Macadamia Nuts and Kidney Disease

Let’s talk about my favorite nut for people with CKD: Macadamia Nuts! Nuts are one of my favorite snack foods because of how portable they are – they won’t get squished in your purse or lunch bag, they require no refrigeration, and they are delicious! On top of all that, most nuts are super kidney-friendly. Read on to learn about the nutrition of macadamia nuts for people with chronic kidney disease.

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Why are macadamia nuts good for people with CKD?

Protein and Macadamia Nuts

People who have CKD are often advised to follow a lower protein diet than what they may have been accustomed to before having CKD. This can be challenging because protein is found in a lot of different foods, and there is probably more protein in foods than you think.

Macadamia nuts, however, are very low in protein even compared to other nuts. Let’s compare macadamia nuts to peanuts.

A single serving of macadamia nuts (which is approximately one ounce of nuts) contains 2.2 grams of protein while a serving of peanuts contains almost 7 grams of protein. Now, that might not seem like a big difference, but let’s say you are eating three servings of nuts a day – which is not unheard of (I probably eat 4-6 servings a day). Three servings of macadamia nuts contains only 6.6g of protein while 3 servings of peanuts has 20.6g. That’s a difference of 14g of protein – which is a lot in the CKD nutrition world.

So if you’re struggling to hit your protein targets for CKD, I would consider macadamia nuts.

Carbohydrates and Macadamia Nuts

In addition to being low in protein, macadamia nuts are also very low in carbohydrates, which means they are an excellent choice for someone who has CKD and diabetes. Each serving of macadamia nuts has less than 4g of carbohydrates, and most of that is in the form of fiber, so each serving has only 1.5 net carbohydrates.

Macadamia nuts are high in fat, particularly monounsaturated fats which are heart healthy.

Phosphorus and Macadamia Nuts

A single serving of macadamia nuts contains only 53mg of phosphorus. The phosphorus in macadamia nuts is natural, so it is poorly absorbed by the body. The actually amount of phosphorus absorbed is estimated to be around 30%, or roughly 16mg of phosphorus. And macadamia nuts pretty much never contain phosphorus additives, which are bad for your cardiovascular system.

For some more detailed information about phosphorus additives, you can watch our video on YouTube.

Potassium and Macadamia Nuts

For anyone who is concerned about the potassium content of their food, macadamia nuts are considered a low potassium food. Generally speaking, we consider a food to be low potassium if it has less potassium than calories. Each serving of macadamia nuts contains 204 calories and only 103mg of potassium, so macadamia nuts would be considered a very low potassium food.

Sodium and Macadamia Nuts

Macadamia nuts are considered a low sodium food. Even the ones that come salted are considered a low sodium food. We consider a food to be low sodium if it has less sodium than calories. A serving of macadamia nuts typically has about 200 calories and the salted versions typically contain less than 100mg of sodium.

Cost of Macadamia Nuts

The one perceived con of macadamia nuts is that they can seem expensive, but I really think it depends on how you look at them. The video below gives you a way to look at macadamia nuts and see them as more cost effective than they initially appear.

Check Prices of Macadamia Nuts

Buying nuts in larger packages is usually going to get you the best prices. Here are a few larger packs available on Amazon that may be more cost effective. Click on the pictures to check prices and reviews.