Since the physiological excretory function of kidney is very important for human metabolism, the diet after kidney surgery should be adjusted to enhance nutrition and promote body recovery, while paying attention to reduce the kidney load and maintain and protect the kidney function. Timing of eating after kidney surgery The question of when to start eating after kidney surgery is of great concern to everyone. With the progress of medical technology, minimally invasive techniques are increasingly used to perform various types of kidney surgery, such as percutaneous nephrolithotomy for stone extraction, laparoscopic renal cyst opening, laparoscopic nephrectomy and so on. These minimally invasive surgeries have less impact on the function of gastrointestinal tract. Generally, after complete awakening from anesthesia (6-8 hours after surgery), you can eat a small amount (100-200 ml) of liquid or semi-liquid diet, such as rice soup, noodle soup, green vegetable soup, thin lotus root powder, honey water, thin rice, egg custard, etc. When intestinal peristalsis gradually recovers and the intestines are aerated, you can eat normal protein- and vitamin-rich easy-to-digest, less residue food, such as fish, lean meat, green vegetables, fruits, etc. After surgery, you can help the patient massage the abdomen clockwise, and if the situation permits, you can encourage the patient to sit up at the bedside or get out of bed to promote gastrointestinal peristalsis. In the early postoperative period (within 3-5 days after surgery), the following diet should be noted: ① Avoid gas-producing foods, such as milk and soy milk, which can easily lead to abdominal distension and other discomforts, and try to limit foods containing coarse fiber, such as cabbage, celery, bean sprouts, onion, toon, asparagus, etc., so as not to cause indigestion and affect nutrient absorption; ② The body is slowly recovering after surgery, and often feels abdominal fullness when eating a small amount of food. Therefore, the amount of food eaten at each meal needs to be reduced appropriately compared with that before surgery, and should not be too full, so as to eat less and more meals, 4 to 5 meals per day, and after eating, appropriate activities should be permitted according to the condition. Diet selection and conditioning after kidney surgery Various kidney diseases that require surgical solution will affect kidney function to a certain extent, such as stones causing hydronephrosis, tuberculosis destroying kidney parenchyma causing cavitation or calcification, and kidney tumor infiltrating growth in kidney parenchyma or even endangering life. The purpose of surgery is not only to relieve the pain of disease, but also to protect the kidney function to the maximum extent. Therefore, the most important principle of dietary conditioning after kidney surgery is to maintain and protect kidney function while enhancing nutrition without increasing the burden on the kidneys. In order to reduce the metabolic and filtration load of the kidney, patients with combined medical diseases need to enhance the body’s resistance to disease, prevent disease recurrence and maintain stable kidney function through dietary modifications in daily life, in addition to controlling blood pressure, lowering blood sugar and blood uric acid through drugs (lowering blood pressure, lowering sugar and lowering uric acid). 1, kidney stone patients: in order to prevent the recurrence of stones, kidney stone patients need to insist on drinking more water after surgery to prevent the precipitation of crystalline substances in the urine. Since more than 90% of stones are calcium-containing stones, daily diet must be less salt, while limiting the intake of high-calcium foods, such as egg yolk, dairy products (milk, cream, cheese, etc.), seafood (sea fish, shellfish, shrimp, kelp, nori, etc.), nuts (peanuts, walnuts) and soybean (tofu) foods. For patients with oxalate stones, they need to eat less oxalic acid-rich foods, including vegetables such as spinach, cilantro, celery, green peppers, broccoli and fruits such as strawberries and grapes, and they need to avoid drinking strong tea water and limit vitamin C supplementation. For patients with uric acid stones, it is necessary to limit the intake of seafood, meat and animal offal. 2. Kidney tumor patients: The post-operative diet of kidney tumor patients should be nutritious and well-matched to achieve a comprehensive and balanced nutritional intake. In order to replenish blood loss or correct anemia, you can consume lean meat, eggs, animal liver, shiitake mushrooms, black fungus, golden needle mushrooms and other iron-rich foods, and animal liver is especially a good source of iron. Due to the negative nitrogen balance caused by surgical trauma (especially open surgery), sufficient calories and proteins should be supplemented after surgery. In terms of food selection, it is best to match the staple food with rice and noodles to ensure calorie supply, and high protein diet such as lean animal meat, fish and eggs is appropriate for side food. The usual diet should include more green leafy vegetables and fruits to increase vitamin intake. Eat less or no fried, barbecued and pickled foods (containing carcinogenic substances such as amines nitrite, sodium nitrite and benzo(a)pyrene). Pay attention to cooking methods such as boiling, braising, steaming and stewing as much as possible, rather than using cold, fried and raw methods to facilitate the digestion and absorption of food. For patients recovering from the disease, they can consume Chinese herbs containing Cordyceps and Astragalus (such as Bailing capsule and Zhenqi Fuzheng granule) to support the root, nourish the qi and blood, enhance the immunity of the body, and play a certain anti-tumor role. 3, patients with renal insufficiency: patients with combined or chronic renal insufficiency before and after kidney surgery need to adopt a low-salt diet, with daily salt intake controlled at 2-3 grams, avoiding salted vegetables, salted eggs, cured meat, seafood and other foods. Daily diet needs to limit the intake of protein mainly vegetable protein and adopt a high quality low protein diet. High quality protein refers to high nutritional value protein, depending on the content and relative proportion of essential amino acids in it. Most of the high nutritional value proteins are animal proteins, such as fish, lean meat, chicken, eggs and dairy products. As the saying goes, “eating meat is better than eating fish”. For patients with chronic renal insufficiency, freshwater fish is a particularly suitable high quality protein to eat. Calories should be maintained at about 2000 kcal per day, mainly from carbohydrates and a moderate amount of fat (75% and 20% respectively). A diet high in purines and phosphorus, such as animal offal and seafood, needs to be limited. Some fresh fruits and vegetables can also be consumed to supplement a variety of vitamins and minerals, but care needs to be taken to consume less fruits and vegetables with high potassium content, such as oranges, bananas and amaranth, spinach, celery, etc. In short, for patients after kidney surgery, the diet can be summarized as “one more, two less, three control”. “One more”: drink more water, “two less”: eat less salt and meat; “three controls”: control blood pressure, blood sugar, blood uric acid. Pay attention to these points, you can make our kidneys work for us healthy again!