Where do you go for help when you want to find out the nutrients in your food? Knowing 聽, , fat, , , and content of food helps you make better decisions鈥nd may influence how closely you stick to your . There are several sources to consider.
The most obvious nutrient source is the food label, available on all packaged foods. Many grocery stores provide nutrient information for fresh produce, and soon fresh meat will require a nutrition label. The drawback is that potassium and are optional on food labels and these are among the most important ones you need to know if you have or if you are on dialysis.
Any bookstore has a variety of food composition books that list nutrients in foods. Your dietitian most likely has a copy of 鈥淏owes and Church鈥檚 Food Values of Portions Commonly Used鈥, a comprehensive nutrition data book with thousands of foods, now in its 18th edition.
Other food composition books vary in the nutrients included. A few on my shelf include 鈥淭he Complete Book of Food Counts and Vitamin and Mineral Counter鈥, both by Corrine Netzer, and 鈥淭he Calorie King Calorie, Carbohydrate and Fat Counter鈥 from dietitian Alan Borushek. If you still prefer a book over an electronic reader or computer, these resource books are a good investment. Some are available to download an electronic version. An extensive list of is available from the USDA National Agriculture Library.
On a smaller scale, you can order a from the American Association of Kidney Patient. It gives potassium, phosphorus, sodium and protein values for many commonly eaten foods.
As a USA taxpayer, you have invested in a nutrient database that is available to anyone without charge. You can download the directly to your computer desktop and easily look up foods. Almost all the foods in this database contain potassium and phosphorus values, and it is updated once a year. One drawback is you won鈥檛 find brand name and restaurant foods, but many generic descriptions can be found. I keep the most recent version right on my computer desktop so it is easy to access and use.
Another quick look-up tool is the on . Keep this tool in your favorites to easily look up thousands of food. This special database has a filter to only include items with potassium and phosphorus, a feature missing from many online food analysis tools.
Looking for more? 亚洲无码 Diet Helper is a no-charge online meal planner with already planned menus, a Food Analyzer and Nutrition Log. You can track the foods you eat and instantly see nutrient totals, including calories, protein, carbohydrate, sugars, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, fiber, sodium, potassium, phosphorus and calcium. Your data is saved and automatically broken down into meals, snacks and daily total. There are other online meal planners, but Diet Helper has two features that are missing from other planners. It is based on protein, potassium, sodium and phosphorus instead of calories to provide customized meals for kidney diets; plus all the foods in the database contain values for all the above nutrients, unlike some programs that do not include potassium and phosphorus for all foods.
You can purchase nutrient software programs that have additional features like diet and exercise analysis, scoring systems, weight trackers, menu planners, and recipe features. These programs usually include the USDA database as well as generic, brand name and restaurant foods. There are many simple, easy to use programs, such as , or a number of other software programs at the . You can get more bells and whistles from larger programs like or . A Google search will reveal many options and information on nutrition software programs.
In addition to the above resources you can find many apps for your smartphone or other devices. These apps make it much easier to track your food intake throughout the day and to have real-time data to help make decisions about what to eat on your kidney diet. offers an app secifically for people following a kidney diet with a focus on protein, potassium and phosphorus.
Regardless of the source you use to find out the nutrients in your food, learning and sticking to a kidney diet is easier when you have tools and resources to help you choose the best foods for your health.
