How to gain weight while on dialysis

On dialysis you may need as many as 35 calories per kilogram of body weight to maintain weight, sometimes even higher (37-40 calories per kilogram) to gain for a while, since you are kind of playing 'catchup'. So a 150 pound man translates to 68 kilos. I would multiply that by 37 calories per kilo to start. That gives you a goal of 2,500 calories (roughly) per day. I don't know your husband's weight, but that's the formula. It can difficult to get a lot of calories in on hemo because the appetite is not always great. I always try to think of low-volume foods that pack a lot of calories to help with weight gain. Cream cheese is a good food. Peanut butter is high in phosphorous, but if you can stomach taking an extra binder with it 2Tbs of peanut butter per day can really help. A lot of people need shakes between meals to help them gain weight. Some patients use Nepro (The Abbott company makes it) but it can be super expensive, so try Boost or Ensure high protein if you can't purchase Nepro. Remember to take a binder with the protein shakes. If you get bored with protein shakes, try blending them with some frozen fruit to make a smoothie. Add extra butter or margarine to toast, add jelly as well to increase calories. I know diabetics sometimes worry about their sugars, but discuss this with your endo if your husband has diabetes. Sometimes it's simply better to loosen up with the carbs and add a little extra insulin rather than keep them on a strict diet. It does no good to have perfect sugars but muscle wasting and weight loss. Most renal patients are allowed one dairy food per day. I tell patients to eat Greek yogurt --not the reduced fat kind. The regular Greek yogurt has about twice the protein and calories of lowfat regular yogurt. Or they can swap the yogurt out for some cheese that day. Some dialysis places have supplement programs. Ours does, patients with weight loss or low albumins get supplements to eat or drink while they are on treatment. Have your husband take snacks he likes to dialysis..hopefully they allow their patients to eat while on the chairs. Peanut butter crackers, cracker with cheese or cream cheese, slices of roast beef, good snacks to have. There is a company called NutraBalance that makes high protein cookies. They are delicious and my patients love them. I fyou are interested i can send you the number to contact them at. They are a s mall company and nice to work with.