Build your kidney food plan

Step 1

About you

Used to work out a rough energy and protein target. Leave anything blank if you would rather not say, and the plan will still work.

Step 2

Your kidney treatment

This changes the advice more than anything else on the page, because dialysis and transplantation pull the diet in different directions from earlier kidney disease.

Kidney treatment

None of theseChronic kidney disease, not on dialysis and not transplanted HaemodialysisUsually three times a week at a unit or at home Peritoneal dialysisCAPD or APD, done at home through the abdomen Kidney transplantIncludes food safety advice, which matters while you are on immunosuppression

Step 3

Diabetes

Diabetes changes how we handle carbohydrate, and some diabetes medicines need care when you eat less.

I have diabetesType 1 or type 2

Step 4

What have you been told to avoid?

Tick only what your kidney team has actually asked you to do. If you are not sure, leave it unticked and ask at your next appointment.

PotassiumTold your potassium is high, or asked to follow a low potassium diet Phosphate (phosphorus)Told your phosphate is high, or taking a phosphate binder Urate and purinesGout, or a high uric acid level on a blood test Uric acid stonesKidney stones made of uric acid, or acidic urine OxalateCalcium oxalate kidney stones, or high urine oxalate

Step 5

Protein

Most people should not cut protein. Only choose the lower option if a kidney dietitian has set it up with you, because too little protein causes muscle loss.

Protein level

Normal proteinAround 0.8 to 1.0 g per kg a day, roughly 80 g for an average adult. This is the default. Lower proteinAround 0.6 to 0.8 g per kg a day, supervised by a kidney dietitian Higher proteinAround 1.0 to 1.2 g per kg a day. This is what dialysis needs, and it is the opposite of the advice given before dialysis

Step 6

Your medicines

Some foods change how well a medicine works, and a few change it enough to matter. Tick anything you take so the plan can flag the foods that interact. This is information only. Never stop or change a medicine because of anything on this page.

Transplant anti rejection medicineTacrolimus, ciclosporin, sirolimus, everolimus A statinAtorvastatin, simvastatin, rosuvastatin, pravastatin WarfarinNot apixaban, rivaroxaban or edoxaban, which are not affected by food A medicine that raises potassiumRamipril, lisinopril, losartan, candesartan, spironolactone, eplerenone, finerenone LevothyroxineFor an underactive thyroid Iron tabletsFerrous sulphate, ferrous fumarate, ferrous gluconate

Step 7

How you eat

These change which foods and recipes we suggest, and a few of them interact with the kidney advice in ways that are easy to miss.

Meat, fish and animal products

No restrictionI eat meat and fish PescatarianNo meat or poultry. Fish, eggs and dairy are fine VegetarianNo meat, poultry or fish. Eggs and dairy are fine VeganNo animal products at all

HalalIncludes guidance on Ramadan and on gelatine in medicines KosherIncludes the salt in koshered meat, and meat with dairy Coeliac disease or gluten freeIncludes the phosphate and salt hidden in gluten free substitutes, and which flours suit your kidney restrictions Lactose intoleranceIncludes what to do about calcium, which matters more here than most people realise Nut allergyRemoves the nut and seed suggestions this plan would otherwise make IBS, or a low FODMAP dietWhere the high fibre kidney advice and the low FODMAP advice disagree Swallowing difficulty or modified textureSofter and thickened food, and why thickened drinks change a fluid allowance