease.

This is because of its phosphorus and potassium content. The more bran and whole grains in the bread, the higher the phosphorus and potassium contents (14).

A standard 36-gram (g) slice of whole wheat bread, for instance, has about 76 mg of phosphorus and 90 mg of potassium. A regular slice (28 g) of white bread, on the other hand, has about 32 mg of phosphorus and potassium (15, 16).

You can cut down on your potassium and phosphorus intake without giving up whole wheat bread by eating one slice instead of two.

Also, keep in mind that most bread and bread products, whether they are white or whole wheat, have pretty high amounts of sodium (17).

It’s best to look at the nutrition facts of different kinds of bread, pick one with less salt if you can, and watch how much you eat.

There are more potassium and phosphorus in brown rice than in white rice. It is a whole grain, like whole wheat bread.

About 149 mg of phosphorus and 95 mg of potassium are in 1 cup (155 g) of cooked brown rice. About 69 mg of phosphorus and 54 mg of potassium are in 1 cup (186 g) of cooked white rice (18, 19).

You might be able to eat brown rice on a renal diet, but only if you watch how much you eat and make sure you get enough potassium and phosphorus from other foods.

You can use bulgur, buckwheat, pearled barley, or couscous instead of brown rice because they are healthy and lower in phosphorus.

While naturally low in sodium, 1 medium banana provides 422 mg of potassium (20).

You might find it hard to follow through with your potassium-lowering plan if you eat a lot of bananas every day.

On the other hand, pineapples have a lot less potassium than other tropical fruits and may be a better, tastier option (21).

Whole milk, which is 1 cup (240 mL), has 205 mg of phosphorus and 322 mg of potassium.

However, people with kidney disease should not eat too much dairy or other phosphorus-rich foods because it can hurt their bones.

This may sound surprising, as milk and dairy are often recommended for strong bones and muscle health.

While too much phosphorus can be good for healthy people, kidney damage can make the blood hold too much phosphorus, which takes calcium from your bones. This can weaken and thin your bones over time, making it more likely that they will break or fracture (23)

Dairy products are also high in protein. Each cup (240 mL) of whole milk provides nearly 8 g of protein (22).

It may be important to limit dairy intake to avoid the buildup of protein waste in the blood.

Almond milk, unsweetened rice milk, and other dairy alternatives are lower in protein, phosphorus, and potassium than cow’s milk. This makes them a good choice for people who are on a renal diet.

While oranges and orange juice may be best known for having a lot of vitamin C, they also have a lot of potassium.

One large orange (184 g) provides 333 mg of potassium. Moreover, there are 458 mg of potassium in 1 cup (240 mL) of orange juice (24, 25).

Oranges and orange juice probably need to be avoided or eaten in small amounts on a renal diet because they are high in potassium.

Because they don’t have as much potassium, grapes, apples, cranberries, and their juices can be used instead of oranges and orange juice.

Processed meats have been linked to chronic diseases for a long time, and they are generally thought to be unhealthy because they contain preservatives (26, 27).

Processed meats typically contain large amounts of salt, mostly to improve their taste and preserve flavor (28).

So, if you eat a lot of processed meats, it might not be easy to stick to a daily sodium intake of less than 2,300 mg.

If your doctor has told you to watch how much protein you eat, you should also limit processed meats.

For example, one pickle spear can contain around 283 mg of sodium. Likewise, there are 244 mg of sodium in 2 tablespoons (30 g) of sweet pickle relish (29, 30).

Processed olives also tend to be salty, as they’re cured and fermented to taste less bitter. Five green pickled olives have about 211 mg of sodium, which is a big chunk of the daily value in such a small amount (31).

An increasing number of grocery stores sell pickles, olives, and relish that are lower in sodium than their regular counterparts.

But some options with less sodium can still have a lot of it, so you should still watch how much you eat.

They’re also high in potassium. Each cup (165 g) of fresh, sliced apricots provides 427 mg of potassium (32).

Just 1 cup (130 g) of dried apricots provides over 1,500 mg of potassium (33).

This means that just 1 cup of dried apricots provides 75% of the 2,000-mg low potassium restriction.

A medium-sized baked potato (156 g) has 610 mg of potassium, while a regular-sized baked sweet potato (114 g) has 542 mg of potassium (34, 35).

Luckily, foods that are high in potassium, like potatoes and sweet potatoes, can be soaked or leached to lower their potassium levels.

Some research even shows that boiling potatoes can make them much lower in potassium, especially if you start with cold water (36)

Soaking potatoes in water for 5–10 minutes could also reduce potassium by up to 20% (37).

Even though double-cooking potatoes lowers their potassium content, it’s important to keep in mind that this doesn’t get rid of it.

Double-cooked potatoes can still have a lot of potassium in them, so it’s best to watch how much you eat to keep your potassium levels in check.

Just 1 cup (245 g) of tomato sauce can contain 728 mg of potassium (38).

Choosing an alternative with lower potassium content depends largely on your taste preferences. But roasted red pepper sauce can be used instead of tomato sauce and taste just as good while having less potassium per serving.

When it comes to these foods, packaged, instant, and ready-made meals are usually the most processed and have the most sodium.

Keeping sodium intake to 2,300 mg per day may be difficult if you’re eating highly processed foods regularly.

Heavily processed foods not only contain a large amount of sodium but also commonly lack nutrients (39).

Leafy greens like Swiss chard, spinach, and beet greens are very healthy and full of minerals and nutrients, like potassium.

When served raw, the amount of potassium varies between 136–290 mg per cup (30–38 g) (40, 41, 42).

While leafy vegetables shrink to a smaller serving size when cooked, the potassium content remains unchanged.

For example, raw spinach can significantly shrink when cooked. So, eating half a cup of cooked spinach will give you a lot more potassium than eating half a cup of raw spinach.

Raw Swiss chard, spinach, and beet greens are preferable to cooked greens to avoid too much potassium.

However, moderate your intake of these foods, as they’re also high in oxalates. Among sensitive individuals, oxalates can increase the risk of kidney stones (43).

Take prunes as an example. One cup (174 g) of prunes has 1,270 mg of potassium, which is almost five times as much potassium as one cup (165 g) of plums, which are the raw fruit.

As these common dried fruits have a lot of potassium, it’s best to stay away from them while on a renal diet to keep your potassium levels healthy.

Snack foods that are ready to eat, like pretzels, chips, and crackers, are often low in nutrients and high in salt.

Also, it’s easy to eat more of these foods than the serving size suggests, which can make you eat even more salt than you meant to.

What’s more, if chips are made from potatoes, they’ll contain a significant amount of potassium as well (47).

Following a kidney-friendly diet requires limiting several foods, which can be challenging. You can still enjoy many healthy and tasty recipes as part of a well-balanced kidney diet, though.

Those with end-stage kidney disease who require dialysis also have varying dietary restrictions. Dialysis is a type of treatment that removes extra water and filters waste (4).

Most people with late-stage or end-stage kidney disease need to eat in a way that is good for their kidneys so that their blood doesn’t get too full of certain chemicals or nutrients.

In those with chronic kidney disease, the kidneys cannot adequately remove excess sodium, potassium, or phosphorus. As a result, they’re at a higher risk of elevated blood levels of these minerals (5).

It is recommended that you keep your sodium, potassium, and phosphorus intake below 2,300 milligrams (mg) per day on a kidney-friendly diet, also known as a renal diet.

The most recent Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDOQI) guidelines from the National Kidney Foundation don’t say how much potassium or phosphorus you can have.

Potassium and phosphorus are still a concern for people with kidney disease. Still, they should work closely with a doctor or dietitian to find out what the safest amounts of these nutrients are for them. Usually, lab results are used to do this.

Damaged kidneys may also have trouble filtering the waste products of protein metabolism. People with any stage of chronic kidney disease should cut back on protein, but especially people in stages 3–5 should do so unless they are on dialysis (6, 7)

However, those with end-stage kidney disease undergoing dialysis have an increased protein requirement (8).

What foods help your kidneys work better?

The best thing you can do to help your kidneys work better is to eat a well-balanced diet full of nutritious, vitamin-rich foods that are low in sodium, potassium, and phosphorus (53).

Some examples include:

• tofu
• Low-phosphorus cheeses include Brie, goat cheese, grated Parmesan, mozzarella, Monterey Jack, and Swiss cheese.
• milk alternatives (such as oat, soy, or rice)
• Olive oil, safflower oil, and sesame oil are all good oils for cooking.
• fish
• fresh fruit (like strawberries, blueberries, apples, pomegranates)
• beans

Is peanut butter good for the kidneys?

Peanut butter is a good source of plant-based protein. It’s naturally low in carbohydrates, and has plenty of fiber to aid digestion. It’s a good substitute for meat in a kidney diet plan.

However, it’s worth noting that 2 tablespoons of peanut butter also has 65 milligrams of oxalate, and high amounts of oxalate can contribute to kidney stones (54, 55). Talk with your doctor if you’re prone to kidney stones, as you may want avoid or reduce your peanut butter consumption.

Also, when purchasing peanut butter, be sure to look for brands that don’t add extra salt and sugar.

Can You Eat Bacon on a Kidney Diet? | Bacon and Renal Diet