Nutrition and conscious behavior are of great importance for a dialysis patient. Experts state that it is crucial for hemodialysis patients to adhere to their treatment program, diet, and fluid restrictions to maintain their health, emphasizing the need to pay particular attention to salty, phosphorus-rich, and potassium-containing foods when eating. Üsküdar Üniversitesi Dialysis Program Head Lecturer Meliha Çakmak points out that nutrition and weight control are also very important for dialysis patients, advising them not to gain more than 1.5 - 2 kilograms between two dialysis sessions.
Dialysis patients should stay away from salty, potassium, and phosphorus-rich foods…
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Vocational School of Health Services Dialysis Program Head Lecturer Meliha Çakmak shared important points that dialysis patients should pay attention to in their nutrition and offered very important advice.
Nutrition and Conscious Behavior are Very Important
Emphasizing that nutrition and conscious behavior are very important for a dialysis patient, Lecturer Meliha Çakmak said, “It is crucial for hemodialysis patients to adhere to their treatment program, diet, and fluid restrictions to maintain their health. However, diet and fluid restrictions are the most difficult situations for patients to implement. This is because the disease affects both eating habits and preferences and imposes many restrictions, especially regarding fluid, protein, and potassium intake. For patients undergoing hemodialysis treatment, diet is the critical point of the treatment regimen, and non-adherence to the diet often disrupts fluid-electrolyte balance, increases the risk of malnutrition, and mortality. Therefore, the effectiveness of treatment can be significantly increased by identifying and resolving adherence problems that arise before and during hemodialysis treatment.”
First, Salt Should Be Avoided
Lecturer Meliha Çakmak stated that hemodialysis patients should pay attention to salty, phosphorus-rich, and potassium-containing foods when eating, and continued as follows:
“The daily salt requirement is 2 grams. This amount is met by the natural salt in foods, even if no salt is added during meals. In other words, bread, meat, eggs, vegetables, and similar foods consumed entirely without added salt have their own salt content, and this amount is sufficient for a person. A kidney patient must know that the most important task for a long and healthy life is to completely eliminate salt from their diet. A healthy individual excretes excess phosphorus through the kidneys, but for a kidney patient, the only way to excrete phosphorus is through dialysis, and any excess accumulates in the blood. Phosphorus accumulated in the blood causes a type of bone disease called uremic bone disease, as well as calcification in blood vessels and soft tissues.”
Potassium Can Lead to Fatal Consequences
Stating that normally, excess potassium taken with food and drink is excreted through the kidneys via urine, Lecturer Meliha Çakmak said, “Because the kidneys function insufficiently or not at all, potassium levels in the blood of kidney patients rise. Accumulated potassium in the blood leads to fatal cardiac arrhythmia. For this reason, potassium is the most dangerous substance for a kidney patient.” She then shared important points to consider:
When vegetables are boiled, the first boiling water should be discarded, as this will largely remove potassium, so there is no harm in consuming them boiled and strained,
A kidney patient can consume an average of 100 grams of meat daily. This amount corresponds to three meatballs, or one chicken drumstick, or a medium-sized fish,
A kidney patient should eat at least one boiled egg white, separated from the yolk, daily,
There is no harm in a non-diabetic kidney patient consuming sugar. However, chocolate is not recommended; there is no harm in eating rock candy, Turkish delight, and seedless jam. Molasses should also be avoided,
A kidney patient should not consume any food in excessive amounts in one day.
Here are the dietary habits to avoid…
Lecturer Meliha Çakmak listed the incorrect dietary habits that dialysis patients should avoid as follows:
Since foods like kavurma (fried meat), pastırma (cured beef), salami, sausage, and sucuk (spicy Turkish sausage) all have high salt and phosphorus content, their consumption is not recommended for kidney patients,
Because nuts, dairy products (especially kashar cheese), egg yolk, coffee, legumes, cola drinks, chocolate, fish, whole-grain products, and bulgur have high phosphorus content, kidney patients should consume these foods very carefully,
The potassium content is very high in fruit juices and mineral water, especially in Nescafe. Additionally, fruit pulp, okra, dried apricots, raisins, dried figs, dried chestnuts, and dried dates are dried foods with high potassium content. These products should ideally not be consumed at all,
Nuts such as pistachios (highest), sunflower seeds, almonds, and hazelnuts, which are high in potassium, also contain a lot of phosphorus, so they should not be consumed at all,
A kidney patient can consume about 2 handfuls of fruit per day. Special attention should be paid to yellow-colored fruits, which have a high potassium content,
Spices are absolutely not recommended due to their high potassium content; if hot food is desired, 1-2 green hot peppers can be consumed.
Weight Control Should Be Monitored
Emphasizing that it is extremely important for hemodialysis patients to adhere to their dialysis program, Lecturer Meliha Çakmak said, “Nutrition and weight control are very important for dialysis patients. While it is not recommended for kidney patients to be too thin or too overweight, they are advised to reach and maintain an ideal weight. Kidney patients should not gain more than 1.5 - 2 kilograms between two dialysis sessions. A 50-kilogram patient should gain a maximum of 700 grams daily, a 70-kilogram patient a maximum of 1000 grams daily, and a 90-kilogram patient a maximum of 1300 grams daily. Vitamin D may need to be used depending on blood phosphorus, calcium, and parathormone levels. A kidney patient can drink small amounts of water until their thirst subsides. The less salt consumed, the less thirst there will be. It is not possible to control thirst, but controlling salt intake is within our power.”