Your physician has ordered a special diet for you based on your current medical condition.
You’re on a renal/consistent carbohydrate diet, which is a nutritionally balanced diet to meet your specific nutrition needs. This diet limits sodium (salt), fluid, potassium, protein and phosphorus to help support kidney function. Additionally, this diet is carbohydrate-controlled to help manage blood sugar.
Carbohydrates are foods or substances such as sugars or starches that provide the body with energy. Carbohydrates include foods such as fruits, starches/grains, dairy-based milk and yogurt, and starchy vegetables, such as potatoes, corn or peas. Sweets are also a major source of carbohydrate in the diet. You’ll receive foods containing a specific amount of carbohydrates based on a general assessment of your needs. This amount will sometimes be adjusted by your doctor or dietitian if there is a need to better control your blood sugar levels while you are in the hospital.
Many of the foods you’ll receive are naturally low in sodium or are unprocessed because many processed or pre-packaged foods tend to be higher in sodium. Based on your current lab work, you may also need to have potassium decreased in your diet. This means you’ll be offered fruits and vegetables that have low to medium amounts of potassium, and likely won’t receive potatoes because of their high potassium content.
If your diet needs to be low in phosphorus because of high levels seen in your lab work, you may receive smaller amounts of dairy items like milk and cheese. Fluids may be restricted if you’re retaining fluid or if your kidneys are unable to manage high amounts of fluid intake.
Protein may also be limited based on your current renal function. This means meat, eggs and other protein servings may be smaller than what you’re used to, so that your kidneys are not overloaded.
Your doctor and dietitian will work together to provide the proper amounts of these nutrients to meet your specific needs.