Why You Should See A Renal Dietitian - And How to Find One!

Let me start by saying first and foremost, I'm so sorry for my absence!

I've been swamped providing medical nutrition therapy - nutrition education that treats an illness (like kidney disease!) to a bunch of really awesome people!

I've been spending my days working with people to control their blood pressure, diabetes, kidney, and liver disease with nutrition and I haven't had time to write much here. But, I promise to get it together over the next few weeks!

Why Should You See A Renal Dietitian?

I can provide you all of the generic kidney nutrition education in the world here. But, that can't replace seeing a renal dietitian for individualized education to learn how diet can best preserve your kidney function based on your needs.

Research has shown that working with a dietitian can:

• Help to decrease high blood pressures

• Slow the progression of kidney disease

• Improve blood sugar management - decreasing blood sugars and A1C!

• Promote weight loss in people with obesity

With all of these benefits, it may seem odd that you aren't automatically referred to a dietitian when you find out that you have kidney disease!

Well, a lot of that is because dietitian services weren't covered well by insurance until the Afforable Healthcare Act passed several years ago requiring preventative care to be covered.

So, for many years, people had to wait until they were on dialysis to actually see a dietitian - and for their insurance to cover it!

Most renal dietitians can see you virtually from the comfort of your own home!

But, alas! Many insurance companies now cover medical nutrition therapy (MNT) - some even cover it at 100%! That means that you may be able to see a dietitian at $0 cost to you!

Where do I Find a Renal Dietitian?

Well, lucky for you, we're everywhere!

If you're in the US, the National Kidney Foundation - one of my favorite resources for information on CKD! - has a list of renal dietitians practicing in each state!

I am able to see people for medical nutrition therapy in many states, including:

• Alabama

• Arkansas

• Arizona

• Colorado

• Florida

• Georgia

• Massachusetts

• Michigan

• New Jersey

• Texas

• Virginia

And I'm adding new states to the list all of the time!

If you want to schedule an appointment with me, you can go here to set up your profile with Berry Street and they'll check your insurance and find out if you need a referral from your doctor (and everything else) so that you and I only have to worry about nutrition!

If my services are not covered by your insurance, or if you're in a states that I'm not able to practice in yet, let me know! Just shoot me an email at brandywinfreerdn.com and I'd love to refer you to a renal dietitian in your state!

What's most important to me is making sure that you get the care that you deserve so that you can work to slow down kidney disease and either postpone or prevent dialysis all together!

What to Know About Seeing a Renal Dietitian

You may be a little anxious about seeing a dietitian, and that's totally normal! We all practice a little bit differently, but this is how I do things.

1. In your first appointment, we'll get to know each other. I'll learn about your life, habits, food preferences, medical and health history, and we'll develop a couple of bite-sized goals depending on what your personal goals are. So, you should come with at least 1 or 2 preapred. Some examples of healthy goals are:

   
   

   • I want to lower my A1C and take care of my diabetes.

   • I want to decrease my high blood pressure.

   • I want to slow down my kidney disease and increase my eGFR.

   • I want to lose weight to decrease my chances of developing other weight-related conditions.

     
     

2. I like to take my patient's goals and break them up into smaller goals that are realistic. So, "I want to lower my A1C and control my diabetes" turns into:

   
   

   • 30 minutes of daily exercise

   • Limiting carbohydrate-rich foods to one serving in the evening

   • Increasing fiber intake to 20 grams daily

     
     

   These mini-goals will vary from person to person and I always make sure that my patient agrees on these goals before we set them.

   
   

3. We'll follow up depending on my patient's goals and availability - so this varies too! But, I usually like to meet at least 2 times in the first month and monthly after that depending upon what my patient wants and what they're insurance covers. I always work within the covered benefits of my patients to avoid them having to pay excessive appointment fees out of pocket. Though there is always the option to self-pay for additional appointments that aren't covered by insurance if my patient wants to go that route.

   
   

The Final Thing to Know When You're Looking for a Renal Dietitian

While all dietitians can provide education on a kidney diet, that doesn't mean that they all should. Kidney nutrition is very specialized and takes a lot of additional education after becoming a dietitian to master.

Dietitians who have the letters CSR behind their name are Board Certified Specialists in Renal Nutrition. That means that we've done the extra training and passed a national exam to show that we're specialized in renal nutrition. I would always recommend finding a dietitian who is also a CSR to work with.

As always, let me know if there's anything kidney-related that you'd like to learn about below!