Patient/caregiver was educated on choice of foods for consideration on a renal diet as follows:
- Prefer low sodium products, such as, regular or low-fat whole milk, skim milk, half & half milk for dairy requirements. While picking cheese, select from the list of cheese low on salt content, such as, cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, swiss cheese, parmesan cheese, Monterey jack cheese, and goat cheese. Also, look for cheese products with the label, reduced or low salt/sodium.
- While picking meat, choose to have your meat fresh versus canned/processed/cured/smoked/cold cut deli. Among fresh meat, prefer lean meats of chicken, beef, lamb, and fish, as they are low in salt content compared to fresh sodium rich meat from turkey, pork, and veal. Make sure no extra salt is added to your meat products.
- While picking nuts and seeds, pick the products with the label low salt or no salt added. Select from the products that are raw or roasted.
- While picking fruits, depend on sources low on potassium content, such as, apples, pineapple, pears, peaches, grapes, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and cranberries.
- On vegetables, include string beans, green beans, garbanzo beans, carrots, cucumbers, eggplant, green peas, asparagus, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, celery, corn, mushrooms, onions, and radish for their lower potassium content.
