coffee or no coffee

[Nanny]

Hello Friends,
I am using the Davita diet menus for pre dialysis kidney disease (stage three). In the breakfast menus, most call for 4 ounces of coffee at breakfast. Do you think coffee is hard on kidneys when following the pre dialysis diet? I know fluid must be carefully watched while on dialysis. I drink 4 ounces of cranberry juice each morning but also drink two or three coffees during the early morning hours. Is this important to cut back on my coffee drinking? Thanks, Nan

[Pancho3]

Well....

Coffee isn't bad, fluids are if you are not passing urine and have to limit your intake of fluids. I pee alot and drink coffee all day and most of the night.

[flipw]

Same old argument...some say it's good, some say it's bad. I don't see any problems with it. I don't drink much of it anymore mainly because I live alone and I'm too damned lazy to fix a pot for one or two cups.

[Pancho3]

I too am LAZY....

Same old argument...some say it's good, some say it's bad. I don't see any problems with it. I don't drink much of it anymore mainly because I live alone and I'm too damned lazy to fix a pot for one or two cups.

I fell in love with the Folgers Coffe Singles. they are like a tea bag. I stick 'em in my coffee mug full of water, put in the microwave for 3 min. or so( depends on cup size.....of the coffee cup) and there you go. Use them all the time when we went camping, now that's the only way i do it here at home.

Another helpful hint from Pancho the homemaker. free of charge at no cost to you.

I AM Pancho and I approved this message.

[chefnancy]

Coffee in moderation is not bad for the kidneys. However, the reason (I think) that the DaVita diets restrict you to 4 oz. is that they assume you are on fluid restriction. In that case, you wouldn't want to take up half your day's fluid allowance with coffee!

[RDSara]

Chef Nancy is correct.
The reason for limiting coffee or tea in DaVita Diet helper breakfast menus is so the nutrition count is correct for people following a fluid restriction. If you are not on a fluid restriction, a whole cup of coffee is ok--115 mg potassium, 8 mg phosphorus.

If you drink lots of coffee, especially strong coffee the potassium could add up and create problems if a low potassium diet is prescribed.

[chefnancy]

I hadn't thought of that. I seldom drink coffee and when I do it is only one cup, so I don't much worry about the nutritional values.

[Earthsong]

Re: coffee or no coffee

I thought it was the cream you put in the coffee that was the problem - the sheet the dietician gave me said to avoid "coffee drinks with milk"... so I thought that was like cappacino, or latte's or those starbucks things in the little bottles... I drink one cup of coffee in the morning and it's decaf.

[Samson'sMom]

Re: coffee or no coffee

I never use cream anymore. I use Mocha mix or a non-dairy creamer like coffee mate.

[wrwagner]

Re: coffee or no coffee

Hi Earthsong, a regular cup 8 ozs of coffee has about 7.1 grams of Phosphorus and 116 grams of Potassium and an 8 ozs cup of decaf has 2.4 grams of Phosphorus and 128 grams of Potassium. So if you add milk that will raise the numbers. I have one cup of regular black coffee nothing added, no milk or sugar, and I do count the grams of phosphorus and potassium in my daily food log.

[Earthsong]

Re: coffee or no coffee

I got some non-dairy creamer but when I was looking on it's label - it says it has phosphates in it - which is phosphorous... doesn't that count? Is there a certain brand of creamer that isn't bad for me? This is all very confusing - but worth it!!!

[wrwagner]

Re: coffee or no coffee

Yes, everything counts, your body will count everything that is consumed. I can't take non-dairy creamers as they cause me discomfort, so I stopped using non-dairy creamers.

The website below is a great source of information regarding the make up of foods, like phosphorous, potassium, sodium and protein.

http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=17032

They have listed non-dairy creamers as having these amounts:

Phosphorus (mg) 8
Potassium (mg) 29
Sodium (mg) 24

I could not tell which brand to use, maybe there is someone who uses non-dairy creamers that can suggest a few creamers to you.

[wrwagner]

Re: coffee or no coffee

Hi Earthsong, I did some searching on the forum and found a thread that you might be interested in. This does not suggest a particular non-dairy creamer, however there is additional conversation on this matter. I copied the thread sections to make this easier to find:

DaVita Discussion Forums > General dialysis > Lifestyle > Diet / Nutrition
No Phosphate Non-Dairy Creamer Brands?

[desmondberg]

Re: coffee or no coffee

There are ads that claim coffee is a great antioxidant - even better than green tea. I have no idea how true this is. Anyone here can validate this information or give better explanation than those ads in tv? thanks.

[Des]

Re: coffee or no coffee

I have Polycystic kidney disorder and they have done some research and they found that cafeine plays a roll in the growing of the cysts. With a lot of cafeine it triggers the cysts to grow.
I just think that if tests found that it can trigger cysts to grow, what other damage it can do without us even knowing about.
I stay away from any cafeine just in case.