Kidney Diet FAQs

The Kidney Diet FAQs

Plant Based Alkaline Diet
Neutral Protein 0.6 grams/kilogram
1200 mg sodium
4 Liters water or twice your daily output
Low in Fat
Food Restriction

What can I eat?

Words in brown are links

Enjoy eating foods that grow from plants of the earth like fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, beans, and certain nuts and seeds. This is a whole foods plant based vegan alkaline diet geared toward PKD kidney health and PLD liver health. Cooking all food yourself from locally grown and in season produce goes a long way to maintaining the health of cystic organs. For your essential fatty acids try purslane, chia, hemp seed and pea proteins. Check that purchased produce has NOT been genetically modified. Read more on non-GMO foods.

What is to be avoided to minimize PKD symptoms?

alcohol
aspirin
animal proteins
celery
caffeine
coral calcium
concentrated sugars
cranberry (whole fruit)
chocolate
coffee
dairy
eggplant
fruits, scroll down to avoid fruits
hormones
NSAIDs
nightshades
nuts, except one can eat almonds, coconut, chestnuts
potato
peppers
peanut
plum
prune
rhubarb
soy
starfruit
strawberry
tea, black, green, white, and some herbal
tomato
tylenol
vegetables, scroll down to avoid vegetables
wheat
yeast

What if my urine stays acidic?

You can increase your lemon juice intake to at least three lemons juiced per day. Add an alkaline fruit twenty minutes before each meal. It may take about two weeks for this change to occur. You can speed it up by drinking freshly squeezed orange juice, apple juice, cabbage juice, or melon juices that you prepare yourself. Lemons, limes, all citrus are wonderful alkalizers. In addition a study found melon juice to be really helpful. From time to time, some have tried non-alcoholic nettle leaf. This particular herb is high in potassium, lowers uric acid, and will quickly change the urine toward alkaline. If you are a meat eater do this change slowly and drink cranberry juice to convert the ammonia to ammonium or you can add a strong alkalizer prescribed by your doc. Try adding exercise and relaxation, and taking (8) eight long slow deep breaths each morning upon arising. This will release any lactic acid build up from within the body. When the mind is fearful or one is emotional, either overjoyed or sad, it is difficult for the urine to change to alkaline.

What if I have difficulty avoiding animal proteins?

Eating no animal proteins is best for long term cystic organ health. Many test their nightly urinary pH. To maintain alkalinity while continuing to eat meat and other animal proteins, some try drinking large quantities ofmelon juice, orange juice, lemon juice cabbage juice and/or supplementing with prescribed potassium citrate or sodium citrate. Test 24 hour urinary citrate level prior to starting citrate salts. With PKD hypocitraturia is expected. Limit the quantity of animal proteins to 3 ounces of meat (the size of a deck of cards) or 1 ounce of cheese (the size of one dice), once or twice per week. Should you find this difficult, try eating less than three ounces of animal protein per day. Do not attempt to abstain from animal proteins for several days, then one day, splurge on a large quantity of meat. This is known as eating like a lion and this WILL reduce kidney functioning by decreasing the GFR, Glomerular Filtration Rate.

Diet Sleuth is a computer program for those wishing to calculate more accurately the amount of proteins, potassium, phosphorus taken in daily. Here is a list of the protein content of some common foods.
Best is to eliminate ALL animal foods. Here is a meat eaters guide and a chart with the carbon foot print of fruits and vegetables vs. meats. Processed foods are best avoided entirely. If you do eat processed foods here is a list of chemicals to avoid.

LAMB 3 ounces [one lamb chop]
FISH Flat white fish non oily with eyes on the same side of the head
CHEESE soft white cheeses (goat) cottage cheese or quark
EGG Poached egg yolk once a month

Lamb has different molecular protein structure than beef. Beef or cows eat grasses that have the residual pesticides still present, long after these chemicals have been banned from farming. Beef cuts that are marbled are said to be the choicest. This marbling that makes the meat so tender is fat. Hormones are stored in the fat tissue and it is these hormones plus the chemicals from the grasses eaten from contaminated soil that is harmful.

Is Cultured Dairy better?

If you have difficulty avoiding dairy and cheeses, try cultured dairy products.

Follow your heart vegan non-dairy products)
Almond milk yogurt/cheese
Daiya vegan yogurt
Buttermilk cultured
Plugra butter. Keep butter to less than a tablespoon per day
Cottage cheese (2 ounces)
Plain yogurt with added acidophilus - half a cup.
Skim milk 2 ounces

All dairy puts an extra workload on the kidneys and dehydrates the body. The solutes are too large for cystic kidneys to effectively filter. Dairy tends to dehydrate the body. Salt that is added to cheese and ice creams plus the extra large molecular solutes, creates dehydration contributing to a rise in blood pressure and a lessening of kidney functioning. Some of us have experienced with even a small taste of ice cream or a sip of milk, we awaken in the middle of the night with a cotton mouth, parched with an intense thirst. Fatty portions from animal proteins are much more harmful than the leaner sections, i.e. skim milk is preferable to cream. Limit fats to a maximum of one ounce per day. If one continues to eat meats and animal foods than any type of cheese needs to replace the meat for that day. The amount of cheese allowed is one ounce whereas the amount of lean meat is approximately three ounces, once or twice a week. Goat cheese is healthier than cow cheese, especially the type made by local farms, especially if one can find a salt free variety is sold. Cultured dairy is preferable i.e. buttermilk, yogurt, plugra butter. Limit butter fat and oils to less than a tablespoon per day.

Are there any super alkaline foods?

In addition to lemon juice, try a fruit twenty minutes before a meal.

apple	banana	cabbage	cucumber	coconut water	grapefruit caution
kiwi	lemon	lime	mango	papaya	melon
orange	nettle	greens	parsley	tangerine	watermelon

Alkaline foods are plants that are as close to being freshly plucked from the earth as possible - - fruits and vegetables in season, especially cabbage, cucumber, lemons, grapefruit (this fruit alters the dose of certain medications and may need to be avoided by some.) Sprouting and soaking seeds, legumes, and grains makes them more alkaline, more digestible, and lessens the phytic acid. Raw celery, though alkaline, should be avoided as it has been observed to cause an increase in kidney pain and it retains the highest amounts of pesticides. Start the day with freshly squeezed lemon juice. This can be diluted in hot water. Increase this to twice a day and then three times a day. Some have taken as many as 6 lemons in one day to lessen pain or discomfort. A Myer lemon is a sweeter lemon. Limes may also be used. Generally, the sweeter the taste the more alkaline the food.

In ancient days long long ago, when we were hunters and gatherers, we searched for plants in the wild. We tasted them and assumed if they were sweet they were edible; if they were bitter, they were poisonous. Sweet taste, which we never tire of, is an atavistic trait. This ancient tribal trait is no longer used for its original purpose. Many of us who have a dominant sweet tooth and may have been among the original tribal medicine men, or wise women, the collectors of foods and herbs. We were the testers for the tribe, much like today some of us test foods to see how it reacts within a body with PKD. We would try the food, see its effects, then we might say to the tribe, this is good nourishing food, or this is an herb that is useful for this purpose, or this is to be avoided as it appears harmful and tastes bitter.

Existing in an alkaline state makes many feel better. Some have increased their kidney functioning with the PKDiet. Some have delayed dialysis for several years. Others who have a transplant have found the alkaline state to be energizing. Many have had fewer and fewer infections, though some have noted an increase in urinary tract infections. This can be adjusted by drinking 2 ounces of cranberry or blueberry juice daily, diluted in one ounce of mineral water. This should be a pure juice without added fructose or sugars. Northland brand is a good choice.

This sweet tooth has given us a certain sensitivity for our body's needs. As we continue to eat whole foods that are less processed, we can sense quickly when we place something in our mouths whether it is healthy or harmful. This atavistic trait will come more to the forefront, but in coming to the forefront, some have noticed it brings with it a desire for concentrated sugars. Food manufacturers have long recognized this and add sugar to just about everything - even to salty chips. We will continue to eat the sugar dipped chip or crisp beyond satiety. The only way to avoid this is to avoid concentrated sugars completely. For about three days it will be very difficult. As we build our alkaline reserves and replenish the vitamins, antioxidants and minerals the body needs to function, these sweet cravings will become less and less. One day this craving for something sweet will awaken in one a craving for crunchy sweet vegetable or a slice of a raw ripe fruit, or a sip of fresh juice.

If a craving for sweets is really dominant this could be from an overgrowth of yeast. To counteract this, some have tried a drop of oregano oil on the tongue followed by a dried cherry to counteract the taste. Johns Hopkins did a study with children who developed thrush, a yeast overgrowth. They found oregano oil to work better than the prescribed treatment. A slight decline in liver functioning might trigger a sweet tooth. Some have tried vegetables that are prebiotics. Some have been prescribed medications by urologists, such as potassium citrate or urocit K to rid the body of a generalized yeast infection. Others have been prescribed diflucan (this can harm liver). Some have tried painting genetian violet over the affected area. If you can decrease your intake of animal proteins this too is helpful in diminishing the sweet tooth. The more animal proteins one eats, the more sweets are craved. According to ayurvedic medicine sweet and animal proteins are each at opposite ends. Sweet is the most sattvic and meat is the most tamasic.

What are effective alkalizers?

Potassium citrate, sodium citrate, are very effective alkalizers. Calcium citrate has a modest effect. For kidney stones a substance called Shohl's solution (potassium citrate) has been prescribed for years and it has minimal side effects. In animal experiments with the Polycystic Kidney Disease, the Han-sprd rats were fed potassium citrate in their drinking water. The potassium citrate fed rats never went into kidney failure and lived twice as long as the other rats. Another effective alkalizer is organic non-alcoholic nettle extract tastes similar to artichokes. It is very very high in potassium. One could easily lightly steam nettles found in the wild and simply eat these. Cooking or steaming neutralizes the sting of nettles.

What about the raw food vegan diet?

Researchers tested a group of RF raw food vegans ages 18 - 85.
RFraw food vegans were lighter weight.
RFraw food vegans' bones were less dense, yet stronger.
RFraw food vegans had low cholesterol, low LDL, normal homocysteine.
RFraw food vegans ↑ calcitrol levels ↑ vitamin D levels ↑ bone strength.
RFraw food vegans had low B12.
Macrobiotics as well as raw foodies both utilize avoiding animal products, pre-soaking grains, nuts, legumes, seeds. Some favorite sprouted bread recipes have ideas from both diets. PKDiet avoids the use of yeast, instead a lactic acid ferment like from traditional sourdough breads seems to decrease symptoms. Using natural ferments, non-alcohol based tends to decrease bloating and fullness that can be a problem with huge occupying space cystic organs.

What are nanobacteria?

Nanobacteria have been linked with PKD. Electron microscope size bacteria known as nanobacteria might be a living buffering system within the body. Nanobacteria might be the body's internal alkaline system. These tiny bacteria spring into action when the pH of the body turns slightly acidic and they immediately capture acid minerals and form them into stones to further assist the body to maintain a delicate balance of neutral. A theory on nanobacteria, they might possibly be among the oldest very first organisms. They have found nanobacteria on carbon dated old old rocks. They are a cross between mineral and bacteria. Nanobacteria are living pH regulators that exist in this world. They go easily from their worm slime producing form to a cystal form. Nano transmit a slim that propels them along. If the host body, i.e. our body, becomes too acidic, nanobacteria jump into action and sacrifice themselves changing into a rock like crystal that will bind the body's acids. It is a great protector that helps us to survive; nano is a great help to our bodies; it tries very hard to get us to live; they help us to survive and remain alkaline. That is the purpose of nanobacteria. The do form kidney stones if the body becomes too acidic. They do form placque again if the body is too acidic. If the body is too acidic, then stone formation will easily happen. Nanobacteria senses that the body's pH is becoming dangerously acidic, so it springs into action, changing its form from a worm like secreting slim to a rock. The rock binds all available acid. The body stays alive. The body stays neutral. We can change this by helping our own bodies along and by remaining alkaline. Generally with alkalinity, there will be no stone formation.

Another theory disproves the existeance of nanobacteria. even with this published article several articles continue to appear about nanobacteria implicated in osteoporosis found in synovial fluid.

Below are some files for additional information; a few iPhone/iPad apps are included. One surprise was the amount of fat in a food court hot dog = 28 grams of fat; a slice of pizza = 38 grams of fat.

For Your Reference

These lists are gathered from individual experiences living in a body with cystic organs. This is based on empirical knowledge.

Useful	Alkaline Diet Trials	Avoid
Useful Chemicals	Low High K+	Avoid Chemicals
Useful Grains	Menus	Avoid Grains
Useful Herbs	Recipes	Avoid Herbs
Useful Other	Better Proteins	Avoid Other
Useful Fruits		Avoid Fruits
Xenoestrogens	Avoid Phytoestrogens	Xenoestrogens Avoid
ARTICLES		APPS
Meat Carbon Footprint	Xenoestrogens Avoid	Fish:endangered
Meat Choose Well	Calculate neutral protein	Produce:Dirty Dozen App
Meat Methodology	Safe cosmetics	Produce:Harvest App
Sunscreen guide	EWG Endocrine Disruptors	Sunscreen App
City water	Phthalates	FishToxicity App
Moringa	Saving Failing Kidneys	Fish: Seafood Watch App
Fish: guide	Fish: Mercury content	Fish4Health App

PKD PLD BOOKLETS	APPS OF LISTS RECIPES	PKD PLD BOOKLETS