The pros and cons of eating during dialysis. Don’t eat in these three situations!

Diet management is critical for dialysis patients during the long treatment process, and there are many considerations regarding whether to eat during dialysis.

Benefits of eating during dialysis

• Energy supplement : The dialysis time is long, and the patient's body consumes a lot of energy. Eating at the right time can replenish physical strength, prevent hypoglycemia, and maintain normal body function. For example, eating some easily digestible carbohydrates can provide patients with continuous energy.
• Improve nutritional status : For patients with insufficient nutritional intake, eating moderate amounts during dialysis can help supplement nutrition, ensure the body's nutritional needs, and improve the quality of life.

Disadvantages of eating during dialysis

• Impact on dialysis effect : After eating, the gastrointestinal tract needs to digest food, which will cause blood to flow to the gastrointestinal tract, reducing blood flow during kidney dialysis, thus affecting the adequacy of dialysis.
• Increased gastrointestinal burden : During dialysis, the patient's body is relatively weak and the digestive function may be affected. Eating too much or indigestible food at this time can easily cause nausea, vomiting, indigestion and other symptoms.

Three situations where you shouldn’t eat

• At the beginning of dialysis : At this time, the body is still adapting to dialysis treatment, hemodynamics are unstable, and eating can easily cause discomfort.
• When the ultrafiltration volume is large : large amounts of ultrafiltration will cause the blood to concentrate, the blood supply to the gastrointestinal tract will be relatively reduced, and eating will increase the burden on the gastrointestinal tract.
• When symptoms of low blood pressure appear : Eating may further aggravate low blood pressure and cause symptoms such as dizziness and palpitations to worsen.

Dialysis patients need to carefully weigh the pros and cons of eating during dialysis and arrange their diet reasonably according to their own situation to ensure the smooth progress of dialysis treatment and physical health.