Be careful about your kidneys during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Kidney patients should eat less salt to avoid burdens

As the Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, doctors remind people with chronic kidney disease to be careful when eating mooncakes. They should eat less nut mooncakes that are advertised as health-promoting, or mooncakes containing egg yolks, longans, mushrooms, braised pork, etc., as they generally contain high levels of phosphorus and potassium. They should also pay attention to the choice of ingredients when grilling, especially the salt content of sauces should be low, and the intake of beverages should be controlled so that they can eat healthily without putting a burden on the kidneys.

Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital called on colleagues to make mooncakes together, and the Department of Nephrology even invited a nutritionist to help design low-phosphorus "crystal mooncakes." (Photo courtesy of Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital)

Director Cai Renbi of the Nephrology Department of Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital said that due to the diet and drug abuse problems of the Chinese people, the population suffering from chronic kidney disease in the country accounts for about 11.9% of the total population. However, since there are no obvious symptoms in the early stages, it is easy to neglect it. In particular, dietary control for kidney patients is relatively complicated among many diseases. Especially for patients who are already undergoing dialysis, they should be more careful about their diet and avoid overeating.

If it is the early stage of kidney disease, you need to control the intake of phosphorus, potassium, and low-protein foods to avoid burdening the kidneys due to ineffective excretion. For patients with end-stage kidney disease, due to the loss of protein caused by dialysis, they need to supplement with high protein, but they also need to limit the intake of low phosphorus and potassium.

To make mooncakes for dialysis patients, the key is to use less phosphorus-containing ingredients. For example, replacing the red bean filling with a high phosphorus content with sweet potato filling, which not only contains fiber but also contains almost no phosphorus. (Photo courtesy of Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital)

Dr. Cai Renbi said that before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital called on colleagues to make mooncakes together. The Department of Nephrology even invited a nutritionist to help design low-phosphorus "crystal mooncakes" so that dialysis patients who come to the hospital can enjoy them with confidence. For dialysis patients, the hospital also thoughtfully prepared 300 "crystal mooncakes", which are not only low in phosphorus but also low in calories, so that patients can enjoy them with peace of mind.

In fact, patients with chronic kidney disease should eat less almonds, cashews, walnuts, pine nuts, macadamia nuts, peanuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and other health-promoting nut mooncakes, as well as egg yolk, longan, braised pork, and mushroom mooncakes, because these mooncakes are high in phosphorus, which may cause "hyperphosphatemia" for people with kidney disease. If not properly controlled, it can easily cause arrhythmia or symptoms of hypotension.

Director Cai Renbi emphasized that every Mid-Autumn Festival, he always has to earnestly advise dialysis patients to eat less mooncakes to avoid putting a burden on their bodies, but this inevitably spoils the fun for the patients. Therefore, this year he specially invited nutritionists to help design the menu so that patients coming for dialysis can also have a festive atmosphere.

When making mooncakes for dialysis patients, the key is to use less phosphorus-containing ingredients. For example, replacing the red bean filling with a high phosphorus content with sweet potato filling, which not only contains fiber but also contains almost no phosphorus, making it very suitable for kidney patients. In addition, the outer skin is made of low-nitrogen starch made from wheat flour, lotus root starch, corn starch, etc., which can minimize the impact of mooncakes on patients.