Eating well is not just about optimising good nutrition. Here in the Kidney Kitchen, we know that preparing delicious, healthy food for your family and friends – even just for yourself – is part of who we are. It’s time to enjoy the food you CAN eat in ways you never imagined possible.
Each Kidney Kitchen recipe tastes delicious – if it doesn’t pass the ‘taste-test’, it doesn’t make it into the Kidney Kitchen – and also undergoes a rigorous testing and analysis process. So you have the added reassurance of knowing our kidney dietitians have analysed, and the RNG has approved, each recipe as being safe for people with kidney disease to eat.
What do I need to consider before I start to include Kidney Kitchen recipes in my diet?
Every person diagnosed with CKD is unique and will have slightly different dietary needs. This means dietary advice you receive from your kidney dietitian is likely to be different to advice given to someone else with kidney disease. Your individual, tailored advice will be based on many different factors, including your stage of kidney disease, blood chemistry, weight, age and how much exercise you are able to do. So, it is very important that you receive personalised dietary advice before making any changes to your diet.
New to cooking for someone with kidney disease?
If you are new to kidney disease, or cooking for someone diagnosed with kidney disease and are not sure what to cook for them, here are some simple tips to help you:
People with chronic kidney disease – stage 1 and 2 (not on dialysis)
In the early stages of kidney disease, you may not need to make any significant changes to what you eat and drink. All our Kidney Kitchen recipes help you eat a healthier diet to support good kidney health. We never add salt to our recipes and use herbs and spices to flavour dishes instead. If a recipe requires stock, we use zero salt, or very low-salt stock cubes. If you are trying to reduce the amount of sugar or fat you eat, try our suggestions for healthier options. Eating more healthily can slow down the progression of kidney disease and help control diabetes.
People with chronic kidney disease – stage 3, 4, and 5 (not on dialysis)
At this stage, most people can continue to eat a healthy and balanced diet and should not modify their diet unless advised to by a kidney dietitian, or doctor.
However, as your kidney function declines, you may be advised to start reducing the amount of protein, phosphate, potassium, or fluid you consume. If you do receive this advice, do not worry; you will find it easy to select Kidney Kitchen recipes to fit in with the individualised advice you have been given.
People with kidney failure – stage 5 (receiving dialysis)
At this stage, you should have met your kidney dietitian, who will talk through how best to modify what you eat and drink to help keep you feeling as well as possible. This advice is geared to help you enjoy a good quality of life and protect your heart and overall health. Dietary advice at this stage of kidney disease has moved on in recent years, in line with improved understanding of how the body processes different food groups. This means you do not need to feel that your days of enjoying food are over, just because you are receiving treatment for kidney disease. Far from it – following your kidney dietitian’s advice will help you select Kidney Kitchen recipes that not only best meet your personal dietary needs, but also taste delicious, too!
People who have diabetes and chronic kidney disease
If you have diabetes and kidney disease, you can be reassured that all Kidney Kitchen recipes are suitable for you and will help you eat a healthy, balanced diet. If you take insulin to control your diabetes, and have been trained in insulin adjustment, all our recipes are analysed to provide a per-serving carbohydrate content to help you adjust your insulin dose efficiently and maximise the selection of delicious recipes available to you. In addition, all recipes provide the amount of fibre per serving, also important for good blood sugar control.