RENAL COOKBOOK

WHY IS POTASSIUM USEFUL?
A high potassium diet is of great benefit for polycystic kidney disease. By a high potassium diet, what is meant is the ratio of potassium contained in food sources should be four times the amount of sodium taken in daily from food sources. This diet is a diet very high in the ratio of alkaline ash foods—a diet high in preferably, organically grown fruits and vegetables. When food is grown by biodynamic methods, the ratio contained within the vegetable naturally has a higher potassium to sodium ratio. Other trace minerals such as selenium are also much higher. A high potassium diet has been shown in animal studies to slow the growth of kidney cysts and keep the kidneys functioning optimally. As we approach the need for dialysis or transplant, our kidneys can no longer clear potassium from the body. At this junction, many are advised to restrict potassium. Below are lists of foods and herbs which contain both high and low sources of potassium.

"Research findings have shown that cancer cells cannot live in a potassium rich environment. In the body, potassium plays a crucial function in fluid balance, the mechanism by which cells are nourished and cleansed. Potassium is a principle positively charged element in fluids inside the cells, while sodium is a principle positively charged element of fluids outside the cells. These two elements function like a pump. The rotation of the sodium single positive ions (Na+) and the potassium single positive ions (K+) in and out of the cell generates the electrical field, produced by the life process of the cell. The right balance is so important to the cells receiving nourishment, the removal of toxic wastes, maintaining correct blood pressure, removal of fluid retention, pain and disease.

Dr. Max Gerson, in his many years research on cancer, believed that the starting point for all illness, cancer included, is the imbalance of sodium and potassium, usually too much sodium and too little potassium. This imbalance, he said, results in serious disturbances in the body chemistry for not only is potassium an important nerve conductor, it also acts as a catalyst to many body enzymes. Gerson said if we correct the balance by eating potassium-rich raw foods, which can invigorate and cleanse the body because they improve respiration at the cell level, we can mobilize the white blood cells which fight and destroy cancer cells." [Or mutating polycystic kidney cells] "Ideally, the food should be organically grown. In artificially fertilized food, the sodium content is higher and the potassium content is lower. Then when we cook food, most of the potassium is leeched out. Cooked and processed foods are often flavored with massive amounts of salt, causing excess sodium (which causes sodium to be drawn into the cells and potassium out). Antibiotics and other drugs, coffee, sugar, alcohol, and excess stress may cause an imbalance also. "

Reprinted by permission from Isabell Shipard, Shipards Herb Farm in Australia

• Potassium, besides being vital to the potassium/sodium balance in and around cells, is important to acid/alkaline balance and correct water balance.
• Potassium combines with iron to utilize oxygen to the cells and healthy heart action.
• Potassium is the major mineral for healing.
• Potassium is vital to muscular tissues and maintenance and repair, for muscle contraction, including contraction of the heart muscles, and the muscles involved with digestion. And considering we have 650 muscles which make up 40% of our body weight, it makes sense to feed them what they need, so they can hold us together well.
• Potassium normalizes heart action, and liver and lung functions.
• Potassium assists in elimination of blood impurities, and stimulates the kidneys to eliminate toxic wastes.
• Potassium is essential for digestion of carbohydrates and the liver's conversion of them to glucose as an energy source.
• Potassium promotes healthy skin, lubrication and feeding the sebaceous glands and mucus membranes.
• Potassium is essential to mental function, brain power, and nerve impulses.
• Potassium retards the aging process by improving blood and oxygen circulation"

MY DOCTOR HAS SAID I NEED TO EAT LOW POTASSIUM FOODS. WHAT ARE THESE?

LOW POTASSIUM FOODS:
Breads, cereals, fats, FRUITS: apple, applesauce, blueberries, boysenberries, cranberries, cranberry juice, fruit cocktail, grapes, peach nectar, pear nectar, canned pears, pineapple, caned plums, raspberries. VEGETABLES: bean sprouts, green or wax beans, raw cabbage, cooked carrots, lettuce, radishes.

LOW POTASSIUM
lemonade make your own. [commercial lemonade has salt added to it]

A common food that is high in potassium is the potato. I have heard from individuals approaching end stage renal disease who have raised their potassium dangerously high by eating just a few French Fries.
100 grams of potato skin is 573 milligrams potassium.
100 grams of potato flesh (white part) is 391 mg potassium.
A large potato can easily bring the daily intake of potassium in excess of 1000 milligrams. Very high potassium can be stop the heart.

IS THERE ANYWAY TO EAT POTATOES IF I AM POTASSIUM RESTRICTED?
Any kind of potato is loaded with potassium. If your nephrologist has told you to hold the potassium down, or if you're on dialysis or losing kidney functioning, do not eat potatoes. Too many individuals have experienced the potato as their downfall, by quickly raising potassium levels dangerously high. The potato is best avoided. It also contains solanine, harmful to the body in large amounts.

If you are among those who must have potatoes, limit the amount you eat. Boiling, soaking, and skinning removes some of the potassium. The largest amount of potassium is contained in the skin. Much of the potassium is diminished by soaking the potatoes in several changes of lemon ice water. Try changing the water a few times during boiling as well. According to an article in the Renal Flash (online monthly bulletin of the American Association of Kidney Patients), this also works with other root vegetables such as carrots, rutabagas, turnips, and beets. 100 grams of a Turnip contains 177 milligrams of potassium. This information is from the USDA nutritional data base By soaking turnips in ice cold bath with a squeeze of lemon juice this diminishes the potassium content and it gives turnips a taste similar to potatoes by diminishing the bitter flavor.

Potatoes that are fried or subject to high heat develop toxins that are harmful to humans. According to Dr. Dana Myatt holistic physician:

"Potato chips and French Fries: with an Omega ratio of 63, America's favorite snack foods pack a huge dose of Omega-6 fats, enough to seriously imbalance the body's essential fatty acid ratio, even when consumed in small amounts. (Does anyone really eat "small amounts" of potato chips?). But that's not the worst of it. Heating starches produces acrylamides - known neurotoxins and carcinogens capable of damaging DNA. The more you heat starches, the more acrylamides you end up with. Products like normal potato chips contain so much acrylamides that they exceed the World Health Organization's daily allowances 2000-3000 thousand fold. "

After a visiting your renal dietitian I have found Bowes and Church's Food Values of Portions Commonly Used, a very good book for calculating the food values of common foods. Most fruits and vegetables are high in potassium. Another book recommended by a friend Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Potassium but Were to Tired to Ask . states if food is raw it has a lower potassium content. If you take a fresh orange and squeeze the juice from it yourself, this would have a lower potassium content then processed juice concentrate. A milli-equavalent of potassium (5 meq of potassium) is the molecular weight of potassium divided by the amount in milligrams.
The following list suggests that by cutting portions to one fourth, one could stay within the calculated potassium mg prescribed. I tended to overestimate portions in my favor until I got an inexpensive postage scale and measuring cup set. 999 highest potassium foods click here.

HIGH POTASSIUM FRUITS

HIGH POTASSIUM FOODS:
DIARY All milk and dairy products [FRUITS] Apricots, banana, dried fruits, kiwi, melons, nectarine, orange, orange juice, fresh peaches, fresh pears, prune juice, strawberries [VEGETABLES] fresh beets, brussel sprouts, dark leafy greens, kohlrabi, mushrooms, potatoes, pumpkin, rhubarb, spaghetti sauce, spinach, winter squash, tomatoes,tomato juice, vegetable juice salt substitute.

HIGH POTASSIUM MISC.

cola drinks

coffee

black strap molasses

 

lemonade

8 ounces

3 mg

RENAL COOKBOOKS Many are listed here. I use a computer program called Diet Sleuth to calculate my daily intakes. Here is a nutrition counter to download. A site that lists dialysis cookbooks or download one renal cookbook calculated for:
2000 calories
70 grams protein
2 grams sodium
2000 mg potassium
1000 mg phosphorus
These values seem high to me. I am on a 1200 calorie diet 30 grams protein 1000 mg sodium diet. Check with your renal dietician the appropriate values for you.

I have experienced both high and low potassium following my liver resection. With high potassium I just felt really bad. I had muscle weakness and my stomach was really upset with cramping and diarrhea.

With low potassium I experienced again stomach symptoms. This time things were slow to move along. I was weak and felt really bad.

If your potassium is rising, perhaps now is the time to speak with your doctor about the possibility of trying essential amino acids, eliminating all animal proteins, dropping your protein requirement to 0.3 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight? This is outlined in Coping with Kidney disease by Dr. Walser. This way one can hold the kidney functioning at its present level, without decreasing it further. It is important to correct anemia, maintain alkalinity with sodium citrate, and have blood laboratory values checked frequently.

17,000 individuals in China are in clinical trials eliminating animal proteins, supplementing with essential amino acids (also called keto acids), ACE inhibitors to control blood pressure, maintaining alkalinity - preliminary results show a 90% decrease of proteins spilling in the urine and the serum albumin rose to a normal of 4.0. These are indications of arresting the downward progression of kidney decline. Some foods that are good for the kidneys:
• Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes) - one the size of an egg once a week
• Watermelon daily if in season
• Broccoli daily for two weeks, then once or twice a week
• Radish (5 a day)

HIGH POTASSIUM (hyperkalemia)

LOW POTASSIUM (hypokalemia)

If you do not feel well, immediately go to the emergency room and asked to get your potassium checked. I had become severely dehydrated and my potassium was 8.5. They started an intravenous drip and gave me a thick coffee tasting shake, called Kayexalate. This brought it down quickly. Long long ago, coffee ground enemas were used to bring the potassium down to normal levels.