• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Renal Diet Menu Headquarters

Renal Diets That You Will Love!

Let’s Get Social!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Looking for something?

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Renal Menu Plans
    • Free 7 Day Meal Plan
    • Kidney Diet Starter Kit
    • Pre Dialysis Diet Meal Plan
    • Renal Diabetic Diet Meal Plan
    • Renal Dialysis Diet Meal Plan
    • Caring For Renal Patients
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • Media Room
    • Speaking
    • Resources
      • Renal Diet Education Handouts
      • Renal Diet Newsletter
      • Podcast
      • Conversion Calculator
  • Members
  • Cookbooks
    • Pre-Dialysis Cookbook
    • Dialysis Cookbook
  • Kidney Diet Recipes
    • Recipes
  • Spices – Perfect For Your Diet
  • Vegetarian Meal Plan
  • Understanding Kidney Test Results Course
  • Books On CKD
You are here: Home / Renal Diet Headquarters Blog / Do Meatless Meals Help Or Hurt A Renal Diet?

Do Meatless Meals Help Or Hurt A Renal Diet?

By Mathea Ford Leave a Comment

Do Meatless Meals Help Or Hurt A Renal Diet?

When you are diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, you have to start worrying more about your protein intake. You don’t want to make your kidneys work any more than they already do to remove wastes from the body.

You may have been wondering if meatless meals are beneficial to your renal diet. Maybe you are already vegetarian and are concerned that you need to begin eating meat in order to meet your protein intake requirements.

The reality is, you do not have to eat meat when you have CKD. If fact, it is safe to have meatless meals often or just part-time. The important thing is that you are including other sources of protein into your diet, while making sure you aren’t consuming too much.

Amount Of Protein In A Renal Diet

Depending on the stage of CKD you are in, you will have to limit your protein intake to a certain percentage of your calories each day. Patients in stages 1, 2, and 3 may be advised to limit your protein intake to 15% of your calorie intake. At stage 4, it may be further reduced to only 10% of your calories each day.

Once you reach stage 5 and are on dialysis to filter wastes from the blood, you will not have to limit your protein intake. Instead you may need to raise it substantially to compensate for the amino acids that your body loses during each dialysis treatment.

The Best (Meatless) Sources for Protein

When you want to forego meat in your renal diet, you need to seek out plant-based protein options to include in your meals. These include:

  • Meat substitutes (veggie burgers, tofu, etc)
  • Soy items
  • Beans
  • Nuts

Plant based proteins are beneficial for those with CKD because they help reduce the amount of protein found in urine. They can also result in less damage to the kidneys than consuming animal-based proteins. These plant-based options can also help you control your blood lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides).

If you do want to consume animal based proteins, without touching meat, you can include eggs and dairy products in your renal diet.

Warnings for Plant-Based Proteins in your Renal Diet

Though they can help lowering your overall protein intake and provide you with quality protein to keep your muscles strong, some plant-based protein options will have to be limited as part of your CKD diet.

For example, some beans are high in potassium, a nutrient that can cause further damage to the kidneys when the level in your body gets too high. This can also cause you to feel some numbness or tingling in your body, and extreme levels of potassium can even cause a heart attack.

Sodium is another element you will want to limit when consuming meatless meals for your renal diet. Opt for unsalted nuts when you are snacking. Also, look over the product labels when purchasing meat substitutes or tofu to ensure they aren’t packed with sodium.

As you can see, meatless meals aren’t harmful to your renal diet – so long as you are still getting the recommended amount of protein on a daily basis. Switching to plant-based protein sources can actually help your condition in a number of ways.

Just be on the lookout for other restrictions when you are planning your meals, so you don’t accidentally consume too much of those while managing your protein!


Also published on Medium.

Suggested Reading:

  1. How Is Dialysis Diet Different From Pre-Dialysis Diet?
  2. VEGETARIAN RENAL DIET: WORTHY OR NOT?
  3. What Is The Best Food For Stage 3 Kidney Problems?
  4. Renal Diet Podcast 078 – Vegetarian Meals For Kidney Failure
  5. Renal Diet Menu – Ways To Make Your Meals Better

Tagged With: low potassium foods, nondialysis recipes, renal diet, renal diet plan, renal diet recipes

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search For More

Course Progress

Zestify Your Diet Recipes

 More ...

Footer

Quick Link To Spices Recipes

Do Meatless Meals Help Or Hurt A Renal Diet?
  • Pre Dialysis Diet
  • Renal Dialysis Diet
  • Renal Diabetic Diet
  • Recipes
  • Podcast
  • Caregivers
  • Renal Diet Books

Copyright © 2021 RenalDietHQ® (405) 793-7306

close

Download The Free 7 Day Meal Plan For Your Type Of Kidney Disease

Get started now with your new diet plan by downloading these 7 dinner meals that includes nutritional information you need to make your best decisions and get on the right track!  You can choose which style you need, based on your stage of renal disease.

envelope
envelope
x

Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy