Is Chocolate Good for Your kidneys? Valentine’s Day and chocolate go together like peanut butter and jelly (or, for my kidney patients, like low-sodium hummus and whole wheat crackers). But if you have kidney disease, you might be wondering—should you be indulging in that heart-shaped box of chocolates? I know many…
What do 1) avocado and butter, 2) greek yogurt and mayo, and 3) nutritional yeast and cheese all have in common? Each of these duos can be swapped for each other as a healthy substitution for YOUR favorite recipes!
Kidney health is often surrounded by misinformation, making it hard to separate fact from fiction. These myths can lead to misunderstandings about how the kidneys function and what’s needed to keep them healthy.
What are your biggest goals as a person living with kidney disease or as a family member of someone with kidney disease? If you are not at the stage of kidney disease that requires dialysis, you and I probably have similar aims: (1) find a way to improve your creatinine or…
You probably know someone who developed health problems from drinking too much alcohol. Alcohol can impact many different parts of the body, but most commonly it damages the liver and can lead to a condition called cirrhosis. This often comes up when I am evaluating someone for kidney disease. My patients…
For many children, Halloween with kidney disease can be challenging, but it is still one of the most exciting days of the year. Dressed in their favorite costumes, they parade around the neighborhood with friends and family, seeking sweets and treats that may be limited on all other days of the…
What Happens When You Start Eating Healthy. Teaching Doctors to Cook.
If you have kidney disease, holiday parties and family meals are not always carefree events. While other friends and family celebrate without a second thought towards healthy eating or restraint, you may feel the stress of your dietary restrictions and know that you can’t afford to forget to pay attention to…
As a kidney doctor, I prescribe a lot of medications. My goal is to protect my patients’ kidneys through every way I know how. I also know that a lot of people want to protect their kidneys without using medications. That’s where these steps come into play to help you protect…
Understanding potassium in kidney disease is crucial for managing diet. Many of my favorite foods just so happen to be among the highest potassium foods you can eat: ripe bananas; sweet potatoes that are perfectly slow-baked until their inside melts like butter and tastes like honey; butternut squash soups of any…
Rail thin, pale and a little grumpy, Dean was my first introduction to veganism. We lived together as college sophomores in 1995, in a communal living space called the Environmental House at Tufts University. As empty pizza boxes, sub wraps and chicken wing bones piled up in my room, Dean subsisted…
People often ask me what changes they should make to their diet in order to improve their health or to help them lose weight. Sometimes they are looking for a quick and easy solution to a complicated problem. The answer I give them is often simple, but not in the way…
