Hey guys, I am stage 3b, so almost to stage 4. Diet is your best friend. If you can afford a dietician, I highly recommend it.
I was sent "Renal Diet Cookbook" 'the low sodium, low potassium, Healthy Kidney cookbook'...I wish I could send you a picture of it. It is done by a registered dietician named Susan Zogheib. There are over 125 recipes, a 4-week pan, and basically tells you what you should and shouldn't eat. It doesn't say NO sodium, or NO potassium, those are very important electrolytes to keep your heart beating. I exercise often. This summer I got an app on my phone about intermittent fasting. To me, I.F. is just keeping your eating window with 8 hours. Drinking too much water will knock out your electrolytes as well. The low potassium/sodium thing is a big one. Potatoes, deep leafy greens, bananas, several fruits in fact. Fresh peaches, apricots, and a lot of the squashes, like butternut, acorn squash, and pumpkin are the things to watch. I am someone who hardly ever eats out, it doesn't agree with me, and I have pancreatic insufficiency, so I just stay away from it. Many of your dairy products are high in potassium too. Moderation is the name of the game. I eat apples (Cosmic Crisps are my favorite, and they are WAY less expensive than Honey Crisp. In fact Cosmic Crisps is a hybrid between Honeycrisp and another apple I can't remember right this second). But for sure read your labels, and get a food scale so you can have your favorite foods, just in moderation. I'm sure we are all familiar with GFR. At one time my GFR was 28 (that means only 28% of my kidney was able to function). I was really sick. My liver enzymes were crazy high, and my pancreatic enzymes were insane. You know what it was? I was working out too hard! Can you even believe that? I thought it was GOOD! Well, after I balanced a few things out, my GFR rose all the way to 44! That's the highest it had been in 10 years! So it IS possible to change your stars. Your kidney disease stars anyway. You can even google "the best goods to eat with kidney disease" and tons of info pops up. Good luck to you all, and God bless!♡♡♡♡