Now that you've gotten a brand new kidney, you need to take good care of it. While post-transplant dietary guidelines are nowhere near as limiting as the ones you experienced as you approached end-stage disease, they're just as important. Before you leave the hospital, you should talk to a renal dietitian or nephrologist about what you should eat and how your new immunosuppressant regimen affects your diet.
Protein
The good news is that you can eat as much protein as you want after transplant. In fact, you are encouraged to eat a lot of protein so that you can heal after your surgery. This means a lot to those patients who were on a low-protein diet before the transplant. Moreover, all the high-protein, high-phosphorus foods such as legumes, tofu and dairy products that you had to avoid are now okay to eat.
Grapefruit
You may have avoided grapefruit before your transplant because it had too much potassium. If your immunosuppressant regimen includes cyclosporine, grapefruit will still be off-limits because it unpredictably raises serum levels of cyclosporine. You want these levels to remain as constant as possible to avoid either cyclosporine toxity or rejection of your new kidney.
Sodium
Heart disease is the leading cause of death among kidney patients, so blood pressure control is very important. Prior to transplant you probably followed a low sodium diet. This continues to be important after transplant, particularly if your drug regimen includes prednisone, which can raise blood pressure. However, as the dose of prednisone is tapered down in months after transplant, you may find you can consume more sodium without it affecting your blood pressure.
Sugar
Prednisone can raise blood sugar levels and cause hyperglycemia or steroid-induced diabetes. he risk of this happening is higher if you are on high doses of prednisone for several months. The risk can be minimized by avoiding sweet desserts and high-sugar snacks. Your doctor will monitor your glucose levels after transplant. If these levels start to rise, he may suggest that you avoid sweet fruits as well.
