Monthly writing on kidney health, nutrition, and lived experience.
Research-backed writing on CKD, renal nutrition, autoimmune nephritis, dialysis, and transplant — answered with primary literature and written for real life.
Kidney Health
Creatine and Kidney Disease: Is It Safe for Your Kidneys?
Does creatine harm kidneys or just change your blood tests? A careful look at creatinine, eGFR and why healthy-adult research cannot settle safety in CKD.
Renal Nutrition
GLP-1s and CKD: What to Eat on Ozempic, Wegovy, or Mounjaro to Protect Your Kidneys — and Your Muscle
GLP-1 drugs are now prescribed for kidney protection, not just weight loss. Here's the nutrition side almost nobody covers: how much protein you actually need, how to stay hydrated when you're never thirsty or hungry, and how to keep the weight you lose from coming out of your muscle.
Food Safety
Cyclospora Outbreaks: Produce Food Safety for CKD, Transplant, and Immunosuppressed Patients
Cyclospora outbreaks spike every summer on fresh herbs, berries, and bagged salad — and washing does not reliably remove it. What the parasite is, why kidney and transplant patients are more vulnerable, which foods keep showing up in outbreaks, and a practical produce-safety routine you can actually follow.
Renal Nutrition
Summer Hydration on CKD: How Much Water Is Too Much in a Heat Wave
Heat waves push CKD patients into a narrow window between dehydration (AKI-on-CKD) and overhydration (hyponatremia, edema). A nutrition researcher's framework for fluid targets, electrolyte replacement, and which drinks are actually kidney-safe.
Renal Nutrition
Plant-Based Protein for CKD: How Much Is Safe and How to Get Enough
Plant protein lowers acid load and bioavailable phosphorus — but the protein math is real. A renal nutrition researcher's framework for getting enough without overshooting in CKD stages 3–4.
Renal Nutrition
Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Syndrome: What to Eat
The AHA's CKM framework links heart, kidney, and metabolic disease — and the diet that helps one helps all three. A practical eating plan.
Renal Nutrition
Anemia in CKD: Iron-Rich Foods That Won't Spike Potassium
Anemia hits most patients by CKD stage 3b. The food-first iron strategy that respects potassium, phosphorus, and binder timing.
Renal Nutrition
SGLT2 Inhibitors and CKD: What to Eat on Jardiance, Farxiga
SGLT2 inhibitors slow CKD progression — but they shift hydration, ketone, and electrolyte needs. A nutrition playbook.
Renal Nutrition
Phosphate Binders: When to Take Them With Food (Complete Guide)
Binders only work if they meet phosphorus in the gut. The timing rules, food-pairing strategy, and what to do when you forget a dose.
Renal Nutrition
Low-Phosphorus Diet for CKD: A Nutrition Researcher's Guide to Hidden Phosphate Additives
Phosphate additives in processed foods are nearly 100% absorbed — far more than naturally occurring phosphorus. How to read labels and what actually lowers serum phosphate.
Kidney-Friendly Recipes
7-Day Kidney-Friendly Meal Plan for Stage 3 CKD (With Grocery List)
A realistic week of meals built around the renal diet — low sodium, moderate protein, kidney-safe potassium and phosphorus, and a printable shopping list.
Renal Nutrition
Thanksgiving for CKD: A Kidney-Friendly Holiday Menu
Turkey, sides, and dessert that fit a low-sodium, low-phosphorus, potassium-managed plate — without making you the family's diet story.
Renal Nutrition
Protein Needs in Dialysis vs Pre-Dialysis CKD
Pre-dialysis CKD needs less protein; dialysis needs more. The numbers, the rationale, and how to hit them.
Autoimmune Nutrition
The Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) Diet: What the Evidence Actually Says
AIP has built a devoted following in the autoimmune community. Here's what the small-but-growing body of human research shows on Hashimoto's, IBD, and lupus — and what to keep in mind before trying it.
Renal Nutrition
Renal-Friendly Grilling Guide (Summer Edition)
Marinades without phosphate additives, low-sodium rubs, and CKD-safe sides for the grill — plus how to handle the social side of cookouts.
Autoimmune & Renal
Lupus Nephritis Diet: Protein, Salt, and Medication Interactions
Eating with lupus nephritis means juggling steroid weight gain, immunosuppressant interactions, and renal limits. A clinician's framework.
Renal Nutrition
Hydration in CKD: How Much Water Is Actually Right?
More water doesn't mean better kidneys. What the CKD WIT trial showed and how to set a personal target.
Renal Nutrition
Potassium and Kidney Disease: Foods to Limit and Foods That Are Actually Safe
Potassium restriction in CKD is more nuanced than the old 'no bananas' lists suggest. What the current evidence — and your own labs — should actually drive.
Renal Nutrition
Low-Sodium Label Decoder for CKD (What the Claims Actually Mean)
'Reduced sodium' isn't low sodium. The FDA claim definitions, the hidden traps, and the only number that matters.
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