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Did you know that managing your heart health when you have chronic kidney disease is equally important as managing your kidney health? Yes, it is! Those with CKD are more at risk for cardiovascular disease, so it’s vital to protect your heart. In this blog post, we will discuss ways to protect your heart when you have CKD.
Heart Health with Chronic Kidney Disease
It’s important to first understand what is going on in your body when you have chronic kidney disease (CKD). When you have CKD, your kidneys aren’t working at one hundred percent, and therefore, they aren’t able to do their daily functions. So, your heart has to work extra hard to help your blood get to your kidneys.
When this happens, more stress is put on your heart. This can lead to increased blood pressure and increased risk of heart disease. There are so many different lifestyle and diet changes you can make in order to help reduce your risk of high blood pressure and heart disease.
Manage Your Blood Pressure and Lipid Levels
CKD can contribute to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high triglyceride levels, which can increase your risk for heart disease and stroke. Regularly check your blood pressure and lipid levels and follow up with your healthcare providers. If you have CKD, checking your blood pressure at home daily can be helpful. If you do not have a blood pressure monitor at home, you can visit your local pharmacy to check your blood pressure. You can learn more about monitoring your blood pressure at home here.
A normal blood pressure is anything less than 120/80. If you have questions about your blood pressure, please speak with your doctor and healthcare team for further information and advice.
Typically, getting your lipid panels checked every six months is a good idea. Your lipid panel includes your total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and more.
These tests tell us about the type of lipoproteins and fats in your blood and how they will affect your heart. Ideally, we want our total cholesterol to be less than 200 mg/dL, HDL to be 60 mg/dL and higher, LDL to be under 100 mg/dL, and triglycerides to be less than 150 mg/dL. When these numbers are not in their normal range, it can put you more at risk for heart attack and stroke. You can learn more about your lipid panel numbers here. If you have questions about your lipid panel numbers, please contact your doctor and healthcare team for further information and advice.
Follow a Lower Sodium Diet to Manage Heart Health with Chronic Kidney Disease
Too much sodium in your diet can increase blood pressure and proteinuria, which are common complications of chronic kidney disease. Studies show that a lower sodium diet can help to reduce blood pressure and proteinuria and help certain blood pressure medications work more effectively for those with CKD.
Per the 2020 KDOQI (Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiatives) clinical practice guidelines, the current recommendation for daily sodium intake for those with CKD is less than 2,300mg. Many other sources recommend as low as 1,500-2,000mg of sodium per day. Ultimately, maintaining a lower sodium intake of less than 2,300mg/day is important to help protect your heart.
People with CKD may need to consume different levels of sodium each day depending on their bloodwork and blood pressure levels. It’s important to talk with your doctor and healthcare team to make sure you are getting the right amount of sodium for your body. You can read more about following a low-sodium diet with CKD here.
Eat Heart-Healthy Fats
The types of fat you eat can affect your cholesterol, triglycerides, and your overall heart health. Therefore, it’s important to eat a diet filled with heart-healthy fats. Heart-healthy fats are fats that are lower in saturated fats and higher in unsaturated fats. A diet high in saturated fats has been shown to increase cholesterol levels, so choosing unsaturated fats more often is key.
Some unsaturated fats to choose from more often are things like avocados, olive oil, olives, avocado oil, nuts, seeds, and beans. Some saturated fats to choose less often are things like beef, lamb, lard, cream, butter, cheese, coconut oil, palm oil, baked goods, fried foods, and processed meats.
Move Your Body for Heart Health with Chronic Kidney Disease
Regular physical activity can help to lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels making it a must for those with chronic kidney disease. The recommendation for CKD patients is to do 150 minutes of physical activity per week.
For example, to meet this goal, you could do 30 minutes of activity for 5 days/week. Be sure to move your body in ways you love so that physical activity doesn’t feel like a chore. If you have questions about changing your physical activity regimen, discussing it with your doctor and healthcare team is important.
References:
- https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.120.050686
- https://www.cdc.gov/kidneydisease/publications-resources/link-between-ckd-diabetes-heart-disease.html#:~:text=When%20the%20kidneys%20don't,can%20lead%20to%20heart%20disease.
- https://www.jrnjournal.org/article/S1051-2276(18)30043-8/fulltext