For those of us who already have to watch their phosphorous intake, as is the case with impaired kidney function, I thought it was a great idea to come up with this list for you. There are plenty of lists out there about the phosphorous content of foods, but they are very uninteresting, since they dont compare foods based on their nutritional value. Thats why I came up with this one, considering protein in this case.

For example, it is true that a serving of cooked lentils might have a lower phosphorous content than a serving of salmon. However, once you increase the portion size of the lentils to match the protein content of the salmon- the salmon actually is lower in phosphorous per gram of protein that you get from it. One of the reasons I don’t recommend a vegetarian/vegan diet. This is important because especially in later stages of kidney disease we have to make sure we get adequate protein daily. Another way to put it: This graph shows how much phosphorous you would be getting, if you were to eat enough of a food to get 100g of protein from it. For lentils that would equal 1.1kg of lentils, for beef its about a pound.

Calculate your needs: 0.6-1.2 g protein per day per lean pound of body weight. So for a 70kg human with 15% body fat that would be 79-158g of protein per day. Lower end on low-activity days, higher end on workout days and the day after. Use a nutritional calculator like cronometer to find out how much of any particular food you have to eat to reach your desired protein target. Use this graph for an overview of the phosphate content of the options. Meats are all similarly low in phosphorous content and grass-fed beef or lamb would be the healthiest option among these.Cooking can reduce it further.

Here are the cronometer settings you can use:

An easy low phosphorous post-workout or meal replacement option could be an organic flavored grass fed whey protein combined with collagen or eggwhite protein powder (pasteurized) in equal parts. The whey is raw and therefore very bioavailable. The eggwhite is slightly cooked and less bioavailable. Its still a great anabolic protein, much better from an amino acid standpoint than plant proteins- and its low phosphate content is a good reason to incorporate it in later stages. Collagen (much like gelatin) is more of an add-on because its amino acid content does not make it anabolic (anabolic = triggering mtor, muscle building).

While canned beans and lentils might seem like a great choice here, there are some problems with this. First, their amino acid ratios are not optimal for humans, so they have to be combined with other plant proteins for optimum assimilation. They are also high in carbs. So they can only be eaten on carb days. if you want to add them and want convenience, buy EDEN brand, they soak and pressure cook their beans and lentils. other brands have to be pressure cooked in your kitchen! If you are going to buy another brand, choose bpa-free lined cans, and pressure cook when preparing them. the best budget option for beans/lentils is buying organic dried beans/lentils and soaking them for 96 hours before pressure cooking them.

Shopping Links:

WHEY
EGGWHITES
COLLAGEN
EDEN Canned Lentils
EDEN Canned Beans