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    1. About Kidney Disease
      1. OVERVIEW
      2. Understanding Chronic Kidney Disease
      3. Kidney Disease Stages
      4. What Is a Nephrologist?
      5. What to Expect with CKD
      6. Kidney Disease Management
      7. Understanding Acute Kidney Injury
      8. How Kidneys Work
      9. Take a FREE CLASS on Kidney Disease
    2. Treatments
      1. OVERVIEW
      2. Dialysis Basics
      3. Benefits of Home Dialysis
      4. Home Peritoneal Dialysis
      5. Home Hemodialysis
      6. Sign up to Talk to a Home Dialysis Expert
      7. In-Center Hemodialysis
      8. Transplant
      9. Insurance & Managing Costs
      10. Choosing Not to Treat
    3. Life On Dialysis
      1. OVERVIEW
      2. Your Emotional Health While on Dialysis
      3. Staying Engaged
      4. Staying Healthy
      5. Dialysis Travel Services and Information
      6. Tips for Loved Ones
      7. PatientHub
    4. Recipes & Nutrition
      1. OVERVIEW
      2. Recipes
      3. Managing Your Diet
      4. Fluid Management on Dialysis
      5. Dialysis Diet Planning
      6. Cookbooks
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    Find a Dialysis Center

    Find a Dialysis Center

    Find a Dialysis Center
    Permission to detect location was denied Current location could not be determined
      Try a detailed search

      Need help? Call 1-888-373-1470

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      1. About Kidney Disease
        1. Understanding Chronic Kidney Disease
          1. Symptoms
          2. Risk Factors
          3. Causes
          4. Diagnosis and Testing
          5. GFR Calculator
        2. Kidney Disease Stages
          1. Stage 1
          2. Stage 2
          3. Stage 3
          4. Stage 4
          5. Stage 5
        3. What Is a Nephrologist?
        4. What to Expect with CKD
        5. Kidney Disease Management
          1. Kidney Diet Basics
          2. CKD Medications
          3. Your Kidney Care Team
          4. Diabetes
          5. High Blood Pressure
        6. Understanding Acute Kidney Injury
          1. Acute Kidney Injury Treatment and Recovery
        7. How Kidneys Work
        8. Take a FREE CLASS on Kidney Disease
      2. Treatments
        1. Dialysis Basics
          1. How Does a Hemodialysis Machine Work
          2. Starting Dialysis
          3. Types of Dialysis Access
          4. Your Care Plan
          5. Dialysis Medications
          6. Monitoring Your Lab Results
        2. Benefits of Home Dialysis
        3. Home Peritoneal Dialysis
          1. What to Expect
          2. Getting Prepared
          3. PD Access
          4. PD Training
          5. PD Monitoring
          6. Your Care Team
        4. Home Hemodialysis
          1. What to Expect
          2. Getting Prepared
          3. HD Training
          4. HD Monitoring
          5. Your Care Team
        5. Sign up to Talk to a Home Dialysis Expert
        6. In-Center Hemodialysis
          1. In-Center Treatment Options
          2. What to Expect
          3. Types of Vascular Access for Hemodialysis
          4. Your Care Team
          5. How to Choose a Center
        7. Transplant
          1. Finding a Kidney Donor
          2. Considering Kidney Donation
        8. Insurance & Managing Costs
          1. Understanding Medicare Coverage
          2. Understanding Medicare Advantage
          3. Understanding Employer Plans
        9. Choosing Not to Treat
      3. Life On Dialysis
        1. Your Emotional Health While on Dialysis
          1. Managing Your Emotions
          2. Talking About Dialysis
          3. Intimacy
          4. Body Image and Dialysis
          5. Building Your Dialysis Support Network
        2. Staying Engaged
          1. Tips for Working While on Dialysis
          2. In-Center Activities
          3. Hobbies
        3. Staying Healthy
          1. Managing Your Time on Dialysis
          2. Dialysis & Exercise
          3. Weight Management
          4. Avoiding Infection
          5. Managing Multiple Conditions
          6. Fighting the Flu
        4. Dialysis Travel Services and Information
        5. Tips for Loved Ones
          1. In-Center Hemodialysis
          2. At-Home Hemodialysis
          3. At-Home Peritoneal Dialysis
        6. PatientHub
      4. Recipes & Nutrition
        1. Recipes
        2. Managing Your Diet
          1. Eating Well on a CKD Diet
          2. Eating Well on a Dialysis Diet
          3. Salt and Kidney Disease
          4. Potassium and Kidney Disease
          5. Phosphorus and Kidney Disease
          6. Talking With Your Dietitian
        3. Fluid Management on Dialysis
        4. Dialysis Diet Planning
          1. Kidney-Friendly Shopping
          2. Eating Out
          3. Holiday Diet Tips
          4. A Chef’s Advice | Chef Aaron McCargo on Kidney Friendly Meals
        5. Cookbooks
      5. Thrive Central
        1. CKD
        2. Dialysis
        3. Diet & Nutrition
        4. Stories
        5. Wellness
        6. See All
      Dialysis Diet Planning
      Dialysis Diet Planning
      OVERVIEW Kidney-Friendly Shopping Eating Out Holiday Diet Tips A Chef’s Advice | Chef Aaron McCargo on Kidney Friendly Meals
      1. Home
      2. Recipes & Nutrition
      3. Dialysis Diet Planning
      4. Eating Out

      Eat, Drink & Be Healthy

      Share:

      Eating out doesn’t have to mean taking a vacation from your meal plan. Most restaurants offer kidney-friendly meal choices. Just be sure to ask how the food is made. If possible, speak with the chef directly because they created the food. Ask him or her to stay clear of the salt shaker—and ask what dishes are lower in salt. Family members may even choose to join in solidarity by also ordering kidney-friendly meals. Looking at the menu online and calling the restaurant ahead of time to ask about menu items is also a good idea.

       
      Please don’t forget to bring your phosphate binders. Phosphate binders are medications that bind with dietary phosphorus in order to eliminate the phosphorus from the body, which helps keep phosphorus levels in balance for dialysis patients.
      Make smart menu choices.

      Smart menu choices include:

      • Salads (ask for dressing on the side and, ideally, use simple oil, vinegar or lemon juice)
      • Vegetables (low to moderate potassium) 
      • Fruits (low to moderate potassium)
      • Breads dipped in olive oil or smeared with a little salt-free butter
      • “Simply” grilled or baked foods, prepared so you can ask the chef to nix the salt and then up the flavor with fresh herbs

        See specific foods to choose for ESRD
      Foods to avoid.

      Avoid high-sodium menu choices such as:

      • Soups 
      • Heavily marinated items 
      • Cream sauces and gravies 
      • Soy sauce 
      • Salad dressings 
      • Deep-fried foods 
      • Salt-cured meats (including cold cuts, sausage, bacon, etc.) 
      • All salt (including sea salt, garlic salt, etc.)
      Foods to avoid.

      Avoid high-potassium choices* such as:

      • Dried fruit (raisins, prunes, dried apricots, figs)
      • Avocados
      • Mangos
      • Papayas
      • Cantaloupes
      • Kiwis
      • Bananas
      • Oranges
      • Tomato sauce or stewed tomatoes
      • Potatoes
      • Cooked spinach 

      * Depending on your dialysis treatment and overall health, your potassium needs will vary. Talk to doctor or dietitian to find out how much potassium is right for you.

      Kidney friendly recipes

      FIND YOUR NEW FAVORITE RECIPE

      Kidney-friendly cooking just got tastier! Get big-and-bold flavorful recipes for breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks and desserts on a kidney diet.

      Get recipes


      MY FOODS TO CHOOSE

      Shopping gets easier with a list of kidney-friendly foods to choose.
      Foods to Choose for ESRD

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