a bit more detail on foods
BROCCOLI, CABBAGE, BRUSSEL SPROUTS, RUTABAGA, CAULIFLOWER These are all alkaline and highly beneficial for the body, particularly the kidneys and liver. Cut back on these about two weeks before any anticipated surgery for they are high in vitamin K, a clotting factor. I eliminated these from my diet two weeks before my liver resection. I also stopped ginger root and vitamin E, both which can cause an increase in bleeding. All are high in calcium and contain all the essential amino acids. Vegetable protein sources create lactic acid which is easily neutralized by the lungs through breathing. If you have thyroid problems, these vegetable family are to be avoided. Cruciform vegetables are loaded with DIMs, an effective agent for lowering our risk for developing cancers. It was calculated that we would have to eat about 2 pounds of these vegetables every week to receive this therapeutic effect. This can be easily accomplished by drinking cabbage juice daily. To juice a quarter of a cabbage, I first juice an apple. I do not clean the juicer. I juice the cabbage and throw in about 7 almonds. I drink the cabbage juice down followed by the apple juice chaser. If this is not appealing to you, then you can try broccoli sprouts rolled in a corn tortilla with a slice of avocado. To release their digestion, take the sprouts with an acidophilus tablet. New Chapter vitamins makes BroccoLive® Plus a tablet of compressed cruciform sprouts
BROCCOLI. This is an especially useful vegetable when ones kidneys have taken a sudden downward turn. The vitamin K in broccoli is a powerhouse nutrient for aiding ailing kidneys. I ate broccoli three times a day for two weeks. I coupled this broccoli binge by drinking seven full glasses of mineral water daily. Broccoli is a potent anti-oxidant and helps to flush out an overabundance of acids from the body system, especially uric acid and oxalic acid. This aids the kidneys further in completing its job of purifying the internal body. I ate it raw. I ate it cooked. I made it into a pie. I ate it puréed into a soup.

KALE
This vegetable is the second highest in boron. It is very high in calcium. All raw leafy vegetables are very alkaline. A few have tried kale leaves and grapes juiced together to be a refreshing drink.

RUTABAGAS
I roast rutabagas along with other root vegetables, sometimes reserving their juices by wrapping root vegetables in patypar paper.

RADISH usefulwash about five a day and just munch these. Highly beneficial for the kidneys. These also keep the thyroid functioning optimally. Radish sprouts are a great addition to salads giving it a bit of zest.

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES, SUNCHOKES useful Have one, once a week. I sometimes have them raw or baked like potato, highly beneficial for the kidneys. They contain inulin that is very good for the body. I have planted them in the garden. They are easy to grow and shoot up like weeds. A beautiful golden sunflower reaches for the sky. When the flowers die back, dig the roots, scrub well, and eat. These were among the first root crops shown to the first English settlers by the Native American Indian tribes along the East Coast of North America.

SPINACH useful Spinach-apple juice is a great intestinal cleanser. Stick close to a bathroom the day you drink this juice. It does not cause any cramping but cleans similar to a scrubby, pulling debris from the intestinal walls so it can be easily evacuated. Spinach is high in oxalates. Careful, in some this may cause a slight arthritis of the gouty variety. Others have reported that eating spinach can cause an increase in kidney stone formation. I have noticed that when I drink raw spinach juiced with apples, my great toe sometimes tends to ache; a symptom of gout that uric acid crystals have formed. Spinach is high in oxalates, especially if it not organic spinach.
PARSNIPS useful steam these or roast in parchment paper and drizzle with the sauce that has formed.

TURNIPS useful make these into tians, steam them, make them into a soup with turnip greens floating in the top. I have turnips several times a week.

BEETS useful These are great for the liver. I have a recipe for Beets that is fabulous. Steam about 4 beets so they are soft. Allow to cool. Slice into cubes. Core and cube 2 apples. Chop 1/3 of an onion. Toss together and squeeze lemon juice over all. Bake in the oven for about an hour until the flavors totally meld. Raw beets are problem for some individuals.

GARLIC, ONIONS, GLOBE ARTICHOKES, PARSLEY- useful Garlic, onions, and parsley are three foods which help lower blood pressure.
ARTICHOKES USEFUL Artichokes taste very nice and help with a cystic liver.

ALKALINE NUTSuseful

COCONUTS usefulAn alkaline nut. I have this raw and shredded over tropical fruit salad. I am now living in Hawaii, twice weekly I go to the farmer's market and have a cold refreshing young coconut drink. The end is sliced open; I dip in my straw made from a hibiscus plant, and drink. Once the liquid is finished, I bring it back to the vendor who slices it open and fashions a spoon for me from the coconut husk and it this soft spoon meat from inside that I really enjoy. It is very soft coconut meat, much softer than a mature coconut. I use coconut milk for flavoring curries and for making smoothies. The water within the coconut is said to be similar to the electrolyte balance of human serum and was often used in the tropics to treat cholera epidemics in children.
ALKALINE FRUITSeaten twenty minutes before each meal gives the body the benefit of some natural digestive enzymes. If dessert is fresh fruit, I really do enjoy having dessert before a meal.
LEMONS USEFUL This is another highly alkaline great pain reliever! I have two of these juiced each morning then wait 20 minutes before having anything else. Great cleanser for the liver and helps to keep the kidneys supplied with alkaline minerals. If you are experiencing the pain of kidney stones, it is said that alternating lemon juice and apple juice, freshly squeezed, will help to alleviate the pain. If you are having kidney stones ask your doctor if potassium citrate would be of benefit to prevent future attacks. For a hot lemon drink I will juice a half a lemon and add a full teaspoon of tupelo honey. Stir with a wire whisk and heat together slightly to dissolve the honey, otherwise the honey sticks to the bottom of the cup.
APPLEUSEFUL Use sweet golden delicious or gala apples for juice. For a refreshing lemonade, juice two apples along with a half a lemon; pour over crushed ice! Apples are highly alkaline if sweet. Here's a recipe for a drink known as BLOOD: Juice 1/6 of a beet juiced, 1/2 lime juiced, 2 pounds apple and a very small piece of ginger, chill and drink  This is great alkalizer, liver cleanser, and purifier. It reminds some of pink lemonade.
ORANGE USEFUL Oranges are one the super-alkaline foods and will easily assist in the transition toward alkalinity. High in potassium.

PEARUSEFUL Pears are delicious alone by themselves or in a salad with a few roasted almonds tossed with baby greens in a salad for lunch. Highly alkaline.

BANANA  USEFUL  Be careful with these if you must watch your potassium. If they are speckled, they are alkaline, if green they are acid forming. I have these for breakfast every day. Mosquito's like to bite people who have just eaten bananas.

KIWI USEFUL Very alkaline when sweet, ripe and in season.

MANGO USEFUL alkaline. When not in season they are picked green and sprayed with ether gas to ripen during transport. The season for these in India, Philippines, Mexico, Florida, Hawaii is May, June.

GRAPEFRUIT USEFUL Highly alkaline Grapefruit can alter the absorption of certain medications, among them immunosuppressive drugs. Tell your doctor that you eat grapefruit. Check if you are taking any medications whose action will be diminished by eating grapefruit.

PAPAYA USEFUL I really enjoy these too. These are always in season. It is the enzyme papain in papaya which breaks down meat. It is found in meat tenderizers. This helps to digest proteins. Eaten when sweet and ripe they are highly alkaline. The green papaya is cooked as a vegetable in the Philippines and eaten with malungai leaves from the drumstick plant.

Bromelain helps to digest proteins. It is useful in relieving joint pains. When one ingests too many acidic foods such as animal proteins, the bromelain helps to dissolve the crystals formed from this process. In this way, it relieves joint and back pains. Pineapple alone also contains very potent anti-inflammatories.

A surgeon had a patient who had a bezoar, a sort of a hair ball of undigested food stuffs that sits in the stomach. It had to be surgically removed. This person did not want surgery, so this innovative surgeon placed the person on pineapple and papaya juice for a week. This dissolved the bezoar without the need for surgery! Bromelain is such a good proteolytic agent that there is a caution on packages of gelatin to be sure and not use fresh pineapple for it will dissolve the protein of the gelatin.

NIGHTSHADE VEGETABLES AVOID                                          

TOMATOES, POTATOES, PEPPERS, EGGPLANT, BELLADONNA, & TOBACCO
These increase purines, uric acid, solanine, and oxalates. Eggplant (aubergine) and tomatoes have teeny tiny seeds. Many of us PKD'rs get diverticuli, (little outpouchings of the intestinal wall) and the indigestible seeds can get stuck in these outpouchings and cause pain, inflammation, and infection. These vegetables release solanine which interferes with calcium absorption. With a rise in phosphorus, calcium sometimes diminishes as the kidneys begin to lose their functioning. If you choose to eat these vegetables, try them fresh from the garden, in season, and not from a can, bottle, or frozen and no more frequently than once a week.
POTATOES are high in solanine. Solanine creates acids within the body. Potatoes, high in potassium. Potassium is sometimes restricted as one approaches the need for dialysis. If you really love potatoes then perhaps no more often than once a week have one roasted with the skin. I used to eat only the potato skins. I never enjoyed the white fleshy part of the potato, only the crispy dried baked skins. Potato skins are known to be very high in magnesium and manganese, both nutrients are said to be essential to keep ones hair its natural color and to also help maintain a full head of hair. When potatoes are fried the heated oil becomes altered chemically and causes a depleting the body's antioxidants and Vitamin E. If one is interested in gaining weight then eating a potato with a protein such as meat will facilitate this. It has to do with different digestive enzymes released by the body in response to different things eaten. Before the early settlers came to the Americas, the nightshades never existed for Europe. Germans often roasted chestnuts to enjoy with game foods. The sunchoke is very healthy, easy to grow, and a delicious substitute for potatoes. The sunchoke provides inulin, a carbohydrate, that is beneficial for the pancreas, livers and kidneys. Another useful vegetable are turnips, truly wonderful with lamb. I peel the turnips, then soak them in a bowl with lemon juice and ice, while I finish peeling all the turnips. This adds to the flavor so when they are steamed, they taste delicious. The sweet potato and yams are both high in B vitamins something we are oftentimes low in with PKD. Sweet potatoes, yams, and winter squash are all healthy substitutes for the potato.
TOBACCO There are several articles on tobacco's effect of speeding up end stage renal disease of PKD. Smoking while on dialysis lessens the life of the shunt. Tobacco causes lung cancer.
BELLADONNA drops are used for infants to lessen diarrhea episodes. Its name is derived from medieval women using it to create a beautiful sparkle to their eyes.
PEPPERS chili peppers increase the body's circulation. Occasionally I will have a fresh chili pepper from the garden. I especially craved these following my liver resection. I needed to coax my body to lay down new blood vessels for my remaining liver remnant.
EGGPLANT I have not found a way to remove all the little seeds. These can become lodged in diverticuli, a common finding with PKD. So I just leave the moussaka aside and try something else on the menu.
TOMATOES I grew these in my first garden. I have avoided all nightshades. In addition to being high in solanine and oxalates, they cause my joints to ache. I am much healthier and pain free since I have stopped the nightshade plants.

SOME OTHER THINGS TO AVOID

CELERY AVOID can cause kidney cysts to enlarge. Celery is the number one vegetable filled with pesticides and herbicides; it is prone to retain pesticide sprays.

STARFRUIT–AVOID There are recent reports of neurological symptoms from individuals with kidney disease who ate starfruit.