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8 of 11 · 3 min
What to drink in this heat
Water and unsweet tea. Cola and orange juice are the usual trouble.
The everyday glasses
Water. Unsweet tea. Black coffee if your stomach allows it. A splash of almond milk in the coffee is usually kinder than a mug of cow’s milk.
The skips
Cola and most dark sodas carry phosphoric acid. Orange juice, prune juice, and big smoothies dump potassium. Sweet tea is sugar on sugar, and the sweetener is not the kidney problem — the size of the cup and the “just one more” are.
Fluids — only if you were told
Not everyone with kidney disease has to ration water. Some people do, especially later on or on dialysis. If your doctor did not give you a fluid limit, do not invent one in August in Shreveport. If they did, ice, soup, and popsicles count as fluid too.
Try this
- Switch the afternoon sweet tea to unsweet with lemon.
- Look up “sweet tea” and “cola” in search so the lights stick.