-Dr. Apeksha Ekbote
Ph.D,RD,CDE
Chief Dietician, NephroPlus
Bread is an easy to-go and quickest breakfast or snack option that anyone would look out for which is a filling carbohydrate rich meal. However, the varieties of breads available now in the market has somewhere confused the consumer to understand which bread is the best for them. There are various brands categorising the breads as whole wheat, atta bread, sandwich bread and so on. Among all these, there is always a two minded approach towards bread consumption among kidney dialysis patients with regard to the type of bread and considering it to be a bakery item which would be high on sodium.
Is bread really good for dialysis patients? In short, yes. Bread is a good carbohydrate source which would provide energy. If some of you are wondering what If I am a diabetic and on dialysis is it ok to consume bread? The answer is again a yes.
Bread as discussed, is a source of carbohydrate which provides energy to the body. Just like one consumes chapatis, rice, millets, bread is made up mostly of wheat. The question that now arises is what type of bread can be taken?
A lot of research earlier has gone into recommending White bread for dialysis patients as they refined products are lesser in potassium and phosphorus but according to National Kidney foundation guidelines in 2020, Only about 30% of the phosphorus in plant foods, like whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds and lentils, is absorbed. Compare this to phosphorus in meat and dairy, where about 80-90% of phosphorus is absorbed. Hence to cut this dilemma, It is advisable to consume Brown Bread (made up of 50% refined flour and 50% wheat flour).
Sodium in bread as total would be higher but consuming 2-3 slices of bread is completely acceptable and recommended. Bread can be consumed as toast with unsalted butter, cucumber sandwiches, paneer sandwiches or you could try a French toast with egg whites.