Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Do you struggle with high cholesterol and have chronic kidney disease? If so, you are not alone! It can be tough to manage cholesterol levels when you are also trying to manage other health conditions, like Chronic Kidney Disease. Here are a renal dietitian’s go-to tips for managing cholesterol levels with CKD.
Cholesterol and Chronic Kidney Disease
First, it can be helpful to know what cholesterol actually is and what affects it. Cholesterol is a substance in our body that is naturally occurring. Our liver makes cholesterol. Therefore, cholesterol is not inherently bad. However, it can be harmful if we have too much of it in our bodies. We can get too much cholesterol in our body, which can increase our cholesterol levels, by eating too much-saturated fat in our diet. So, it’s important to have a healthy intake of saturated fats. It’s also important to exercise, eat foods rich in fiber, and cook with heart-healthy fats in order to manage cholesterol levels.
We can know how much cholesterol we have in our bodies by looking at the lipid panel on our bloodwork. Our lipid panel shows us our total cholesterol, HDL, or our “good” cholesterol, our LDL, or our “bad” cholesterol, our triglyceride levels and more. This helps us to know more about our overall heart health too. When looking at your lipid panel, your numbers should typically look like this:
- Total cholesterol = <200 mg/dL
- HDL cholesterol = > 40-50 mg/dL
- LDL cholesterol = < 100 mg/dL
- Triglycerides = <149 mg/dL
As always, it’s important that you follow up with your healthcare provider to make sure that you understand your bloodwork and take the necessary steps to manage your cholesterol.
Get Active to Help Manage Your Cholesterol with Chronic Kidney Disease
In order to manage cholesterol levels with chronic kidney disease, studies show that getting at least 150 minutes a week of exercise can be helpful. Research shows that exercise can help increase HDL, our good cholesterol, and therefore help to manage our LDL and bad cholesterol better. It can help you choose an exercise you enjoy to be more likely to do it. Yoga, swimming, biking, walking, running, and resistance training are all great examples of physical activity.
Eat Lots of Fiber
Eating a high-fiber diet can not only help you manage your weight, blood sugars, and gut health but also help your cholesterol levels.
Studies show that eating a diet high in fiber can help lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. It can also help you reduce your need for cholesterol-lowering medications like statins. High-fiber foods include fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, and whole grains. These foods can fit into a kidney-friendly diet, making them a great choice for those with CKD!
Cook with Heart Healthy Fats to Manage Cholesterol for Chronic Kidney Disease
Cooking with heart-healthy fats is also key to managing cholesterol levels. Too much-saturated fat in our diet can lead to an increase in cholesterol levels. Therefore, it’s important to choose foods lower in saturated fats like olive oil, avocado oil, avocados, nuts, seeds, and beans.
When cooking your kidney-friendly meals, try swapping coconut oil or butter for olive or avocado oil. Some other high-saturated fat foods to be mindful of are cheeses and dairy products, baked goods, processed meats, and cured meats.
Heart-healthy and kidney-friendly recipes:
- Low sodium sweet potato black bean burgers
- Roasted vegetable and black bean tacos
- Brown rice pilaf with spring vegetables
- Smoky sweet potato bisque
- Stuffed peppers
- Vegetarian taco salad
References: