Free Sample CKD and Diabetes Meal Plan

Looking for an example of what a day of eating might look like if you have Chronic Kidney Disease and diabetes? Then check out this sample meal plan!

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Free Sample CKD and Diabetes Meal Plan Overview

This sample meal plan contains 1,895 calories and 46g of protein. Each person with CKD will have different needs. Your needs may be different depending on you goals (for example losing, gaining, or maintaining weight) or other health conditions. You may need more or less protein and calories to meet your needs. Working with a dietitian that specializes in kidney nutrition can help you determine your individual needs.

This meal plan also contains 2,799mg of potassium. Like protein and calories, your individual needs will vary based on many factors. The recommended daily allowance for healthy adults is 4,700mg of potassium, so this example meal plan is substantially lower. There are several opportunities to lower the potassium if needed, or you may be able to enjoy more high potassium foods in your day.

This meal plan contains 43 grams of fiber. Fiber is very important in helping prevent constipation. For people with diabetes, fiber can also help you maintain more even blood sugars.

This meal plan contains 1,180mg of sodium. The KDOQI guidelines for nutrition recommend that people with CKD aim for less than 2,300mg of sodium per day. Too much sodium can make your blood pressure worse and cause issues with fluid retention. However, it is possible to eat too little sodium. For this meal plan, we recommend determining where you might want to add a bit more salt – perhaps to the avocado toast or maybe you can’t find a low sodium bread, so this will give you some wiggle room to choose a few foods that might be higher in sodium.

This meal plan does not contain any phosphorus additives. The total phosphorus content of the meal plan is approximately 1,000mg. However, this is almost all plant based phosphorus, which is poorly absorbed. We would expect that the absorbable phosphorus is closer to only 300mg, which is quite low.

Read more about each meal and snack below!

CKD and Diabetes Friendly Breakfast

A few notes about this kidney friendly breakfast:

• Blueberries – blueberries are a very kidney friendly fruit. We recommend including a fruit or vegetable with every meal. Blueberries are a good source of fiber and antioxidants. One half of a cup is considered a serving.
• Oatmeal – oatmeal is another great option for breakfast. Oatmeal is a whole grain and good source of fiber. Although oatmeal is high in carbohydrates, you can still enjoy it if you have diabetes. Oatmeal is high in fiber, which helps slow down the digestion to avoid spikes in blood sugar. We also limited our portion to just one packet. In this meal plan, we chose to just use a pre-flavored oatmeal that contain no added phosphorus. If you wanted a lower sugar option, you could make oatmeal from scratch and season it yourself.
• Yogurt – yogurt can be very kidney friendly if you choose the right kind. We used a high fat, low protein yogurt for this meal. Many people with CKD and Diabetes are not getting enough fat in their meals. For people with diabetes, including a source of fat in your meals is another way to help slow down digestion and prevent spikes in blood sugar. It can also make your meal more satisfying, which may help prevent cravings later in the day.
• Chia Seeds – adding chia seeds to your yogurt is another way to sneak some fiber into your meals as well as some omega-3 fatty acids. Chia seeds are also quite tiny and don’t have much of a taste, so you won’t really even notice them in your yogurt

CKD and Diabetes Friendly Snack #1

Fruit and nuts are one of my favorite snack options for kidney disease. Apples are considered a low potassium fruit, and are a good source of fiber. They are also a very portable fruit, so you can pack them on the go! For this snack, we chose lightly salted peanuts. Because the overall meal plan is quite low in sodium, you could even choose regular salted peanuts with this snack if you want! You could also swap out the peanuts and choose peanut butter to dip your apples into if you prefer.

Kidney and Diabetes Friendly Lunch

Avocado toast is one of my personal favorite quick meals. When avocados are in season, I probably eat this at least every other day. Many people with kidney disease think that avocados are off limits because they are so high in potassium, but as you can see from this meal plan, it is definitely possible to include them in your day and still end up with a relatively low potassium day. Besides their delicious creaminess, avocados are an excellent source of healthy fats and they are surprisingly high in fiber – both great things if you have CKD and Diabetes.

When making avocado toast, I recommend finding a kidney friendly bread. We used the Pepperidge Farm Thin Sliced Whole Wheat Bread here. However, if you can’t find a low sodium bread, you can probably use another whole grain bread that is a bit higher in sodium since our overall day only has 1,180mg of sodium.

Kidney And Diabetes Friendly Snack #2

This snack might come as a bit of surprise, but I put it in here to illustrate a point about sweets like cookies.

You don’t have to give up your favorite foods forever just because you have CKD or diabetes. You just need to be mindful of portion sizes. For a lot of people, swearing off your favorite foods just backfires because it only makes you want them more. If you really want a cookie, eat a cookie! Just don’t eat the whole box and remind yourself that you can always have more cookies another day.

Specifically in this snack, we are including one serving of these cookies, which is about 4 small cookies. We are also pairing the cookies with a serving of almonds. The almonds will contain fat and some fiber which will help slow down the absorption of the carbs in the cookies so we can prevent a big spike in our blood sugar.

CKD and Diabetes Friendly Dinner

Eating enough vegetables is a key component of a kidney friendly diet, and focusing on non-starchy vegetables is important for diabetes management. For this meal, we are using an entire zucchini as well as a few cherry tomatoes for color. I used this recipe, but skipped the butter and extra olive oil because we already had plenty of calories in this meal plan and didn’t need the extra. However, if you’re looking for ways to include more fats into your day, then adding olive oil to pasta sauces or a little butter to toast can be great strategies.

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