One of the many tasks that kidneys are responsible for is regulating the levels of phosphorus in the blood, so when a kidney no longer functions as it should, you need to follow a low phosphorus renal diet.
This is because the phosphorus levels in the blood will increase, a condition called hyperphosphatemia. A high level of phosphorus in the blood decreases the level of calcium, which in turn will cause bone disease. So one of the most important things people with kidney disease can do for themselves is to follow a low phosphorus renal diet.
And here’s the reason for following a low phosphorus diet for kidney disease: a person with kidney disease should only eat about 800 – 1,000 mg of phosphorus a day, while healthy people can safely consume as much as 2,000 mg of phosphorus a day.
Just about every food item contains phosphorus, making it nearly impossible to eliminate all traces of this mineral from your diet. Luckily, there are many great low phosphorus alternatives available that makes following a low phosphorus renal diet easy.
Foods for a Low Phosphorus Renal Diet:
There are many foods low in phosphorus that a person with kidney disease can eat without feeling deprived. In fact, you may be surprised to find that some low phosphorus foods are typically foods to avoid on other diets.
Here is a list of high phosphorus foods and their low phosphorus alternatives to help you with your meal planning:
| High Phosphorus Foods | Low Phosphorus Food Alternatives |
| Chocolate | Gumdrops, hard candy |
| Soft drinks, cola | Ginger ale, root beer, lemon-lime soda |
| Fats: sour cream, fat-free cream, half and half, sesame butter | Fats: margarine, butter, mayonnaise, shortening, vegetable oils, salad dressing |
| Organ meats, sardines, pollock, walleye | Poultry, beef, lamb, pork, other fish |
| Vegetables: asparagus, broccoli, cooked peapods, spinach, mushrooms, artichokes | Vegetables: beets, cabbage, celery, carrots, eggplant, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, peppers, tomatoes, summer squash |
| Peas, including split, black-eyed, fresh green.Beans, including lima, kidney, black, navy, garbanzo, pinto lentils | Frozen green peas, canned green peas, wax beans, green beans |
| Starchy vegetables: sweet potato, pumpkin, parsnips, corn | Starchy vegetables: winter squash, rutabaga, potato |
| Whole grains: bread, crackers, rice, pasta, cereal | Refined grains: white bread, crackers, rice, pasta, cereal |
| Quick breads, cornbread, biscuits, waffles, pancakes, muffins | White (refined) bagels, dinner rolls, croissants, English muffins |
| Ice cream, frozen yogurt | Frozen fruit pops, sherbet |
| Hard cheese | Cottage cheese, cream cheese |
| Milk, yogurt, pudding (from animals and from soy) | Rice milk (unfortified), non-dairy creamer |
The key is to read all food labels, not only looking specifically for phosphorus, but also looking for anything that begins with the letters “phos” as these ingredients are using phosphorus as an additive, like calcium phosphate, pyrophosphate polyphosphates, phosphoric acid, disodium phosphate, and tricalcium phosphate.
Recipes for a Low Phosphorus Renal Diet:
One of the ways to make this diet easy is to use recipes in order to plan your meals. When you invest in Nurse Rachelle Gordon’s Kidney Diet Secrets book, you will currently receive an excellent collection of renal diet recipes, which all take into account the need to follow a low phosphorus renal diet.
File under: Low Phosphorus Renal Diet
