Diet and tips for someone with bad kidneys

[anat0l]

Hoping to appeal to the healthy and nutritionists on AFF, or anyone with or knows others with a history of bad kidneys.

Uncle in Malaysia has been told his kidneys are not in great shape. I'm not sure if it's just generally in bad shape or he has some sort of disease (I haven't much to work with here). All I've been told by mum is that he (and everyone else) is very, very confused as to what he can or cannot eat, or rather what he should eat more of, eat less of, and avoid altogether. The doctors in Malaysia are not awfully helpful and they (my uncle and other relations) are not very good at digesting (pun intended) the information from the doctor. Usually they go the extreme and abstain from whatever the doctor has told them to "avoid" or whatever, which leads to his not eating very much at all.

Checked a few sites on the internet, and it appears there's not a lot which he should avoid, but rather he has to have a light diet which is in balance of sodium, potassium, protein and other key elements. Excessive intake of those elements puts extra stress on the kidneys. Of course many foods are "unbalanced" in at least one of those elements, but the way I read it, that doesn't mean you cannot or should not eat them (likely because if you avoided all such foods, that actually rubs out almost all of what he could eat).

My uncle is diabetic, doesn't smoke or drink alcohol. He's not very physically active, but he walks a lot in order to keep in moderate shape (he's not overweight).

Does anyone have any further tips with respect to diet - what he can / should eat / avoid eating / eat less of?

Should he drink as much water as possible, or control this intake as well?

 

[DrA]

Need more information to give any advice.

I've spent the last 2 years totally overhauling my diet due to a liver condition caused by a genetic disorder (also now on medication for life). Been in and out of nutritionists offices at least once a month ever since the diagnosis as what I can and can't eat is a nightmare. So I have learned a lot about the vitamin and mineral components of different foods. However...

Your uncle's kidney problems could be aided by a lack of certain vitamins/minerals, or an excess. Unless he gets more information on the nature of the condition, it would be stupid of me to give any kind of advice.