Patients with chronic kidney disease can eat spinach right this article to tell you the answer

Chronic kidney disease

Spinach is a common food in our life, which is loved by many people. While patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have strict restriction in their diet, so they may be curious about whether they should take spinach in their diet.

In fact, spinach is good for our body health, but patients with CKD should be careful in eating this food, because this may take bad effects to them.

One cup of cooked spinach has 41 calories. For adult males, this nutrient-dense food provides 25 percent of the recommended dietary allowance for calcium, 80 percent for iron, 20 percent for vitamin C, 15 percent for thiamin, 33 percent for riboflavin, 18 percent for pantothenic acid, 66 percent for folate and 628 percent for vitamin A. The benefits don't end there, as it also provides 5.35 g of protein and 4.3 g of fiber.

If you have normal kidney function, your serum potassium levels remain between 3.5 and 5.0 mEq/L. Keeping these levels within a narrow range is critical because the concentration of potassium controls the firing of nerves, which in turn control the beating of the heart. When levels get too high, you are at risk for irregular heartbeat and heart attack. One symptom of advanced kidney disease is elevated potassium levels. Nephrologists treat this by recommending a low-potassium diet. The amount of potassium that is safe to eat varies from patient to patient, but it's usually between 2,000 and 3,000 mg. A one cup serving of cooked spinach has 839 mg of potassium, an amount that is incompatible with a low-potassium diet.

Benefits of spinach for patients with CKD:

Spinach has many benefits to our health, and it is also beneficial for patients with CKD.

Improving immunity

There are abundant vitamin A and C, which are very helpful in improving our immunity. While patients with chronic kidney disease are afraid of infection, which can aggravate patients’ condition greatly. So this benefit of spinach is very helpful for CKD patients.

Abundant nutrients

There are various nutrients in spinach. For example, spinach contains more protein than other vegetables, and it also contains various carotene. It also has many kinds of vitamins and minerals, and these are important for body function.

Replenishing blood

This is an obvious function of spinach. There is abundant iron in spinach, which is very helpful in the formation of red cell. Besides, there is plenty of chlorophyll and vitamin K in spinach, which are helpful in treating bleeding. And spinach contains carotenoid and ascorbic acid, which play an important role in replenishing blood and our health condition. On the other hand, patients with CKD often have anemia, which is caused by the decrease of hemopoietin. While if CKD patients make spinach into their eating plan, that may improve this condition greatly.

Besides, spinach also has many other benefits to our health, like promoting digestion, hairdressing, anti-aging, etc. Besides, it is also helpful in promoting our metabolism and growth.

Why CKD patients should be careful in eating spinach?

Patients with CKD should also be careful when they take spinach.

For one reason, there is abundant oxalate in spinach, so patients with kidney stone should not take it, because this may aggravate their disease. Besides, oxalate can combine with calcium and zinc, which is not beneficial for the absorption of calcium and zinc. Thereby, if CKD patients have low amount of calcium and zinc, or if patients have renal osteopathy, they should avoid taking spinach.

In addition, lupus nephritis patients should not eat spinach, because there is much chlorophyll in spinach, which may increase lupus nephritis patients’ sensitivity to sunshine. While sunshine can aggravate lupus nephritis patients’ condition.

In the end, if patients with CKD are not sure about their condition, they should avoid eating spinach. If they are willing to make spinach into their eating plan, it is better for them to consult their doctor’s advice first.

If you have existing kidney damage or a risk of kidney stone, you should be cautious to eat spinach.

Kidney disease

Different foods have very different potassium contents.  You may need to limit or avoid foods that are high in potassium. Your registered dietitian will help you make an eating plan that gives you the right amount of potassium.

Is Spinach Bad For Kidney Disease PatientsAre Kidney disease patients OK to eat spinach? Spinach is a winter super food and it is full of nutrients and delicious taste. Generally speaking, although spinach will not cause any type of kidney damage, you may need to be careful with this vegetable if you have existing kidney disease or a history of kidney stones.

Why is spinach bad for kidney disease patients?

Spinach contains high potassium. If kidney disease patients have high potassium level in blood, eating this high potassium food may be dangerous. The declined kidney function causes potassium accumulation in your blood stream. In this condition, high potassium level will affect your heart rhythm. Although spinach is unlikely to damage your kidneys and even to cause kidney failure, you still need to restrict the intake of this vegetable and other high potassium foods if you have advanced kidney disease. From this aspect, kidney disease patients should not eat this high potassium vegetable.

In addition, spinach may also cause kidney stones. This is because spinach is high in oxalate which has a tendency to bind to the mineral calcium. When oxalate combines with excess calcium in your kidneys, it can form hard, yellowish compounds called kidney stones. In severe cases, they can become as large as golf balls, cause severe back or abdominal pain, including vomiting. This can also lead to a fever or result in bloody urine.

If you have existing kidney damage or a risk of kidney stone, you should be cautious to eat spinach. However, it does not mean all kidney disease patients cannot eat spinach. If you have no elevated potassium level or any symptoms of kidney stone, you can eat spinach. In this condition, you can consult your doctor or our online experts to know whether you can consume spinach or not.

If you want to know more informations about our hospital and the unique therapies of it, you can leave messages or email us, we will reply you as soon as possible. And i hope by our effect, more people can have a quality life.