What fruits are bad for kidneys?

You may need to change what you eat to manage your chronic kidney disease (CKD). Work with a registered dietitian to develop a meal plan that includes foods that you enjoy eating while maintaining your kidney health.

The steps below will help you eat right as you manage your kidney disease. The first three steps (1-3) are important for all people with kidney disease. The last two steps (4-5) may become important as your kidney function goes down.

The first steps to eating right

Step 1: Choose and prepare foods with less salt and sodium

Why? To help control your blood pressure. Your diet should contain less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium each day.

• Buy fresh food often. Sodium (a part of salt) is added to many prepared or packaged foods you buy at the supermarket or at restaurants.
• Cook foods from scratch instead of eating prepared foods, “fast” foods, frozen dinners, and canned foods that are higher in sodium. When you prepare your own food, you control what goes into it.
• Use spices, herbs, and sodium-free seasonings in place of salt.
• Check for sodium on the Nutrition Facts label of food packages. A Daily Value of 20 percent or more means the food is high in sodium.
• Try lower-sodium versions of frozen dinners and other convenience foods.
• Rinse canned vegetables, beans, meats, and fish with water before eating.

Look for food labels with words like sodium free or salt free; or low, reduced, or no salt or sodium; or unsalted or lightly salted.

Step 2: Eat the right amount and the right types of protein

Why? To help protect your kidneys. When your body uses protein, it produces waste. Your kidneys remove this waste. Eating more protein than you need may make your kidneys work harder.

• Eat small portions of protein foods.
• Protein is found in foods from plants and animals. Most people eat both types of protein. Talk to your dietitian about how to choose the right combination of protein foods for you.

Animal-protein foods:

• Chicken
• Fish
• Meat
• Eggs
• Dairy

A cooked portion of chicken, fish, or meat is about 2 to 3 ounces or about the size of a deck of cards. A portion of dairy foods is ½ cup of milk or yogurt, or one slice of cheese.

Plant-protein foods:

A portion of cooked beans is about ½ cup, and a portion of nuts is ¼ cup. A portion of bread is a single slice, and a portion of cooked rice or cooked noodles is ½ cup.

Step 3: Choose foods that are healthy for your heart

Why? To help keep fat from building up in your blood vessels, heart, and kidneys.

• Grill, broil, bake, roast, or stir-fry foods, instead of deep frying.
• Cook with nonstick cooking spray or a small amount of olive oil instead of butter.
• Trim fat from meat and remove skin from poultry before eating.
• Try to limit saturated and trans fats. Read the food label.

Heart-healthy foods:

• Lean cuts of meat, such as loin or round
• Poultry without the skin
• Fish
• Beans
• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Low-fat or fat-free milk, yogurt, and cheese

Learn more about heart-healthy eating.

Limit alcohol
Drink alcohol only in moderation: no more than one drink per day if you are a woman, and no more than two if you are a man. Drinking too much alcohol can damage the liver, heart, and brain and cause serious health problems. Ask your health care provider how much alcohol you can drink safely.

The next steps to eating right

As your kidney function goes down, you may need to eat foods with less phosphorus and potassium. Your health care provider will use lab tests to check phosphorus and potassium levels in your blood, and you can work with your dietitian to adjust your meal plan. More information is provided in the NIDDK health topic, Nutrition for Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease.

Step 4: Choose foods and drinks with less phosphorus

Why? To help protect your bones and blood vessels. When you have CKD, phosphorus can build up in your blood. Too much phosphorus in your blood pulls calcium from your bones, making your bones thin, weak, and more likely to break. High levels of phosphorus in your blood can also cause itchy skin, and bone and joint pain.

• Many packaged foods have added phosphorus. Look for phosphorus—or for words with “PHOS”—on ingredient labels.
• Deli meats and some fresh meat and poultry can have added phosphorus. Ask the butcher to help you pick fresh meats without added phosphorus.

Your health care provider may talk to you about taking a phosphate binder with meals to lower the amount of phosphorus in your blood. A phosphate binder is a medicine that acts like a sponge to soak up, or bind, phosphorus while it is in the stomach. Because it is bound, the phosphorus does not get into your blood. Instead, your body removes the phosphorus through your stool.

Step 5: Choose foods with the right amount of potassium

Why? To help your nerves and muscles work the right way. Problems can occur when blood potassium levels are too high or too low. Damaged kidneys allow potassium to build up in your blood, which can cause serious heart problems. Your food and drink choices can help you lower your potassium level, if needed.

• Salt substitutes can be very high in potassium. Read the ingredient label. Check with your provider about using salt substitutes.
• Drain canned fruits and vegetables before eating.

Some medicines also can raise your potassium level. Your health care provider may adjust the medicines you take.

View tips for people with chronic kidney disease:

By DaVita dietitian Sara Colman, RD, CSR, CDE

Researchers are discovering more and more links between chronic diseases, inflammation and certain whole foods that may prevent or protect against undesirable fatty acid oxidation, a condition that occurs when the oxygen in your body reacts with fats in your blood and your cells. Oxidation is a normal process for energy production and many chemical reactions in the body, but excessive oxidation of fats and cholesterol creates molecules known as “free radicals” that can damage your proteins, cell membranes and genes. Heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other chronic and degenerative conditions have been linked to oxidative damage.

Foods that contain antioxidants can help neutralize free radicals and protect the body. Many of the foods that protect against oxidation are included in the kidney diet and make excellent choices for people on dialysis or people with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Eating foods rich in antioxidants as part of your kidney diet and working with a kidney dietitian are important for people with kidney disease because they experience more inflammation and have a higher risk for cardiovascular disease.

Want to learn more about the kidney diet? Download our free kidney-friendly cookbooks filled with kidney diet tips and recipes.

Top 15 Healthy Foods for People with Kidney Disease

When you have kidney disease, it is important to watch what you eat and drink because your kidneys cannot remove waste products as well as they should. A kidney-friendly eating plan can help you stay healthier and slow down damage to your kidneys. This webpage is for people who have Stages 1 to 4 of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and are not on dialysis.

Everyone is different and has different nutrition needs. Use this information as a guide. Work with a dietitian to create a kidney-friendly eating plan that is right for you.

What is a kidney-friendly eating plan?

A kidney-friendly eating plan is a way of eating that helps protect your kidneys from more damage. It includes foods that are easy on your kidneys, and limits other foods and fluids so certain minerals in those foods, like potassium, do not build up to high levels in your body. 

Can I get help to create a kidney-friendly eating plan that is right for me?

Ask your doctor to refer you to a dietitian (someone with special training in diet and nutrition to know which foods are right for people with kidney disease). The dietitian will help you create a kidney-friendly eating plan that includes the foods you enjoy. 

You can talk to a dietitian about the foods you enjoy or any special requirements you have (for example, you are vegetarian or have food allergies) and they will help you create a kidney-friendly eating plan that is right for you. Remember, even diets that may offer health benefits to some people (like the keto diet, Mediterranean diet, vegan diet) are not always safe for people with kidney disease. Always talk to a dietitian before increasing or decreasing your daily intake of certain foods or nutrients. A dietitian is the best person to help you create a meal plan that protects your kidneys and keeps you as healthy as possible. 

Medicare and many private insurance plans pay for a certain number of visits with a dietitian each year. Call your insurance company to ask if your plan covers medical nutrition therapy (MNT) with a dietitian. MNT is an approach to treat kidney disease through a tailored nutrition plan. As part of MNT, a dietitian will review your current eating habits, create a healthy eating plan that includes your preferences and help you overcome eating challenges.

Why is a kidney-friendly eating plan important?

A kidney-friendly eating plan helps you manage your kidney disease and slow down damage to your kidneys. It does this by preventing certain minerals from building up in your body, which is important because your kidneys do not work as well to remove waste products from your body.  

A kidney-friendly eating plan also helps prevent other serious health problems and controls high blood pressure and diabetes, which can prevent kidney disease from getting worse. 

It also ensures that you get the right balance of nutrients to help you:

• Have energy to do your daily tasks
• Prevent infection
• Build muscle
• Stay at a healthy weight

How can I follow a kidney-friendly eating plan?

Your kidney-friendly eating plan may change over time, but it will always give you the right amount of these nutrients:

• Protein: One of the nutrients that gives you energy. Your body needs protein to grow, build muscles, heal and stay healthy. 
• Fat: Fat is another one of the nutrients that gives you energy. Your body needs fat to carry out many jobs, such as to use vitamins from your food and keep your body at the right temperature.

• Carbohydrates or "carbs": Your body's main source of energy. Your body can more easily convert carbs into energy than protein and fat. 

Work with your dietitian to follow the steps below for a kidney-friendly eating plan.

Eat the right amount and the right types of protein

Having too little protein can cause your skin, hair and nails to be weak. But having too much protein can make your kidneys work harder and cause more damage. This happens because when your body uses protein, it makes waste products that your kidneys have to filter. To stay healthy and help you feel your best, you may need to adjust how much protein you eat.

The amount of protein you should eat depends on your body size, activity level and health. Your doctor or dietitian may have you limit protein or change the type of protein you eat. For example, you may need to eat more lean proteins, which are foods that are high in protein and low in fat, such as whole eggs and skinless chicken and turkey.  

Ask your doctor or dietitian how much protein you should eat and what the best types of protein are for you.

Choose the right types of fat

Fat gives you energy and helps you use some of the vitamins in your food. You need some fat in your eating plan to stay healthy. Too much fat can lead to weight gain and heart disease. Limit fat in your meal plan, and choose healthier fats when you can, such as olive oil.

Choosing the right types of fat is also part of a heart-healthy eating plan called DASH. 

Choose whole grain carbohydrates

Eating too many carbs can lead to weight gain. When you have kidney disease, it is best to choose whole grains and healthy carbs such as fruits and vegetables. Unhealthy carbs include sugar, honey, hard candies, soft drinks and other sugary drinks.

If you have diabetes, you may also need to carefully track how many carbs you take in. Your dietitian can help you learn more about the carbs in your eating plan and how they affect your blood sugar.

The ketogenic diet or "keto diet" is a type of low-carb diet that focuses on eating very low carbs, high fats and moderate protein amounts, so your body uses stored fat for energy instead of carbs. This diet may not be a healthy option for you because it limits your options, and you may miss out on some key nutrients. If you have questions about a specific diet, ask your dietitian.

Eat the right amount of calories

Calories are like fuel and give your body energy. Calories come from the protein, fat and carbs in your diet. How many calories you need depends on your age, gender, body size and activity level.

You may need to adjust how many calories you eat to stay at a healthy weight. Some people will need to limit the calories they eat. Others may need to have more calories. Your doctor or dietitian can help you figure out how many calories you should have each day. 

Choose and prepare foods with less sodium (salt)

Sodium (salt) is a mineral found in almost all foods. It has many important roles in the way your body works. The amount of sodium found naturally in foods is enough to keep a healthy level in your body. But eating packaged foods and adding salt to foods can lead to eating too much sodium. 

Too much sodium can make you thirsty and make your body hold onto water, which can lead to swelling and raise your blood pressure. This can damage your kidneys more and make your heart work harder.

One of the best things you can do is to limit how much sodium you eat. A general rule is to have less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium each day. Here are some tips to limit sodium:

• Use herbs and spices for flavor while cooking. Do not add salt to your food when cooking or eating. 
• Choose fresh or frozen vegetables instead of canned vegetables. If you use canned vegetables, drain and rinse them to remove extra salt.

• When eating out, ask your server to have the chef not add salt to your dish.

Work with your dietitian to find foods that are low in sodium.

Control your portion sizes

Eating too much of anything, even healthy foods, can be a problem. The other part of a healthy eating plan is portion control, or watching how much you eat. 

Good portion control is important in a kidney-friendly eating plan, because you may need to limit how much of certain things you eat and drink. 

To help control your portion sizes:

• For packaged foods, check the nutrition facts label to learn the serving size and how much of each nutrient is in one serving. Many packages have more than one serving. For example, a 20-ounce bottle of soda is really two-and-a-half servings. 
• For fresh foods that do not have nutrition facts labels, such as fruits and vegetables, ask your dietitian for a list of nutrition facts to measure the right portions.
• Eat slowly and stop eating when you are full. It takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain that you are full. If you eat too quickly, you may eat more than you need.

• Avoid eating while doing something else, such as watching TV or driving. When you are distracted, you may not realize how much you have eaten.