Potassium: the definitive guide for kidney disease pt2

Read first part here: Potassium-the-definitive-guide-pt1

What Potassium Levels can cause in Kidney Disease

Ordinarily the physique can take in, assimilate, and utilise potassium til its heart’s content material, and then when completed, excrete this life giving mineral out by way of the urine. Easy. However when you could have chronic kidney disease, this can POSSIBLY change. For loads of kidney disease sufferers, just like the myriad of other substances the body could as soon as excrete through the kidneys and urine (creatinine, uric acid, and metabolic wastes), potassium can not move throughout the filtering membrane within the kidneys nephrons, and cross over into the urine collection “funnels” (renal pelvis) that eventually result in the bladder. And due to this incapacity to “cross-over” and be eradicated, the potassium ranges increase inside the blood and open the body up to many well being problems.

Consequences of High Potassium Levels:

• Kidney failure
• Paralysis
• Renal necrosis
• Convulsions
• Heart arrhythmia
• Diarrhoea
• Depression
• Tingling
• Dehydration
• Mental confusion
• Adrenal exhaustion
• Weakness
• Fever

But this is not always like this. In reality a LOT of kidney disease patients have regular potassium levels Which makes me think this:

In which cases you shouldn't listen the doctor

Therefore the most important you can do for yourself when treating this situation is to develop into aware, hearken to your physique, and track and monitor your blood work like you were a doctor.
This is ONLY manner you will know who to hearken to.
All too usually I discover docs are advising their shoppers incorrectly, and potassium is likely one of the commonest.
It has develop into a ‘throw away’ prescription: “You have kidney? Oh, then you will need to keep away from potassium and go on a low potassium food regimen.” But this is so not true as you've got seen. You only need to reduce potassium levels when you have high potassium levels.
Remember potassium is necessary, so eat potassium meals freely till your blood work says otherwise.

How to reduce potassium level in kidney disease

OK, you have waited long sufficient, you have high potassium levels and also you need to know what to do about it.
Firstly it is all about consuming the correct amount of potassium. You can't completely avoid potassium, nor that you simply want to, so it is a good suggestion to know the rules on consuming the correct amount of potassium in your stage of kidney disease; in different words, eat a low potassium weight-reduction plan.
Typically the advisable day by day allowance for potassium in a wholesome individual is 2 to 5 grams a day (some establishments state four.7 grams a day).
In kidney disease this changes relying in your stage of kidney disease…

Low Potassium Diet: Potassium Recommendations
• Kidney Disease Stages 1 to 2 (eGFR of 60 to 90+): 2 to 5g a day
• Kidney Disease Stages 3 to 4 (eGFR of 20 to 60): 2 to 4g a day
• Kidney Disease Stages 4 to 5 (eGFR of 5 to 20): No more than 2 to 2.5g a day
Remember the above is only a rough guide, so if you have very high levels and you are in only stage 1 or 2 kidney disease then it is prudent to eat a low potassium diet to match your blood potassium levels.
What is a safe level of potassium in my blood?
A better way to eat a low potassium diet is in accordance with your blood potassium levels.
Potassium Reference Range
• Low Range: less than 3.5 mEq/L
• Safe range: 3.5 – 5.5 mEq/L
• Unsafe range: 5.6 – 6.0 mEq/L
• Dangerous: more than 6.0 mEq/L

Normal serum potassium levels are 3.5 to 5.5 mEq/L (though some labs quote a reference range of 3.5 to 5.0), and so if you are slightly over that, try eating no more than 4 grams a day of potassium. If it is at a level of say, 6.0 to 7.0, you definitely not be eating more than 2 grams a day until your high potassium levels have been corrected.
Although this can be a challenge, eating a low potassium diet is probably the easiest, and single most important way to reduce blood potassium levels – so it is definitely worth the effort.
If you want to know this topic better, I suggest you to read the last book from the Naturopath Duncan Capicchiano: The Kidney Disease Solution Program


In the last part  we're going to see how to choose the right foods for a healthy kidney diet.