Juicing

[Riverwhispering]

Does anyone know if you juice solid foods like carrots and other solid foods like that if it then is considered a liquid on dialysis?

[jbeany]

Yup, sorry.  The normal fluid limits give you leeway for the liquids that are in most foods, but liquid is liquid.  That's why D patients have to be so careful with fruit like watermelon that is mostly water.  If you are tossing out fiber mush and only drinking the juice, then that's a big problem. If you are pureeing it from a solid and spooning it up like baby food, then it's not any different from the amount of liquid you get with a normal serving of veggies, but be careful even with then - you can eat a lot more of it in one sitting than you could if you still had to chew it. 

[SteveK87]

Especially avoid tomatoes.  Believe it or not tomatoes have a higher ratio of water content than a watermelon.

[glitter]

wouldn't juicing make it easier to get too much potassium also?

[jbeany]

I think so.  It would take you longer to fill up, so you would drink more. 

[amanda100wilson]

Easy potassium overdose.

[CebuShan]

Wow! Never thought of this! Good to know!   

[boswife]

Im not the one on D but i've just gotton into juicing..  I "think" that the wheat grass, since you just take' shots', and its a great cleanser, has been benifitial to many different medical situations.  Of course it needs to be looked into as it's source of all the stuff D people have to watch out for.  It was actually highly recommended to me FOR hubby the D man, so im practicing on me while looking into its value for him.  One thing i do know about it is you definatly use a juicer spacifically 'for' wheat grass as it can be binding if not done right. 

[Whamo]

I was drinking a lot of carrot juice the summer my kidneys failed.  A routine blood test revealed a very high potassium level.  I love carrot juice, but I don't drink it anymore.

[KatieV]

I was on a raw diet involving lots of carrot juice for a few years when growing up.  I strongly believe it extended my kidney function.  I was around 9 to 11 years old during the raw diet.  My kidneys lasted until I was 20 years old; my two siblings who also have kidney disease (and are 7 and 9 years younger than me) were in end-stage by age 13.  Our type of kidney disease has an average ESRD age of 13.  It is a water-wasting disease (we had to drink 2 gallons of water a day to stay hydrated!), so it is probably different than most.

[IGould]

As the researches shows, i think liquid and food differ in their effects on power consumption and bodyweight, except that fluids in the form of broth may lead to reduced power consumption and bodyweight.

[Whamo]

I've been drinking the juice of a lemon once a day.  We have a lemon tree in our backyard.   I've read it's good for kidney stones, but also warnings against it if you have renal failure.  I just drink a little, but you never know how much is too much.

[Abdiel]

Juices are liquid buddy what you have mentioned i mean carrots its just wonderful especially when it comes to nutrition the results are awesome.
Use it with orange juices both are full of benefits.Just don't bother it is a liquid or not.

[Dman73]

Juicing is great if you are healthy but as a D patient is an invite to fluid overload not to mention non water soluble vitamins & minerals (Vit A, D & potassium ect.)


You may get away with it if you are a new D patient and have some kidney function but eventually you it will affect you lab values.

Check with your nutritionist to make sure.