Super Bowl Sunday is a great opportunity to serve your guests a healthy vegetable appetizer. Everyone knows vegetables are good for you.  A serving or two will kick up your intake of fiber, vitamins A, C, K, folate, calcium, magnesium, potassium, antioxidants and phytochemicals known to reduce risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and cancer.  Vegetables are naturally low in sodium and calories.

If you have kidney disease, potassium in vegetables may be a concern. Blood potassium levels rise as the kidneys lose ability to remove excess potassium in the urine. Usually this occurs in later stage 4 and stage 5 when there is little kidney function left. In earlier stages of chronic kidney disease potassium usually stays in the normal range regardless of the diet. High potassium in early stages may be due to medications such as blood pressure pills and potassium-sparing diuretics. It’s important to know your potassium level each time your blood work is done and to ask your doctor if a low potassium diet is required or not.

The DaVita kidney diet recipe collection has 6 tempting vegetable appetizers that are low in potassium and high in nutrition and flavor.  Regardless if you are a Pittsburgh Steelers fan or Green Bay Packers fan or you simply want to enjoy being with friends and family, make it an opportunity to serve one of these healthy low potassium appetizers at your next get-together.