Create Your Own Kidney Diet Plan - Build A Meal Pattern For Stage 3 or 4 Kidney Disease

This is a small helpful book. I signed up at the author’s site, but never received the spreadsheet. I sent an email and got no response. I noticed that I could join the site and pay monthly to get more information, but I didn't want to, and the site isn't https. That said, the book helped explain the math that needs to be done to figure out where one is and how to improve that. These include the BMI (Body Mass Index; how fat one is), BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate; the energy (calories) one usually expends daily), and how to set a calorie limit if one (like me) needs to reduce. I found the BMI and BMR calculators online. I entered my info (height, weight etc.) and they did the math! I also used the DaVita site to find out what not to eat, and what to eat (quite limited on Stage 4 Kidney Disease, but anything to improve). I also signed up for the online Smart Kidney Class at DaVita, which was helpful. Using all this info, I changed my diet accordingly (still trying to exercise regularly). In three weeks, my blood pressure went from the high 160’s to low 120’s, and I lost about 20 pounds. These changes help the kidneys to work more optimally. Btw, when I was Stage 3 Kidney Disease, I saw dietician who said it was nothing, that I was nowhere near Stage 4 and Dialysis, and all I had to do was diet and exercise. I did those, and my numbers dramatically improved. But after a year, I slacked off for 18 months. I didn’t think it was a big deal, because she said it wasn‘t. Wrong. If you don’t make the effort, things *will* get worse. If you’re Stage 3, try your best to stay there!

From the publisher on the Excel Spreadsheet. It's nonexistent! Promised on page six with a link that doesn't work. Honestly, use some reliable internet resources to find this very basic information about CKD. That's for free! Save yourself the anxiety and frustration! It will only increase your blood pressure and exacerbate your problems.UPDATE: Finally got the items that are listed in the book including the Excel "spreadsheet". All I can say is that they are very primitive and basic. The food pages are .pdf files and very difficult to search out food that would be accessible in more of a database program.Seriously, just use what's readily available with some simple searches on the Internet.

Bottom line, with kidney problems, most things are limited!! This book is mainly about calculating how much protein, salt, carbs, phosphorus and potassium to have a day. It may help some, but I feel I have wasted $10.

This book is a well written and concise guide for necessary meal planing for those with kidney disease at stages 3 & 4. An Excel spreadsheet accompanies the book to help. The author, Martha Ford, is a licensed dietitian and highlights the importance of controlling: Protein, Sodium, Potassium and Phosphorus in the foods we eat daily. She suggests other nutritional items such as fiber content and portion control of foods; has an online link for recipes. Excellent purchase for me, a 24 year kidney transplant patient.

There was very good, practical advice, concrete and specific suggestions. I've made many of the specific changes suggested here and it's really helped. I've noticed a drop in my blood pressure and I'm slowly losing weight again. It helped me understand how diet can impact my condition and that I really do have a lot of control over my health. Some of the suggestions were a bit unrealistic or difficult to understand, but overall, the guidance and understanding this book provided has improved not only my physical health, but my emotional health and quality of life as well.

I just lost a kidney to cancer and was overwhelmed by the diet changes and what needed to be tracked. When the book arrived I was disappointed because I didn't read it to the end.The next time I picked it up and started glancing through it, I found the links the pdf files that had list upon lists of foods with all the information I needed to create a diet I could live with. Plus it comes with an excel spread sheet that helps figure everything. Amazing! It also has a list of fast food that contains all the nutritional information to keep my remaining kidney healthy.Thank you so much!.

My biggest complaint was the excel spreadsheet. The way I understood the amazon write up, the spreadsheet would be included with the book---it wasn't. I went on line to the web site to get the spreadsheet and found it to be misleading. I never did get spreadsheet as the web site was more about selling me diet plans etc. I thought it was a very poorly set up web site and not worth my time, so I gave up and just read the book. The book is ok,: but I have purchased others that were a better value.

Easy read with lots of great information. I will definitely make the spread sheet to help with my meal planning.

very useful