The renal diet is the key to lower your creatinine levels.
No doubt about it.
But if you feel you lack the motivation or the willpower to follow it every day, I have
good news for you!
There are 7 very small changes, 7 good habits you can pick up easily - and in just one week,
you will start boosting your kidney health!
My name is Katherine and this is 00kidney!
Welcome to our journey together to a better kidney health.
With this video, I want to prove that a renal diet that works doesn't have to be hard to
follow.
these 7 Small Changes will give you the biggest results in a very short time.
Starting from the first day
Day 1, Count colors, not calories Not all calories are created equal.
A handful of almonds versus the same amount of calories in potato chip form has a tremendously
different effect on your health and on your kidneys.
Many people don't know this, but in a recent study, people eating a diet rich in almonds
lost more weight compared to people on a diet with the same amount of calories but no almonds.
And this tip can help you even if you don't need to lose weight: there are a million different
vitamins, minerals and nutrients your body needs.
But you don't HAVE to keep track of everything: your body does this for you.
It will store the vitamins it gets from the diet, and use them when it needs to.
This is a key process of the body and the best way of helping doing it is eating small
amounts of many different colored veggies and fruits every day.
This is why One of the best ways to put together a well-balanced plate is actually by observing
the variety of colors before you.
Filling your dish with greens and reds and yellows will help you craft a nutrient-rich
meal that will help fuel your body better and will also nourish your kidneys with all
the vitamins they need.
Great to avoid dangerous vitamin deficiencies and slow down the progression of the disease.
Day 2 snack intelligently,
It's a myth that snacking is always unhealthy.
It may even have benefits!
First because banishing all your favorite foods can lead to the deterioration even of
the best planned kidney diet.
A drastically limited diet is not sustainable on the long run.
It will make you feel deprived and may eventually cause you to break the diet.
Now, a kidney diet is absolutely not a diet you can stop when you want.
So, what can you do to avoid feeling deprived or hungry during the day?
Snacking!
According to science, Savoring a small treat daily really won't sabotage your efforts.
Especially if the snack doesn't contain added sugars or other dangerous additives.
On the other hand, long intervals between meals or skipping meals, may lead you to eat
more than you're allowed later in the day and to dangerous blood sugar spikes.
To avoid this, eat at regular intervals, at the same time every day.
This will also help you keep blood sugar levels under control.
Yes, snacking on healthy foods not only keeps your metabolism fired up, but it helps keep
your hunger and energy levels steady throughout the day.
The key here is in the preparation.
For example, eat Popcorn Instead of Chips.
For healthy popcorn, try making your own popcorn at home (not microwave popcorn varieties).
And also consider fruits in season but also nuts and ... maybe a smoothie?
And if this doesn't make following a healthy renal diet easy enough, also consider that
you don't have to say no to every recipe that contains an ingredient not good for your kidneys!
How is this possible?
Day 3, Tweak your favorite Recipes to Make Them Kidney-Friendly
Deciding what to have for dinner can be a constant cause of frustration for kidney patients,
which is why many people tend to use the same recipes again and again.
Well, it's time to stop this!
You can modify some of the recipes you used to avoid and make them healthier for your
kidneys!
The key is to reduce their sodium, potassium, and phosphorus content.
Here are simple ways you can do this.
- Make your own salad dressings - Mix olive oil and balsamic vinegar for a low-sodium
salad dressing.
- Double boil potatoes to reduce potassium.
A medium-sized whole baked potato has a massive 900 mg of potassium, or about one-third of
your daily allowance if you're on a low-potassium diet.
But, after double boiling, the potassium is going to be just 200mg! you will still need
some portion control, alright, but that's a lot better than no potatoes at all!
- Another tip, if you like pasta, instead of canned tomato sauce, use a small amount
of fresh tomato and make your own healthy sauce!
Use Roma tomatoes, which are lower in potassium content than other tomatoes.
Or you can make aglio e olio pasta, which doesn't require tomatoes at all!
Obviously don't eat pasta and potatoes every day, but if your potassium levels are under
control, why not treating yourself once in a while?
On the other hand, what you should absolutely avoid is...
4 going grocery shopping Without a List!
There are two important strategies to employ when you go grocery shopping: make your shopping
list ahead of time and don't go to the store hungry.
Not knowing exactly what you need, makes room for impulse buying, very dangerous when you
need to avoid high potassium or sugary foods, while hunger can even worsen your impulses.
So, to make sure you don't give up and buy anything you can't eat, plan ahead - write
down exactly what you need beforehand.
I always try to include in my videos foods healthy for your kidneys, so when you see
one you didn't know about... write it down!
So you can then add it to your grocery list.
By doing this, you will not only buy healthier items but also save money and have healthier
foods around the house.
And, when you're at the grocery store, remember to Stay Away From "Diet" Foods
So-called "diet foods" can be very deceiving.
Sometimes, they're full of sugar!
Very dangerous for people with kidney disease.
Ok, here's another good habit to make your renal diet easier to follow:
Day 5 Eat Your Greens First
Ok, this one, coupled with don't go grocery shopping hungry, are in my opinion the easiest
way to stick to the renal diet without any struggle.
I'm starting to do this one every day and it's really making my life easier!
Because a good way to ensure that you eat all your greens is to eat them as a starter.
By doing so, you will most likely finish all of your greens while you are the hungriest,
alright? and be apt to eat less of other, perhaps less healthy, components of the meal.
This is not just useful for weight loss, it's also great to keep down your blood sugar levels.
Eating vegetables before a carb-rich meal has been shown to slow down the speed at which
carbs are absorbed into the bloodstream.
A great benefit for both short- and long-term blood sugar control in people with diabetes.
You see, easy and effective.
Day 6 Don't play with fire when you cook!
The way you prepare your food can drastically change its effects on your health.
Grilling, broiling, frying and deep-frying are all popular methods of preparing various
foods.
However, during these types of cooking methods, several potentially toxic and inflammatory
compounds are formed, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), advanced glycation end
products (AGEs) and heterocyclic amines (HCAs).
Trust me when I say that you don't want any of those in your renal diet.
All of these compounds have been linked to several diseases, including cancer, heart
disease and kidneys problems.
Healthier cooking methods include baking, broiling, simmering, slow-cooking, pressure
cooking and stewing.
These methods do not promote the formation of these harmful compounds and thus make your
food healthier.
Nevertheless, there is nothing to say you can't enjoy the occasional grill or Sautee,
but try to use those methods sparingly.
Day 7, Slow Down The pace at which you eat influences how much
you eat, as well as how likely you are to gain weight.
In fact, studies comparing different eating speeds show that fast eaters are a whopping
115% more likely to be obese than slow eaters.
And while this is more useful for people who need to lose weight, remember that maintaining
the right body weight is one of the key factors in improving kidney health.
Also, eating slower will help digestion.
But how does this work?
Your appetite, how much you eat and how full you feel is all controlled by hormones.
These hormones signal your brain whether you're hungry or full.
However, it takes about 20 minutes for your brain to receive these messages, so eating
more slowly would give your brain the time it needs to perceive that you are full.
Eating slowly is also linked to more thorough chewing, the key to a better digestion and
nutrient absorption.
So, what I wanted to tell you with this video is that completely overhauling your diet all
at once can be a recipe for disaster.
Instead, try to incorporate some of the small changes I've shown you today slowly.
Together, they'll have a big impact on making your overall diet healthier and more sustainable,
without a huge change in your habits.
And, by the way guys, I want to say a huge thank you to all my loyal supporters watching
me every Tuesday and Friday and commenting all my videos!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart and ... see you next time!
This is all for today, thank you for watching!