Diet Information For Diabetic Nephropathy Patients

Diabetic nephropathy is a disease in which long term of diabetes will cause damages on kidneys. At present, there is no special therapy for diabetic nephropathy. The main treatment plan is to control blood sugar strictly, prevent and delay the progression of diabetic nephropathy into kidney failure. Therefore, diet management is very vital for people with diabetic nephropathy patients.

The following are some dietary tips for diabetic nephropathy patients.

1. low but high quality protein intake

Because too much protein intake will workload your kidneys, it is necessary to control protein intake. However, as an important nutrient, protein is indispensible for human body, especially for essential amino acid which can not be synthesized by the body itself. Therefore, high quality protein containing essential amino acid should be consumed. Patients with diabetic nephropathy should eat less plant protein and supplement milk, eggs, fish, lean meat and animal protein. Generally speaking, how much protein you can consume depends on your serum creatinine level and creatinine clearance. If serum creatinine level is high and creatinine clearance is low, protein should be controlled strictly.

2. proper calories and low fat diet

The diet for diabetic nephropathy should be low fat and limit the intake of calories. However, diabetic nephropathy patients should consume calories properly. This is because insufficient calories will break down fat and protein, which will elevate serum creatinine level and urea level. High calories intake is not beneficial for controlling blood sugar. Fat can supply more calories but kidney disease patients should follow a low fat diet.

3. high calcium and low phosphorus diet

Diabetic Nephropathy easily causes electrolyte disorder like low calcium and high phosphorus. In this situation, patients should follow a diet with high calcium and low phosphorus. However, some high calcium foods also contain high phosphorus such as ribs and dried small shrimps. Therefore, patients should pay much attention to low phosphorus and avoid animal organs like brain, liver and kidney, and eat less pumpkin seeds.

4. high fiber diet

High fiber diet can keep your bowels open and discharge toxins as well as keep the balance of your metabolism. Thus, diabetic nephropathy patients should eat coarse grain and some fruits and vegetables. Besides, if patients have high blood potassium level, they should avoid fruits and vegetables with high potassium. Dietary therapy is the basic treatment of diabetic nephropathy.