Don’t worry; you don’t have to go on a diet to eat healthily for your kidney. The food pyramid forms the basis of the recommendations: In general, all foods are permitted; the decisive factors are quantity and frequency. The food pyramid forms the basis of a healthy diet. On the website of the Swiss Society for Nutrition you will not only find the pyramid, but also information on the amount and frequency of the food groups.

New Swiss nutritional recommendations for adults (in German, French and Italian)

• Swiss food pyramid

With regard to kidney health, the Mediterranean diet has proven to be particularly beneficial. This diet is rich in vegetables, fresh fruit, pulses such as beans and lentils and wholemeal products. Fish can also be included. At the same time, it is recommended to reduce meat consumption and alternate between plant and animal protein sources.

When preparing a meal, stick to the plate method: one third of the plate is taken up by vegetables or salad.

The second third is reserved for a starchy side dish (such as pasta, rice or bread). Favour whole meal products here. The last third is made up of protein-rich foods. These include lentils, kidney beans, tofu, milk and dairy products, eggs or meat and fish.

Try to eat fresh food whenever possible and reduce consumption of highly processed foods. This includes, for example, ready meals, sweets and sausages.

As high blood pressure is one of the main risk factors for chronic kidney disease, special attention should be paid to this. You can do a lot to help.

One of the most important adjustments is to reduce your salt intake, as this lowers your blood pressure and prevents water retention. The Swiss population consumes around 9g of salt per day (FSVO 2024). The amount recommended by the WHO is 5g . This means that the average salt consumption is around 75 per cent too high.

Start with a conscious reduction by not adding salt to your food. If you reduce the amount of salt gradually, your taste buds will have time to adjust and the food will not taste bland. Foods that contain a lot of salt should be eaten as little and as rarely as possible or avoided altogether.

These include:

• Ready-made soups
• Salty snacks
• Meat products such as sausages
• Ready meals
• Seasonings such as soya sauce, sprinkled seasoning, bouillon or liquid seasonings

You should make sure you use less salt when preparing food. Instead, flavour dishes with other spices or fresh herbs. Hot spices can also be used. With spice mixtures, it helps to make sure that no salt is included. Please note that cheese also contains quite a lot of salt. However, it can be consumed in small quantities (approx. 40g/day). It is also a good idea to cook as much as possible with fresh rather than processed products. You can pay attention to the nutritional labelling of ready-made products. It is obligatory to display the amount of salt on the packaging, so you can see how much the product contains.

If you have other risk factors for chronic kidney disease, such as diseases of the cardiovascular system, diabetes mellitus or severe obesity, it is crucial to address these issues. Here too, diet plays a decisive role.