Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Published Ahead of Print
    • Current Issue
    • Sections by Topic
    • Archives
    • Saved Searches
  • Authors
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Trainee of the Year
    • Author Resources
    • Reprint Information
  • Editorial Team
  • Subscriptions
  • More
    • Advertising
    • Reprint Information
    • Impact Factor
    • About CJASN
    • Feedback
    • CJASN Relaunch
  • Other
    • JASN
    • Kidney News Online
    • In the Loop
    • American Society of Nephrology

User menu

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
American Society of Nephrology
  • Other
    • JASN
    • Kidney News Online
    • In the Loop
    • American Society of Nephrology
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
American Society of Nephrology

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Published Ahead of Print
    • Current Issue
    • Sections by Topic
    • Archives
    • Saved Searches
  • Authors
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Trainee of the Year
    • Author Resources
    • Reprint Information
  • Editorial Team
  • Subscriptions
  • More
    • Advertising
    • Reprint Information
    • Impact Factor
    • About CJASN
    • Feedback
    • CJASN Relaunch
  • Visit ASN on Facebook
  • Follow CJASN on Twitter
  • CJASN RSS
  • Community Forum
Patient Voice
Open Access

Diet and Risk for Developing Kidney Disease

Duane Sunwold
CJASN January 2019, 14 (1) 1-2; DOI: https://doi.org/10.2215/CJN.13601118
Duane Sunwold
Inland Northwest Culinary Academy, Spokane Community College, Spokane, Washington
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading
  • chronic renal disease
  • Sweetening Agents
  • beverages
  • Diet
  • Risk
  • kidney disease

I was diagnosed with minimal changes disease, and I am very interested in research that shows lifestyle patterns that affect kidney disease. I was diagnosed 18 years ago and have spent the past two decades successfully experimenting with food and how protein affects my kidney disease. By replacing animal protein with plant-based protein, I was able to put my CKD into remission.

In this issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, Rebholz et al. (1) research the effect of sugar-sweetened beverages on kidney disease risk. Important studies, such as this one, motivate me to restrict my consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and help educate other patients with kidney disease on the affect that sugar-sweetened beverages have on kidneys.

It is common practice in restaurants to allow employees to drink sodas for free. During the hot summer months, I was drinking more sodas per shift. This increase in sugar-sweetened beverages made me less tolerant of the heat in the kitchen. I appreciate my physical response, because it motivated me to change my beverage consumption from sodas to fruit-infused flavored water. Chances are I could have decreased my kidney function even more if I had not made this lifestyle change. I look back on that situation and realize that my experience does support these research findings: a higher intake of soda could be associated with greater odds of decreasing kidney function.

Living in the Pacific Northwest, I have great empathy for people who live in the southern region of the United States. Their climate is very similar to the working conditions in a commercial kitchen; it can be sweltering. I understand why people would be drinking more liquids in this environment. As a chef, we spend our lifetime developing flavors, which people want to enjoy when eating and drinking. However, this desire for flavor can easily lead people, like me, down the path of sugar-sweetened drinks. It can be standard practice in some food establishments to give the kitchen staff an after-shift beer, which seems like a double dose of trouble for people’s kidneys, because this research also indicates a higher association with CKD in people who consume more tea and beer.

As a chef, what recommendations do I give patients with kidney disease trying to decrease their consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks?

  1. I educate patients. I remind them to read nutritional labels and record the amount of sugar that they consume in a day from beverages. I had to learn how addictive sugar is for me; the more I consume, the more I crave it. If I start drinking a soda with lunch, I will start craving a soda at every lunch.

  2. I explain to patients that eating is a journey with kidney disease. How can I make this journey as enjoyable and healthy as possible? People look at food and beverage as a one-time event, a meal that we sit down and enjoy. As a patient, I had to teach myself to look at my consumption accumulatively. This helped motivate me to make changes with my diet for my kidneys. I slowly made changes every day and built on my successes. To change my beverage consumption, I just slowly started removing a small number of sugar-sweetened beverages each day and built on it.

  3. I tell patients that we can re-educate our palate. Instead of drinking sweet tea, I replaced it with a drink called an Arnold Palmer: 50% unsweetened iced tea and 50% lemonade. The unsweetened iced tea dilutes the sugar in the lemonade. Then, over time, as my tastes change, I decreased the lemonade and added more unsweetened iced tea.

  4. I like to use Stevia; it is a natural sweetener from the leaves of the rebaudiana plant. The leaves have a sweeter taste on our tongue. I drink a green tea that has a small number of stevia leaves mixed in with the tea leaves. The tea has a mildly sweet flavor without the addition of sugar.

  5. Be careful of natural sweeteners. Some health-conscious people replace sugar with honey, maple syrup, agave nectar, and molasses. These sweeteners are digested like sugar.

  6. Take a lesson from the spa; they offer fruit-infused water. You can make your own for pennies and put it in your water bottle. I like a few pieces of fresh pineapple and strawberries. Some people like slices of cucumber. When I make an infused water, I do it the night before and keep it in my refrigerator; it is chilled and tastes great the next day.

  7. When dining in restaurants, I always ask for a wedge of lemon in my water. It motivates me to drink water, the lemon keeps the water tasting fresh, and it keeps me from ordering a soda.

Patients with kidney disease have many challenges; I try to reward myself with healthy flavor wherever I can. I believe that patients can successfully add healthy flavor, and this research supports why patients with CKD need to decrease the number of sugar-sweetened beverages.

Disclosures

None.

Footnotes

  • Published online ahead of print. Publication date available at www.cjasn.org.

  • See related editorial, “The Millennial Physician and the Obesity Epidemic: A Tale of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages,” and article, “Patterns of Beverages Consumed and Risk of Incident Kidney Disease,” on pages 4–6 and 49–56, respectively.

  • Copyright © 2019 by the American Society of Nephrology

References

  1. ↵
    1. Rebholz CM,
    2. Young BA,
    3. Katz R,
    4. Tucker KL,
    5. Carithers TC,
    6. Norwood AF,
    7. Correa A
    : Patterns of beverages consumed and risk of incident kidney disease. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol 14: 49–56, 2019
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology: 14 (1)
Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology
Vol. 14, Issue 1
January 07, 2019
  • Table of Contents
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
View Selected Citations (0)
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article
Thank you for your help in sharing the high-quality science in CJASN.
Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Diet and Risk for Developing Kidney Disease
(Your Name) has sent you a message from American Society of Nephrology
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the American Society of Nephrology web site.
Citation Tools
Diet and Risk for Developing Kidney Disease
Duane Sunwold
CJASN Jan 2019, 14 (1) 1-2; DOI: 10.2215/CJN.13601118

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Request Permissions
Share
Diet and Risk for Developing Kidney Disease
Duane Sunwold
CJASN Jan 2019, 14 (1) 1-2; DOI: 10.2215/CJN.13601118
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Disclosures
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

Recent Tweets about the Article

  • Chris Scotton
    @Isteefer
    RT @KaminskiMed: Omipalisib (PI3K/mTOR) in IPF - this is how early stage #CureIPF studies SHOULD be designed! Evidence of dose dependent ta…
  • Rainer Demski
    @_headrooms_
    RT @_headrooms_: Frisch gebloggt: Eine Krone für Content-Marketing https://t.co/p6lupU6qO3 #newfinance https://t.co/FB00R3cCND
  • dilvin
    @dilaylaylaayy
    RT @MAturkce: Van’da gözaltına alınan 14, 16 ve 17 yaşlarındaki çocuklar hem gözaltına alınma esnasında hem de götürüldükleri karakolda ağı…
  • Glen Keith Campbell
    @GlenKCampbell
    RT @OKFN: The EU #copyright crackdown is an attack on openness: "It will lead to a chilling effect on freedom of speech across the #EU. Ope…
  • xecê
    @HaticeGulmez2
    RT @MAturkce: Van’da gözaltına alınan 14, 16 ve 17 yaşlarındaki çocuklar hem gözaltına alınma esnasında hem de götürüldükleri karakolda ağı…
  • Merhaba HAVAL
    @MerhabaHAVAL1
    RT @MAturkce: Van’da gözaltına alınan 14, 16 ve 17 yaşlarındaki çocuklar hem gözaltına alınma esnasında hem de götürüldükleri karakolda ağı…
  • Abdulselam Suvakçı
    @asuvakci
    RT @MAturkce: Van’da gözaltına alınan 14, 16 ve 17 yaşlarındaki çocuklar hem gözaltına alınma esnasında hem de götürüldükleri karakolda ağı…
  • Mekselina
    @Mekseli11368956
    RT @MAturkce: Van’da gözaltına alınan 14, 16 ve 17 yaşlarındaki çocuklar hem gözaltına alınma esnasında hem de götürüldükleri karakolda ağı…
  • Divyank Panwar
    @divyank_14
    RT @UNDP: 90% of global trade depend on the shipping sector. But goods aren’t the only things traveling transcontinental. Invasive species…
  • Eski Türkiyeli (Yeni rejimi asla kabul etmiyorum)
    @TekTurkiyeIcin
    RT @MAturkce: Van’da gözaltına alınan 14, 16 ve 17 yaşlarındaki çocuklar hem gözaltına alınma esnasında hem de götürüldükleri karakolda ağı…
  • murat
    @sansalvadorlu
    RT @MAturkce: Van’da gözaltına alınan 14, 16 ve 17 yaşlarındaki çocuklar hem gözaltına alınma esnasında hem de götürüldükleri karakolda ağı…
  • Zerdeşt Ari HADEP,li
    @ZerdetAri5
    RT @MAturkce: Van’da gözaltına alınan 14, 16 ve 17 yaşlarındaki çocuklar hem gözaltına alınma esnasında hem de götürüldükleri karakolda ağı…
  • CAHİT MERVAN
    @firatefrin
    RT @MAturkce: Van’da gözaltına alınan 14, 16 ve 17 yaşlarındaki çocuklar hem gözaltına alınma esnasında hem de götürüldükleri karakolda ağı…
  • arsensrdm
    @arsensrdm
    RT @MAturkce: Van’da gözaltına alınan 14, 16 ve 17 yaşlarındaki çocuklar hem gözaltına alınma esnasında hem de götürüldükleri karakolda ağı…
  • Nurcan Baysal
    @baysal_nurcan
    RT @MAturkce: Van’da gözaltına alınan 14, 16 ve 17 yaşlarındaki çocuklar hem gözaltına alınma esnasında hem de götürüldükleri karakolda ağı…

More in this TOC Section

  • A Patient’s View on Exercise and ESKD
  • Patient Priorities for Research Involving Peritoneal Dialysis
Show more Patient Voice

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Similar Articles

Related Articles

  • The Millennial Physician and the Obesity Epidemic
  • Patterns of Beverages Consumed and Risk of Incident Kidney Disease
  • Scopus
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Keywords

  • chronic renal disease
  • Sweetening Agents
  • beverages
  • Diet
  • Risk
  • kidney disease

About

  • ASN
  • CJASN
  • ASN Journals
  • ASN Podcasts
  • CJASN Relaunch

Author Information

  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Trainee of the Year
  • Author Resources
  • Reuse/Reprint Policy

More information

  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Email Alerts
  • Sections by Topic

© 2019 American Society of Nephrology

Print ISSN - 1555-9041 Online ISSN - 1555-905X

Powered by HighWire