Kidney disease and diabetes often club together to form a frightening combination of diseases, this is because of the fact that it could really put tremendous restrictions on a person. Diabetes is one of the most occurring diseases currently which unfortunately does not have a cure. Similarly, people often fall for renal failure in second half of their life often that puts them to many dietary restrictions. A person who is suffering from both gets very limited options to work with and hence could end up having temptation or increasing problems if he has something which is restricted. Today let us discuss some foods that people with these both conditions should strictly avoid to maintain their health.
What type of foods should be avoided during kidney disease and diabetes?
According to nutritionist Ms. Shilpa Singh from Fatima Hospital, Lucknow, foods that have potassium, soda, can increase blood pressure or are hard to digest needs to be avoided. This is because kidneys that help to filter blood and remove waste products need to work extra to ingest those type of foods. Also kidneys get less efficient over period of time, hence adults who have some type of kidney problems should avoid various nutrients, chemicals, etc such as sodium, potassium, and phosphorus from their general diet.
Diabetes also increases the risk of kidney disorder if dietary regulations are not taken care of. Here is the list of foods that need to be avoided if you have kidney disease and diabetes at the same time.
Food to Avoid in Kidney disease and Diabetes
1. Processed meat and foods
Processed food is not good for your health and especially if you are having meat. This is because processed meat is often made by drying, salting, curing and smoking of meat that sheds all the nutrients and just leaves unhealthy carbs. Bacon, sausage, deli meats are some foods that you should permanently leave if you have kidney disease and diabetes together. Processed foods have high sodium content which is actually 60-70% of daily what is allowed. Hence they could collapse your kidney functions if had on daily basis.
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2. Dark coloured soda
Sodas also come in variety of colours and flavours. We usually know of soda to be transparent but it is not always the case. There are dark coloured sodas which contain high amount of phosphorus that are often used in soft drinks and beverages. Most of these beverages have 90-180 mg of soda in 350 ml serving. This is much more than upper limit which is allowed to a diabetic person to have phosphorus. Dark coloured soda can not only take a toll on your diet but also on increase risk of heart disease and weaken bones.
3. Fruits containing Potassium
Fruits are meant to be healthy and nutritious but for a diabetic person suffering from kidney disease, it is risky. Patients of these diseases cannot have certain fruits that are high in sugar content or have increased amount of potassium. This includes fruits like-
- Avocado
- Apricots
- Kiwi
- Orange
- Banana
However since these fruits have some other nutrients which may benefit the kidney patients, you may have small amount of fruits from this list by recommendation of your doctor. There are healthy potassium fruits as well such as grapes, pineapple, mango and apple which can be had as alternative to fulfil the desire and nutrition of fruits.
4. Dry fruits
Another very beneficial foods which are restricted to kidney patients and diabetic people are dried fruits. This is avoided by people suffering from these two conditions because the water is taken out in the process. They are also in high in sugar and minerals such as potassium, hence are told not to be taken. Diabetic people are especially restricted to have dried fruits because fast-digesting sugar present in this food can take a toll on their health status.
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5. Beans and lentils
Almost all beans and lentils are also restricted to kidney patients. This is because of the reason that they have high phosphorus and sodium content and can be highly problematic if had in little excess quantity. Most of the doctors do allow people with these conditions to have lentils once in a while so that the nutrients are still provided and it does not do any harm to the body.
Beans and lentils should be well drained before giving it to kidney patients as it can reduce the sodium content by 40-60% easily. It can make it much safer food to have. Some studies have also shown benefits of legumes, whole grain and nuts on reducing the risk of chronic kidney disease.
6. Fruit Juices need to be avoided
There isn’t complete need to banning fruit juices to diabetic patients but it needs to be regulated. The reason behind this is that most fruit juices that are packed have several preservatives and added sugars that spike the blood sugar levels in the body. Hence it could lead to health complications, to avoid this, try to have more fresh juice which is made at home and do not add any extra sugar. This can be given to diabetic patients once in a while.
7. Certain Green Leafy Vegetables
Spinach, beet green and chard are some green vegetables that are need to be avoided for patients suffering from kidney disease. This is for the same reason as most, having high content of potassium in them. Most of people think that having some spinach or these green vegetable would not do much harm, but it can cause problems because amount of potassium remains same even after reducing to small amounts.
These vegetables also contain oxalic acid which is bounds minerals together can actually produce kidney stones in vulnerable people. It can even create lot more damage to your kidneys, hence it is best to stay away from eating these green leafy vegetables.
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