Skip to main content

Diet and Nutrition

To achieve good kidney health, it's important to follow a healthy diet and maintain a healthy weight. This means eating a good variety of nutritious foods and watching your serving size.

Woman cooking in kitchen

Healthy eating with kidney disease

We recommend eating a diet rich in whole fresh seasonal foods, to help maintain good kidney health. This includes vegetables and wholegrains, and foods tailored to culture and spirituality. We recommend limiting ultra-processed foods and salt.

Salt

Too much salt in our diet can damage our kidneys, making them less effective at filtering our blood. This can cause fluid to build up in the body where we don't want it, leading to:

  1. High blood pressure
  2. Swollen ankles, feet and hands
  3. Puffy eyes
  4. Shortness of breath

See our salt and your kidneys fact sheet for more information.

Download factsheet on 'Salt and your Kidneys'
Himalayan salt

Sugar

Eating sugary foods and large portions of white refined carbohydrates can lead to weight gain and increase your risk of developing diabetes. If you are living with diabetes, then managing your blood glucose (sugar) levels, and trying to keep these within a recommended range is one of the best things you can do to protect your future kidney health.

See our sugar and your kidneys fact sheet for more information.

Managing your diet

Recipes and meals

Looking for more kidney friendly recipes and meals? Check out our range of recipe books and guides here.

Recipes and meals

We're here to help you

Our Kidney Helpline provides free support and information for anyone who has questions or concerns about managing their kidney health.

Call us Email us