Renal patients whose serum creatinine (SCr) has exceeded the standard, whether acute renal injury (AKI) or chronic renal insufficiency (CRF), are always thinking about how to reduce creatinine. Blood test for serum creatinine generally refers to endogenous creatinine, which is the product of human muscle metabolism. When the patient's glomerular filtration function decreases, the serum creatinine will increase. As for the dietary requirements of patients with renal disease with elevated serum creatinine, we should first control the intake of protein, which is to eat less meat in layman's terms. Because of this, some friends with kidney disease interpret it as "only vegetarian". Although vegetarian foods such as rice noodles, vegetables and fruits are rich in minerals, vitamins and dietary fiber, their protein content is generally low, and the content of non-high quality protein is also low due to the composition of amino acids. Therefore, long-term vegetarianism can indeed reduce creatinine to a certain extent, but this is only a "performance", not a real improvement in renal function. Not only failed to improve the renal function of patients with nephropathy, but also brought other consequences, among which malnutrition and low immune function became the biggest obstacles to the recovery and improvement of patients with nephropathy.
Therefore, it can be said that long-term vegetarianism is not a healthy eating habit for patients with kidney disease. Friends with kidney disease should remember the following six points for healthy eating.
1. Vegetarian food should also be eaten, but not just vegetarian food.
Vegetarian food, such as rice and flour, vegetables and fruits, is an important source of human nutrition, so vegetarian food should be eaten. However, because the content of protein in rice, flour and other grains is only about 8- 10%, and it is not high-quality protein, it will produce more "waste" after being absorbed by human body. For patients with nephropathy with elevated serum creatinine, besides balanced nutrition, the intake ratio of high-quality protein must be increased, that is, the intake of pork, beef, mutton, chicken and duck meat, freshwater fish, eggs and milk should be appropriately increased, instead of being vegetarian. This is a healthy diet for patients with kidney disease.
2. You need to eat high-quality protein including meat food every day, but you can't overdo it.
As I said before, "You should eat vegetarian food, but you can't just be vegetarian", that is to say, besides being vegetarian, you must also eat high-quality protein including meat food. This is because the protein content of these high-quality protein foods is about 16-25%, which is not only higher than that of cereals such as rice and flour, but also they produce less "waste" than plant protein, and their consumption rate and biological price are generally higher, and their effective utilization rate is higher, which is more conducive to the rehabilitation of kidney disease. But don't eat too much. According to the degree of renal function damage in patients with different kidney diseases, you can work out your own protein requirements, and you can't eat too much.
3. The daily intake of dietary fiber must be guaranteed.
Now that living conditions are good, people tend to eat too much meat, but not enough dietary fiber. The longer you have kidney disease, the stricter your dietary restrictions will be, and the intake of various nutrients will be reduced, resulting in insufficient dietary fiber intake. Studies have shown that the lack of dietary fiber in the diet will affect the human intestinal flora, resulting in flora imbalance and chronic inflammation, thus aggravating the condition of patients with kidney disease. The problem of insufficient dietary fiber intake can be corrected by appropriately increasing the intake of fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains, potatoes, beans and their products. The daily intake of dietary fiber must be guaranteed, which is a healthy eating habit.
4. Eat less or not eat "high-salt" food.
The general population can't eat more "high-salt" food, and neither can we patients with kidney disease. Due to hypertension and/or edema, excessive salt intake is not conducive to treating hypertension and eliminating edema. Even without hypertension and edema, patients with nephropathy should eat less or no "high-salt" foods, including salted melon seeds, preserved plum, bean paste, fermented bean curd, seafood and so on. When cooking, you should also put less sodium-containing seasonings such as salt, soy sauce, monosodium glutamate and chicken essence to ensure that your daily salt intake does not exceed 3-5 grams.
5. Avoid eating all kinds of preservatives or foods with trans fatty acids exceeding the standard.
If you want to preserve food for a long time, you must take measures to add preservatives to prevent microbial infection and reproduction. Excessive content of benzoic acid, sodium benzoate, sorbic acid, potassium sorbate, calcium propionate and other preservatives will have a certain impact on health, especially on the stomach and kidneys, and have a greater impact on renal patients with elevated serum creatinine. Therefore, canned food, instant noodles and other packaged foods may have the problem of excessive preservative content. The biggest harm of trans fatty acids to human body is to cause cardiovascular diseases and increase the risk of death of patients with chronic kidney disease. In processed foods, such as cream cake, bread, chocolate, salad dressing, egg yolk pie, potato chips and French fries, trans fatty acids generally exceed the standard. Our friends with kidney disease should avoid eating all kinds of preservatives and trans fatty acids, which is a healthy eating habit.
6. Don't drink fruit juice, carbonated drinks and other drinks.
It is very important for patients with kidney disease to maintain good drinking habits. Our kidneys belong to "dirty water", and the most needed and indispensable thing is water. Therefore, it is very necessary to drink more boiled water or water-containing drinks. However, if fruit juice and carbonated drinks are used instead of drinking water, it will not only be harmful to health, but also affect health. Fruit juice, not made of fruit, is characterized by high sugar content, mainly glucose and fructose. The main components of carbonated drinks are acidic substances such as carbonated water and citric acid, sugar, spices, caffeine and artificial colors. Studies have shown that the increase in intake of free sugar, especially fructose and carbonated drinks, will lead to weight gain, increase the risk of hyperuricemia and diabetes, and increase the prevalence of chronic kidney disease and the risk of death of patients with kidney disease. Therefore, it is a good habit for kidney friends to drink boiled water and light tea instead of fruit juice and carbonated drinks.
The blood creatinine is high, even if the blood creatinine is in the normal range, the diet of patients with kidney disease is not as simple as "vegetarianism". Remember the above six points, this is the healthy eating habits of kidney friends.