When it comes to dialysis, this is a list of what to eat and what not to eat

Usually dialysis is carried out when a person has experienced kidney failure. This means that the kidneys can no longer do their job of washing the blood in the body. Therefore, dialysis is carried out with the help of special tools. There are several dietary restrictions and recommendations that must be obeyed during dialysis, this is of course related to the patient's kidney health. So, what foods are recommended and challenged during dialysis?

Foods that must be consumed during dialysis

The right food will help maintain the health of patients who are undergoing dialysis. Therefore, here are some types of food that should be consumed more when dialysis is carried out:

1. High calorie foods

Patients undergoing dialysis require a fairly high calorie intake. This is to keep the body strong during treatment. In addition, when doing dialysis, patients are more prone to experience weight loss. Therefore, it is better if the food intake given is solid food.

Each patient will have different calorie needs, so it is better if you consult your doctor and nutritionist.

2. Foods high in protein

Patients who are on dialysis need more protein than healthy people. This is to prevent patients from experiencing protein deficiency during dialysis. The reason is, the process of washing the blood using this special tool makes the amount of protein in the body decrease dramatically.

If the protein is not replaced immediately, the body will experience malfunctioning of other organs. In the body, protein plays a role in building and repairing cells, including muscle. So when you are deficient in protein, you lose weight considerably and lose muscle mass.

For patients undergoing dialysis, the intake of protein sources that must be consumed by the body is 1-1.2 grams / kg body weight. This means, for example, if you have a body weight of 60 kg, then in one day of protein that must be obtained is 60-72 grams. To find out the right portion, you should consult this with your nutritionist because everyone's needs are different.

Foods that are challenged during dialysis

The types of food that should be avoided when doing dialysis are foods that can interfere or aggravate the kidneys, such as foods containing potassium, phosphorus, and sodium (salt).

1. Foods with high sodium

You could say, sodium is one of the enemies to watch out for when you have kidney problems. When sodium levels are high, the cells in the body will absorb more fluids, such as sponge . When that happens, your blood pressure will rise and eventually have an impact on your kidneys.

Therefore, patients with impaired kidney function should no longer be given additional salt in their diet. However, unfortunately sodium is not only in salt, almost all packaged and processed foods contain sodium in it. So, from now on, it's better to avoid all packaged foods and drinks.

2. Foods high in potassium

In the body, potassium can affect the work of the heart and when dialysis occurs, potassium levels can increase and ultimately have an impact on the heart. Eating too much food high in levels will only harm heart health and can be fatal. So, you should avoid foods that are high in potassium such as:

Nuts
Coconut and coconut based products
Brown sugar, maple syrup
Fruits, such as melons, bananas, and oranges
Vegetables, such as spinach, mustard greens, tomatoes and pumpkin

Most of the raw vegetables contain potassium in it. So, it's better if you choose cooked vegetables, because the cooking process will reduce the potassium levels in the vegetables.

3. Foods high in phosphorus

When kidney function decreases, phosphorus levels will automatically increase in the blood. So when this happens, calcium will spontaneously be removed from the bones which then disturbs bone health. In addition, the presence of calcium phosphatase (calcium and phosphorus bonds) in the blood will cause symptoms such as joint pain and itching on the skin surface. Foods that are high in phosphorus and should be avoided are: